Okay I am bringing my Tri bike with the 1080 front and WB disc cover on rear. LOL… How long do I hang with the group if they are slow and is it okay to go into the aero position if and when I am taking my turn at lead ? Only road bike I have right now is a old Atala so that is why I am bringing the Tri bike. need answers b4 5:30 so get at it! I do not know these people except being asked to ride with them at a LBS. Told the “a” group rides average 20 -22 mph and its a 24 mile ride. I got that no problem should be able to bring on 22.5 - 23 mph no problem. Were meeting at a high school so would I look even more like a ass if I do a track work out after.
I look even more like a ass
As if that were possible.
I do have the ass part covered.
Get there early with your trainer and get a good warm up session in. TDF TT style!
Good idea I might go with the rollers or I can throw my Johnny G spin bike in the back of buddies pick up truck and warm up in the bed of it. LOL
This will be your first and last ride with the group if you go with the proposed approach. That said, they might have invited you to top up their reserve of ‘triathlete stories’, in which case, this ride is "gold Gerry; gold.
Okay I am bringing my Tri bike with the 1080 front and WB disc cover on rear. LOL… How long do I hang with the group if they are slow and is it okay to go into the aero position if and when I am taking my turn at lead ? Only road bike I have right now is a old Atala so that is why I am bringing the Tri bike. need answers b4 5:30 so get at it! I do not know these people except being asked to ride with them at a LBS. Told the “a” group rides average 20 -22 mph and its a 24 mile ride. I got that no problem should be able to bring on 22.5 - 23 mph no problem. Were meeting at a high school so would I look even more like a ass if I do a track work out after.
There is a rule that you don’t bring a tri bike to a group ride. didn’t you know this?
Search the archive for “group ride tri bike”.
If there was a ever a bad way of leaving a first impression… at least take the 808/disk off and put the training wheels on the bike.
Peace
Some groups will accept a triathlete (I only have a tri-bike, and it’s no problem) , but here are some hints:
If you can stay with the group, why not use the Atala?
If you must use the tri-bike then:
Lose the fancy wheels, since you have another set on your road bike.
Stay up in the hoods the entire time, even when taking the lead.
Commit to the ride, don’t blow them off if they are a little slow (major asshole move).
If you want to do a longer workout, don’t announce it.
I did ask b4 hand if it was okay to bring Tri bike and LBS guy said there were a few that road tri bikes there and that it would be no problem. I do prefer to ride it.
You can bolt if they are too slow but you then you can’t ride with them again . . . They might be nice so stick around long enough to find out. Some of them might be triathletes so don’t worry about running after. You might make some new friends.
In any bike store group ride that averages 20-22, there are bound to be a few guys who are just screwing around who can go quite a bit faster if they care enough so don’t get oo cocky just yet 
Once caught a rabbit in front of me. When I passed I never looked back until about 3 miles down road. He was on my rear wheel whole time. What do I do I check out his ride of course. Low and behold he’s running Power cranks. Man he would make Frank proud.
Once caught a rabbit in front of me. When I passed I never looked back until about 3 miles down road. He was on my rear wheel whole time. What do I do I check out his ride of course. Low and behold he’s running Power cranks. Man he would make Frank proud.
3…2…1…
This will be your first and last ride with the group if you go with the proposed approach. That said, they might have invited you to top up their reserve of ‘triathlete stories’, in which case, this ride is "gold Gerry; gold.
LOL! Nice!
We just added some to one of my weekly haunts … guy shows up with an IM Wisconsin sleeveless tri jersey on and full black compression socks (about 88 degrees out) - on a road bike at least. No Bento box was noted. Did I ever look so conspicuous?
Anyway, we all stuck him up front plenty, stayed behind, played possum (he actually was a pretty strong rider, pulling long and hard at 27 mph +). Eventually, we took turns attacking after a hard hill and he was gone. I did talk with him after (since hey, I am/was a tri guy as well). He said he did know what was “going on” but couldn’t “ride out of it” (his words). Good stuff.
Of course you know that their "avg" may be deceptive. Could have sections where they are cruising, and other sections they hammer, in which case what you can average alone makes little difference, it's whether you can cover the big efforts.
Don’t forget your aero helmet
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Come on guys! This was his first post!
just started riding with a new group and have been riding my road bike, honestly in the group setting it seems much better to have the handling of a road bike, that being said tonight was the first time i rode the A group weeknight ride with a goal of 23+ for a 30 mile ride, sounded easy to me but after 10 miles i got popped off the back after I took a hard pull and then changed gears at the wrong time right after I had jumped back on the back…humbling but very different than tri riding and very fun, i will be back for that ride again for sure…
No not first post . I mean C’mon the Frank Day stuff, although true was bait. Did the ride and showed up with tri bike with 1080 w /rear disc cover spiral graphic and all. Would have took them off but really had no time too getting dinner, eating with family and responding to you guys. Also a few others had some nice Zipp wheels (Although not as deep.) also so did not look that bad. Averaged a bit over 22 mph. Yes I did stay off the aero bars the whole time. I stayed with the group and did my share of pulling. I pulled to long for a bit as I did not know how long turns were. They let me know. Seemed like they traded every half mile. One person did have a Orbea tri bike and did go into the aero bars a few times. Probably more since we did not see them again after 2 mile warmup. One guy did mention he thought he was getting vertigo from my disc spiral. LOL. When we got back another person said pretty impressive you never left your big ring. Another said he was watching my cadence and my cadence was slower then the rest but that I pulled my weight and was able to stay with the “A” guy’s. I guess they were compliments. My thumbs did get a little numb from not being in the aero bars. Think thats the first time I rode more then five miles without being in aero position. All in all was fun and I did get a “nice ride” from guys after a little conversion with the “A” group after ride. Nice group of guys from what I can tell from only after lil over a hour ride. Now since I mentioned Frank again this post will self destruct in 3 2 1 …
I like riding with small groups with a similar focus. Even just one other guy can really make the time go faster and encourage some harder riding, especially when you get into a nice tempo. The big groups are too time inefficient for me, I’d rather jump in a local club race and ride a little harder.
I think you are getting too wrapped up in what people think about you and your bicycle, it’s really irrelevant. Mostly people want to know if you can be trusted to ride in a safe and steady way and that you won’t bore people talking about yourself or come unprepared to fix your bike promptly when it breaks. Beyond that, nobody cares what you ride, I show up to club races on a filthy cyclocross bike and nobody says anything let your legs do the talking when it’s appropriate, otherwise enjoy some company on the bike.