May Long Weekend & Riding In Groups

There'll be a ride tomorrow, though it'll be a little cooler than today and based on the forecast there's a reasonable chance there'll be a Monday ride as well. Holiday Monday rides are often one or at most two groups.

It's a good time to remind everyone that although three groups best covers the spread of abilities within FOG, circumstances and numbers will at times dictate two or even one group. When it does we are no longer A, B, and/or C groups. We become completely different groups and riders cannot expect to ride the same way they do when we are in three groups.

If you are joined by faster riders, whether it be one or ten, the average ability of the people you are riding with will increase. Speed will increase and the importance of drafting will be much higher. If you're going to pull, you'll have to do so at a higher speed so you need to pull for much shorter periods and rest longer, or more likely not pull at all. If you still insist on pulling and then get blown out the back there is no one else to blame.

If you are joined by or are joining slower riders the average ability of the people you are riding with will decrease and the average speed needs to. You need to make things harder for yourself while making it easier for them. Generally the best way to do that is to slow the pace a little, take much longer and frequent pulls (even double pulls), and always position yourself on the windy side. If you are taking short hard pulls and long recoveries in such a group you're either trying to break it up or being very inconsiderate.

The goal of the Saturday FOG ride remains to give everyone a challenging exhilarating ride. It can be a real challenge at times, but being honest about one's ability relative to those one is riding with, being flexible in adapting to circumstances, and being considerate of those both faster and slower than you goes a long way.

Keep the rubber side down and have a great weekend.