This is VERY bad behavior. Being in a Group does nto give you the right to blow red lights, or stop signs.

Let alone what might have happened if a car had timed the green and had been going through the intersection at 35-45 mph.

too risky for my blood.

---

This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time. - Fight Club
Industry Brat.

Depends on the group. I've seen this sort of thing before. Little wonder that motorists think cyclists are jerks.

That is pretty much standard operating procedure, and it IS a bad group.

Bad move! Although sounds similar to a group I have riden with.

Myself and 2 "new to the club" riders come up to a set of train tracks. The lights start dinging. 2 riders from the "A" group come up to us, look behind them at the chasers and GO THROUGH the tracks as the bars are coming down on them. Train not far off.

The newbie riders are asking me if that's how all rides are and if so, they want nothing to do with this group.

I don't understand that "race at all costs mentality". WHY? Is winning a group club ride that important that you would risk your life/bike/others life?

It does depend on the group but from what I have seen, it's race at all costs and "do as I say, not as I do"

---

Proud member of the Guru Cartel, EH!

You were mistaken in thinking you were on a group ride. A group ride implies that the leaders, along with everyone else in the ride, makes a conscious effort at all times to take care of the group. In your case, you thought you were on a group ride but really you all were just following some guys who did not give a shit whether you lived or died. That's called a mob ride. On a mob ride, you're on your own so look both ways and stop when you think you should stop and never ever blindly follow someone into an intersection. I guarantee as soon as you start acting sensible and safe, others will follow and you will have a decent sized group of sane people to ride with once the light turns green.

When your group is made of morons, moronic behavior ensues.

I agree with the poster above who said that wasn't a group ride, but rather it was a group of people riding.

---

--------------
Elivis needs boats.

Agreed.

A GOOD group ride is when the rules of the road and everyone's saftey in the group is first and foremost in the minds of everyone in the group. The scenerio described by the orginal poster is very unsafe AND spreads the continued impression that road cyclists and triathletes are a reckless bunch, who have little regard for the rules of the road, yet are the first to complain when car drivers do the same!

The group that I have been riding with recently obeys all stop signs, and red lights. Makes sure that all other road crossings are clear and open for all riders. That the group is safely through all intersections or road crossings. And even easing up on the pace at the top of longer hills to get everyone back on. Yet, this is a fit and fast moving group with average speed on all rides over 30 km/h. It's about looking out for and being respectful for others. We do have some fun out there picking up the pace here and there, a few sprints for signs etc . . but these are done on quiet open stretchs of road. We are lucky were I live in that for the most part, after 5 minutes riding, we can ride 100k on quiet country roads.

Fleck

---

---

Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

That's known as 'getting a cheap gap.' We have guys around here that do it all the time, so you just have ride your own ride, and let the future organ donors go.

Sad, they really think it matters. That's why I drive the 'laughing group' of guys that get dropped by said Fred's. We stop, we chase, and we generally don't get back on, but have a much better time.

Stop the presses . . er . . servers. The Hurricane is on ST!

Great post, Bob.

Fleck

---

---

Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Shh! I'm usually in the corner, eating the snacks while eveyrone else is chatting. :)

Bob you should be sleeping.

We have a very fast Tuesday night training ride where I live. It's a flat-out race at the front. The thing that's funny to me is that there are a handful of us who don't have any trouble keeping up ... or even catching back up. But we won't blast across a busy highway or blast through a stop sign assuming it must be clear. When we get to the end a little behind these idiots, they always have some snide remark.

I've been riding for many years now and I'm quite content to do more and more on my own. Cyclists tend to be their own worst enemies and that really shows in group situations. And it's not just the idiots riding fast at the front. At the back, you get the clowns riding 3-abreast and yakkin' up a storm ... completely oblivious to traffic and pissing everyone off.

Bob C.

Here in SoCal there are group rides (Como ride comes to mind), where after each weekend ride you can read a "race report" write-up on some of the bulletin boards set up by the local "teams".

Yes, it has gotten that bad!

---

___________________________________________
Ego numquam pronuncio mendacium,
sed sum homo salvaticus

Never ridden Como, but this is SOP for Montrose.

Sometimes stopping is not really an option. The front may hit the intersection when it's green (or when it's just turned yellow but too late to stop. By the time the tail end goes through, the light has just turned red. It's as if the peloton is a single vehicle. And it's generally not an issue, with the exception of stragglers. Still, everyone is responsible for being aware of the situation and making their own decisions.

The bigger problem I've seen is cyclists being oblivious to the fact that many motorists have no idea what to do when caught in the midst of, being passed by, trying to pass a pack of 150+ cyclists. There's no way of judging what that little old lady will do when suddenly swarmed by numerous cyclists. Will she slam on the brakes, speed up, try to change lanes. It's not her fault, as I'm not aware of any driving school that teaches such tactics. Yet, I've seen cyclists lash out verbally or with the finger. (I've also seem them chastised by other riders for doing so.)