Hi fellow TE'rs.
I need a bit of advice here as I am very conflicted. Hopefully I can write this without drifting into "but I digress" territory.. I shall try..
First, ya'll know I am a bike shop owner, so when I look at this issue I am looking at it from a PR stance.
Here we go..
There is a large local saturday am ride that has been around for years. This is a classic old school Saturday hammerfest, with very classic roadie "attitudes". - Trying not to pigeon hole, but historically there has been a stereotype that lets just say many road riders (seems to be prevalent with men) have fallen into. Type A personality, narcisistic, very much a gear head and seems to have the attitude that everyone and what they ride are less cool than they are. They may or may not be cat 1 riders, but they have an ego bigger than many pro riders. I think you know where I'm at..
Anyway, this ride is very aggresive, they have an A and B group, and the A group I believe averages well over 23mph over 60-80 miles. Yes, these guys are fast, and they know it.
The ride has become very popular over the years, as the roads on this side of the valley are a bit quieter.
As popularity grew- so did the numbers. I believe they average 40+ riders on any given saturday morning ride.
We as a shop are not affiliated with this ride in any way. Our team manager offered to give the group a bit of a bump if they came to us, but we were rebuffed. And actually I was relieved. As much as "any business is good business" should be my mantra in this economy, some business is just not worth it. We have no ill will towards the riders, leader, or anyone affiliated with the group, and some have naturally gravitated to us. Luckily they have proven to be cool for the most part. Tho they do have a bit of entitlement about them.
Here is my issue...
Over the last year + my staff and I have all ran into the ride while on our bikes or in the car, and have taken note of their lack of road manners.
They blow through intersections in our neighborhood, regardless of the fact that there are cars IN the intersection and at the 4 way stop. They are generally in a pace line, but often are spread 3-4 across and roundly ignore "cars back". We have nice wide bike lanes. The roads here are pretty new, and have some debris, but not horrible. They could move over a bit and fall in line 2- 3 abreast and the car would be able to safely pass w/ a 3 foot buffer.

Basically they are everything drivers complain about. It is so frustrating.
I am "friends" (she lives near me, but we are not close. Just both do tri's) with one of the riders in the group. Awhile back I emailed her and told her that I witnessed a horrendous lack of respect for the laws of the road, and that people in our neighborhood are complaining to me. She pretty much blew me off with a "yeah, I know. We stop at signals and stop signs sometimes, but we are bad about it. It's hard with such a large group"..
Helloo????!
A couple of months ago I came across a post on our community forum titled "a letter to the ENTITLED Cyclists" where the guy let loose on how much he hates cyclists, which in turn incited others to suggest violence (ala fb). Posts said things like how they try to get close to us and scare us, They come behind us and lay on the horn, just horrible stuff. Shocking. I of course responded, but I did not defend the group. How could I? Why would I?

Fast forward to Saturday... I had to drive running hubby to the shop, and was on my way home when I ran into the group on their run up to our neighborhood. They were on a very new road that does not have a large bike lane. There was a car about 30 seconds ahead of me. I watched as they completely ignored him. He went very wide into the other lane to pass, and one of the riders swung out to move forward almost hitting the car. He then flipped off the driver as if it was HIS fault.
I thought to myself "nice!".
So I slowly approached. I had an oncoming car so I could not move into the oncoming lane. The riders did not even turn their heads an inch. My van is very loud as I am a poor LBS owner and it needs a tune up. Even with wind in your ears, you would hear it. They were now all the way across the road in a scattered formation and were darting here and there. They were warming up, so speed was still prolly around 15-18 mph. When I could finally pass I had to cross a double yellow line and move all the way over so I was hugging the bike lane line on the opposite side!
At this point I was furious. This group is ruining it for the rest of us here in the valley. I hear it from folks up here all the time how I need to "tell my racer friends to stay in the bike lane and obey the traffic laws or get off the roads"...
Sigh...
So here is my question.
Would you try to contact the ride leader and reason with him? Would you risk having a group trash talk you and your business because you stood for what you thought was right?
Or would you handle it some other way?
I'm at a loss. But I feel like SOMETHING needs to be done??
Ideas? Advice?
Thanks ladies (and mr silver, sr?? etc..)