tn_roadie

I've started riding with a small group of folks, all younger than I, though a meetup group. We've described it as "intermediate speed". Sometimes we ride 20 miles on a greenway with a 15 mph limit. Saturday we rode 50 miles with 2,000 ft of climbing. We've had some people show up and decide we're "too fast". There is another group in our part of town that rides farther and faster since most of them are tri athletes in training. I assume that is "advanced". I can't find any standard definitions for group or club rides. Does anyone have any suggestions that are more definitive and/or descriptive?

bigbadwullf

More than one person

toobusi

This is from one of our local bike club web sites.

A.....For very strong cyclists: 19-20 mph avg.speed, few stops, hills likely. Slower riders will be left behind
B.....For strong riders: 15-17 mph avg. speed, few stops, hills likely. Will try to wait for stragglers.
B-...13-14 mph avg. speed, stops as needed, some hills to be expected. Ride leader will wait for stragglers.
C.....11-12 mph avg. speed, stops as needed, some hills to be expected. Group will wait for all stragglers and assist those having (non-major) mechanical problems.

CraigB

Everyone has a different definition. The measure I use is from one of our local shops, which has a Thursday night ride with 4 and sometimes 5 classes (depending on who and how many show up). They are, from fastest to slowest:

As and "Killer" Bs (30 miles, 21+ MPH)
"Honey" Bs (26 miles, 18-19 MPH)
"Bumble" Bs (26 miles, 16-17 MPH)
Cs, AKA "the Fun and Fitness Group" (17 miles, 13+ MPH)

DEK

Group descriptions vary by club but most will have an "A", "B", "C" designation with "A" being the most advanced riders and "C" being closer to group beginners. A local club in Tampa went as far as having A, B+, B, C+, C and Recreational group designations with specific descriptions of each. But even then, I've heard they don't always stick to the rules of the group. A lot depends on who shows up for a given ride.

Edit:
I must type really slow. Got beat by 2 others.

Retro Grouch 

I don't think there is a reliable definition regarding riding speed.

Back in my running days there was a big fun run to the arch in St Louis. Being in pretty good shape (for me) I decided to do the longest 10 mile distance. There were 3 packs: 11 minute miles, 9 minute miles and 7 minute miles. 9 minute miles was a little slow for me so I decided to go with the 7 minute pack. As soon as the 9 minute folks left the parking lot I looked around to see who was left. It was a bunch of real skinny athletic-looking guys and me. I worked my way off the back of that pack real fast. Nobody, except for me, had any intention of running anywhere nearly as slow as 7 minute miles.

Intentions and labels for group bike rides work exactly the same. I've wandered to the start of a lot of group bike rides hopeing I'd be able to keep up, and sometimes finding myself off the back and out of touch immediately out of the lot. On at least a couple of occsions I've had riders offer to hang back so I wouldn't have to ride alone but I'm not too big on having a "baby sitter" designated for me either. If I can't keep up I prefer to do my own thing and try to find a group more to my speed next time.

tsl

My club avoids letter or worded definitions since they mean different things to different people.

For instance, I consider myself intermediate because my average is only 17-18. Others I know also consider themselves intermediate, but their average is 13-14.

So we use numbers instead. 10-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18 and so on.

For our "Sweeps" ride series for transitioning riders (12 MPH average), in case folks don't know their average, we say "a 20 mile ride in 1 hour and 45 minutes".

DGlenday

I belong to 3 cycle clubs. They all use A / B / D / D / etc. definitions - but they all vary slightly. This is the one I consider to be the most useful:

Ride Category - FLAT terrain:
D 10-12
C 12-14
CC 14-16
B 16-18
BB 18-20
A 20 +

Ride Category - MODERATEly hilly terrain
D 8-10
C 10-12
CC 12-14
B 14-16
BB 16-18
A 18-20

Ride Category - Very HILLY terrain
D 6-8
C 8-10
CC 10-12
B 12-14
BB 14-16
A 16-18

Note - the speeds are absolute, and it does not take distance into account. So on a 30 mile ride, you may be an A-pace rider - whereas on a century, you might be a B-pacer.

Rick@OCRR

Just to be different, our club uses colors instead of numbers or letters.

Here's the link: https://www.ocrebels.com/RideClassifications.htm

Rick / OCRR

DEK

Dude? Lilac? Couldn't they have said Purple?

Rick@OCRR

Ha! Yes . . . I dunno, I don't make up the colors or the descriptions. My guess is that they named it that so that Lilac riders would be encouraged to train enough to at least move out of that group.

I generally ride Gold, not sure who any of the Lilac riders are!

Maybe you can pick them out from the photos here: https://www.ocrebels.com/photo.htm

Probably the ones not wearing club or Pro Team Kit!

Rick / OCRR

skilsaw

Then there is the triple A+ group.
These people don't actually ride anywhere.
They just show up in their BMW's and take their italian racing bikes off the roof rack.
Wipe down the bike with a new cheese cloth,
Oil the chain,
Pose for pictures in their color matched riding clothes,
Have a low-fat soy latte sweetened with organic brown sugar
Drive home.

Farmer Dave

Ha ha! So true! My first group ride I went on last week had these type of bikers. Wasn't very fun.

John_V 

I think it all has to do with the intention of the group or club itself. I ride with a club on the 2nd and 3rd Saturday of each month and there is normally one group; LETR or Let's Enjoy The Ride. Once in a while some faster cyclist come out and they normally go off on their own. They do the 17-20+ mph ride and the rest of the group does a 10-14 mph ride. The faster group is all road bikes and the slower, LETR group is any bike that you have is welcome. I have ridden with the faster group once or twice but prefer riding with the LETR group as the ride is more of a camaraderie ride then anything else. There are other group and club rides in Tampa, but most of them are pace-line rides on city streets and back roads. I don't like doing pace-line rides where there is a lot of traffic so my pace-line rides are done on a bike path in a county park.

CraigB

Won't they be surprised when they get home and realize they left their bikes back at the starting point of the ride.

jmiked

There's not any standard definition around where I go riding. I went for my first ride with the local group a few weeks ago. I went with the beginner's group, and if it hadn't been for the "no-drop" policy, I'd have been left behind rather early. Those guys just want to ride a lot faster than I do, even on the beginner trails. I had to quit midway through the ride anyway because of the heat.

Wogster

There is no hard and fast rule, there are general categories, but often what happens is you start a group that is slow and doesn't go very far, but as they ride together they get better and stronger, they get faster, they also become a clique, so they stay together, but nobody in the club or organization they ride with, ever updates the ride description or category. The best thing to do is use the categories as a general idea, find out who the ride leader is, call or email them, and get an up to date description.

Allegheny Jet

Your take on clubs is pretty negative or your local area is full of pricks. The four clubs that I have ridden with over the past 8 years pretty much operated spot on in their descriptions of the ride levels. If the description of one ride says the A group does not regroup and you get your hat handed to you, so be it. Another club has a sweeper for the B's who are pushing themselves and someone from the club will always stay with the back marker. One club even schedules a potty break on the C ride. The general tone of all the clubs is they want riders to come out and join in the experiences each ride offers.

I started up an email, and now Facebook, group of riders who will ride together for training and night rides throughout the year. We always state the purpose of the ride as to duration, intensity and elevlation so anyone participating knows what to expect before they commit to coming out to play.

gcottay

I have never found any group descriptions to provide more than a rough approximation, but that's in no way a negative statement. Groups should, I think, ride at the pace that best suits the group on any given day.

Except for beginner rides that really should coddle riders in every way possible, I think a group newcomer should expect to just give it a try and see what happens. If the group is too slow or fast or disciplined or undisciplined then just consider it a valuable learning experience.

No, I'm not cruel or heartless. I even ride sweep when needed.