maggiegirl wrote:
.... her crowding her way up through the groups on 1.5 vehicle wide rural roads created a very unsafe riding situation for many of us.
You just hit on one of my gripes.... on a multiple day event last year, there were one or two of these....not clearly unsafe, but annoying. I'd watch them take every opportunity to work their way up to eventually be close to or right behind the leader. Why?? It's not like you win a prize or anything.
On the same ride I had someone on my left....we were
supposed to be riding staggered, but I kept seeing this guy creeping up in my peripheral vision, sometimes next to me, sometimes not. Really annoying, and unsafe spacing, at least to the front of him. I took to crowding the middle of the lane just to hold him off.
What seemed sad is that the pre-ride was very thorough, including the threat of getting kicked out if you rode poorly-and inviting other riders to report bad riding. In theory, great, in practice, less so. In the middle of a ride, not much to do, at the end, first, not always easy to identify a rider in a sea of scooters, and secondly, at least for me, I don't like sounding like a whiner. i guess if I happened to be standing next to the leader at the end, I'd say something, but they tend to disappear in the crowd.
I still like group rides, but kind of on a 50:50 basis. I enjoy being part of a group that sometimes reminds me of a flock of birds flying together in a smooth, coordinated fashion. It moves me to see the riders ahead rising and descending over hills..... and of course the camaraderie. Most of the time things have gone well and the riding has been quite enjoyable. I feel fortunate that on our annual SW Wisconsin riding we have a group of experienced riders that "get it" and make things pretty seamless. Not to say there haven't been any adventures, but never had the need to fire anyone....though glad one person didn't return the next year.
Knowing the people you ride with is a big help. Understanding the temperaments, the riding skills, the comfort in knowing no one is going to make issues to deal with, and having everyone work together can be tremendously satisfying.