Riding in groups.

[manual63]

I have some suggestions for riding in groups.

Don't follow too close to the rider in front of you. This makes it hard to see ahead and you will find unpleasent surprises sometimes if you can't see. If the rider in front of you makes a mistake, he/she will mess you up too. If you leave some space, it will be much easier to navigate the trail and deal with mishaps.

If you like the company of the riders you are with, pace yourself so they can keep up. If you want to haul and the other riders fall behind stop and wait every once in awhile. It's a lot more fun if the group stays together. Also, if someone falls or has a mechanical problem, you don't leave them behind.

Give pointers to the slower or less skilled riders. Ride slower and let them follow and see your lines and how you take things.

For slower riders, this is a chance to see how you compare and a chance to push yourself a little. Don't just take it easy and alway's make others wait a long time for you to catch up. Ride harder, but within your limits, to stay with the group as best as you can. By doing this, you will only get faster.

As a group you take up a lot more trail. Be respectful to others on the trail. Let people you are passing know how many riders are behind you and also alert riders behind you that there is someone ahead. This is very important on two way trails like the River Bottoms.

If you ride in a group, keep a well maintained bike. No one likes it when someone always has bike problems. Bike problems are expected, but get frustrating if it's due to the lack of taking care of your bike.

Enjoy group riding, it's a lot of fun if you are with a group of fun and respectful riders.

[gopherhockey]

It definitely must be a skill to learn to be a lead rider. You feel this great pressure from behind to keep pushing, so setting a pace makes you feel like you are not going as fast as the riders behind want to go. I noticed this yesterday with all of us that led at one point in time - the lead rider ended up a ways ahead of everyone else... or, the pack got spread out pretty far. Not always bad, but it doesn't let people talk and enjoy the trail together when that happens. I think only time and practice as well as a good idea who you are riding with (and what their abilities are) would help that though.

There were times yesterday when I felt I was going too fast, or the lead rider was going too fast. Then again there were times when I felt the person in front was too slow and should let riders go past. Its tough to say... mostly the people in the rear should adjust I suppose to whatever pace is set and live with it. As Shad once mentioned (using him as an example since he started this hehe) in the XX loop - he liked to slow down a little more so he could do his tricks and take advantage of the obstacles when they came up. Makes a lot of sense, so if you know someone is like that keep some distance or remember they might lag behind a bit because they are having fun. Stopping to wait up never hurts. (we usually stop just after the tabletop so we can watch everyone)

It is sometimes just fun to ride as fast as you can and see who can keep up - there probably isn't much getting away from that at times. ;)

When you are in the lead and you dab on something, its good to get your bike out of the way quickly as well. There is plenty of time to complain or cuss over why you didn't make something - just not when you have a pack behind you. To Shads point, space out when you know you are coming to some of the more technical places as well because you know the chances of a fall are greater.

Its not always easy to ride "perfectly" with a group, but thats what is fun about it... sometimes you are too close and learn quickly to back off. Sometimes you are too far behind and it pushes you to keep up. At a place like Lebanon you almost cannot go wrong because there are so many places to stop and let everyone catch up and/or re-org the pack order. (you just can't stop TOO long because of the bugs and the fogging of the glasses.. )

These types of suggestions should never stop anyone from doing a group ride for sure... its just to make things even better. We had a GREAT group ride yesterday - I can't wait to do more like that.

[manual63]

I notice some riders are intimidated and afraid of being embarrased if other riders are better or faster. Look at it this way. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, like my 40 pound P.2 with no clipless pedals. Most riders like to be helpful and just want to have fun riding. Don't feel pressure from better riders, but watch and learn.

Similar to this point and what John mentioned. If you have a large gap between skill levels in a group it makes it much harder to stay together. Try to ride with people of similar or close to similar skill and speed as yourself if you can. But sometimes riding with better riders will push you a bit and that isn't always a bad idea either, just don't be upset when you are left in the dust.