The Group Ride is Dead.

Maybe a better title would have been, "The Group Ride I Knew is Dead".  However, from my point of view, the concept of a a GOOD group ride has disintegrated into a merely a gathering of people on bikes riding in a pack.  In the past five, six years I have jumped in a number of group rides... albeit only about three or four per year, maybe for a few consecutive weeks at a time... and my opinion has only worsened.  The past two rides over a month-long period as temps dropped in the Valley left me thinking, "fuck... I cannot do this anymore".  It isn't that I can't keep up.  It isn't that I don't feel safe (some of the time).  It IS the attitude of the people riding and THAT was deteriorating before we ever left North Carolina. 

WHAT DO I EXPECT A GROUP RIDE TO BE

The first time I threw a leg over a road bike with any good intentions was maybe the Spring of 2003.  At that point I had been riding mountain bikes solely until one of my good friends picked up a road bike, gained a BOATLOAD of new fitness and was dropping me on our dirt rides.  I snagged a cheap thrift store Centurion, rebuilt the bike with mismatched parts ('cause I didn't know any better - Campy shifters with Suntour derailleurs?  I made it work... good enough) and headed out on the road.  By 2004 the first invitation to join a local church group ride (basically everyone with a road bike in the tiny town I grew up in) was extended to me.  For a year or so I jumped in almost every Wednesday & Saturday ride as well as a few charity events on the weekends. Soon after I was seeking out faster rides with bigger groups.

Lewisville was the hub of group road rides in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  From the town square, multiple routes had been researched and published in a small book by Ken, the owner of a local bike shop.  It was in late Spring, I think, when I rolled up to Lewisville with my Trek Madone 5.2.  My fitness had been bolstered over the last few months with more available time after my divorce.  Rolling out in a big pack was not unfamiliar but the more organized two-by-two tightly collected formation was.  I was trying to calm down as Jimmy W rolled up beside me and spoke, having recognized me as one of the part-time guys at one of the local bike shops.

The roll-out was "neutral" but the speed was still hovering in the 20's, slightly downhill.  Jimmy nonchalantly chatted with me as I blurted out tidbits here and there, maybe more nervous than I let on... maybe not.  When we hit Vomit Hill, the pace slowed... but surprisingly not much.  The formation of the group barely changed.  This was a serious group ride. The pace was still steady an hour later.  Folks would peel off in pairs after either pointing to the ground or tapping their hip or butt.  The pace didn't lift at all, we just kept rolling with the leaders now floating by a bit slower beside us.  It wouldn't be long before MY world felt like it would be disrupted.

Rolling down a twisting downhill stretch, the pack was still tight.  As we come into the last corner before the road turned up, I see gravel in the middle.  The few riders ahead of me are picking a clean line to the inside with no worries.  I, however, choke a bit and swerve out, pushing the person beside out a bit further.  No one barks at me (this time) but I knew I had committed a faux pas.  Roll into the hill and a few of the front riders take off, hammering up the grade.  My legs were not there and despite my efforts I could not hang on.  Over the top and a few of us are working hard to catch up to a group that is visibly sitting up a bit, waiting.

The group comes together and soon the pace ramps back up.  We are headed back to Lewisville now.  The speed increases as we come down Vomit Hill.  In my head, this is the only chance I have to hang on... by taking advantage of my weight and size.  Diggin' deep to hang on, the bike and I are now near the front of the group just as we hit the bridge.  Little did I know what was coming.

The pace eases off but now we are on the long, steady climb back into town.  That easy 20+ mph cruise on the way out is now a daunting grade of false flat.  The top of that first little rise and MY world implodes as the ones who knew what was coming on the way down Vomit Hill... are now leaving me for dead.  When the struggle was over and everyone had trickled into the parking lot, there was plenty of kudos and chastising amongst the crowd.  I said goodbye to Jimmy W and loaded up.  The whole way back home my head was spinning, a bit overwhelmed.  That was exhilarating riding in a group that felt like a race intended to keep everyone (somewhat) together and safe.  

Over the years, there were a handful of moments that I would be barked at for doing something the wrong way, other times I was reminded to do something a better way.  It was only "mean" when it was unsafe... but with some humility, anyone would recognize why it was the right way to teach or be teached.

That was a long way of getting to this point - a good group ride, in my opinion, has always been an organized pack of riders who understand the basic dynamics of  HOW to ride safely together at speed.  As the GROUP becomes more familiar with each other, the speed increases with the comfort of the entire group.  For the next four to five years, those Tuesday & Thursday evening rides were something I looked forward to.  Meghan was introduced to "proper" group riding in the first year we were dating with the C-group in Lewisville.  She learned how to properly follow someone's wheel, how to signal any intentions and how to remain calm (enough) when situations got overwhelming (like getting dropped on Turbo Hill).

One lesson that still sticks with me today was when Ken P explained to me how to control the group & actually ride as a group.  The basic premise was thinking of the ENTIRE group as a collective group of riders working together:

• when you approach a hill, the lead riders actually speed up into the climb and gradually lower the pace to something sustainable or comfortable.  The reason for the increased speed is to allow the last riders in the bunch to NOT have to hit the brakes before they start the climb.  They should be able to roll into the climb more easily.  They shouldn't lose momentum but having to hit the brakes.  
• when the leaders go over the top of the hill, they should actually accelerate a little bit early but not so fast as to break up the group.  The reason is to create a bit separation so that as the pace inevitably increases on the downhill side, the last riders in the group should be able to just maintain their pace and catch up with the draft.
• on the downhill, the leaders should always be holding a steady pace.  Of course, the riders behind will have to ease off, tap the brakes occasionally but that is the benefit of sitting in the draft.  They should not have to grab their brakes hard, giving up their own momentum.  As the speed increases, the gaps should open a bit more for a better reaction time.
• these rules applied regardless of the size of the group.  Smaller groups could react a bit more quickly to changes while larger groups took more forethought and planning.

Those guidelines took me awhile to adapt into my own riding but with practice I became a more welcome addition to the Lewisville rides as well as other group rides.  While no one EVER said I was even close to fast, my reputation for being smooth and predictable was good.

WHEN DID THE GROUP RIDE BEGIN TO FALL APART

I still remember when I quit riding the "standard" Lewisville group rides.  Maybe it was 2012 or 2013 but I showed up on a Tuesday with (I think) the Domane.  Rumours had been floating around of different antics by this "race team" made up of middle-aged guys, primarily treating the B-ride as training race & practicing tactics like blocking the road and chasing down breaks.  There were also tales of squirrelly riders causing crashes.

It was clear that the group ride I knew was dead within 20 minutes.  The route had changed to an opening road with a set of rolling hills.  Everything I just wrote about treating the group as a "group" was gone.  On the first roller and setting near the back, my speed was almost stopped as we went into the next climb.  Halfway up, we are sprinting to latch back on.  Over the top and down the other side, I catch the group quickly and have to jack the brakes as I approach them at the bottom of the next climb.

Vomit Hill was a race to the top and a bit further before a "regroup" point was declared.  The pack divies up into the selected pace groups and leaves out.  Maybe 20 minutes had passed when the pace SLOWS way down... and I notice the collection of white jersey with green accents blocking the road.  Whispers come back of one of their buddies taking a "flyer".

I never went back.

What I did do was stumble onto a group of other folks who were tired of the bullshit and looking for a proper group ride.  They met at the local river park and declared their ride the "D-ride", an even slower-intended pace but way more organized.  For the next two, three years until we left for Arizona, Meghan and I jumped in every ride we could with these folks.  However, even it was slowly dissolving at times as the expectations of some folks became more about "me" than the group.

WHAT DO I SEE NOW

When I say the group ride is dead, the most sincere explanation is the group ride that focuses on the GROUP does not exist.  More in the next post...

Later.