Try-hard wanna-be's on group rides GRRR

[Oldman]

Ahhhh i remember controlled chaos, it is called a cat 3 race. all you do is sit because no matter what there are gonna be some idiots who will chase anything that moves including breaks with their own teammates. One of my favourite hobbies in my younger days is sitting towards the back and yelling things like
"go go cover that!'
" left side is making a move" and watching the surges that would inevitably follow.
It is quite a handy skill to perfect when you are racing outside your district and have no teammates. You just yell things like"don't let him get away" and the idiots will chase for you. then you take a solo flyer in the km after doing no work. Suddenly there is no one yelling and you get a nice gap
Unethical maybe but tons of fun!

After dealing with a ridiculously large Master's team that controlled everything during a stage race crit and yelled the above phrases anytime anyone; moved I snapped. The last straightaway before the last corner had 5 of them lined up with their "protected" sprinter in 4th position. I slid up to seventh slot and yelled "Mike-left side" as they had done all race. They all looked left and moved to pinch the curb. Two guys followed me on the right. Their guy got fourth and the argument between among their team after the race was worth the frustration.

 

[Boeing]

After dealing with a ridiculously large Master's team that controlled everything during a stage race crit and yelled the above phrases anytime anyone; moved I snapped. The last straightaway before the last corner had 5 of them lined up with their "protected" sprinter in 4th position. I slid up to seventh slot and yelled "Mike-left side" as they had done all race. They all looked left and moved to pinch the curb. Two guys followed me on the right. Their guy got fourth and the argument between among their team after the race was worth the frustration.

ahh those old tools who think team tactics are appropriate in a local crit. The ones who think they can send a guy back to block half the pack so they fall off the back. were they pointing out every pebble in the road too?

dude, risk bonking once just to lead off the front, whisper to one of them like you have inside information and tell them to take your wheel and they will follow like you like you were St. Patric himself. then take them all into a corner and mach 90 works every time

 

[runninboy]

today i did a solo ride, during a climb i was caught by the leader of a small group ride,who was trying to bridge up to an idiot from his own ride who had run numerous red lights at major intersections. This leader told me in loud detail(for the idiots benefit) of all the infractions and said
"just cause this guy does some racing he thinks he can get away with this s++t on our ride."
It was pretty sweet because we were putting a serious dent into this dudes ill gotten advantage. then i was told the idiot rider was part of LaGrange racing and the reason he was riding with this other club is LaGrange wouldn't let him pull stunts like this...

ego's.
I find it quite sad that this kid does stupid moves like this , but even more pathetic when you consider a couple of fat old men can whup said kid on a climb.

 

[Boeing]

OK some azzclown took my wheel for miles only to take the front and blow a snott rocket on me. I was going to call him out at t light but he ran it.

 

[oldborn]

Some short video of local group ride.
Guy at 0:30 blue/white jersey and shorts with massive legs are 78 Montreal Olympian on Kilo or 100m i think.
Guy at 0:43 riding alone is azhole as you can see

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn5EzzIjdn8

 

[nickel999]

Nice camera work

 

[oldborn]

Nice camera work

Thanks mate, i will pass that to guy who actually take pictures.

 

[Polyarmour]

Some short video of local group ride.
Guy at 0:30 blue/white jersey and shorts with massive legs are 78 Montreal Olympian on Kilo or 100m i think.
Guy at 0:43 riding alone is azhole as you can see

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn5EzzIjdn8

Looks cold, so which one are you?

 

[180mmCrank]

This may sound a little too obvious but...

When someone is doing something that is screwing up the ride for others someone should tell them! It sounds obvious and simple but it's amazing in my experience that folk moan about stuff but don't ever share with the group or the individual. If done in the right way it will make a difference.

What is the right way? Try this...

I notice that you are... describe the behaviour e.g. accelerating every time you go to the front

It makes me think... tell them what it makes you think e.g. you don't know that you are doing this or you don't care!

And it's... say how it lands with you e.g. it's driving me nuts!

I would like... tell them what you want e.g. I want to understand where you are comming from?

I promise you if you follow this little script 80% of the time one of two things will happen either the guy will never turn up again or the problem will go away. Try it!

 

[oldborn]

Looks cold, so which one are you?

Hi mate, i skip that ride, it was to cold for my taste last sunday.
My friend take the vid.

@180mm cranck, you will notice that guy who riding alone at the back, he is strong rider, but so stupid.

He try to impress some pros and much stronger riders then him, so i have that luck to ride up front with him on some short steep climb. Result was i get droped. So i just try to avoid that azzhole up front. He is stupid.

Pros are most enjoyable kind of riders on group rides for sure.

 

[Polyarmour]

I ride 6 days per week but I would do a group ride only 2 or 3 times per year. They are great for social interaction but I don't feel they do much for me otherwise, so I avoid them. The last group ride I went on, some guy who was (a state champion) & training for a National Masters event decided that he was going to use our group ride for his training. That meant that he sat on the front for the entire 2 hour ride and completely stopped the bunch from circulating. What a tosser. For various reasons everybody complained but nobody pulled him up on it. Group rides can be great riding experiences... or they can be awful.

 

[BroDeal]

The last group ride I went on, some guy who was (a state champion) & training for a National Masters event decided that he was going to use our group ride for his training. That meant that he sat on the front for the entire 2 hour ride and completely stopped the bunch from circulating. What a tosser. For various reasons everybody complained but nobody pulled him up on it.

The group should have found a crossroad where the group could take the turn while he continued on straight.

 

[flicker]

I ride 6 days per week but I would do a group ride only 2 or 3 times per year. They are great for social interaction but I don't feel they do much for me otherwise, so I avoid them. The last group ride I went on, some guy who was (a state champion) & training for a National Masters event decided that he was going to use our group ride for his training. That meant that he sat on the front for the entire 2 hour ride and completely stopped the bunch from circulating. What a tosser. For various reasons everybody complained but nobody pulled him up on it. Group rides can be great riding experiences... or they can be awful.

Experiences like this organize a turn away from him, let him ride alone!

 

[Boeing]

Ok this is the second time in a month some dude rolls up behind me. I slow to let him pass and get off my wheel. a
He passes and proceeds to blow a snot rocket my way.

WTF is it about people that do this?

Both time it was me solo spinning out the crud. when it happens in familiar group at high tempo I accept it because it is not often and hands off the bars when anaerobic is problematic and we are all in pain.

However when some random dude rolls up and blows a grandpa all over it is beyond rude and disgusting and really gets on my nerves

I pulled up next to him at the light and told him what a tool he was and we had heated exchange. I was a bit out of line with the words I chose but I was just ****ed.

this has to be deliberate. I mean of all the places to blow it has to be right when he passes?

BTW both times it was a dude with just shorts and a jersey at about 53 degrees in the morning. and both dudes were on Performance Scattante in neon yellow jerseys. which may or may not be relevant.


how exactly is one supposed to handle this BS? with out going to blows

 

[Archibald]

how could the ****-clown not know you were there? and how could he have been upset when you pointed out what he'd done??

what a ****. surprised you didn't just hock one back up and gob into his face...

 

[oldborn]

Dude all i have to say is hard to stay cool with such moron
Last summer i ran at some raillway crosing with bike, ramp was down off course and was really hot. So i just take a quick look and came on the other side.
It was really funny to see reactions (you could only imagine) from one redneck truck still waiting on the sun, i just slow a bit smile and send them a kiss showing mine beatiful skinny shaved legs That ****ed them a lot

Sometimes sarcasm helps, sometimes no. But that second of our over reaction could lead to more trouble.

 

[Oldman]

Ok this is the second time in a month some dude rolls up behind me. I slow to let him pass and get off my wheel. a
He passes and proceeds to blow a snot rocket my way.

WTF is it about people that do this?

Both time it was me solo spinning out the crud. when it happens in familiar group at high tempo I accept it because it is not often and hands off the bars when anaerobic is problematic and we are all in pain.

However when some random dude rolls up and blows a grandpa all over it is beyond rude and disgusting and really gets on my nerves

I pulled up next to him at the light and told him what a tool he was and we had heated exchange. I was a bit out of line with the words I chose but I was just ****ed.

this has to be deliberate. I mean of all the places to blow it has to be right when he passes?

BTW both times it was a dude with just shorts and a jersey at about 53 degrees in the morning. and both dudes were on Performance Scattante in neon yellow jerseys. which may or may not be relevant.


how exactly is one supposed to handle this BS? with out going to blows

Less talk, more road shoulder. You can always argue you didn't see him when you suddenly moved right...or left if you're in the UK. Try to make it a gradual, grassy introduction to the ditch 'cause you don't really want to hurt anyone.

 

[Tom T.]

I was one of those wanna be's about 10 years ago when I transitioned from being a serious runner to a cyclist. My first group road ride with a local shop, I was nervous as hell but I had friends who had filled me in on how to handle a group. Once it got going I was fine but as soon as the pace ramped up I noticed that people got way too serious. Lots of barking, *****ing and moaning. I mostly stayed out of the way at the back and stayed out of the pace line—mainly because I couldn't tell why some of these guys were getting ****ed at other guys. The ride went well although I left puzzled as to why the overly ****y attitude of so many people.

I did a few more of these rides and the same thing always happened. I even got yelled at once because I didn't pull through fast enough in the pace line—you'd think I had shot the President the way people screamed at me. I eventually concluded that the majority of serious roadies are just d**ks. Type A, stressed out, control freak, obsessive a-holes. I eventually gave up these group rides and started riding with groups of 6-8 friends. Much more fun and relaxed.

There is one group ride in the area I like that's out of Back Bay Bicycle in Portland on Thursday nights. Very relaxed but hard if you stay at the front and mix it up there. Always 2-3 regroups to let slower folks back on and no yelling. The only downside is if you aren't on the front there are some very sketchy wheels in the group so to be safe it's best to stay on the front.

I also spend much more time mountain biking and use the road mainly for my 20 mile commute back and forth to work. Great for fitness......I usually see some serious roadies going by me the other way, they almost never wave hello. Like I said, just a bunch of d**ks.

 

[fatandfast]

TomT. Your observations are pretty normal. You will find that the "serious" racers do not do lots of important training with riders of far lesser abilities. Off road greats are exactly the same. Talented riders are often willing to help, people who think they are talented are usually self absorbed ***.

In the right setting even the highest level pro will give you a kind word or suggestion. If you want to discuss TT positioning while the gut is on the start line expect to get a cool reaction.

I have found that runner to rider conversions are the absolute worst for men and slightly less for women.
Men have some part of the brain that says, sometimes very loudly. How is this guy who has been riding a bike weeks just as good as me in a month and I have been doing it for years?

The answers are never easy. I rode with a guy that took up cycling when he was few months shy of 27, used to swim and run. Never did both at the same time. Never had interest in Tri's. He rode a sub-55 40k on a borrowed bike his first time out on a hilly district TT course.

Still remember going on rides with 3 or 4 pro motocross riders.OMG!. Brock Glover as an old man came to a ride and lit people up after zero training w people

Big advantage to MTB and TT riding is that there is way less time for people to explain how "good" they are.

 

[Boeing]

this might have been posted before: Lost Art of the Group ride

this pretty much describes Food Park and Como here in socal these days.

http://carolinacyclingnews.com/2011/09/01/lost-art-of-the-group-ride/

then god forbid you happen to roll up on a BCI Group aaahhahahahahahahaha

 

[usedtobefast]

this might have been posted before: Lost Art of the Group ride

this pretty much describes Food Park and Como here in socal these days.

http://carolinacyclingnews.com/2011/09/01/lost-art-of-the-group-ride/

then god forbid you happen to roll up on a BCI Group aaahhahahahahahahaha

don't you know who i wannabe?

 

[42x16ss]

Every couple of weeks I like to help out with my LBS Saturday morning ride rather than racing for a change of pace and a bit of socialising. It's generally pretty relaxed (mostly middled aged social riders) but with a couple of sprints in designated places on the route for those who want to mix it up.

The last couple of times I've done it there has been this one guy in his early 30's who just wants to attack the bunch whenever he feels like it. Of course everyone else tries to hold his wheel and a fair few struggle. He did it again this morning going up a nasty pinch, just flying off the front.

I chased this guy down and asked:

"Hey mate, where's the bunch?"

"I dunno, as long as they're behind me."

As if he was awesome for being able to ride a bunch of 40-50 year old recreational riders off his wheel.

Luckily the last ~10km of the ride is nice and wide, smooth and fairly flat. When he attacked again I just told the rest of the bunch to sit on my wheel and gradually reeled him in for them.

He wasn't happy about finishing mid-pack in the coffee shop sprint

 

[fatsprintking]

Living on an island in the middle of nowhere I now do 95% of my training on my own. I feel for you guys that have limited options to just get on your bike and go for a nice ride.

When I am in Melbourne my wifes family live just off Beach Rd, which is an experience akin to giving 1000 ****ers a bike and a new set of lycra and then conducting some weird socialogical experiement. I must admit that just watching/listening to some of these wood ducks is an entertaining experience, as long as I dont have to do more than a couple of rides every few months.

My experience with group rides is that you just have to be a bit of a hard **** and speak up. If there is a general agreement about the way that a ride should play out and someone is stuffing this up, then somone has to have the balls to say "Mate this is not the ride for you". Generally if this ios said in a reasonable way most people will get the hint and the rest of the group will provide support. Trying to prove a point to dickheads rarely works as they want to race and so an attempt to "show" them just reinforces their desire to race. I have been on rides where a strong personality has spoken to the group about a couple of blokes who kept breaking the bunch up and causing everyone grief. They stopped the bunch and asked what people thought and when the offenders came back to see what was going on, he just said pretty calmly "guys we have taken a bit of a vote and decieded that you guys should just **** off". Worked pretty good.

 

[Martin318is]

Every couple of weeks I like to help out with my LBS Saturday morning ride rather than racing for a change of pace and a bit of socialising. It's generally pretty relaxed (mostly middled aged social riders) but with a couple of sprints in designated places on the route for those who want to mix it up.

The last couple of times I've done it there has been this one guy in his early 30's who just wants to attack the bunch whenever he feels like it. Of course everyone else tries to hold his wheel and a fair few struggle. He did it again this morning going up a nasty pinch, just flying off the front.

I chased this guy down and asked:

"Hey mate, where's the bunch?"

"I dunno, as long as they're behind me."

As if he was awesome for being able to ride a bunch of 40-50 year old recreational riders off his wheel.

Luckily the last ~10km of the ride is nice and wide, smooth and fairly flat. When he attacked again I just told the rest of the bunch to sit on my wheel and gradually reeled him in for them.

He wasn't happy about finishing mid-pack in the coffee shop sprint

There was a guy like that who used to train with my club several nights a week and do this type of thing. - for years!

The last time he ever did it, he attacked about 3km into what was supposed to be the weekly recovery ride (out and back on same road for total of 45 easy km). When the chase started, I raced to the front and chopped everyone's wheels to stop them on the side of the road and then announced that we would use the alternate course (circuit of 38km) We all continued and did a fun and social recovery ride and then were all sitting with coffees in hand at the cafe.

He asked what happened so I told him straight to his face - nobody is interested in screwing up their training week to chase down an egotistical fool. If he wants to race, go race.

For the next 3 months, he never once left the back of the bunch - didnt even do a turn on the front.

 

[fatsprintking]

There was a guy like that who used to train with my club several nights a week and do this type of thing. - for years!

The last time he ever did it, he attacked about 3km into what was supposed to be the weekly recovery ride (out and back on same road for total of 45 easy km). When the chase started, I raced to the front and chopped everyone's wheels to stop them on the side of the road and then announced that we would use the alternate course (circuit of 38km) We all continued and did a fun and social recovery ride and then were all sitting with coffees in hand at the cafe.

He asked what happened so I told him straight to his face - nobody is interested in screwing up their training week to chase down an egotistical fool. If he wants to race, go race.

For the next 3 months, he never once left the back of the bunch - didnt even do a turn on the front.

I think this is what you have to do. Just dont chase the guys. If there is a group of people who keep stuffing things up, just say to the rest of the bunch that you are going to ride a steady pace with no surging and is anyone keen to join you, then roll of the back and get a new group organised.

The only thing I hate more than people tearing the bunch appart, is a group of people complaining about it without actually doing anything. Its not that hard to say "Hey guys this was meant to be a recovery ride - I am just gunna cool it a little, but anyone who wants a bit of an easier time is welcome to join me".