I'd never be one to ride with "that group," but even in the more social group I ride with, we have had endless safety issues, meetings, etc. One day, I was driving to work, and an offshoot of my group was riding up a small hill in my town. One guy, who is a notoriously horrible rider (like an elderly person who needs his license taken away), was wobbling all over the road, scaring me to death. I called the coordinator of our group, and this guy got booted. I can just imagine how a non-cyclist would have viewed this.
I am a safety freak when I lead rides. Both DH and I have been known to yell "single file, please," in a stern tone, when we are on any ride, if people are being azzholes around cars.
I was surprised to see the name of one of the kids my son raced with in that article! He's a famous custom bike builder/racer now, only 29 years old. Sigh....