Touring with a group

[Dogmama]

Back from my tour through Vermont. Beautiful. Drove through New Hampshire, spent time in Newburyport MA & Boston. Leaves are beginning to turn & air was crisp.

But, back to the tour. Not sure I would do it again. Did a commercial tour with strangers. Before the ride, everyone was talking about their rides through Spain, France, Scotland, etc. DH and I are thinking - uh oh...visions of being dropped floated through our heads. Not so. We averaged an outstanding 7MPH - took 8 hours to ride 40 miles (many stops.) We didn't want to be rude & ride ahead but it was obvious that the group was struggling. Next day we did ride ahead.

Dinner - an older couple got drunk each night. She would get loud & wax poetically about anything (sperm was a big conversation piece for awhile.) I kept my mouth shut until she started gushing about poor Lance Armstrong. I interrupted her. Another person said, "Do you know a lot about cycling or about Lance Armstrong." My reply: "Both." So, I made an "instant enemy - add my big mouth." Really didn't care at that point though. I don't tolerate drunks well (lots of childhood stuff around that).

Next time, I think DH and I will just map out a ride, rent some bikes & go. It was so beautiful that we would have loved to just enjoy it on our own.

The tour leaders had the patience of saints. One guy didn't know how to shift & kept throwing his chain. They were really good about diplomatically teaching him how to shift gears properly. Another woman demanded to know how steep and how many climbs we had (we were going through rolling hills.)

So, I think the moral of the story is - if you're going to do a group ride, bring your own group!

[shootingstar]

Wow, that's um memorable. Especially post-ride drunkenness of some riders.

For myself I wouldn't exclude completely a paid group touring ride, if my partner or no other friend was around to do the trip.

As a loner and rare group rider (about once a year or less), I marvel at people who ride in groups several times per wk. or so...year after year. After awhile I would feel hemmed in by group schedules or not "my" own schedule. I figured that I've conformed enough to someone else's schedule by getting to work on time and working to my committed quit time for the last 30 years of full-time work!

I enjoy group rides best with my partner, family members or personal friend(s). Being with people in a group ride is in the end for me, more of a social type of ride with people I know. Not about pushing my limits. (although being with my partner is mildly in a way and that has helped me to become a better cyclist endurance-wise. But he doesn't race off and leaves me lost.) It is these rides that are most meaningful to me and ones I remember the most.

If I chose to go on group ride that are all strangers, then it would be in a foreign country in an non-English or non-French speaking country or a remote area with very little services along the way.

At this time, I don't have a desire for group rides with strangers...the more cycling time with dearie is to me, living in the NOW: he is 16 yrs. older than me, after all. And time while we are healthy, is precious.

[Veronica]

Bummer that the group was not great. In general we've been pretty lucky with the group tours we've done.

Vermont is beautiful. We did an in-law supported tour there a few years ago. They geo cached and moved the gear while we rode. It was pretty cool.

Veronica

[tulip]

While you can't filter for personality, you can more or less filter for riding strength by choosing harder rides. I've done lots of tours, and while the personalities vary, I've never had a tour where most people don't know how to ride a bike like you describe. Too bad; I hope you try again. I do like just getting on my bike and going, though. I've done that a few times and really have enjoyed it.

[Kiwi Stoker]

We did a group tour with members of our cycling club. We got to meet and know people we didn't normally ride with (much faster, racier people). We were at the back most of the tour however we were aware when we were holding the group up. For example we got on the sag wagoin when we knew we weren't going to make the lunch stop. I think you need to go on rides with reasonable distances (ours was 120km, 150km and 45km) over three days. That way you won't get ultra slow riders. And at night we were too tired to get drunk or get too annoying. We would have a drink, have dinner and then off to bed- too tired for anything else.

[Crankin]

Two questions: what company did you use and what level was the trip rated at?
I've been on 5 group tours and on none of them were we expected to ride together. We did our first tour in Vt., so we could drive there, and there is no way people like on your tour would have survived.
Yes, a group of weirdos is a chance you take. We've had heavy drinkers, but in our case they were very strong riders. We go off by ourselves and we've done several tours with friends.
You need to choose your company carefully and read reviews. We are planning a tour with Backroads for the summer. It's easier terrain, so we know we may be stronger riders than others, but there's riding options each day and this is where we want to travel.
Hey, you you were in my neighborhood.

[Dogmama]

The ride was listed as "easy" for DH. So, I understood that we wouldn't be riding at 17mph - but seriously - some of these people hadn't been on a bike in a very long time. We felt bad for going off on our own but even DH couldn't stand the snail's pace and he is usually the one who rides slowly & stops to look at everything. I would never go on a running tour, even if it was listed as "easy" because I know I'd hold up everybody.

I did a cross state tour (9 days) many years ago and the suggested riding levels were very specific - able to ride 65 miles/day, through heavily trafficed small towns, etc. This was with a club, not an actual tour company, so nobody's livelihood was affected. Most of us were at that level & we had very few stragglers.

In the end - I'm pretty much a solo rider. I don't even really care for riding with large groups in town because I have to watch other peoples' wheels rather than enjoy the scenery. I have a few people I ride with but for the most part, riding with groups is too much trouble. Plus I like to leave & come back on my own. I rarely stop, so multiple "rest stops" become annoying. I like to leave on time too, so when people come screaming up at the last minute & need to unload their bikes and...oh yeah...air the tires, eat the energy bar...c'mon folks. Maybe it's my issues around people being late & assuming their time is more important than mine. Or maybe I'm overthinking this. Or maybe I really am turning into an old curmudgeon. I think it's the latter.

Crankin - you're the one who told me about Newburyport and the B&B "Blue" I think. That's the reason we went to Newburyport instead of Gloucester. Very good advice, as we did go to Gloucester and it wasn't what we thought. Newburyport was charming.

[emily_in_nc]

We did a Bike Vermont inn-to-inn tour many years ago and loved it. We did one ranked as "moderate". The group all rode at their own pace; there was no pressure to ride the same speed as anyone else. We'd regroup at lunch stops and then all meet up at the end of the day at the inn, no matter what time you got there. Although dinners were generally served family-style at long tables in the inns, there was no pressure to stick around after dinner if some wanted to stay and drink/socialize longer. Fortunately, the group was pretty compatible; I don't remember anyone being very annoying. Although being quite a bit older now, I think I am more easily annoyed by people.

[Crankin]

Glad you liked "Blue." I still want to go there, though it may be in the winter.
My touring experience has very much been like Emily's. I've always been quick to annoyance with people in these types of situations, but, really, I just do what I want while on tour, because I'm there for me. The thing I have marveled at the most is people who get back from a day's hard riding, stay in their sweaty shorts and sit and drink for hours, then sit and drink for hours after dinner. Don't get me wrong, I like a good bottle of wine, but geez, when you are climbing up 15% grades in Austria, there's a limit.
Then there are the the riders who are just there to ride fast and don't even look at the scenery. I'm not one of those, either.

[Dogmama]

My tour was Bike Vermont & the leaders & tour were very nice. I put the pressure on myself to ride with the group, now that I'm looking back on it. I just thought it would be rude to ride on. Ditto with socializing after dinner - thought it would be rude to retire to the room. Guess my momma trained me too well about being nice to people.

Crankin - Blue has an awesome location - right on the beach - but the hotel needs work. We had no heat in our room, the bed was old, lumpy and saggy and the slipcovers were stained. The sliding doors left gaps so flies were constant companions. I told the front desk about the heat in the morning but when we got back in the evening, nothing was done. It was 46 degrees. They brought us a comforter & a space heater. We left one day early & they didn't charge us for it but I got the impression that nothing would be done. They said the pilot light blew out in the wind (there was no wind) and nobody had heat (not true.) But, Newburyport is so charming that we still had a good time. Such beautiful country!