Group Rides

There was a bit of division in the Firestone and Summit Saturday ride this past weekend. The wind was wicked and if a rider got dropped, then that rider was in purgatory. You can read some comments here from that blog. During some portions of the ride the group stuck together pretty good, but then in others it divided into two groups. The division wasn't so much about ability as it was circumstance and taking risks. On such a windy day it probably would have been better to stick together as one group instead of dividing.

It does bring about the question of can everyone get something out of a group ride? The answer is yes of course. There is a very good article on the USA Cycling website that addresses that very question.

Lately on the group rides I find myself getting dropped here or there. If I don't get lucky due to a traffic light or something, then I might not catch back up. The attitude seems to be that's ok. Sometimes it is ok. There are places in every group ride where things naturally split apart only to regroup later. Often times these places are pretty close to the rest stops or near a natural place of regrouping. But, in the last few months riders are getting dropped early and there doesn't appear to be much concern about that.

While I'm complaining, here is another complaint about group rides. When the rider takes over the pull and speeds up. This often times causes the riding who was pulling to get dropped because he can't match the acceleration to attach onto the back of the group. I do see where there is a natural tendency to speed up but not 2-3 mph faster; that's just not very considerate. If the rider wants to pick the pace up that much higher then at least wait until the person who had been pulling to get back onto the group.

That's enough of my complaining about life on the group ride. The temps dropped for the weekend. Looks like they will rise for this coming weekend.

Later...