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Re: Cycling Club Drama [PatMcNichol61] [ In reply to ]
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This exactly. I’m already down to one weekly club ride, which was the Wednesday night hammer fest. At this point it almost seems like that ride isn’t going to benefit me very much anymore either. I’m better off doing my own thing or at least finding a couple riders of similar abilities that can make the rides fun, challenging and beneficial. I have some friends that I can get together with on the occasional weekend that are an hour away.

PatMcNichol61 wrote:
mickison wrote:
lanierb wrote:
AlanShearer wrote:
Take a look in the mirror

This is the best advice so far. The more I read, the more I'm persuaded that the OP shares much if not most of the blame for whatever this problem is.

It's called social awareness. If conforming to the ride norms doesn't work for you, ride alone or find a group that better fits your style.


It’s these type of threads that make me happy i ride solo. Avoid the drama. I do realize not all group rides have drama but I hear a lot of bitching about issues in group rides.


This. My dad used to say - "if you're in a group and you don't know who the a**hole is, it's probably you."

In all seriousness, it sounds like the OP did some serious training over the winter and wants to air things out. Good for him, but he probably shouldn't ride with this group anymore. I gave up group riding in about 2010 - I still like all the guys I rode with then (mostly they're older and I know them from work), but I had started doing triathlons again and it just didn't work out. It may be a good solution for the OP to start his own "club," even if it is only a handful of riders. No reason for anyone to be a jerk about it, though.
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Re: Cycling Club Drama [mwanner13] [ In reply to ]
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That might be the best solution for you. I have found that in the smaller groups, I felt a lot more accountable and I got more out of it. In the perfect world, you find a couple or three nice guys who are complete hammers and the whole thing is good competitive fun (no mercy, of course). The other part of it, and I think it might have been said before, but you can always get some miles in with the existing group on your easier days.


.

mwanner13 wrote:
This exactly. I’m already down to one weekly club ride, which was the Wednesday night hammer fest. At this point it almost seems like that ride isn’t going to benefit me very much anymore either. I’m better off doing my own thing or at least finding a couple riders of similar abilities that can make the rides fun, challenging and beneficial. I have some friends that I can get together with on the occasional weekend that are an hour away.

PatMcNichol61 wrote:
mickison wrote:
lanierb wrote:
AlanShearer wrote:
Take a look in the mirror

This is the best advice so far. The more I read, the more I'm persuaded that the OP shares much if not most of the blame for whatever this problem is.

It's called social awareness. If conforming to the ride norms doesn't work for you, ride alone or find a group that better fits your style.


It’s these type of threads that make me happy i ride solo. Avoid the drama. I do realize not all group rides have drama but I hear a lot of bitching about issues in group rides.


This. My dad used to say - "if you're in a group and you don't know who the a**hole is, it's probably you."

In all seriousness, it sounds like the OP did some serious training over the winter and wants to air things out. Good for him, but he probably shouldn't ride with this group anymore. I gave up group riding in about 2010 - I still like all the guys I rode with then (mostly they're older and I know them from work), but I had started doing triathlons again and it just didn't work out. It may be a good solution for the OP to start his own "club," even if it is only a handful of riders. No reason for anyone to be a jerk about it, though.
Last edited by: PatMcNichol61: Apr 22, 19 12:04
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Re: Cycling Club Drama [mwanner13] [ In reply to ]
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It sounds like your kinda in middle of no where so have limited “social” options. Have you thought about building your solo workouts around an “easy” group ride on wed night for yourself? Why not just adapt and ride 18 mph group ride (and sit in the group) if it’s your only weekly social ride?

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II
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Re: Cycling Club Drama [Murphy'sLaw] [ In reply to ]
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Nearly all the group rides I've done either don't allow TT bikes or strongly disapprove of them (other than TTT practices obviously). I don't really see the point of riding a TT bike like a road bike - hoods position is much more comfortable for cruising and climbing than the pursuits, and drops position is better for handling through fast technical sections or descents. Even if you only use the bars when on the front you're short-changing the guy behind who gets less draft benefit than he would from a road bike. And sadly in my experience there is a strong correlation between people who show up for group rides on a TT bike and people who either don't know or don't care how to ride safely and considerately in a group. I'd guess that's probably the main reason they're disapproved of - not so much that you can't ride a TT bike safely in a group but that a lot of people don't.
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Re: Cycling Club Drama [cartsman] [ In reply to ]
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Actually, the #1 thing I have seen is that if it is one or two folks with the TT bike or bars........they're the most likely to get dropped. The bars are there because they can't avoid getting dropped on the A ride otherwise.

If the ride has a pretty even mix of tri bikes and road bikes, no idea. Mixed bag.

Those bars won't help uphill though. You don't see the tri bikes having much success in-town where its more hilly. Everybody loves the super flat country roads. Can't hide the flab on the hills.
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Re: Cycling Club Drama [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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burnthesheep wrote:
Actually, the #1 thing I have seen is that if it is one or two folks with the TT bike or bars........they're the most likely to get dropped. The bars are there because they can't avoid getting dropped on the A ride otherwise.

If the ride has a pretty even mix of tri bikes and road bikes, no idea. Mixed bag.

Those bars won't help uphill though. You don't see the tri bikes having much success in-town where its more hilly. Everybody loves the super flat country roads. Can't hide the flab on the hills.

That's the issue, it's the type of rider that typically shows up on a TT bike more than the TT bike itself. If they're not strong enough to hang with the group without the TT bike then they're likely to be a liability. They're probably not that experienced at group riding (if they did a lot of it they'd be stronger), they're going to be tempted to get on the aerobars when the pace goes up even if they're following wheels at the time, and there may be ego issues as well (otherwise they'd be riding in a slower paced group or on a road bike).

The other type of rider I commonly see show up on a TT bike is the guy who doesn't actually seem to want to be on a group ride. Spend a lot of time hanging far enough off the back to safely be on their bars, then periodically surge past everybody and hammer off the front, often launching long range attacks before a designated sprint point, or sometimes just riding off into the distance as if they never meant to join the ride anyway (I suspect in some cases they're going deep into the red zone doing this and then turn off for a rest as soon as they get out of sight). Often wear headphones as well, very odd behaviour but I've seen it on quite a few occasions...
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Re: Cycling Club Drama [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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We still arguing about this?

If you want a workout - dont do a group ride. Don't draft. Go out by yourself and hammer until you are going to puke. You are better off than some cute little social gathering with fat dudes/women who brag they went 23 mph for an hour. No - you went 24 mph for 15 minutes - which is how long you pulled in the front. You didn't do sh*t haha
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Re: Cycling Club Drama [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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burnthesheep wrote:
The bars are there because they can't avoid getting dropped on the A ride otherwise.

I don't understand that. I'd pick my road bike for a group ride where I was marginal.
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Re: Cycling Club Drama [Twinkie] [ In reply to ]
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Twinkie wrote:
We still arguing about this?

If you want a workout - dont do a group ride. Don't draft. Go out by yourself and hammer until you are going to puke. You are better off than some cute little social gathering with fat dudes/women who brag they went 23 mph for an hour. No - you went 24 mph for 1 minute - which is how long you pulled in the front. You didn't do sh*t haha

FTFY. Around here, a few groups are big enough that unless you're a pull hog you're never going to accumulate any time on front.

You'd also be shocked how much you can suck people up a hill in a bigger group. So long the grade is like 2% or less.

If people have handling skills, and it's not racing sim, I've no problem with wheel suckers so long as you don't surge or sprint after sitting at 50 watts for an hour. Most of them I've seen aren't necessarily bragging about the pace, it's just where they are. Some do.

I feel that a good number of people rotating at high speed is from 4 to 8. Enough to suffer, but not so little to lose pace. You usually wind up seeing about 4 to 8 people in the huge groups pulling all the time anyway.

I'm a dick, but if I had to do a route for a group ride......I'd put a nice 2 to 3 minute hill right within the first 1/3 of the ride. Natural selection.
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