riding the brakes...

[gretassister]

I mostly agree that taking the whole lane is not wise, but in a large group it is sometimes safer and how much are you slowing down traffic in town? Not much if they're obeying the speed limit to begin with.

[Geonz]

She didn't say "the whole lane," she said "all the lanes."

The clotting is also part of the whole braking thing - if they were riding in a more orderly fashion people would have to be more consistent in their speed. Unless they're going pretty slowly (tho' it sounds like they might be), it's an accident waiting to happen - somebody brakes too fast and they'll be like a pile of dominoes. If they're going that slowly - say, 11 mph - then they're well under the speed limit and are a pretty major impediment to traffic. I realize that some people think that just doesn't matter, but I'm in the "let's try to get along" camp. I confess I'm spoiled - drivers around here also try to get along and are nicer than they're legally required to be most of the time.

It takes some discipline but you *can* socialize in a reasonably orderly group. It's just more like dancing - you have to take turns.

I think I would talk to a person or two, perhaps the ride leader about how they feel about the group being such an untidy clump. If they're aware of it and don't care, personally my choice (but everybody's entitled to theirs) would be to ride with a different group except for those times when I really *want* to go out and do the Critical Mass thing. Could be that they just need a nudge to get 'em to pay more attention and call others' attention to it; it's easy to forget the group dynamics, especially if you're not an experienced rider.

[gretassister]

Sorry, my bad