I volunteered this past weekend to lead an organized ride for a bike festival. Ride was 45 miles, with three stops along the way for ice cream. There were 2 other leaders with me on this ride.

The issue that I have with generic organized rides is that you get such a diversity of riders, it is difficult to keep a large group (we started out with about 40 riders of all abilities) together. I started out at a "leisurely" pace - for me. This was too slow for some, and too fast for others.

I ended up splitting off from the group and leading a fast "group" of riders, with others splitting into different paced groups. The good thing was that this was a marked loop, so everyone could follow the route regardless of whether they were with a leader.

Based on this experience, I am somewhat hesitant to "lead" an organized ride of this variety again. I have led rides in the past that I have been VERY CAREFUL to describe (fast, long, technical, etc.).

Would be interested to hear others experiences...

SheFly