Stuck in the middle

[Batbike]

yep! if you ride slow you will be slow -- if you chase the faster people, you may not ever catch them, but you will get faster trying ...

i am a solid B rider by most bike riding standards ... there are ALWAYS and i mean ALWAYS people who will and can ride faster, harder, stronger than me!! i love that -- encourages me to keep trying!! on the other hand, there are ALWAYS people who are slower than me, if only on a climb or descent, not entire ride, and i have been told that i encourage them (always surprises me, but nice to hear) !

be encouraged, not discouraged ... it is all on how you look at it!!

[pooks]

I've only read these boards and have never done a group ride but here's what I think ( ) from what you've said:

1) It's an excellent situation because they didn't drop you; the group leader stayed with you. How often do we read about rides where people get dropped even when they weren't supposed to?

2) You've said you are really pretty sure he wasn't being patronizing, and I'm glad to know that, because my feeling was that if he thought you were overreaching he wouldn't want to encourage you and would probably have suggested you do (whatever) before trying that group again.

3) Listen to these women. They know what they're talking about.

4) Congrats! Look at what you did -- you reached for a tougher ride, and kept up for at least 1/2, and your main prob was that you got separated from the group or you might not have had to deal with the emotional baggage and might have held your ground!

[jobob]

Good lord, love, it's just a bike ride !

Sure it would have been nice if you were able to keep up with the new group right off the bat, and it sux when you realize you're not yet as good as you'd like to be, or think you should be, but these things take time.

Stop beating yourself up and go back and ride some more with that faster group. You'll get better by pushing yourself. It sounds like the group leader was encouraging you, whether or not you wanted to hear it at that moment. Soon, maybe not tomorrow or the day after, but soon, you'll be able to keep up with them.

Then when a new person comes along and is in the same boat as you are now, you can 'pay it forward' and encourage him or her.

[Crankin]

Well, I can relate to the feeling of being stuck in the middle. And it's true that to get faster you need to ride with faster people. But, I got faster (up to the point I am now) by riding alone or with my husband. He pushed me and I was able to get faster without all of the "stuff"of group rides.
I find that I am way faster than the "slow" group rides in my club and I lead intermediate level rides where we cruise on the flats at 15-18, but since we ride in hilly areas, the average is often between 13-14. There are always a couple of stronger climbers than me on rides I lead and I let them go ahead and wait for me at the top. But usually it's guys who really ARE much stronger than me. I have found one group that is exactly like me; the rides are social and I climb as well as all of the people who lead these rides. We go 15-17 on flats, and while I often can sustain 20-23 for awhile when I ride with my husband, I don't necessarily want to do this for a whole ride. Another group I ride with starts out really slow in the beginning of the season and builds up by the end. One ride with them, I had an average of 16.4, but it almost killed me. They don't warm up well and that puts me at a disadvantage. I got dropped at the end by a woman wearing sneakers and a t shirt
So, sometimes I am competitive, but mostly if I do that too much, it makes me start to feel like riding is a job. I don't want to ever feel like that. In fact, I often ride with people who are slower than me, to force me to slow down and smell the roses.

[KSH]

Kimmy... I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND how you FELT!

I have been there. OH! Have I been there. I use to ride with my tri club, and I would be the last one... and eventually I would be dropped. One day I was so far behind, and riding alone... and I was just wondering what the hell was I doing out there? I wasn't getting any better and I was too damn slow.

Lately I have also been frustrated, because I am in between groups. I am a tab bit too fast for the 14-16 mph group and too slow for the 18-20 mph group. I want a challenge, but I also don't want to ride alone or keep someone from having their ride, because they have to pull me in.

Not to mention... everyone I start to ride with... gets faster than I do, and I lose my riding partners.

I talked to my tri coach about it, and he told me that I need to:

1) Work on intervals.
2) Ride with faster groups and be OK with being dropped (this means I have to know the route).
3) Do some weights in the gym.
4) Do some hill work.

So, I have started doing that.

Look... you can get better... with some hard work, pain and sweat. And maybe you ride with the fast group again, know the route and be OK with being dropped... and let the BOP leader know that you will be fine.

Each week you will get a little closer to the group and not being dropped. But yea, you are going to have to mentally strong until you can keep up the entire distance.

I wish you the best of luck... and again, I totally understand where you are coming from. I have been there and in fact, I'm there right now!