Bailed on a club ride

[Dayvo]

"It's rather daft to quote oneself," said mjr "but if you aspire to be like another famous self-quoter, crack on!"

I really can't see the point you're making, but if it makes you feel better, carry on.

 

[Soltydog]

Club ride today I was playing the usual mugs game of helping out by taking my turn on the front which turene out to be everyone wheelsucking till a hill then blasting past .
After 12 miles of this I was dropped again so I just stopped and turned around for a solo ride,no one has yet contacted me even Though it's a no drop ride.

I rode with a club for a while, as a ride leader & on the committee. Quite often on rides once there was a tail wind the pace would get silly & riders would be dropped I raised it at several meetings & it was to be addressed, but continued. Quite often I'd be sat at the back with the 'slowest' rider & half a mile or more back from the main group. The final straw for me was when I was a ride leader one day on my single speed & got dropped towards the end of the ride, at over 20mph, was about a mile back, so peeled off the route & did another hour or so on my own & never rode with the club again.
I generally ride solo nowadays, occasionally with a friend or a group ride on here, or the Fridays & that suits me. I'm now enjoying my cycling more than ever, sometimes miss the group thing, but happy where I am, going where & when I want at the pace I want & not having to please anyone
I'm sure there are good clubs out there that do operate a true non drop policy, but reckon Strava has a lot to answer for, some folk are always after a PR

 

[Pale Rider]

I rode with a club for a while, as a ride leader & on the committee. Quite often on rides once there was a tail wind the pace would get silly & riders would be dropped I raised it at several meetings & it was to be addressed, but continued. Quite often I'd be sat at the back with the 'slowest' rider & half a mile or more back from the main group. The final straw for me was when I was a ride leader one day on my single speed & got dropped towards the end of the ride, at over 20mph, was about a mile back, so peeled off the route & did another hour or so on my own & never rode with the club again.
I generally ride solo nowadays, occasionally with a friend or a group ride on here, or the Fridays & that suits me. I'm now enjoying my cycling more than ever, sometimes miss the group thing, but happy where I am, going where & when I want at the pace I want & not having to please anyone
I'm sure there are good clubs out there that do operate a true non drop policy, but reckon Strava has a lot to answer for, some folk are always after a PR

Dropping a rider is one thing, but dropping the leader is taking the mick.

In some groups it's not done to overtake the leader, let along dump him out the back.

Complaining about ride behaviour is awkward because what is seen as a valid complaint by one rider will be seen as childish whinging trouble making by another rider.

 

[johnblack]

Only ever ride with my mates or solo, every club ride I see near me seems packed full of try hards. I may be wrong but I'm not willing to find out.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Only ever ride with my mates or solo, every club ride I see near me seems packed full of try hards. I may be wrong but I'm not willing to find out.

Oddly enough I've had more problems with being dropped by my friends than I have with a club. Problem being that I have some fast friends. But I have the opportunity to hide among the tootlers and pootlers at club level.

 

[rivers]

I'm in a large club, and in the summer months, it's not unusual to have 130+ riders out (about half that in the winter, maybe 100+ if weather has been okay). Every week there are at least 3 volunteers for last rider duties, 1 for group 2 and 2 for group 3. And it's as it sounds, that person is the last rider from those groups back to HQ, so if someone falls off the back, has a mechanical, etc, there is someone to stay with them. Groups 2 and 3 generally have several sub groups within the group, and while we do have a no drop policy, if you find the subgroup you have put yourself in is too fast for you that day, the expectation is you will drop back to the subgroup a minute or 2 behind.

 

[johnblack]

Oddly enough I've had more problems with being dropped by my friends than I have with a club. Problem being that I have some fast friends. But I have the opportunity to hide among the tootlers and pootlers at club level.

That's bad, you've got to stick together on the flats and rollers, hills are different, we all ride them to our own pace and re-group at the top. We are pretty similar in standard so it works well and when someones having a bad day, we'll let them sit in and ease off.

 

[cyberknight]

Well raised it to the club founder , lets see what transpires .........

 

[pawl]

PAt the age of 15 that was 63 years ago ago I joined the local section of the C T C..No one was ever dropped,.If any one went off
e back on a hill or road junction that required a change of direction we waited and regrouped.Punctures were an opportunity to have a breather or assist with the repair.

Very different times.The current crop of magazines are all about sportives and training for them.We supported them by marshalling the open events and occasionally a few of there training rides which occasionally as expected getting dropped In the winter there riders would join us on are Sunday runs sometimes with Carradice saddle bags attached. How times have changed

 

[Dogtrousers]

Very different times

Not that different at all.

That's pretty much how things were at the club I rode with until oooh all of three years ago.

The thing is that no one makes posts on here saying "I went for a ride and we all rode at roughly the same pace and had some regrouping stops." It's just not very interesting.

 

[pawl]

Not that different at all.

That's pretty much how things were at the club I rode with until oooh all of three years ago.

The thing is that no one makes posts on here saying "I went for a ride and we all rode at roughly the same pace and had some regrouping stops." It's just not very interesting.

A lot of people on here are concerned about going on so called non drop rides only to find that is what happens.Just what are sport needs.

 

[Dogtrousers]

A lot of people on here are concerned about going on so called non drop rides only to find that is what happens.Just what are sport needs.

Yes, I'm sure it happens and I'm sure it's always happened since time immemorial, but my point is it's not universal.

Sure It's a bad thing when it happens, especially if the speed is higher than advertised.

There are tons and tons of well run rides out there, but of course no one posts about those.

Maybe I've just been unnaturally lucky. Or maybe my strategy of always riding with the slowest group has paid off.

 

[cyberknight]

One of the wheel suckers sent me a text asking if i was riding
I said no as i had issues ( didnt say what ) and he never got back to me

 

[PaulSB]

One of the wheel suckers sent me a text asking if i was riding
I said no as i had issues ( didnt say what ) and he never got back to me

He might not of interpreted this as issues with the ride or club.

My club has a no drop policy which is implemented in a variety of ways depending on the ride.

The Intro group always stay together but as this group is made up of riders of varying ability it does get strung out and regroups even on the flat. There is always an experienced rider on the front and back. The Club ride always stays together with hills at own pace and regroup at the top. The Inters ride stays as a group but will be much looser - if a few fancy sprinting off the front the regroup will be at the next turn. When someone comes to try this group they are always looked after by people dropping back and the others waiting at the next junction. We also have a Sporting ride which I think, never ridden it, operates in a similar fashion.

My own view is both rider and group have responsibilities. The group to look after the rider and the rider to choose a group suited to his/her ability. If in a group which is a struggle then get in the front 5-6 and take all the advantage possible.

 

[cyberknight]

No takers today so i pootled around on my lonesome , no wheel suckers at least
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