Let me clarify something, the fact that we were riding on the bike path after dark is illegal normally. Therefore the ride leader is a police officer and this is the only way we can do this ride is escorted by him. I think that sort of inherently requires that we stay together, with him. Generally we take the same bike path back to the start but we didn't even have the option to do that because he left a bunch of us. I agree this was a lack of communication but it could have had some very serious consequences. IMO if you are going to hold a ride and invite people out at night, in 20 degree weather and going through bad neighborhoods you should at least make sure everyone who starts with you stays with you. Maybe they should have had more ride leaders? I dunno? This particular club has problems recruiting new members and retaining them, it seems to me this is probably a large part of that problem. I know as someone who's gone to a new unfamiliar place, I brought my GPS with me the first time or two I went on rides because I wanted to be prepared for the worst. Even if I had been dropped on those rides I think the emotional damage of being left for 'dead' would have made me not go back. I'm pretty self sufficient but isn't one of the main points of riding in a group the safety factor? If people just ride off and leave each other, intentional or not, that doesn't make any rider feel welcome or wanted. This is just my opinion. I have lead rides too so I understand how hard it is to keep people together at times. However, I wanted to make absolutely positive that no one was turned against cycling because of a lack of communication like this. Not to mention I don't want to horrify anyone by leaving them somewhere and they are lost. Because no matter how 'tough' we say we are it never feels good to get left behind in this situation.