Why I don't do 'group' rides

[Bigtallfatbloke]

I read a lot about group/organized rides, but I avoid them like the plague...why?

1) most riders are on fast road bikes not a touring bike like I have to drag around

2) I can't stop when I like for fear of disrupting the ride and feeling useless

3) I don't like looking up some blokes fat arse...why arn't there more women on these rides?

4) Why do riders always want to talk to me when I am clearly out of puff?

5) The trip to the start is often longer than the actual ride and the trip back is ...well just not very attractive

6) not enough women on the ride...erm..did I already say that?

 

[Keith Oates]

So instead of saying 'why I don't do group rides', you really mean 'I only want to do group rides with women'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[gezza]

I read a lot about group/organized rides, but I avoid them like the plague...why?

1) most riders are on fast road bikes not a touring bike like I have to drag around

2) I can't stop when I like for fear of disrupting the ride and feeling useless

3) I don't like looking up some blokes fat arse...why arn't there more women on these rides?

4) Why do riders always want to talk to me when I am clearly out of puff?

5) The trip to the start is often longer than the actual ride and the trip back is ...well just not very attractive

6) not enough women on the ride...erm..did I already say that?

BTFB,
mate i was in exactly the same position August of last year,when i first started with a club,this was with the Kingston Wheelers.I must of weighed 20stone at the time and was using a spesh tri-cross and i was always the slowest(some say i still am) ,the club runs i go out on everyone waits if i start to fall behind(especially at the top of hills) but we always re-group etc.I have made so many new friends,getting lots of encouragement and with the help of the club i am entered into the etape 08 this year and my weight has now plummeted to 17st

i have also noticed that when i first started i was constantly out of breath and talking gibberish(some people say i still do) ,but now,words are being strung properly together,a sign of losing weight(i hope) and not constantly out of breath

try and find a decent club that is friendly,like i did .Get involved(i'm helping out today on their surrey league race day)maybe if they have a pub social night go along and talk etc,a pint of the black stuff is always good !.

You never know !!!!!!!

 

[Steve Austin]

I'm not a big fan of Group riding on the road tbh.

Just off to meet the Off-road group i ride with, but if i were on the road, i would rather ride on my own.

 

[Alan Frame]

Reminds me of my club run days of yesteryear.....too slow for the fast group, too fast for the slow group so I ended up riding round on my own all day !

Unless there was something else people weren't telling me about.

 

[walker]

I read a lot about group/organized rides, but I avoid them like the plague...why?

1) most riders are on fast road bikes not a touring bike like I have to drag around

2) I can't stop when I like for fear of disrupting the ride and feeling useless

3) I don't like looking up some blokes fat arse...why arn't there more women on these rides?

4) Why do riders always want to talk to me when I am clearly out of puff?

5) The trip to the start is often longer than the actual ride and the trip back is ...well just not very attractive

6) not enough women on the ride...erm..did I already say that?

1) certain groups/rides have a slow group to join, but if you join a road group expect road bikes.

2) the only time you need to stop is at the cafe stop or dedicated 'pit stops', work on your endurance.

3) if your looking at a 'fat blokes' arse then your probably in the right group anyway, but most of us cyclist's have nice svelte bums

4) Their showing off, simple as.

5) Why not drive to the start or nearer the start and join the group then, rocket science it is not. oh, and don't let anyone see you take it out of the car, you'd get stick

6) join the club's womens group.

 

[rich p]

I cycle with 2 or 3 friends and we natter all the way round interspersed with competitive bits on the hills and straight stretches and includes a breakfast stop near the end. It's not a big group but I find it more fun than just doing it on my own and it definitely motivates me to go out if you're meeting someone. I also work harder with the element of competition and we also arrange weekend trips elsewhere with copious drinking involved too!

 

[Joe24]

Not like that at the club i go to.
There are a couple of guys on tourers, if we have gone up a big hill and got split up then we do stop, there are a couple of women that go on the ride, if you are out of puff then other people are so they dont talk aswell, and ther are some nice women on the ride.
Find a good club to go with, and you soon start building up fitness to where you can talk where you used to be out of fitness. I find it easier to go up hills with a group then on my own and more fun on long rides.

 

[gbb]

Depends on the group i suppose...
I'm a lone rider....but i was out with SWMBO last sunday for a very steady ride (she's a bit under the weather).
Along came a group of 6 or 8....steady ride, chatting away, and the lead rider invited us to join them...which was nice

As the wife wasnt too good (she actually turned round shortly after and went home )...i kindly decined their offer. 'We're just having a steady one thanks'

Once on my own, i tried to catch them, but they must have gone down a different road.

I dont want to commit to regular times for riding...prefer to go when and if i want to....but it's a shame i missed an opportunity last week.

 

[Pete]

Consider a forum ride. Some are announced on this forum but more on ACF - have a look there too. The main ones I went on were SimonL(3.14159)'s FNRTTC's* which were I suppose mostly fairly easy-going all-comers-welcome sort of rides (unless Simon says otherwise - some months he lays on a faster ride). I still fell behind on occasion (I'm the slowest of the slow) but the others waited for me without any uncomfortable feelings. Hell, on the easier rides there were some folks walking up the Beacon...

As for me, I can't consider any serious riding at the moment, too unfit and my back and shoulders troubling me at the moment. But hopefully it will come back.

*Friday Night Ride To The Coast - usually London to Brighton, start midnight.

 

[Milo]

There is a Chippenham cycle club but tbh i think im a bit young as whenever i spot club runs there all a lot older (and faster) than me and tbh id prefer to only ride with 1 or 2 people.

 

[piedwagtail91]

I read a lot about group/organized rides, but I avoid them like the plague...why?

1) most riders are on fast road bikes not a touring bike like I have to drag around

2) I can't stop when I like for fear of disrupting the ride and feeling useless

3) I don't like looking up some blokes fat arse...why arn't there more women on these rides?

4) Why do riders always want to talk to me when I am clearly out of puff?

5) The trip to the start is often longer than the actual ride and the trip back is ...well just not very attractive

6) not enough women on the ride...erm..did I already say that?

i ride with groups but would agree with most of the points except 3( the women part!) & 6 . in the case of the clubs i ride with, one ,the touring club has loads of women , sometimes they outnumber the men, and in the other club there are a handful of women but one in particular is a top rider and regularly drops the blokes on climbs, doesn't bother me as i can't climb fast, but it's good to see riders who think they are good getting their legs ripped of by a woman
as a note to point three it's even worse when the bloke in front is in dire need of new shorts because his old ones are threadbare!

 

[girofan]

That's the trouble BTFB, women have a better power to weight ratio than most men, and instead of looking at a shapely derriere you'll find yourself waving it goodbye as it disappears into the distance!

 

[alecstilleyedye]

i have to say i enjoy riding in a group. today, i did 110km with some seriously fast roadies. kept with them, having taken some turns at the front, before a climb completely destroyed me and i ended up limping the last 15km home at my own (snail's) pace.

still chuffed though, that's the furthest i've ridden in one day.

oddly, i was able to ride 6" off the wheel in front, but when i got home and we took the kids to the park, i was pushing the pram into the back of people's legs

 

[Dave5N]

3) I don't like looking up some blokes fat arse...why arn't there more women on these rides?

You shouldn't be looking at his arse, you should be looking at his bottom bracket!