Our club is having some growing pains on its Tuesday Night ride. We get a wide variety of riders, from the local racers to the novice cyclists. Currently we split into two groups, a "no stop" group and a "no drop" group, however the latter group has such a wide variety of fitness levels that it becomes totally fragmented. We do have a sweep at the back that makes sure no one gets completely dropped, or that anyone with a flat has someone that comes along that can help.

I've been reading a bit about how different clubs run their rides. Some do A/B/C/D groups, some do average speed groups, etc. I think we can figure this part of it out. What I'm more curious about is this: Does your ride have a leader? Do they keep the group together? Does each sub-group have a leader and do those groups stay together (even if that means that someone might be going slower than they want to)? Do you have someone that calls out bad behavior or reigns in people if they pull too hard when it's their turn at the front? Is your ride a b@lls-to-the-w@ll ride or is it more of a social-talking-pace ride?

What's your best experience with a group ride?

We have:

AA: drop
A: drop
B no drop
C: no drop

All have leaders with B and C having sweeps.

We're trying to implement a 10 bike limit. If there's more we will try to split into 2 smaller groups. For example a B and B+ or a 40 and 50 mile or a flat and hilly ride.

Not easy but we try.

Why don't you have an A, B, C and D?

We do have A, B, C... D is walking.

AA rides: 20-23 mph
A rides: 17-20 mph
B rides: 14-17 mph
C rides: 11-14 mph

The only problem with a no drop ride is that it is a "no drop ride". So lets say your "C" ride is a 16-18mph ride and someone starts out with you on that group that cant ride over 12MPH. Now you have to baby sit that rider who chose the wrong group. They should have chose the "D" ride but since the "C" was also a no drop why not give it a go not thinking how it affects the rest of the group. I am all for regrouping but I feel like a no drop in all but the slowest group can be a slippery slope.

the best experience with a group ride comes when the riders are well matched. my favourite, are early season long rides that are predominantly racers. the pace is steady and conversational, and for four or five hours, there will be some combativity on climbs and sprints, but a regrouping afterwards.
tuesday inseason rides have been actual club races, or very hard paceline work with relatively even skilled riders. if you are in the front three groups, you need to be able to hold 50+km in a rotating double pace line on the flats.
my club's mitigation of risk policy was to limit groups on hard rides to 10-12, all drop except for the easiest of groups. if you get blown out of a group, another one a couple of minutes back will sweep you up.

My club has the same variety and we don't mind completely fragmenting during the ride. The Wednesday night rides regroup eventually at one of the local watering holes, and the Saturday rides ramp up in "seriousness" throughout the season, but we stop along the way to regroup.

Admittedly, our club leans more to the "social" function than a race-prep team, but there are plenty of strong riders who like to go off the front and hammer it between stops. I've gotten a lot faster and stronger by riding with them.

It's not a club ride. Most of the riders race and treat it as a training race. Meets same place, same time as since forever. Neutral roll out for the first 5 miles, totally social. This is the time to tell your buddies how you really haven't been riding much lately and will probably just sit in, when in fact you are going to attack like a rabid weasel. Pace picks up once it passes under the Interstate. Sprint 1 is at the County Line. Turn around, regroup, slightly different route on the way back. Sprint 2 is where the pavement changes after the big oak tree. Neutral roll back in to town, resume conversation from earlier and/or make excuses about missing the break, complain about the lousy leadout and moan about guys who didn't pull through.

No leaders, no sweep. If you flat or have a mechanical, someone may stop and help but don't count on it, so be self-sufficient. If you get dropped on the way out, you may be able to pick up the group on the return. If you get dropped on the way back, enjoy your solo ride home.

I know you have A, B, C. Wondering why the A isn't the fastest and D the slowest if you have four groups.

I didn't make the classes. I'm hoping for a B+ group once the season gets going. I've need working out all winter and am in mid summer form while others are just starting for the season.

I lead a group of what was a "no drop" ride and we had the same problem. It was a small club so there weren't enough riders to break into 4 groups. People who showed up wanted to ride anywhere from 12mph to 20mph even though the ride was posted at 14-17mph. How the rides worked was everyone stayed with the leader or tried to. Faster riders were wanting to go off the front because the group wasn't riding fast enough for them . The slow riders were struggling to keep up. So the ride would re-group too much, nobody was happy.
So we changed to cue sheet rides, the rides are posted at 15-17mph. If you want to ride faster or slower fine. We'll see how this works in the next few weeks.
IMO rides should be only for a maximum variation of 2 to 3 mph, anything wider won't work well.

My club seems to work pretty well. We split into groups based on speed. As rides below A are "no drop" and have sweeps. We have short, medium and long courses. On Tuesday nights we have

AA: 20+ mph
A: 18-20mph
BB: 16-18 mph
B: 14-16 mph
C: 12-14 mph

the reason we don't have C and D rides is that they ride on Thursday nights. Usually out "B" group is the largest (20+ riders), so usually gets split into a B and B+ group.

This system works well and seems to make riders of all levels happy.

Our policy is similar. But almost always one guy will gang back and oversee the flat, just in case there is an issue. The rest of our group takes it down a notch for the next five minutes or so, giving the two time to catch the group. It's kind of a good compromise between no drop and no stop.

This is pretty much our Tuesday night ride.

We have a Wednesday night ride that's not a club ride, but more of a show n' go ride. Even though there's a signup online most people don't bother with it since its a longstanding ride. There used to be 3 levels, (A,B,C) and a somewhat equal distribution in each group. Over the years, the A group has gotten much bigger (30-40) and very few (5+) in the other two groups. The local racers love this ride since its a hard training ride. There's no leader with the A group, but there are a few that can demand the attention of the group if a point needs to be made. We usually get there about an hour early and do a 20 mile warmup before the actual ride. This is double paceline tempo pace and nice for conversation. Then we regroup and head back for the real ride which often picks up quickly since most are already warmed up. If you didn't come early, you're in for some hard efforts before the legs have a chance to warm up. Some riders do get yelled at during the ride for doing bonehead moves. The A ride is not a steady pace, but a series of attacks and surges that ramps up the pace. There's a sprint zone in the middle after a bridge and one at the end that can get sketchy, so I'm careful at that point.

The B and C groups ride in a steady paceline and not sure if there's a leader since I don't ride with them.

The weekend group rides are very different depending on the group. Some groups have a leader, the club ride doesn't. It depends on the route whether we'll wait for someone if they get dropped. If we notice someone struggling to hang on we might adjust the pace to allow them to catch back on, but if they're seriously struggling we'll likely move on. We won't drop someone that's unfamiliar with the route, but we also don't like seriously adjusting the ride to accommodate. Most are well seasoned to just ride in solo if needed, but more often, one or two will drop back to ride back with them. A friend and I recently turned around to go pick up a rider we knew was struggling and she appreciated it. Even though a ride description may say its a no drop ride, be prepared to get dropped if you aren't able to keep the advertised pace. Always good to discuss this before the ride if its a concern.

We meet in the town square, coming from different directions, and not always the same direction.

There might be a quiet greeting, but mostly it's staring. When the appointed time comes, one will speak up and propose the route for the day. There follows a brief discussion. When a route has been proposed with few objections, we ride.

We spend the next 50-70 miles trying to drop each other with everything God has given us.

The end of the ride is more of an evaporation. Each rider silently takes the turn off to his home until nobody is left.

Because no one will join a D ride. It is only one step above failing, and everyone will join the C instead. Then your C gets way watered down.

In my and the neighboring club, A is slow, & C/D is fast. Some visitors have been sandbagged or bored.

Weekend rides post distance, pace, & climbing info. & some idea of drop/regroup protocol. There is a leader, but you are expected to be self-sufficient on anything but a beginner ride. Rides sometimes split into faster/slower groups, and individuals often join or leave the ride at different points. An LBS hosts the weekday evening hammer-fest, with once a month being 'take no prisoners' style, and the others a bit more social.

1 ride only, keep up or I get dropped

For the most part, the only group rides I do are ones by the cycling club I'm in, and technically there is a ride leader for each ride. The ride leader will also post the route and its distance, though sometimes it will just be decided during the ride depending on who shows up and how far and where they want to ride. It's usually up to the ride leader to "police" the ride rules, though any of the riders might yell at offenders at any time. Each ride group has a description of what general cruising speeds will be expected. An example would be to expect riding speeds of 22 to 30 mph depending on wind, terrain, number of riders, etc. So obviously riders who can't stay in a group going over 20 mph would be better served not to ride with that group.

For the group ride that is a drop ride, if you're off the back then you're SOL, but sometimes one of your buddies will drop back to keep you company or maybe you'll form a grupetto with riders that blew later on down the road. If you're pulling too slow, you'll probably get yelled at to get the heck off the front. It is semi-neutralized up until a certain point and then it's attacks until the sprint line, then finally a neutralized roll in back home.

For the no drop rides, one of the objectives is to stick together; for example, the entire group will usually stop for a flat or mechanical until the rider gets his bicycle back in operating condition. If you are too slow to even just suck wheel the entire ride, you'll most likely get a gentle suggestion to ride with a slower group. Sometimes the no drop group will start to get fragmented by too strong a pull uphill or in crosswinds, and riders who are cognizant of that will ride up and let folks up front know that. There is always a regrouping after any sprint or KOM points during the ride.

You have to sell it differently I guess. In our club, we sell the concept of "Slow and Easy" ride as the introduction to the inexperienced riders. Take them out for 8-12 miles at a slow pace, just to get them into the concept of road riding. Most of the riders are on hybrids and/or department store bikes, the majority are women. These rides are more about promoting the idea of riding a bike than training for a race.

We do it on a different night, and this means the slow people don't tend to show up on Tuesdays and slow down the CC's.

Grade inflation

Our rides are no drop, and we ride routes where people can branch off to shorten or lengthen them. If you bring a new rider, you are responsible for them. For example, last weekend we set out as a group. All of the rides are very hilly, and the new riders were having a hard time. Around mile 20, the new riders and the people who invited them took a 10 mile route back to the start. The rest of us picked of the pace and took a 20 mile route back to the start. We all got back around the same time.

Also, if someone needs a harder workout, we don't consider it bad form to do hill repeats or some other out-and-back while they wait. We don't leave people out on the road alone, though, unless they are familiar with the roads and know how to change a tire. It is just too easy to get lost, and cell phones don't always work.

But you could have an AAAA, AAA, AA and A. Then everyone would feel like a winner

Our little group has an "A" ride and a "B" ride, and it is set up so the B's leave with a 10 minute head start and the A's chase. We get to our half way point together, and all start back together as a pack, so people can hang as long as they can with the A's, and drop off and reform a B group as we return home.

Even with these two choices, no one wants to admit that they are a B. We have A guys join the B group going out, so they are fresh to hammer the way back, but exhaust the B's who try to keep up. We have B guys that join the A group, and get shucked on the first hill. So even with just two choices and a plan, people refuse to plan for harmonious function.