Quote Originally Posted by Jolt View Post
One more thing--how close together do people usually ride on these group rides? That's another thing I'm a bit concerned about, especially if we're climbing hills that require me to get out of the saddle (this tends to result in some swerving). I definitely don't want to cause a pile-up if I swerve!
I don't know if this has been answered yet, I haven't gotten to the second page... People seem to know if you're not an experienced rider in groups. They can see if you can hold a line or not. What I would do is just ask, "Hey, I'm new at this... I don't want to cause any scuffles, how do you guys usually ride? Do you draft off each other? Give each other space?"

Though really, until you're comfortable with group riding... Make it your responsibility to leave room between you and the next rider. Don't overlap tires. Though once people get comfortable with you and you with them, drafting makes it MUCH easier to keep up with the big boys. Though yesterday I'm pretty sure that the boys I was riding with could've ridden a tad faster than they were when I was cruising with them. Half way through I stopped trying and just rode with my friend. I don't have enough in me to keep a 17mph pace for a whole ride, even with drafting.

GOOD LUCK!