First Club Ride

[Cudzoziemiec]

Getting dropped from a group ride is nothing exceptional, it happens all the time, whether because someone has overestimated their own ability, the group has got carried away with itself, the information was wrong, you're having a bad day or someone just wasn't paying attention and missed a turn. Or even because someone shot off the front and got lost! What matters, if it's advertised as no drop, is what happens next. There are various ways a group ride can deal with the situation, most obviously regular regrouping and/or having a designated backmarker or "babysitter" who knows the route, is patient and encouraging, good with mechanicals, etc.

[grams]

Another thing to note is that there is a fine line between comfortably keeping pace and going over the edge and getting dropped. You might remember this ride as impossibly hard, but on another day with slightly better fitness, you might merely find it an enjoyable challenge to keep up. In the meantime, find either a more disciplined or slightly slower group and see what you’re missing, because group rides can be a load of fun.

This. Fighting to keep up with a fast group and pushing yourself further than normal can be the whole appeal of a group ride if the you have the right attitude to it. That doesn't make being dropped suck any less.

I'm not actually sure I consider falling off the back for 1 km to count as being "dropped". On our regular rides there are established wait-for-slow-people-to-catch-up points that are further apart than that.

And one other thing you learn is that it's the job of the droppee to make the group aware before they lose contact, rather than expecting someone to notice. Hence my advice upthread not to ride on the back of the group if you're a weaker rider.

[mattc]

And one other thing you learn is that it's the job of the droppee to make the group aware before they lose contact, rather than expecting someone to notice.

It does seem that the complex and subtle art of
"looking behind you " is dieing out.

And one other thing you learn is that it's the job of the droppee to make the group aware before they lose contact, rather than expecting someone to notice. Hence my advice upthread not to ride on the back of the group if you're a weaker rider.

IN THEORY this is good advice:
the trouble is, as a weaker rider, the usual reason you are at the back is that you got shuffled there by your faster "pals" - every time they see a gap, they want to be in front of it, not behind it.

And when the gap opens enough to start thinking
"what did that nice Graham chap say to do in this situation?" you are out of puff and not really in a good state to yell for help. And embarrassed.

[Samuel D]

How often do you look back and at what point does repeated checking become patronising?

I’d like to have had the opportunity to ride with an organised, disciplined, old-school British group but it hasn’t happened. I’m used to groups that head out with ten and come back with five, uncertain where the others ended up and whether they’re dead or alive.

[DuncanM]

If the ride is "no drop", and especially if there is a new person on it, then IMO it's the job of the "ride leader" to make sure no-one is dropped. If you have significant climbs, then riding at the slowest person's pace is hard - we generally just wait at the top. Obviously this won't work somewhere really mountainous, but the OP is somewhere particularly flat. The only "no drop" I've been on where we ended with fewer than we started was where one guy had dangerously defective brakes and it was decided that it wasn't safe for him to ride in the group.

TBH, if you can maintain 24kph average on your own, 28 in a reasonable sized group (> 5) ought to be possible, just by drafting for much of the way.

[mattc]

How often do you look back and at what point does repeated checking become patronising?

- Often enough; and
- That's never been a problem.

(I for one do not feel patronised by a stronger rider turning round to see if I'm still there - it's just common sense.)

 in reality if your'e riding  2-a-breast, and especially if most riders are fairly chatty, it requires next-to-no head movement to be aware of the row behind you. Or their absence! )