Roadies and the speed ratchet

In Arizona, I used to occasionally show up for "Roadie" rides organized by other people, riding the Jolly Roger. The typical reaction would be that the Roadies would pretend they didn't see me at first. Sometimes I would just shrug and ride quietly anyway. I don't need to get in contests over how light and aero my bicycle is (answers: Heavy and Not). Other times, I would do things like declare myself to be "Team F-Minus!!" and then make a valiant effort to hang on for as long as possible before eventually falling off the back of the pack (typically when approaching any kind of gradient whatsoever, as the Jolly Roger plus me do not make for a climbing machine). This is just my way of expressing my weird sense of humor. I have to say, though, that getting to draft while pedaling the Jolly Roger is an incredible feeling. It takes a large pack of cyclists to achieve that state. Also, the obsession over grams and aerodynamics often makes me chuckle. Trying to hang on with faster riders is also a good way to get faster, or just get ready for brevets in general.

Dynamics out here have been different. As with the Car Resistance Action Party ride in Tempe, the Monday Social Riders accept newcomers on all kinds of bikes, with all different skill levels, and are patient about it. No stop at the Orange Table, however, sadly. It's low-key and great for just getting out for a bike ride. I only occasionally get questions about why I'm hauling two full panniers*.

Wednesday rides are getting a bit funny and strange, however. For starters, I started the ride, and advertised it as an "Intermediate-pace" ride, figuring that if I wanted to get in more mileage on a consistent basis, the best way to do so would be to organize a weekly ride so I had to show up. My commuter is the Jolly Roger, so that's the bike I have available to ride, and I'm not going to pretend it's a fast bike, but I want to push myself slightly more than on the Social Ride. Being the organizer makes it harder to ignore me, and the riders who have gotten to know me seem to understand on at least some level that I'm just out to do my thing, aerodynamics be damned. I'm also not the only one wanting an intermediate pace, mind you. We intermediate riders might be small in number, but we're feisty.

But the ride is starting to run into two things. Thing one, faster roadies (FRs) are getting attracted to it, for some reason, causing some "speed ratchet" where the ride is starting to get too fast for me and is definitely too fast for people on the cusp between "beginner" and "intermediate." The FR's also don't want to stop at all, but as scrottie has noted repeatedly, if a rider in a group needs to stop or do something but instead gets forced to keep riding, that rider is eventually going to grind to a halt and the net effect will most likely be slower travel speed than if the rider gets to quick-stop to deal with the issue. Second, people keep asking for changes to be made to how the ride works, especially because it's starting to get dark earlier and they don't want to ride at night or carry lights with them or want to be allowed to put on their makeup in the middle or play the kazoo or something.

My instinctive reaction is, well, you don't have to go along on the ride, and you're more than welcome to organize a group to ride along the same roads at approximately the same time, or to ride on different roads at the same time, if you're so inclined, and if my pace or decisions to stop periodically make you antsy. You won't hurt my feelings, trust me, and I won't think poorly of you. Honestly, my bottom line is that I'm happier whenever more people are out riding bicycles in general, and I completely understand that different people have different inclinations and riding styles. My personal modus operandi is to suck it up and ride my bike if I'm the slowest rider (pretty used to being That Rider by now, and someone always is), and to hang back and provide encouragement if I'm not and if the slower rider is interested in company and encouragement. If I'm not having a good time, I'm doing it wrong.

I don't know. Is there a good way to articulate this to the masses of people involved? What would you do? I think I'm going to see if I can get a discussion started on teh local interwebs on several interrelated aspects of this monkey-puzzle tree, although part of me is inclined to just not do anything about any of it but just keep going out and ride my bike. I guess maybe my mistake is in bothering to listen to people, or something. :-)


*(answer: I'm lazy in a specific way in that I don't want to have to go back to my office to pack up at the conclusion of the ride - easier to just haul the backpack+laptop, lunch, change of clothes, and tools. Seriously, easier.)