Almost put off group rides

[cyberknight]

Last weeks club run ........
Riding with the fast group very nicely when the people in front slow down and swerve to avoid some roadkill , i touch my brakes and swerve to avoid it when i get a touch of wheels , the rider behind me had run into my back wheel .
I manage to keep upright but he falls off !
I check to see if hes ok but just get a lot of grumbling like hes trying to make out its my fault and the rest of the ride hardly anyone talks to me .
In the past i have generally gone with the slower group but i find they have slowed down so i decided to move up to the fast group but i feel like no one gives a monkeys all on their bikes 3-4 times what mine cost and more .I cant do a ride every weekend let alone a mid week ride due to work /family but i have been riding with the club for a number of years and know most of the faces/ names of regular riders but i feel out of their close knit loop , i dont expect to be best buddies dont get me wrong but almost feels like the fast group are looking down on me .
Do i just pootle at the front of the medium group , do i just ride solo from now on ?

 

[Pale Rider]

Cliquey gits.

Next time, do a proper job of crashing their poxy peloton.

 

[snorri]

Why waste your limited leisure time with people who don't make you feel welcome in their company?

 

[Easytigers]

Why waste your limited leisure time with people who don't make you feel welcome in their company?

+1 to this ^^^

 

[i hate hills]

Give them a big f**k off and ride yourself or find folk who's heads are not up one another collective a***s.

 

[roadrash]

^^^^^^^^^this^^^^^^^

 

[Big Dave laaa]

There's a club near me that are famously up themselves. It's a shame because they do some nice rides but lifes too short to put up with idiots.

 

[screenman]

Having ridden with lots of fast club rides over many years I have never come across this. I was though dragged up in an era where group riding skills were passed down by older club members, which does not seem to happen so much nowadays, difficult to tell or show somebody how to do something when they know it all already.

 

[Mrs M]

Don't waste time worrying about this clique, if they want to behave like that it's their problem.
Maybe you and some of the nicer members could do your own thing.
You're probably not the only one feeling the way you do, although it won't seem that way just now.
Never mind them, carry on .

 

[Lonestar]

Having ridden with lots of fast club rides over many years I have never come across this. I was though dragged up in an era where group riding skills were passed down by older club members, which does not seem to happen so much nowadays, difficult to tell or show somebody how to do something when they know it all already.

I remember that.Being a member of Crest C.C in the late 70's.

 

[puffinbilly]

Stick with it @cyberknight - more than likely a lot of the group are like you but just need an ice breaker and want to get to know you better. People always side with those they know better - possibly guy that came off has more history than you with the group so they don't want to upset the apple cart. Had a similar situation in a different sport where I was the newbie and ran foul of someone on virtually day one and had a situation similar to yours - however after a few visits it was made clear that others thought the guy was an idiot but didn't want to risk being singled out.

 

[Pale Rider]

The problem with the incident itself is that slowing of a moving object cannot be seen.

It's why cash for crash works so well, if the brake lights of the car in front are disabled, the following driver will crash into it, no matter how careful and observant that driver is.

It seems this group have seized on this unfortunate incident to single out the OP and make him feel unwelcome.

They need to understand there are risks to riding like pretendy pros.

I usually call 'slowing' or 'stopping' in similar circumstances.

But projecting the call backwards is not easy, and if there are calls being made all the time they tend to be ignored even if they are heard.

 

[xxDarkRiderxx]

Why waste your limited leisure time with people who don't make you feel welcome in their company?

I 2nd that...., but on the other hand to you give a flying f#>$ what anybody else thinks.

 

[Racing roadkill]

A lot of clubs are cliquey. A lot aren't. Find one that's more welcoming.

 

[Pikey]

Last weeks club run ........
Riding with the fast group very nicely when the people in front slow down and swerve to avoid some roadkill , i touch my brakes and swerve to avoid it when i get a touch of wheels , the rider behind me had run into my back wheel .
I manage to keep upright but he falls off !
I check to see if hes ok but just get a lot of grumbling like hes trying to make out its my fault and the rest of the ride hardly anyone talks to me .
In the past i have generally gone with the slower group but i find they have slowed down so i decided to move up to the fast group but i feel like no one gives a monkeys all on their bikes 3-4 times what mine cost and more .I cant do a ride every weekend let alone a mid week ride due to work /family but i have been riding with the club for a number of years and know most of the faces/ names of regular riders but i feel out of their close knit loop , i dont expect to be best buddies dont get me wrong but almost feels like the fast group are looking down on me .
Do i just pootle at the front of the medium group , do i just ride solo from now on ?

Apart from the wheel touching and the crash, this was my experience of a fast group in a club I used to ride with a couple of years ago. Even go to the point where they were purposefully dropping new riders, including me, in the middle of nowhere.

I think it's a problem with the Johnny come late lies on their three grand bikes who want the exclusive prestige of being in the fast group, of which there are an increasing number, not the decent club riders.

Sack that group off, they sound like a bunch of twelks, it's what I did. Ride with the medium and slower groups and go solo if you want to go for a fast beasting. There is no point in being in a group, if they act like dicks, it will just make you miserable and that's not what riding bikes is about.

Whew, rant over, think I exorcised some issues there