There's no harm in 'being the one to slow them down' because...you won't.
All you have to do is show up, full water bottle, pump that works, spare tube, sunscreen, windbreaker, hitchhiking sign with your town's name drawn on in bold black 3 inch letters tucked under the back of your shirt (or jersey), some food and you're ready to rip.
Chances are you'll have something to report here if you go.
And if someone asked you to come, chances are they'll look after you if you say "hey, can you hang with me if I need help?".
If you don't go, we won't know if you were the Only Woman.
How can you be a credit to your gender if you don't stick yr neck out?
This is a partially tongue-in-chic response from someone who had to endure a summer's worth of "if she's coming on this ride, I'm outta here", until I took up mtn biking, and stopped caring what the Wednesday Moron Riders thought about someone who could keep up with them, and challenge their expectations of the weaker sex.