I'm for following the Doc's orders. And they say physicians don't know anything about nutirition. Hhmphh - sounds like good nutrition to me, although you did forget to mention that chocolate is a VEGETABLE. Never forget that folks.

Rick is right, if you just tempo ride, you'll often catch a group when they stop. Also, larger group rides tend to have a more varied group of riders, usually some you can keep up with. I still get dropped a lot on club rides. I could never hang with the A groups, and after my lung surgery, got dropped a lot by the B groups, especially on the more hilly rides.

A group like this is always good to come back and check your progress with. With my extra 10 pounds gone this year, I hung better on club rides than I did last year. I don't do a lot of club rides these days, but it's fun to mix one in here and there.

W-a-a-y-y-Slow:
You and the slower Mrs., get yourselves a tandem! A great equalizer and fun too!

Since there was a cue sheet, I would have stuck with the route. Being dropped is motivation to push, and you just might come across someone else who was shed off the back.

I'm a competitive sort and also enjoy social recognition. (I've been in marketing and sales all my life) But being left behind in the dust right out the chute sucks. It's rude of them. However, I would have simply said, p_ss on them, and gone my own merry way. Not a problem with being an individual either.

I think the most important person to keep up with, and to impress is YOURSELF. If you are your own best friend, none of the rest matters. Go exploring and see something you haven't seen before. Just stay out of bad parts of town and off of bad roads.

Fixed that for you.

I often like to find a group to ride with when I'm traveling, just to learn where the good routes are. Groups tend to ride where there's less traffic, nicer roads, better scenery. If they actually give you a route sheet, bonus! I did some rides with a Tuesday and Thursday morning racer group when I was in LA earlier this year to see some operas. They took me over some really nice roads in the hills above Pasadena and Glendale, then dropped me on the descents (I was on the fixie), but they waited at the bottom, since there were no cue sheets. I had a map with me anyway. Towards the end of a ride, if I know where I am and the pace starts to pick up, I'll just tell somebody that I'm back on familiar roads, don't wait up.

There's a lot to be said, too, for just getting lost in new places. I think it's about the best way to learn a new area. Find your way back to the hotel any way you can, then try to retrace where you were on a map. Very, very instructive.

Luis

I don't know about the group you were trying to ride with and I don't want to sound like a hater, but:

If this group was expecting to do any sort of pace line, I doubt that they would be too keen to have a recumbent in the mix. I know I wouldn't.

Just sayin'.

Yep.

Ever try to draft a recombent (there's a Jim Croce song lurking here somewhere)?

Exactly.

I would have pedaled my bike.

I no longer ride to keep up with people.
I ride because I like to ride. I don't need a group.

Sometimes a group can be fun, someone to talk to, laugh with, draft off of.
Those groups I already know, and even if they leave me, SO WHAT!
They are not the first, and won't be the last time I get dropped.

Pizza and beer sound good, so does a big DQ!
Where ever you ride to, it's still a ride.

OR
You can HTFU and ride faster to keep up.
But that sounds alot like work. It's not why I ride the bike.

I'm the opposite. I like drafting behind a recumbant. You have to get down low, but the draft is usually a bit wider. I enjoyed a break away with a recumbant rider who could really corner.

Hey ZT, we are working on the "tandem" idea but it's not going to be a "fast" road one, we are "(very slowly) saving for a Bike Friday, Family Tandem over the next 2 years. We want to be able to stuff them in cases, put them on a Greyhound, then a Amtrak so we can "slap the tandem" together and wa-la, head out riding in "new places"!!

I had a similar experience when I went along on an advertised open recumbent group ride. While I kept up well enough, slowly everyone disappeared off on side roads. The message was very clear. I really don't need a group that's not composed of my ride buddies. bk