Originally Posted by
big john
I don't think it's an ego thing, at least not at the heart of it. I do about 100 group rides per year, 1000 group rides in 10 years. I started with this club in 1989 when I was 35. People age out and younger people come in. If the ride isn't organized with specific rules what happens is whoever is feeling good will go to the front and hammer. Those who can keep up, suck wheel, or trade pulls will dictate the pace. People like me get dropped. It's not personal, it's the nature of fast group rides.
I am friends with some of the fastest people out there. They wait for me most of the time (eventually). Nobody "resents" my pace. If they do, they can go off by themselves or speak up.
Originally Posted by
Biker395
Yea, me too. I don't think it's so much ego as it is that people ride at a pace that they are most comfortable with ... dictated by the combination of their ability and desire to ride hard.
We ride with some seriously fast people, and they either wait for us at the top of the climb, or just go off and do their own thing. The slower people just give most of us a chance to rest, grab some food or catch up. It's all good.
I can certainly accept both of your viewpoints, but knowing the crowd where I am, some of it is ego. In fact, I once heard one of the most competitive of local riders comment "I enjoy seeing the other guy hurting." I used the word ego; perhaps there is another (and psychological) word for that attitude?
Either way, I'm good with my leisurely pace that relieves stress instead of causing dissension - for me or anyone else.
And having long ago made peace with my mortality, I acknowledge that while anyone can potentially overdo it, I don't shape my riding around anxiety over my heart.