We have a coast to Coast ride in the summer.
There will be around 15 of us, with only about 4 used to sportives.
What is the agreed system? Do we just wing it riding two abreast, or split into groups of four, to make it easier for cars to overtake, when on busier roads.
We will start group training soon.
Thanks

big groups riding close together 2 abrest are easier to overtake tham a long line or lots of small groups, otherwise its a longer overtake or the car has to pull in between each small group.

The problem with big groups like that, especially if not used to riding together is that they tend to string out dramatically on climbs and descents, then as soon as you’ve regrouped, the bunch splits again on the next hill. Worst thing with a bunch splitting is when a car overtakes half of the group then gets caught in the middle as you’re all trying to come back together.

Best bet is simply to see how things go on your early rides and split it into 2 groups if necessary.

I’d be tempted to split into smaller groups. I’ve seen loads of crazy overtakes by cars of big groups on club rides to the point where I don’t do them anymore. Are you all of similar pace/ability?

As has been said 2 abreast is a good idea, though be prepared for ranting and raving from a small minority of car drivers who don’t realise you’re trying to make things easier for them.

just ride as one group, and just get everyone to do a turn, the length of which depends on how strong.

You seriously can’t win, if you break the group down the weaker riders are going to have to do more which means they get tired and make mistakes, fail to pay attention to cars etc. A big group means cars will have to consciously overtake, which means they will moan about having to slow down etc.

If you do split, 8 riders is small enough.

You won’t get people able to ride in groups for any length of time, and this is inevitable; especially if not used to riding together is that they tend to string out dramatically on climbs and descents, then as soon as you’ve regrouped, the bunch splits again on the next hill

Best to arrange a number of re-grouping points along the way, and have one or two of the stronger riders acting as sweepers, riding at the back.

Trying to stay together is a recipe for grumpiness because the stronger riders will keep nudging the pace up then having to slow down, and the weaker riders will feel that they are grovelling in the gutter all day.

Without riders able to benefit from drafting, your group will only go as fast as the slowest rider, which is tedious for everyone else.

If you are a group of mixed ability & fancy different paces, then try this:- Elect a leader & a tail end charlie (leader must know the route – helps if tail end charlie does too), the leader is always at the front, no one must overtake the leader & the tail end charlie is always at the back & must not overtake anyone.
at any junction you come to the rider directly behind the leader (2nd rider – this can be anyone else riding) must stop & mark the junction until tail end charlie gets to the junction, then whoever has marked the junction must make sure they at least get in front of tail end charlie.
In practice what happens is that the faster riders end up marking the junctions & overtaking the “bunch” when playing catch up & the slower riders stay mid bunch or at the back & with the junctions marked no one gets lost or left behind. Takes a bit of getting used to but most people get it pretty quickly once put into practice.

One group of 7 and one of 8. Why not ask for a BC coach to give you a couple of hours of coaching in how to ride in a group. There is a wealth of material and sessions out there to make your ride much more pleasurable. Advice is good, but there is no substitute for training. Any BC level 2 coach will be delighted to help you out, I’m sure.

Sportives is not group riding. Wheelsuck fests – yes, group riding – no.

EDIT: try here http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/coachingdirectory

Sportives is not group riding. Wheelsuck fests – yes, group riding – no.

+1

Why not just join a roadie club? If you’re going to train anyway it’ll just ad some structure to it on a Sunday morning.

Too big for one group. Riding 2 abreast? 4 long is big. Big enough to hinder other traffic which I am not fussed about but it causes too much agro. I bet your faster riders won’t want to stick to the speed of the slowest. Train the slow ones to ride faster, maybe by showing them what they need to do. Then group by speed and temperament.

Yeah, the chap organising really wants us to stick together, but there is probably five or six strong riders, and some real novices.
I wondered whether the strong riders should do it the opposite way the day before to even things up a bit. Didn’t go down too well.
It’s a 90 mile route, and we are doing it on the longest day so we can pootle along and still get to Newcastle by mid afternoon.
We are stopping for lunch at Housesteads Roman Fort, then it’s pretty much downhill.
Thanks for the advice/ opinions.

Strikes me that the organiser doesn’t know much. Decent riders will bomb along. Novices won’t finish. Better train them like hell and convince the good ones to slow down. Good luck.

+1 for pretty much every other post, solid advice there.

You all really need to practice riding as a unit as much as possible. The strong riders need to understand that their roll is to be lead riders if they have agreed to riding in a “mixed ability group”, mature bike riders can handle this responsibility.
2 abreast is ideal but when the train is 8 long it can become problematic even for experienced groups. As mentioned above 2 groups with the stronger riders split between groups leading the less experienced, stopping regularly for food & hydration (3/4 times).

probably five or six strong riders, and some real novices.

trying to keep that together is going to be a miserable bike ride for all concerned, too slow for the strong riders who get cold trying to ride slowly and the less capable get knackered and dissilusioned

I did coast to coast with a work group and it got strung out so we agreed on lots of stop points and the faster rides waited with the van for the slower ones, the slower rides soon make up the gaps

why not set the slower riders off in the first group and have the faster riders set off later and catch them up ???

I take it it’s Hadrian’s Cycleway? To be honest, a lot of it should be really quiet. Can’t see it being that much of a problem if you;re all sensible about it. But I suppose that depends what route you take out of, and into civilisation. Whether you’ll take the cycle tracks and lanes, or road all the way?

I’d just let it develop naturally. Groups will form, change and develope as the day goes on. Just make sure there’s a strong rider on at the back to act as sweeper. Sounds like a job for you OP.

Thanks all.
Butcher, we’ve plotted our route on roads, where is the best place to find the cycle tracks, we will be on road bikes.

I assume you’ll be starting at the most northerly point or thereabouts given the distance. In which case the official route is mostly on quiet roads from the off (from what I remember – which isn’t always reliable!), until you get to Carlisle, where you’ll probably be better on the road in a big group anyway.

Then you’d normally pick up on the cycle track again going into Newcastle and on to the coast.

I think I’ll get the sustrans map, see how it compares,

Playing devils advocate here but…

are pubic roads really the place for individuals to be grouping up regardless of what they are travelling on/in? Roads are a public place and I’ve lost count of the times I’ve come across poor group riding and am sometimes left wondering if it should be kept for organised events or tracks etc.

swapping positions when cars are already overtaking, talking (and wobbling about), following others out of junctions when they should have waited etc etc. There is a group of road cyclists between Bristol airport and Bath (winford, chew etc) that when I have seen them I am afraid have been acting like a bunch of clowns who give all cyclists a bad name. Their jerseys are black with a red stripe.

On the flip side the most notable time I have seen excellent group riding was during the Wiggle Dragon ride a couple of years back. Even though it was a sportive the riders bunched in small groups. Riding 2 abreast where it was wide enough and single when not. They appreciated that cars needed to make progress along the road at a decent rate too and overtook safely when the cars were held up due to car traffic.

There are other times too but they pass by without incident as all concerned behaved appropriately. you just tend to remember the times when it doesnt work.

Roads are a public place and I’ve lost count of the times I’ve come across poor group riding and am sometimes left wondering if it should be kept for organised events or tracks etc.

and how do you practice group riding?

Simple thing car drivers need to understand most roads were not built for cars

Im not a fan of huge bunches on open public roads. Any more than 10 just gets too hard to control as the level of ability and experience varies more and you’re more likely to have some tool who just won’t behave with the bunch.

So two groups – fast and not so fast. Appoint a captain to lead each group (captain of the slower group needs to be your most experienced and confident rider) When ride in 2’s try a paceline to swap the lead. Single file you just go through and off (on the right please)