Our New Member's ride went extremely well. We changed the route to a different area, with less traffic and less cyclists. Only had one guy with a mechanical within the first 2 minutes. He was riding a borrowed bike and the derailleur snapped off. Back he went. About 5 women started with my group and quickly decided to stop and wait for the slower group. As the sweep, I gently help them make this decision. Then there was the guy who kept telling me he was out of shape, had cramps, but wouldn't listen to me try to help him climb better, by actually gearing down. When he fell back and I stayed with him he said, "You're still here???" Like he was mad a girl could go faster. I was so nice and really tried to help in a non-condescending way. Finally after 6 miles or so, I asked if he wanted to stop and wait for the other group and he said no, he would just ride on his own, for me to go ahead. Thing is, he came in after some of the riders in the second group. Oh well. We had lots of compliments on the route, great weather, and no real problems. Afterwards, about 10 of us went out for lunch.
A fun 20 miles.