Group Rides - first time

[pooks]

It appears we'll be going down to do the LIVESTRONG ride without having ever participated in a group ride before. We'll only be doing the 10 mile (darn it) and I'm a relatively slow rider so I assume it's best for us to just hang back in the rear and let everybody else take off first.

Any advice you can give us, beyond that?

Thanks.

[KnottedYet]

HAVE FUN!!!! (that's the most important advice!)

The 10 miler will likely have a lot of other folks who are also doing their first group ride. Watch out for some erratic riding behaviour.

Stop at every rest-stop. Not necessarily cuz you'll need the rest and food, but cuz you'll get to meet some great folks at the rest-stops! I look at group rides as big rolling social events.

[jobob]

All I can add to KN's great advice is to make sure to let people behind you know when you are about to slow down or stop, or if you need to ride around something in your path (glass, pothole, dead armadillo ....).

Usually to signal a stop, you put your arm out at about 45 degree angle from your body, with the palm facing back. But in case the people behind you don't know what that means, it would be good to call out "slowing" or "stopping".

And signal your turns too, and call out if there's something to avoid on the road, and point it out if you can (sometimes you don't notice glass until you're almost on top of it, so it's very good to let people behind you know about it).

And like KN said, stay alert for people ahead of you and beside you who don't let you know before they suddenly slow down or change direction.

But most of all, have fun !

[Steph_in_TX]

If they continue as they have in the past, they will stage the riders according to the length of the route and estimated time of completion. If memory serves, they put 10 or 15 minutes between the release of each wave. There could still be quite a group for you to start with, but the majority of the fast, aggresive riders will be long gone.

Have fun!

[Bad JuJu]

The only thing I have to add is to start out at a pace you know you can keep and finish with. At group starts, there's an incredible amount of energy and adrenalin flowing, and sometimes riders who are new at it are lured into the mistake of jumping into the ride with everything they've got. Of course, they then quickly run out of steam and suffer and struggle through the rest of the ride. *waving hand in the air* I confess I did this at my first metric century. I was able to catch myself after just a few minutes and back it down a few notches to a more comfy pace. Then I hooked up with another woman who was doing about my pace, and we rode the whole ride together, chatting and enjoying each other's company the whole way.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to push yourself a little--that's how we build up our strength and speed. But don't hurt yourself, esp. at the beginning of the ride.

And most important of all--Have Fun!