For about the last 3 months I have been doing a 40 mile group ride every Tuesday evening with a group of about 50 riders. It was scarry at first. It was all I could do to keep from getting dropped (not good when you don’t know the way home) and riding in the “peleton” was terrifying. After gaining some experience and skills, this ride has become my favorite part of my training and has done more than anything else to increase the average cycling speed I can hold in a tri.
We ride the same route and the ride is kind of informally structured into fast and easy sections. This type of riding has improved my cycling greatly. Working to keep up for those fast sections has reaped me big benefits. I used to only have one speed which was faster than the easy parts but I could not hang on during the fast parts. I have tried to do intervals on my own but I am morally weak. However, being lazy, I am highly motivated to sprint to close a gap and get back in the draft so I don’t have to ride 20 miles home by myself. Low and behold, all these short sprints to stay with the group have made me stronger. Now, I take my turns at the front and I’m even a factor in some of the impromtu sprints we have along the route. The best part is that pushing on the hard parts and hills has given me more power and now I can “cruise” at a higher speed than before.
Besides being able to ride faster now, riding in a group is really fun in and of itself. Moving through the group and trying to pick which wheel you want to be on for the fast sections is really fun. If you’re having a bad day you can “sit in.” If your feeling good, get yourself in position, come up with a plan and try to win the final sprint. All the while, you’ll be improving your tri performance without even thinking about it.
Congratulations - you have discovered one of the best ways to improve your cycling fitness and skills. Unfortunately, many triathletes don’t seem to get this.
Group rides are good but can be a double edged sword if they are not administered correctly.
I got bitched out in the bank yesterday by a woman who found out I owned the local bike shop. She was complaining about the, and this is exactly what she said, “Wild group of bikers who take over the road on Wednesday night.”
She’s right. Our local Wednesday ride is so irresponsibly administered none of our employees go near it. The liability is too great for our business.
I was driving the opposite direction of one of the club’s rides a week ago Tuesday and this is what I saw with my own eyes:
A rider on a triathlon bike who had been dropped from the group riding home at sunset (exactly 8:51 PM, dusk) 13 miles from home with no reflective material and no light on a road with a speed limit of 45 mph only 9 miles from where another cyclist was killed last May 2nd under identical circumstances.
A rider dropped by the ride after a crash riding a dmaged bike with blood streaming down his right arm and torn clothing. The ride did not wait for him. I spoke to him the following day: No one on the ride offered assistance. They just rode away.
A woman with a flat tire walking along the road who had been dropped from the ride and left to fend for herself. She didn;t have the necessary equipment to change the flat and no one stopped to help her.
In addition to that, we have had the Dearbon Police complain to me on three occasions this year about the ride. We are guilty by association. I tell them “I have nothing to do with that club or those rides- we ride at 7:00 AM in light traffic with less than 10 riders and pretty much always double or single file and mostly observe traffic laws.” but the cops come here when there is a problem anyway. One of the police officers, Stanley Kulikowski, is a four time USCF state champion and former category 2 rider.
Clubs have some obligations when they hold group rides. I see them as (just my opinion):
Require helmet use.
Provide supplemental liability insurance through a governing body, such as USAT or USA Cycling.
Conduct regular clinics on the techniques needed for group rides so new riders can become educated in group riding skills and ettiquette (so they don;t do things like yell “BRAKING!” and “CLEAR” when they come to an intersaection).
Monitor size and location of groups and scale them to available road space and traffic patterns.
Alert the local police to the time and location of the ride so their shift knows the ride is going on.
Require riders to be self-sufficient with necessary lights, reflectors, spare inner tubes and CO2 inflators, etc. to return safely from a ride after dark, or better yet, avoid riding late altogether.
Group rides can be a very good resource if responsibly administered. Or, they can be a civic problem that gives the sport a bad name.
Ive done several group roadie rides here in IL. Your right, its a great way to build speed and bike handling skills. I just wish my schedule would allow for more rides.
Along the same lines, I was disgusted one evening on a group ride that dropped a young woman in an area of the county she wasn’t familiar with (rural roads). First of all, the ride was supposed to be 16-18 mph, but ended up 20+. Secondly, was everybody’s training ride so important they couldn’t help this girl out?
Well, there has to be one person or a group of core people who are willing to dedicate the time and have the skills to coordinate the rides. This includes doing the training and instruction of riders new to group rides.
Over the past three weeks we have held “Skills and Drills” clinics for small numbers of customers to give them the very basic knowledge for participating safely and responsibly in a group ride. The curriculum for these clinics is likely to grow into a more formal course of instruction. The issue with this is (like everything else) it costs us money. How to we recoup the cost?
You just discovered the most fun thing you can do on a bike! I group ride 3X per week with a reasonably experienced strong group. A few current or ex Cat 2/3 racers, a few mountain bike racers and a half dozen triathletes also. The others are solid roadie enthusiasts. It’s absolutely the best way to improve your cycling skills. You really learn from the roadies. You’ll never become a skilled bike handler training solo.
The only thing about many roadie groups is that it can be hard for newbies to bring into as they usually get dropped unless of course they’re quite strong/experienced. Fortunately our pack tends to break into about three groups and if the newbie can hang with the third group then they’ll be OK. If not, they’re out of luck. When I first joined getting dropped was quite routine and frustrating. I rode home alone on a few occassions after being dropped. But I stuck with it and now can usually hang in with the lead group.
You are correct that any group of people, including cyclists, has the potential to devolve into anarchy and if they do so they should be severly punished. However, I think many triathletes use this “roadies are bad” generalization as an excuse to avoid any group riding and thus they are missing out on a great training opportunity. Of course, as you point out, picking the wrong group is a great opportunity to get lost, hurt or killed so caution is advised. Find a group that has a leader who enforces order.
What I have found helpful is the accelerations and being forced to ride out of my comfort zone. I’ve been surprised at how much this has helped my steady state time trial/tri riding pace.
I’m with you though, it’s not worth getting killed or hurt for so I will check out if things ever get crazy.
The fear of getting dropped is part of what makes it such great training. The first ride I went on I was stupid enough to go without a map and I realized at about the half way point that a) I was at what I thought my limit was just trying to keep up but I had 20 more miles to go and b) I had only a vague idea of how to get home.
I’m sure there are many professional racers who have not worked as hard to stay on a wheel and close gaps as I did that night and I was a different rider after just one ride - I could go faster than I thought I could and I will never leave home without knowing how to get back again!
Just got back from a group ride I do regularly on Wed evenings, usually a fitness ride at 20-22mph average speed with about 6-8 per group. Not last night, ended up with people just joining on as we rode until we had about 15 people in the group and a couple of “all-stars” trying to push the pace to 24-25mph, totally unorganized, people riding side-by-side on narrow roads, it was just total crap - yeah group rides are great to build fitness and a good change of pace to the solo riding during triathlon training but if you have a bunch of people who think its the tour de france it sucks. JMO.
Some good points. Not all group rides are great. People need to find the one(s) that work for them and their needs.
Over the years, for tri training I have found the best group rides to be those with 3 - 10 people who are of similar fitness and like mind. With a group this size you get the effects/benefits of a group ride, but also less risks than with an even larger group. People can take long or short pulls and you can get better group concensus on pace, and route.
When I was doing specific IM race prep, I would prefer or seek out an even smaller group( 2 -4) of very like minded folks or just ride on my own. Main reason being that, when you want to get in 4 hours of hard riding stoping every 15 minutes for a flat, a bathroom break, a coffee stop, another flat can get frustrating.
You have a very valid point. I have felt the same way on more than one accasion.
One of the double edged swords is that group rides can degenerate into pack rides/races. These are two different animals. Someone sprints up ahead of the group, and then the person pulling decides the message communicated was that he was riding too slow so he jumps to speed up to the sprinters speed. Often times this is because of the guests (non Club members) who have been invited to ride with the group and are not all that familiar with the group’s practices. No group leader increases the problem. Then there is the trickle down effect through the group. I think one of the main contributing reasons group rides sometimes get out of hand is that often there is no designated group leader. Either no one wants the responsibility, no one wants to be the bad guy when it is appropriate to say whoa or no one wants to be with the “B” group that ends up getting dropped by the faster riders. I think it is unforgiveable to drop people and ride off never stopping to pick them up, especially new “strangers”. Or riding by someone who crashed and leaving them. What a statement about a cycling club.
I am also surprised by the attitudes of some “elite” riders that blow through red lights when there is no apparent cross traffic. I guess the mentality is that the same road, the same laws, the same rules don’t apply to them because they are so much better? It always seemed to me that if the workout was so important, didn’t one benefit more from all the stopping and re-accelerations?
As a club matures or goes through the cycles of expansion and contraction of the membership, they end up struggling with this issue. This is certainly a subject that could benefit from the experiences of other clubs. Personally, I have not found many sources of information on this topic other than the “expert” opinions of certain cycling “legends”. Often their contribution is more to be so derogatory as to alienate the groups rather than to be constructive in an effort to improve the situation.
Bottom line: If some party doesn’t take responsibilty for administering the ride- it is not administered.
That has nothing to do with some B.S. perception of “elitist” attitudes or any other excuse. That;s a convenient excuse to say, “The bad racers showed up and ruined the ride!”
Baloney. No one takes charge. They aren’t allowed to- then they are stigmatized as “elitist”, “know-it-all”, a “racer” or whatever.
Some groups are content just meeting in the parking lot and going basically without control. They cause problems.
Sooner or later someone will die. Then the real finger pointing will start: “It’s the racer’s fault!” “It’s the club’s fault!” “It’s your fault!” “It’s my fault!” “They are elitist!”
Bullshit. Someone needs to run the show. When they step up to the plate to do it the rest of the club will be full of criticism and suggestions- but none of them will shoulder the responsibilty of making it good. They will be ready to label others at “elitist” and critisize them.
That’s the reality. So we went away and made our own ride and the cops haven’t bitched about us once.
This statement seems so contrary to what many tri bike riders insist regarding road bikes and group rides. That there is nothing to be gained from learning group riding skills, improving bike handling, and any benefits from sprinting to close gaps, drafting, pulling, rolling off the front, etc.
I’d be careful if I were you. There is probably a request in the mail for the revocation of your tri membership.
Okay, I give up. Hey, I think its great you have discovered this joy. You are right about a steep learning curve at first. And right too about how motivating hanging on for dear life can be for fear of getting dropped. But your experience also demonstrates that progress can be very fast if not steady. The excitement and enthusiasm you have communicated is terrific and infectious. I hope it motivates others to try group riding. I have yet to encounter a rider who, after getting involved with group rides, didn’t believe that the group rides had made him a stronger and faster rider and more capable rider.
Oh yeah, and what’s up with the cool guys who buckle their chinstraps behind their helmets on the local club rides? That’s so cool… I saw it on the Tour de France too. Where the road is closed and the riders are professionals.
I’m not riding with those people. I scrapped up dead brains and washed blood off the road once last year. I’m not doing it again.
I you think this is bad, come to SoCal on a Sun. morning and join one of the “administered” mega-rides. The problem with even administered rides is, that starting at a certain size the peloton is not safe anymore, since the guys supposedly controlling the group become “outnumbered” by “guest-riders” who use those rides for personal d***-measuring contests.
The problem is, as you mentioned, that the community associates every rider out thre with those guys who run red lights, cut into opposite lanes of traffic or do even more scary stunts.
I think L.A. or another celebrity rider from the US would do cycling a great service by promoting safe and responsible riding.
Not as flashy as fighting against cancer and hearing loss, but it might come in handy when communities and municipalities are refusing to host rides and triathlons (or eve worse, ban cyclists from multi-use paths) because of the bad reputation cycling is getting from some idiots who on purpose leave their brain (if they ever had one) at the doorstep when they clip in.
Our collegiate cycling team is constantly whining about that they are not getting enough community support. Well, maybe the community would be more supportive if their collegiate training rides would be more civilized, would obey the rules of traffic and respect the community they are riding in?
If cycling is a white-collar sport in this country, how is it that most of those educated individuals act like brain dead as soon as they get on a bicycle?
Along the same lines, I was disgusted one evening on a group ride that dropped a young woman in an area of the county she wasn’t familiar with (rural roads). First of all, the ride was supposed to be 16-18 mph, but ended up 20+. Secondly, was everybody’s training ride so important they couldn’t help this girl out?
Sorry to hijack, just venting.
Never believe a roadie when they tell you its an easy ride at 16-18 mph.
This is one of the things that make college group rides great. We want community support, so we as upperclassmen make sure to give lessons and set a good example for those on their first group ride. When you wear our school jersey you better have a helmet on, and you better follow the rules of the road, even if every other car and biker around Boston ignores them.
I feel that since we are also a club we care much more about each other and are much more willing to stop and wait for someone who is dropped for whatever reason. I think it would be very beneficial if before every ride you had a 10-15 minute “meet and great” type event. If those going out on the ride know each other as people and not as “the elitist” or the “newbie” they would be more courteous towards each other when out on the ride. It might also help people figure out who they can expect to hang with and who will probably leave them in the dust.
Just a thought. Group riding when done well is 10x more fun then riding alone, so IMO it’s worth 10x the work to make sure it’s done right.
"If cycling is a white-collar sport in this country, how is it that most of those educated individuals act like brain dead as soon as they get on a bicycle? "