First post here, forgive me if I'm doing something taboo.

My gym buddy and I saw a flyer for the MS150 here in Cincinnati about 6 months ago. Said "let's do it". Bought new bikes three weeks before the ride and rode all 150 miles. I guess us two 30 year olds are in better shape than we thought! Anyways, a neighbor of mine down the road use to do centuries and stuff years ago and was envious that we are totally addicted to this sport now and has hinted at riding with us. We're doing an easy 25 mile flat ride (morning Glory) with him and his 16 year old son next weekend.

My friend and I went for a easy 25 miler last night and the 16 year old tagged along. He was on his dad's Bianchi which we had to fit to him as the kid is about 6'3" and maybe 160 pounds sopping wet. We rode for about 3 miles on relatively flat roads when we came to the first hill. He promptly got off his bike and walked. He was already spent. This was not going to work. We had resolved ourselves to practice spinning as we knew we'd be going slower than normal but we couldnt even spin without our butts bouncing all over from such low resistance. Tried to pull him but he wouldn't get close enough to draft so taht didnt' work. How do you incorporate slower riders into your rides? It was absolutly miserable. I hate to sound like a whining baby but I just didn't think us "old women" could smoke a 16 year old like that! I'd really like to see him get better since this is the first enthusiasm he's show towards anything. Although tall for cycling, he's got a body I could only hope for.

If that wasn't enough, the three of us got passed by what appeared to be the peleton! I looked back over my shoulder to see if he was still with us and in the distance I saw a dozen guys riding in a paceline. "Uh Oh, we're going to get passed and passed fast". Talk about embarrassing - they were all hot too! We joked with our newbie, out of the closet kid about having to get into biking so he could check out all the spandex! LOL

Really gals, any advice on keeping people motivated or keeping the tempo to something suitable for everyone? Thanks

Jeni