Large group ride holding up traffic
 

Last tuesday i went on a club ride that ive done 4 times, there were about 75 riders and we were doing hills and regrouping between them. The hills were long and twisty and the roads very narrow, lots of blind corners. Pretty much impossible to pass safely. The problem was that cars would get stuck behind us for minutes, eventually getting frustrated enough to pass, thinking the group is much smaller than it is. Risking one blind corner to pass is one thing, but usually the pack is strung out over multiple blind corners and the car has to merge into the ride which cant be fun for anyone. There were two particularly egregious drivers that I saw, both fancy cars, and one of them narrowly avoided a head on collision trying to pass us. I was on a single speed and was jogging up the steep parts so as the caboose I tried to warn the cars not to pass, even going so far as to run in front of a frustrated car trying to go around the double yellow to pass another car and the ride.

I think while the cars were dangerous, our behavior is kind of obnoxious. Don't really know how it could be rectified though, these are not busy roads and maybe cars should just have to deal with waiting 5+ minutes behind cyclists climbing at 5 mph. There have been attempts to split the group up, but due to the regroups and generally high fitness level of the riders, the front group just gets brought back by people in the back. Enforcing a really slow roll is very obnoxious and comes with problems of its own. Do any of you know of massive group club rides like this? The renegade race training rides are much more courteous to traffic, but the nature of this hill climb ride doesn't really allow us to be. Egan Ride for any of you bay area folks.

Expedia Road Rage Report 2015

"Fifty-one percent of Americans report that they loathe sharing the road with bad drivers, more than cyclists, buses, taxis, joggers and walkers combined."

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You were on a single speed doing hills?:eek:

Agree that the sheer size of the group makes this a huge aggravation for anybody following in a car. There likely needs to be some form of club policy limiting a group size to 12-15. I quit riding with one of the local clubs when there were too many what they call "show and go" rides, with no designated leader, just a big unorganized group of 20 riders or so. I witnessed much really poor decisions by people like passing cars stopped at a light on the left side, when everybody, cyclists included, were going straight, unsafe right on reds onto roads without a shoulder, etc. I gave up and now only ride with a small group of 3-4 other people.

This is make believe.

75? why on Earth would anyone join such a big group? wutz the point?

Ya think?

75 of any vehicle on a road is obnoxious, and generally requires permitting.

Trying to win a Darwin Award?

I had to jog/walk for a good amount of it, once it gets above 10% grade I start falling apart on my 42x18. Since I couldn't compete I decided to focus on traffic control, wish there was a way to convey to the cars the sheer size of the group when going up a twisty hill.

riding in a massive pack can be exhilarating because of how powerful the draft is, but yeah going down the hills in such a large group was pretty miserable.

sounds exciting. would be nice if you could close down those roadways, just for the cpl hrs the group is out there

Its really fun! Most of the groups around here really don't require roads being shut down and "share the road" quite well. Frankly I think this hill climbing ride does not benefit from being so large, the roads are too narrow and winding for us to benefit from the speed a large group provides

Well, the inevitable pile-up will be entertaining as hell.

its actually not very funny, earlier in the year we had a few bad crashes, one that was horrific. Its a dangerous sport and the lockdowns/zwift made things worse

I have enough trouble riding steep windy hilly roads with blind turns when I ride by myself.

That's my point, 75 randos descending on a narrow road is an incredibly stupid and dangerous situation. The only thing funny about it is that the disaster is so utterly predictable, yet there you and they are.

I'm not sympathetic with adults getting hurt while intentionally doing absurdly stupid things. I don't wish bad on these people, but don't expect us to shed a tear when the inevitable wreck happens.

cycling doesn't have to be a dangerous sport

As a solo tourer or commuter, I don't feel at all guilty if I hold up a few cars on narrow roads, as I don't have a choice but to be on those roads. Especially since I'm using the roads for their primary function, which is to go from point A to B. If traffic gets backed up more than several cars, I can pull off.

As a cyclist in a group, I'm using the road for pleasure and exercise. It's much different, and without the same moral high ground.

I'd only quibble with that a little bit. I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect normal rules to apply to me when I'm using the road for pleasure and exercise. Where I think this goes over the line is that these groups are claiming rights that solo and paired cyclists don't have in order to keep their groups coherent. I don't respect group coherence as a purpose deserving special consideration, especially if we're talking about groupings in the dozens.

Most of the time cycling isn't a sport at all.

Like when you're going on a group ride with 75 people. That's not a sport, that's a crowd.

I recommend two solutions to this potential catastrophe: 1.) All riders should stay single-file, and as far to the right (or left, in Britain) as they can. There is no excuse for being out in the middle of the road, off of the shoulder. If, during times of no motor traffic, the group does spread out, laterally, then the command "Car Back", from the rear-most rider in the group or group section, should prompt an immediate response from all riders to assume a single-file as far to the right (or left) as they can. If you re not capable of this level of courtesy or control, you shouldn't be on a group ride. 2.) The ride leader should choose a route/time-of-day that is most-likely to minimize the risk inherent in obstructing motor traffic. Share the road.

There’s a member of this forum who has done more than one Cycle Oregon on either a SS or fixie, although I believe he can flip the wheel for a lower gear. I actually climbed for a bit with him during the day from Ft. Klamath up to (and around) the rim road of Crater Lake in 2021.

In every place I have lived, group rides are generally broken down into groups (A, B+, B, C, D, etc). Getting 75 people into a single "group" is odd.

Your threads are very strange and almost seem to be trolling.

The group is too damn big. This can't be coordinated with 75 riders.