The Lost Art Of The Group Ride
I learned from a lot of Veterans. Gus, Paul, Joe and others to name a few. Little tips here and there. Never shouted or forceful. Just "you might to try" or "if you that this might happen" or "you sit well on a bike you should try racing"
Debate? Bikes are made for riding not pushing.
I learned from a lot of Veterans. Gus, Paul, Joe and others to name a few. Little tips here and there. Never shouted or forceful. Just "you might to try" or "if you that this might happen" or "you sit well on a bike you should try racing"
Yep. Part of riding is passing on what we learn to the new riders. As was passed on to us by guy's like Jeremy Storie.
And some of this is transferable to mountain biking to. To many times in the last few years group rides have become hammer fests. And see this on the Wed night rides as well now. Ugh.
I stopped going to the group rides in Victoria because of the egos. There's always a few guys that have to hammer even on cruisey rides, it's like they get off on dropping people. Then they wonder why their group gets smaller every week because no one wants to come back.
Being cheap is OK. Being a clueless sanctimonious condescending douchebag is just Vlad's MO.
if you want to experience some of that feel good ride vibe , go check out some randonnees .
the fast guys are gone from the start , but the majority of riders are folks looking to spend a day ( or longer , much longer :lol: ) with other like minded individuals . they are generally well equipped , observe the rules of the road ( when and where it is safe and makes sense ) , move along efficiently , and share the camaraderie that comes from covering distances on bicycles .
The "group ride" is something that is lost on the newer people that are coming into the sport. What people have to realize is that despite the fact that they are pedalling the bike themselves, they are part of a group. bad behavoir results in crashes, and no one likes crashes.
Way back when I started (2 years ago) I must have annoyed a tone of guys asking about what ai should be doing, how I should be riding etc. The best thing to ddo is hook up with a shop (Steed, La bicicletta, etc) and do their rides. The guides are always keen to help and point you in the right direction or give small pieces of advice. You will learn a lot and can meet new people to ride with so that you aren't riding alone so much.
Cavendish can't win a stage by himself, and neither can you.
The "group ride" is something that is lost on the newer people that are coming into the sport. What people have to realize is that despite the fact that they are pedalling the bike themselves, they are part of a group. bad behavoir results in crashes, and no one likes crashes.
Way back when I started (2 years ago) I must have annoyed a tone of guys asking about what ai should be doing, how I should be riding etc. The best thing to ddo is hook up with a shop (Steed, La bicicletta, etc) and do their rides. The guides are always keen to help and point you in the right direction or give small pieces of advice. You will learn a lot and can meet new people to ride with so that you aren't riding alone so much.
Cavendish can't win a stage by himself, and neither can you.
Shop rides are nice and all, (the La bici Thursday rides are a shit show) The reality is if you really want to learn about bike racing is you have to join a team, and participate as much as you can.
The world needed more people like Jeremy Storie… it makes me sad.
"X is for x-ray. If you've been bikin' and you haven't had an x-ray, you ain't goin' hard enough." - Bob Roll
The world needed more people like Jeremy Storie… it makes me sad.
Very true.
Before the days of the insured club ride, there was the Knight Street ride (Endurmail: think donut ride in TO) in Richmond that ends at Iona Beach. Anyway the who's who would be there every Saturday morning. Goguen, Tuft, Dre, Van Velzen, the Hendersons, national team riders, Walton, etc. it was wild….it was the Winter Series before the Spring Series. It is where the young kids went to learn. It was serious shit. It started out as a strictly controlled double pace line for the first hour or so. This is where noobs would learn group etiquette. When it peeled off River Road into Richmond it got crazy, this is where noobs would learn to ride the gutter at 50kph for the next hour (seemed like an eternity) just trying to hang on the the group. The group would typically come back together at the airport. Out to Iona riders would learn to ride a very fast pack setting as there would usually be breaks being chased down, pack re-groups, and a lead outs for the field spring to the beach. Pure organized chaos, but an amazing learning experience that was rare to get even at the better road races at the time. This ride is where one learned not to 'half wheel' (which can be very dangerous mid pack, and very annoying at the front). (Edit: half wheels were met with scorn from Jeremy Storie). This is something you don't learn in lower categories of racing but something you need to know in higher categories. These days with insurance issues (thanks CBC), most if not all group rides are pretty well regulated, or club generated I think? Some of these group rides are real fun and chill, but some (not going to name theme) are terrible. Organized and run by 'serious racers' (newly minted cat 3 or 2), sprinting for strava segments on SW Marine. What learning? So 'insurance issues'/CBC puts the kibosh on rides like Knight Street, only to have this. Riding in Vancouver alone in traffic is dangerous enough. I'm glad I went to dirt exclusively 7-8 years ago:-)
Very true.
He was the director of the Knights Street ride….. The Judge and Jury:-). Guys like JS were instrumental.
So, halfwheeling is bad and so is stopping pedaling and standing for no reason as well as grabbing handfuls of brake in the peleton? Can someone send a note to all the fondo riders out there? Those things are terrifying!
So, halfwheeling is bad and so is stopping pedaling and standing for no reason as well as grabbing handfuls of brake in the peleton? Can someone send a note to all the fondo riders out there? Those things are terrifying!
What's going to happen when we start seeing some guys running the new hydraulic disc brakes. $50k Pinarello pileups?
8)
What's going to happen when we start seeing some guys running the new hydraulic disc brakes. $50k Pinarello pileups?
8)
My only solace, as I dust myself off and grab my modestly affordable aluminum Cannondale, and attempt to ride away.
Bought three full sets of team kit clothing this year. Losing all of your riding gear to crashes sucks….
"X is for x-ray. If you've been bikin' and you haven't had an x-ray, you ain't goin' hard enough." - Bob Roll
So, halfwheeling is bad and so is stopping pedaling and standing for no reason as well as grabbing handfuls of brake in the peleton? Can someone send a note to all the fondo riders out there? Those things are terrifying!
On the Sunday Group ride we had out here they always wondered why I tended to always ride a little further back or on the less busy side roads outside of the so called pace line. Easy, it made it easier to react to these idiots bike handling skills as this Tri Geek was schooled by Jeremy and the other old guys on pack riding.
Forum jump:
