Opinion needed re: group riding

[li10up]

I have a situation that has been bugging me for some time and I need to know if you think I'm over-reacting or not. We have a group ride that meets once a week and it is known for being a pretty fast ride. However it used to be that there were only certain sections that the group went all out and you either hung onto a wheel or got dropped. We would then meet up at the next rally point. Well now we have a guy that will attack off the front at any given time. He blows the group up all over the place. But what really steams me is that he then can't hang with the fastest of the group so he goes to the back on the pretense of checking on "the girls." I get so mad that he blows up the group because I'm now stuck in no-man's-land...too slow for the front and too fast for the back. It really ticks me off! Should I just bite my tongue?

[Biciclista]

no, of course not. Tell people. you're probably not the only one unhappy about it.

[alpinerabbit]

How about you bring sentences 2,3,4, and the second half of 8 up with the group?

[aicabsolut]

That's so obnoxious. I've been in groups where that would happen. I've also been in the same groups where the group would decide to let a couple of people keep going OTF without responding and instead just keeping the ride going as per usual. The third scenario is that a couple of guys will throw in their own sprint point (that no one else knows about), and then the group gets shattered but like the more organized sprint points, there is an immediate regrouping.
I'd hope that this guy would realize that he's not only shattering the group but he himself is blowing up (when he goes to the back). I'd be tempted to give him a talk on group ride etiquette. But then if you've been with this group for a long time and are buddies with a lot of the faster people, maybe you could mention to some of them instead that they just let this guy go because it's ruining the ride for all but the strongest riders. This is the off season after all. If he's out there in no man's land without any challenges enough, maybe he'll get the picture. If not, well, you don't really want him in your group anyway so let him just hang out there 50 yards in front until he blows.

[Misandal]

I agree with aicabsolut. That is obnoxious. If you all agree to go back to just sprinting where you did before, and regrouping, let him go off the front all by himself. Either he'll quit jumping or he won't be part of your group.

In any event, it definitely needs to be addressed because your group ride is no longer enjoyable for you and probably not for others, either. Somebody just needs to bring it up.

[smilingcat]

Agree totally obnoxious.

Nex time he does that, let him go OTF and the group should NOT respond to his attack. Let him disappear. Who cares, he's doing his own thing.

My brother-in-law had a guy like that for a while on his training group. The guy went wayyy out. The group then took a different route as pre-planned thing and never saw him for the rest of the ride.

Another etiquitte (sp), big no-no is recovery rides and typically the Friday rides. Don't you dare attack. It is supposed to be a recovery day. easy ride. My brother-in-law and his boy were agressive in more ways than one when it came to ill mannered riders.

And "hanging back with the girls" , if he said that to me after he blew himself up, he'll be lucky that I don't throw something into his front wheel.

just my 2 cents.

[Bluetree]

^^^ + Everything Smilingcat says!

(Well, except for the brother-in-law part. I don't have a BIL.)

[bmccasland]

Funny new guy (rude new guy) needs to have a talking to. And if he sprints off, watch him go. If he wants to ride with the group, then he needs to honor the group's "rules".

I like the idea of taking the next turn too.

Have you talked to the other riders in your group, to see how they feel about FNG's riding skills?