pdedes

A great little article I came across today.

Elvo

To take your cycling shorts off immediately after a ride.

=O

pdedes

you mean some people get home and they don't?

popeye

,

"god forbid, a triathlete"

rangerdavid

yeah, someone posted that on our club site a while back. Good article.

z90

Should be read in Andy Rooney's voice.

z90

That struck me as pretty poor advice, too. At least go inside the house!

FactVord

Next article please: how to address this to the freds. probably mission impossible.

z90

If you think people don't know what they're doing, then teach them. You'll probably have good success with a friendly word explaining why they shouldn't surge when it's their turn to pull. It doesn't have to be a big deal. Most people want to do it right, and will take advice when given in the right spirit.

mymojo

So life was simpler and people were smarter & better behaved in the good old days?

Elvo

And you could take off your shorts whenever you want

milkbaby

Every group has a different dynamic and "rules". If I don't like it, then I don't ride with them again... problem solved!

hammy56

he mad.

gerundium

I just did my first group ride yesterday, It was with a cycling club so that might change things a little but this is not my experience at all so far. When we got there one of the guys that had been riding for the club for a long time gave a little talk about the basics (this was an introduction training of sorts, there were a lot of new people like myself) like signalling for traffic and poles in the road and such. When we were riding one of the club members gave me some pointers to clean up my riding which i think will prove to be useful.
This is also a reasonably large club so we split up into 3 groups for different lengths and speeds, as a beginner i went with the slower group so you get used to the group riding. (slowest group speed = speed of slowest rider in the group, the casual group so to speak) This also lets you easy into it because in the casual ride it's not so bad to drop a little gap sometimes nor do they ride very compact. all changes once you move up in groups though, they do specific drills, sprints and other training things that are more aimed towards racers and skilled riders.

overall i think it comes down to finding a good group to ride with that share your ambitions, that would solve a lot of things. Many of the frustrations that i see in that article just come down to a mixed bag group where people ride with different ambitions and go off and do their own thing. cohesive groups solve half the problems i see mentioned there i think.

JamieElenbaas

There are groups and there are groups.

In my experience, if you ride with a team, you will find that the shenanigans mentioned in the article are not tolerated for long without correction. As was said above, if you don't like the dynamic of a group you are riding with, find another group, or start a new one.

StephenH

I saw that article elsewhere.

What I have noticed in the past is there is lots of handwringing about how other people are ignorant and don't ride like they should, but very few people are willing to take the time to explain anything to a newbie, either. It's not like were all born knowing this stuff. I notice even in that article, he spends a good many words complaining about ignorance, but doesn't make any effort to reduce the level, either. I've ridden with a bike shop ride, a club ride, and the rando group. One guy and one lady in the rando group and one guy in the bike shop ride have helped out some on this stuff. (And the bike shop guy that did that is a triathlete.)

bianchi10

I LOL'd at that. Good article

njkayaker

Yes. (I do it.)

The article is actually recommending that (quite clearly):

billyb0b115

he acting like an angry bird

Doohickie

Yep.

...and the author needs to get laid, or at least have a good, stiff drink. Seriously, chill.

HokuLoa

mmm, if by "smarter" you mean realizing one's limitations and seeking experiential knowledge from a more informed group rather than the current info-age-know-it-all-even-if-clueless riders, then yes. As for better behaved well THERE is a debate...

Good article and sadly accurate from my experience.

bbattle

Problems with group rides include ride leader ignoring his stated pace for the ride and people up front not holding a steady pace.

Cycling club here posts rides every week and most have avg. pace guidelines like 17mph or 20-22mph, etc. Often, riders show up wanting to ride faster than that but rather than letting them ride off the front, the group tries to keep up with them, including the ride leader. Group gets spread out, people are dropped, wore out, and still have a ways to go to get home. Always ride at what you are comfortable and capable of doing or don't complain if you get dropped when you decide to stay with a faster group.

Even worse is the riders up front not holding a steady pace. Speeding up, slowing down, speeding up, etc. is very stressful and can be dangerous in a group. Most experienced riders will quickly get out of a group like that but less experienced riders will often try to hang in there, not knowing that the jackass up front is to blame.

Everyone has ridden with "Mr. Squirrely" and he's never a popular member of any group. If you can't ride in a straight line, get to the back. If you can't match the speed of the riders in front of you, get to the back.

Don't assume everyone in a Saturday group ride is as experienced as you; particularly if the posted pace of the ride isn't very fast. Give unknown riders a bit more room until you see how well they do in a group.

If someone offers you advice while riding a group, take it. No need to get in a huff or belligerent.

Everyone has been a newbie on a group ride; don't be a jackass and yell at people who are inadvertently doing something wrong(unless the situation is critical).

I've made plenty of mistakes while riding in groups but have managed to learn a few things.

One good tip: on big charity rides, leave early and avoid the hordes at the starting line.

DScott

Better advice: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/200479

Six jours

The problem with the article is that the people who really need it won't pay any attention to it. They already have their expensive bikes and matching clothes and don't need to be told how to use them - and the folks here suggesting that we "just need to take the time to explain things" to those guys have obviously never tried.

The problem is actually simple: New cyclists used to trickle in and so there were plenty of old timers to show them the ropes. The sport also tended to attract individualists and iconoclasts because it was an unusual and "exotic" sport. Those folks were usually interested in learning the "right way" to do it.

Then Lance Armstrong got mainstream and upper-middle class 30-somethings headed to the boutique and walked out with $10,000 worth of expertise - so many of them, and with such lousy attitudes, that there weren't enough "old guard" to get them sorted out. The result, of course, is the blind leading the blind, and now the local club ride is a bloody crash fest.

But hey, who needs experience and skill when you've got a $200 helmet that matches your frame?

nosignature

it is? in what sad sack backwater cycling town does this happen? i have never once seen a crash on any of my local rides, most because we rip descents and corners specifically to get the squirrely guys to the back of the pack.

the author complains about a group ride not being "cycling darwinism." then he pines for the days when riders were uninvited from the group ride if they didn't seem receptive enough to whatever mysterious wisdom that the cycling elders were gracious enough to pass down. and he's a lawyer? he might want to practice establishing a consistent argument before his next case.