Originally Posted by abshipp

I envy your weekly rides, in a way.

I usually ride by myself, and whenever I do ride with others I find myself painfully slow. I'm not competitive in any meaningful way, even with myself, so I never put in the effort to get any faster.

The last open to the public group ride I went on was a 30 mile gravel ride during which I was way off the back almost the whole time. The ride organizer kept hanging back occasionally, which I appreciated, but I could tell that I was holding him back from the ride with his buddies that he really wanted. It didn't help that I was underbiking a bit with 38mm tires on a 35lb touring/randonneuring bike with fenders and luggage. Perhaps a dedicated gravel bike would make things a bit better.

There is one club that does scheduled road rides through the spring and summer, but I haven't ever made it out to any of them, somewhat due to paragraph 2 above. At least I do have a true road bike that wouldn't be totally out of place.

Maybe this year.