Find 3-5 others and practice in a smaller group if possible. Ride steady by not jumping to 25mph if its your turn to pull and everybody is doing 23mpg. Another thing is to go to a field with some friends and practice bumping shoulders and touching wheels. Do not get into the aero position unless your pulling. Finally ride in groups, watch others within the group and before long you'll have it down.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Technique is the key to group riding. People new to group riding have to work harder than people used to rubbing shoulders and riding close. The biggest things to learn are to 1) be able to look at the wheel of the person in front of you as well as looking past the person to see what is going on up front, and 2) be really conscious about accelerations and decelerations. Don’t be too quick to jam on the brakes. Triathlon is all about controlling yourself and your pace, but in group rides it’s all about being responsive. When the pace gets ridiculous, just remember EVERYONE is hurting, but don’t be the first one to drop off the back. Once you’re off the back, it is nearly impossible to catch a motivated group. Have fun. Hope this helps

My tips for group rides? Avoid them.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I just started group riding this year so my advice is limited.

Use group riding as a tool to learn from others. There is alot to be learned by watching others, especially more experienced riders. Also, they can critique your riding style and point out your faults and weaknesses.

As Tom D advocates - you should avoid group riding. Atleast for most of your training.

Now my advice. Find a small group that rides a comfortable speed for you to hang to. Start out at the back of the line and start getting comfortable being close to the bike in front of you. Get a feel for the pace and steadiness of the pack. Always stay a few inches to the right or left of the other guys' rear tire. That way you can spot road hazards and there will be no surprises. Never overlap the other guys' tire( if he makes a sudden move to the left or right and you touch his wheel, you go down). No sudden braking or acceleration, maintain the pace.

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put the mettle to the pedal

"My tips for group rides? Avoid them."

IMO Tom, the problem with that advice is that you'll then up with typical tri-geek bike handling skills. The best way to learn bike control is to group ride with roadies.

It's a bit unnerving at first but stick with it and your skills will develop. The toughest part is getting used to riding so close off someone's back wheel while someone else is doing the same to you. You have to be very attentive and resist the temptation of jumping on the brakes at every small incident.

Go for pace line rides with groups of three or four riders and practise the skill. One roadie I know takes group ride newbies (mostly tri-geeks) out to a parking lot and has them do basic skills such as riding thru pylons, picking up water bottles of the ground, riding with no hands, riding a painted strait line, etc. It's amazing how much your bike handling skills will improve just practising these basic drills.

good question and one i think all triathletes should ask themselves. had a few thoughts on this at the beginning of the season. the shortened, published version is here: http://www.insidetri.com/...articles/1595.0.html

and the long winded version is here: http://www.martygaal.com/words/groupriding.html

personally, i like group riding. it's fun and more interesting than solo steady work. that said, solo steady work or solo intervals should be the weekly backbone of most triathletes' bike training.
* edited for editing... ;-)

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Marty Gaal, CSCS
One Step Beyond Coaching
Triangle Open Water Swim Series | Old School Aquathon Series
Powerstroke® Freestyle Technique DVD

Actually, cerveloguy, you are right. I did four years as a USCF road racer and also raced for a minor amateur team in Europe. The bike handling skills I learned from doing literally over a hundred criteriums (if I may brag, I once won 11 races in a row- then got upgraded to Category 2, oops, that ended fast!)pay major dividends as a triathlete, along with a season of cyclocross expereince too. I'm just jaded about the soap opera that group rides often become. To me riding is about just that: Riding.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

2 things, don't follow anyone too closely that you haven't watched before (ie: you may not be the worst bike handler there), and no matter how spent you are, don't end your pull because you see a hill coming. Better to slow the group down on the hill, then to let the fresh guy set the cliimbing tempo!

I agree with Tom on group rides. Really counterproductive for training in most cases and gets you used to relying on others for motivation and pacing which is just what you don't need in a tri.

If you are worried about bike handling get some rollers, the rest of pack riding is really mental - not freaking out when somebody bumps you, a wheel is 1 cm from yours, etc.

Even having someone's rear wheel bump your front wheel is only a problem because of how you react to it. I demonstrated that to myself one time when I fell asleep/passed out and rode for some distance with my front wheel leaning on the wheel in front of me. After he woke me up with his discourteous "what the F are you doing?" shouts I was still groggy enough that I just calmly righted myself and went on (until it happened again without a wheel to lean on and I crashed and broke my hip).

The moral of the story is stay calm, loose, and smooth and stay away from the brakes. (and don't always try to ride through an illness).

I totally disagree with Tom D on group rides. No way you will push your HR as high as on group rides than alone. I do a weekly 20 mi ride and its the equivalent of my weekly fartlek or track session. Training with groups (in any discipline) pushes your effort. (Whether you want to push it that high is your decision.)

Also, it "trains" drivers to look out for cyclists. Another ride a do is in a hilly area. Everytime I get dropped around mile 12-15. But I felel safe riding alone and finishing the route know that the main group is keeping the drivers ahead honest.

The problem that triathletes have with group rides is they don't practice control with their aerobars. They simply ride in the drops w/out thinking how dangerous this is in a group. Its easy: when in a group just remember to keep your hands on the horns.

Group rides slow me down. It is easy for me to go out and bust a super hard, 180 bpm average ride for an hour. There are only five guys around here I know of I get that kind of workout in with, and I am NOT in great shape either. My beef with group rides is the erroneous social BS and having to concede to the group "will" on the ride: You can't do your own workout. Do group rides have thier place? Yeah, I will concede that. I just don't like them. Other people's problems have a way of becoming my problems on group rides. I don't like that.

As for "training" motorists: As the frequency of group rides in our area has increased so has the frequency of discord between drivers and cyclists. The incidence of driver/cyclist arguments is way up this year over last year. Last night on a Tuesday night ride there were two incidents, one involving police, in one ride. This was with a group of experienced, generally courteous cyclsits. I rarely get guff from drivers when I ride alone. In groups we just become a nusance, especially in groups where only 1/3 of the riders adhere to good group riding courtesy.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

"There are only five guys around here I know of I get that kind of workout in with, and I am NOT in great shape either."

Didn't you say you were a Cat 2 rider and IMC finisher? Better than most.

"My beef with group rides is the erroneous social BS"

In our group rides were averaging good speeds (25 - 28 mph). No one can really talk at those speeds. Besides the regular grunt, "left turn, right turn, car up" calls. Also, the social BS is what makes this sport (and cycling in general) so great. Even on the pro tour, I get a kick watching teams talk to each other in the peleton. And, I don't know the stats on cyclist/driver accidents but I feel safer in a group on the streets than alone in an accident. God forbid I crashed, at least I have someone there to call for help.

I think a definition of group ride is in order. Tom, my typical "group ride" occurs on Grosse Ile, and has anywhere from 2-10 cyclists. Usually, when there is a larger group, people start dropping off the back after 20 miles on say a 50-60 mile ride until it gets down to around 2-3. I've been out to Dearborn once for the saddlemen "group ride," and couldn't believe how many people were out there. It was one of the toughest rides I had ever been on, but it was also by far the most dangerous. I'm reluctant to go back.

Riding in the Grosse Ile group is the single biggest reason for my increase in cycling fitness this year, as there are a couple studs that regularly show up for me to really set my sights on and try to hang on their wheel. Something I don't get solo. Sounds pretty similar to your 5 guys- which I would call a "group."

So, how many people constitute a group?

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"What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind and body can achieve; and those who stay will be champions."

 
Great googly moogly -- you train in your sleep??

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That some good advice about not letting the fresh guy set the tempo I'll have to file that away for future use.