[Closed] A name for this type of roadie/group member

Smart?

Cunning? Or similar 😀

Either Wannabe or just a dick

Geoff?

Lurker, wheel sucker, or lazy twunt!

Group-ride-racer?

Never enters any races?

Dickhead.

Serje

cynic-al nail on the head, except the two are nice blokes otherwise. Club ride racer is polite enough, I'll use that when posting my ride lead sorry 'group ride racer'

Dunno, maybe he's just enjoying himself or something?

My Mrs?

Maybe it just takes him a while to warm up? Try going for longer rides.

He probably is, but wheelsucking for hours on end just to show off at the end annoys me a little.

You roadies really do get uptight about these things, don't you? Anyway, how can he be "contesting" the hills when it's not a contest? Do you mean he's just riding faster than you?

We did some 200 and 300km rides, but they don't show for those.

We just called them "winter racers" - guys that peaked in March "winning" sprints for 30s etc then were never seen until November.

I'm sure he's not fooling anyone Oldgit, just leave him to it 🙂

I get well uptight over stuff like that. We set a pace for the ride, so for some one that hasn't done a thing to contribute, and then splits it all up is very annoying.

Seems to me you need to relax a little.

Try going for a ride on your bike.

Ironically setting a pace and keeping things ordered makes for a very fast, social and safe ride. Applying the chaos theory turns things a little crappy.

Insist on rotating the lead pair every 5/10/whatever mins, so that everyone does a shift up front?

Isn't that what Cav does? Seems to get quite well-rewarded for his efforts 🙂

Has anyone explained to him how these things are done? We've had a lot of problems with new members not pointing out holes and stuff or not singling out in traffic but tbh, we've not really done enough coaching so can't really blame them...

GC contender.

We do that sanity, nothing hard and fast I.e if it's flat with s tailwind you just do a longer stint, it usually sorts itself out nicely. Some just manage to slip under the radar.

Every club has one.....
Luckily ours moved to another part of the country last year.

Out for 100km let's say. You don't see this fella all ride until the last 10/15km when he surges ahead and 'contests' the hills.

Sounds like me 😀
Never understood the people who go racing up the hills at the start of a ride, blow up, then moan about people racing up hills at the end of ride. 😀

With about 20k to go just drop back behind him and sit on his wheel. If you can get enough people to do it he'll end up on the front and not be able to sprint for the line.

He'll soon get the idea 😉

Scrote-badger is the official term!

Never race up'em st the start. The aim with group is to hit 100km in 3 hours. When some one shoots off it actually slows the ride.

This makes me realise why I am a solitary git.

You're out on a group ride with him and you don'y know his name?

That's a bit rude of you not to try and find out.
😉

A name for this type of roadie/group member

Typical?

This all sounds like a very stressful way of riding a bike I'm glad I ride alone...

A better rider?

I'm glad I have no cyclist mates.

I took a South African customer from Cape Town out for a ride around the Ribble Valley last month. He was a big, strong fit guy about 20 years younger than me yet he sat on my wheel the entire way round, until we reached the last hill before home when he muttered "I'd better do some work here" and shot off into the distance leaving me gasping.

Curiously he also did the entire ride in his big ring until we came to Jeffrey Hill, our local test-piece when approached from the north. I told him he would need the small ring but off he went, disappearing up the hill like a rat up a drainpipe. Half way up the steepest section I met him coming back down; fiddling with the gears and admitting that I'd been right.

Strange behaviour.

Only stressful if an individual cocks up the group, to me the point of a group ride is to ride as a group. Likewise if someone joined me on a nice 600km audax, I'd want them to leave me alone. The pleasure I get from rolling along in a tight fast group is as pleasurable as a day alone in the woods and hills. But I like the ride to be well defined....OCD?

So much less stress off road. Unless it actually is a race, most group riding is just a social thing and no one really cares who's in front, behind or if they go blasting up a hill in front of you. Stop for the slowest guy. Stop for snacks. Stop for mechanicals. Stop to retrieve someone out of a tree. Only challenging is to see who's got the balls to try and kill themselves.

😀

Well, lycra'd up xc training rides may be a bit different, but I don't do them. I just ride for social purposes, even on the faster non or less stop kind of rides, and we actually talk during the rides! 😉 . Everything I see of group (even "social") road riding seems to be all about rules and less just enjoyment.

Actually, thinking about it the kind of road riding I'd enjoy is probably just with mates touring about, probably stopping off at pubs every few miles and generally having a laugh 😀

the big question I guess, is have you taken it up with him, or just whined about it on here?

Not really fair. Quite the opposite. In a group everyone is gasing or looking over hedges. The two on the front often share a different type of banter.
It's when a group splits that they become unsocial, tired riders get dropped, then the ones that have surged explode so you have to wait for them.
It's a sporting group with a known pace, a sweet spot that can be maintained. Its not a training ride. There are two other groups that leave at the same time, beginers and social.

Just whined on here. The guilty parties didn't complete the ride, sloping off after giving it some on s hill.
I'll mention it before the next ride. Though we always say no surging.

Do we need to merge oldgit with the grumpy thread? 😉

Id be honoured.

Its one of the things the old timers in the club will let you know when you first start riding with a club.

Funny thing is. The younger and faster riders dont give a t0ss about it. They just laugh about how much it winds the grumpy old fellas up.

Impression I get is that the old fellas hate it so much because they no longer have the legs to chase the young upstart down anymore.

Let him surge if he wants. As long as he's not doing anything dangerous then I'd not waste my energy thinking about him.

I thought most group rides allowed for the hills to be taken at your own pace and regrouped at the top?

I love oldgits roadie club threads. We are gradually getting introduced to the whole club.

We had Crasherman, now there's Cavman.. and let's not forget grumpyoldbastardman 🙂

Sticking my neck out here. When did you last have good sex/an intensive orgasm?

I love cycling but if ^ botheted me soo much I'd considering leaving my partner and finding someone new.

That's very common practice curious, our social group do that. We set out to get times. Surgers nearly always implode and end up slowing down proceedings.
When they've raced they always behave from that time on.

Thursday, wedding anniversary special. And no chance, life is too sweet as it is.

Some of the old time club riders do make you smile though ..

There will always be one old fella who will reliably inform you that the guys who raced back in their day were better than the guys that race today too ..

Well its true. Think I'm , I'm mid fifties and the old pro I ride with is in his seventies #### me does he moan...and at me.

Is his name Alan?

That kind of behaviour is not on during club runs imo. I'd mention it and failing that just put him in a ditch 😉

Yep Mr P

Listening to this from the outside, it does sound like a lot of hard work and a bit off-putting. I ride on my own 98% of the time. If riding a sportive or whatever, I'll take the benefit of a group whenever an opportunity arises. But I'm useless at it. I have no idea how to judge the pace on the front and usually find myself very quickly detached. I'll then just act all casual and pretend I'm 'pushing on', and find myself another group 😉 Or spend the rest of the day on my own... I'll often save myself for 80% of the ride too. Mainly so I know I can make the full distance without seizing up in a fit of cramp. I feel uncomfortable otherwise - cycling to me is about self-sufficiency, and my number one priority is being able to complete the ride! It does leave so in the reserves to let go before the end though. In all honesty, if I joined a club, I think I'd really struggle to get the pace right. And I'd hope the club members would be sympathetic and work with me to get me going at the right pace.

This thread is another good reason why I'd never even think about road riding in a group/club, what a crock of shite.

Bob on butcher. Here to help. I think all clubs have written guidelines, think BC insist?

Ride, train, join club, work harder then race. Not sure what's shite about that.

Yup know a few of these types too.. We just let them take off and stick to our original through and off with the obligatory sprint for the 30 sign at the end .. Couldn't give a chuff about the non racing racers 🙂

Club riding sounds great.

Instead of going out for a ride, which should relieve stress/clear one's head, it results in the need to file a bad behaviour report to the internet.

You are not communicating as a group so why ride as one?

This thread pretty much sums up why road cycling
clubs are in serious decline

Try reading the thread.
We post up a route.
We post up the pace for said route.
We remind the group just prior to starting.
We remind everyone to keep tight.
The guys I'm talking about didn't finish the ride, they sloped off leaving us to wonder where they were. So I couldn't talk to them.
And I got the answer from cynic-al, so I'll announce no group racing prior to the next ride.

Dab you have that so arse about face it's comical.

I don't see the appeal of this group riding stuff, but there is a solution to Mr Surge.

Let him get ahead and then turn off on a different route.

Try reading the thread.
We post up a route.
We post up the pace for said route.
We remind the group just prior to starting.
We remind everyone to keep tight.
The guys I'm talking about didn't finish the ride, they sloped off leaving us to wonder where they were. So I couldn't talk to them.
And I got the answer from cynic-al, so I'll announce no group racing prior to the next ride.

I did read the thread.

The rider is failing to abide by the rules, either he doesn't understand or is purposefully ignoring the group's wishes. Ergo, a failure in communication as a group.

As a newb roadie, I'm still learning the ropes and have never ridden with a club, but was open to the idea. I agree that reading this kind of stuff is massively offputting. So many rules :/

Don't talk daft. Someone agreeing to the rules and actually following them for a while before just going off on their own is a breakdown of communication, as you can't communicate with someone not present.
Its someone giving it the big I am before falling on their arse, and rather than man up they've gone home.

This thread pretty much sums up why road cycling
clubs are in serious decline

You WHAT? Round our way (South London) Dulwich Paragon has gone from c100 to 600 members in 4 years and I believe closed to new members. My club us having growing pains trying to manage group size and relative inexperience and the main riding routes out of town into Kent have begun to resemble the TdF with the sheer numbers on them...

OP - you need to have a chat with your guy - club rules are opaque and often not explained to people very well. I 100% agree with you that it spoils the ride for all when people ride as individuals rather than a group, but he can't be expected to know he's getting it wrong if no-one has a quiet word....

Some of the old time club riders do make you smile though ..

There will always be one old fella who will reliably inform you that the guys who raced back in their day were better than the guys that race today too ..

Our old timer (we only have one) likes to remind us he used to race with Wiggo at Herne Hill 🙂

antennae don't be, this place as usual is full of awkward buggers. There will be rules, but they'd simple...
Highway code.
Particular group guidelines and that's it
What we have on the forum is what seems a massive anti club culture. Which is fine. What I totally fail to understand is the idea of joining a club, but acting as a complete individual acting alone outside of the clubs rules...why would you and for the life of me what sports clubs would you join and act like that.
If we can't ride as a team on the bun run what are we going to be like on race day.

To answer the op, is it Lizzie Armiststead.

And look where that sort of antisocial riding got her. 😀

dab - Member
This thread pretty much sums up why road cycling clubs are in serious decline

Through and off is your friend. If anyone misses a turn and sits on the back, tell them to take the next slowest group next time.

There is something magical about zipping along at 22mph in close formation sharing the work. That is group riding. Everything else sounds like a sportive.

Sprinting for signs and attacking on standard climbs is, of course, expected. But it is a GROUP ride, not a wheelsuckfest.

To be fair some clubs are better organised than others.

God I miss TCC. Round where I live is just not the same. Riding is better but the organisation is not.

Riding with a group is brilliant if they're well organised. Really brings you on when you're unfit, let's you gauge how far you've come when you are.

If this guy's behaviour bothered me enough I'd have a word. Or refer to it in the next group ride e-mail.

Certain roadies will look down on other roadies who aren't in a club ..
Certain club roadies will look down on other club roadies who don't race ..
Certain club roadies that race will look down on other club roadies that race because they only race crits ...

And it goes on ...

Basically some people see themselves as superior to most other people. And very often for no valid reason other than their own over inflated delusional ego. Sad types really.

Certain roadies will look down on other roadies who aren't in a club ..
Certain club roadies will look down on other club roadies who don't race ..
Certain club roadies that race will look down on other club roadies that race because they only race crits ...

And it goes on ...

oldgit - Member

Ironically setting a pace and keeping things ordered makes for a very fast, social and safe ride. Applying the chaos theory turns things a little crappy.

Couldn't agree more. A consistent pace with alternating leads and a tight bunch makes for a very enjoyable and smooth ride.

It seems that some clubs may be reaching a point where new members are looked upon as a hindrance due to reaching a saturation point in numbers.

I wouldn't mind joining a club and getting into racing Crits after a time, but coming from riding mtb in a pretty care free manner with mates I'm not sure it will be my scene, or more likely annoying established riders.

Probably need to MTFU and give it a bash.

Of the two clubs I rode with, one had a "when you are dropped you are dropped" approach which only became apparent half way round with people being left behind (i.e. you'd better keep up or we just leave you), and the second group, the sh1t hit the fan around 20km from home when everyone started attacking each other in a race for home. Both don't sound too dissimilar to oldgits Cadel impersonator.

Neither communicated this which I think is the main thing. If a new rider knows the expectations of the group and the group communicates well with the new rider/ lesser experienced rider then I guess everyone is happier at the end of the day.

God I miss TCC

Blush Thanks.

I took a group of seven "beginners" out two weeks ago for group riding 101. We covered 32 miles in formation with clear rules for calling. Rather comical, but I make the group walk through the maneuvers in the a car park before we hit the road. Then it is real-time coaching, with stops to assess how the group is doing. A little raggedy at the start, with two faster guy who I had to break up and continually tell to "ease off" and "soft pedal" (coasting is not allowed), but smooth and fast by the end, faster than some of the riders thought they were capable of riding.

We have had significant growth over the past few years, and have group riding standards that new members are required to meet. It doesn't matter how fast your ironman time was, if you can't ride in a group, then you'll be riding with the beginners and me or another ride leader until you can!

Once you've shown you are safe in a group, you can move to whichever group you want. This may be the hammerfest fast boys, or a steady semi-social group. All but the fast group have a no-drop policy. We don't leave people behind, but enjoy a sprint now and again.

Make your expectations clear at the beginning. Give feedback on how they are being met. Enjoy the ride, and the few moments when it really does feel like flying.

I would NEVER have considered racing if I hadn't joined a club, group riding gave me the confidence to have a go.