[Closed] So the dark side and group ride etiquette

If riding "through and off", don't accelerate to get on the front of the group, the others will back off slightly. And don't overlap wheels. Above all, do your time on the front, but have fun.

pay attention and be aware of any hand signals (pointing at pot holes indicating behind back to say parked car), calls(car up/car down), don't do anything stupid, no sharp movements etc.

Hand signals and calls (eg moving out vehicles, hazards in the road, road clear at junctions etc)

Riding smoothly, avoiding sudden changes in speed or direction

Try and ride 'mid pack' if you're OK with the pace

Relax, chat, and enjoy yourself ... roadies are actually friendly 🙂

Oh and don't try to race the fast guys - they can ride you into the ground if provoked! (Although most of the time they just offer me a helping wheel)

Oh and don't try to race the fast guys - they can ride you into the ground if provoked! (Although most of the time they just offer me a helping wheel)

DO NOT RACE ANYONE ON A TANDEM!!!! DO NOT PROVOKE ANYONE ON A TANDEM!!! it will hurt!!!

something to be aware of the cafe sprint. you might depending on the group find the pace gets wound up a bit towards the end, or if you have a cafe stop on the approach.

I doubt you'll be expected to do much time at the front on your first group ride but if you are the key is to keep your speed constant, don't be scared about asking the guys behind to come through if you tire. Slow slightly, let them come through.

Learn the "calls" that your group use and use them, these differ slightly for each group in my experience but the riders behind will be very grateful of the warning of any hazards.

Most of, enjoy the experience of riding in a group. It can be a great way of having your legs ripped off..

And whatever you don't half wheel, guaranteed way of making the fitter guys want to beast you,

If it's your first time with the group, I very much doubt they'll want you anywhere near the front. The best advice is let them know, if you haven't already that you're new to it all. Somebody will look after you until you get the hang of it.
Next bit of good advice is don't call it 'darkside'.

wear baggies and a camelbak , keep the peak on the helmet, lead up the hills then stop for jelly based sweets whilst talking to them all aimlessly at the top, dont pass any pubs and moan like **** if they ever go two abreast

TiRed - Member
Above all, do your time on the front, but have fun.

This, but dont burst yourself. If you feel your running on empty when you get to the front dont be scared to end your spell early. Just shout 'spell' or whatever the vernacular in Englandshire is. Its easier to go 'through' for however short a spell than to sit at the back.

Ride smooth, no half-wheeling or racing off up hills. Check over your shoulder before moving out and keep any movements obvious and deliberate.

You'll soon pick up on hand signals, calls etc.

Enjoy...

Yep all as above except the camelback...

Relax learn and pay attention nothing sudden and nothing stupid. Let someone know it's your first time
Watch for the signals. The toughest thing I had was keeping a steady speed so I was up and down the gears loads to start with.

I broke most of those rules the first few club rides I ever did and noone threw me out. I guess the main thing is to not cause an accident and to be polite as you would in any new group situation.

IME diff groups can follow different versions of the rules so go and have a chat with whoever's leading before you leave and take their steer.
Once you know the basics, experience is all you need

Look,learn and don't get casual.
You will soon pick it up ,and as others have said ,try and keep it smooth when you are moving around.
If it's a good crowd ,they will keep you right.
Oh,and FFS don't call it DoRkSide 😀

Dont wear shorts so tight the guy behind can see your starfish and dont have vindaloo the night before.

As above esp. on the calls as clubs all have their own way. I am more used to 'head' or 'tail' than some of above.

I found the best advice on my first darkside run was to just sit at the back and gain experience and just make sure you can make the entire ride without making them wait for you.

After the first ride you can gauge your strength and you know if you have it in your legs to do your share or just hang in for dear life next time you go out.

If you start to get tired hang on to the wheel in front and do everything you can to hold onto it. Once you lose the wheel you will struggle to get it back. Sitting in a slipstream when you are "bonked" is hard but its harder on your own.

don't overdress, road riding is constant, no jelly beans enjoying the view etc. you will soon warm up.

above all, enjoy the burn

Be observant and chat to people. Enjoy yourself.

I'm a lone wolf roadie , some say a vagabond.... I just think I'm Free....

Camelback, helmet peak (as said above), flat pedals (I'd recommend those 50p plastic pedals with the reflector) and a pair of scruffy ripped Nike trainers. Get yourself some baggy bermuda shorts from the local primark and an ill fitting baggy top - they'll love you for it.

Then find the fella (there is always as least one) dressed head to toe in Assos gear, clear your nasal passages on a regular basis towards his direction as much as possible and rant to him about the financial benefits of your cycling gear - you'll fit right in 🙂

Yeah.

Don't start to think 'this is easy' and lift the pace, that might come back and bite you on the arse.
Hands on bars.
Chat to the fella next to you, but don't keep turning to look at him.
Don't look down at your bike for any reason.
Say so if you have a problem.

Signals are getting confusing now.
If you stay on a wheel you don't need a signal.
I prefer just a L/R point or finger on the back to signal moving out.
Shouting car up or down seems as obvious as pointing to a drain at the side of the road, to me anyway. You are on a road cars and drains are a given.
As is shouting 'holes'....'where'.....keerthump......'oh there'

Who are you going out with?

Sit on the back and spin all day. Eat and drink loads and attack with everything you've got 5k from the end. You can't beat that feeling.

If you don't know what you're doing, ask someone to give you some tips. Just pick the right person to ask - it's probably not the person with the nicest bike, and it's definitely not the person who is fastest up all the hills (at this time of the year anyway).

Remember to properly brand yourself a mtber by placing lower leg against chainring.

Don't use your brakes

Don't throw the bike backwards when getting out the saddle to climb

It's probably a bit late for this now seeing as you'll be riding in about 20 mins but make sure the bike works!

Groups will wait for a puncture; they won't wait if your gears are slipping cos you've forgotten to adjust them or if you've punctured 8 times cos you're still using racing tyres. And rattly noises from loose/worn bits of bike are very uncool too and will annoy everyone.

Otherwise, as above. Keep movements smooth and deliberate, find out what particular shouts/signs your group uses and enjoy yourself.

Did someone say roadies are friendly...?
Imo 90% are arrogant tossers. Only 1 in 10 will nod or acknowledge me when I'm on my mtb. Is it cause I'm wearing baggies or that our pastimes are so vastly different. B**tards ride 3 or 4 abreast , and when eventually they begrudgingly move to single file you can't overtake incase there's a pothole that they must, without warning, swerve around because their fragile wheels/ lycra clad bodies won't take the 'thump'.

Troll alert.

Without wanting to go OT, you should be leaving the same space as you would a car.

[i]Troll alert.[/i]

But how true is it?
When I'm on the road bike most roadies either nod or say hi, on the MTB very few do. (unless I shout 'HIYA', then I sometimes get a response.)

Sit on the back but keep your eyes peeled for appropriate sign to sprint for. The most important thing is to be first to the cafe.

don't be pi$$ed if you don't enjoy that group/club.

i went on a ride with one club and never returned, then tried another faster club a few months later, found them ok and joined as it was only £7. i do intend to go out with them again but i then stumbled on one that was 'just right' (ctc style all steel frames and Carradice) and have ridden with them for a few years but now find i want more so will start to go out with the faster club come the New Year.

As above, ride smoothly, no sudden braking, no over lapping wheels, don't worry about doing at turn on the front. Enjoy.

Sorry, didn't realise that would be classed as trolling as wasn't aimed at 9ne person in particular. Apologies.
But glad to see a darksider ( albeit a part-timer ) agreeing with me.

I agree with the tandem posts..when I took my mtb to a local cycling club for a ride out one Sunday ( not realising I'd , not only be the only non lycra clad person there but the only one without dropped bars )i thought I'd be ok keeping up with the group as there was an old couple there on a tandem. How fast were they?!! Wtf.
Had to laugh..I didn't stand a hope in hell.

One piece of advice I will offer - and which I always try to remind my mtbing friends when they join us.

Is, if you need/want to clear your nose or spit ... do so when your at the back.. 😡

be naked on your first ride.. it's an initiation thing and will help you to become accepted more quickly by the 'cool' guys..

I wouldn't mind going out with a road group but all the rules and etiquette and fear of getting 'dropped' outs me right off. And I don't own any lycra.

It's no big deal Grum, just good manners and not being a ****.

Depends on the group of course, but if you can hold 16mph average then you probably won't get dropped.

grum talk to the club before the first ride, get a feel for the ride average. I know our club does cafe runs on Saturday and can have 3-5 groups with different speeds. The sunday run is quicker and there are two groups. the fast one goes first so if you die you should be caught by the second group. There is a midweek chaingang but that is definitely not the place to start.

I wouldn't mind going out with a road group but all the rules and etiquette and fear of getting 'dropped' outs me right off. And I don't own any lycra.

Rhubarb.
Sounds like a minefield, but you don't even notice it happening. Everyone misses a shout or a sign, sometimes it's just too late. And in reality it's your own look out, I'd never rely on a stranger and if I went down a hole it's no ones fault but my own.
Joining over winter is a double edged sword, the pace is steadier but the conditions are harder!
You'll not find clubs friendlier at any other time of year. We had riders from 23c/Orbea, Team Corleys, Spirit racing and LBRCC-Solgar out together this week and you could hear the chat all the way down the line.

I had my second club ride today. As much as I enjoy it its hard to stay on the back - and I thought I was fit. One of the girls helped me get back on by teaching me to take turns with her. Don't laugh, she races and steamed me on the flats.

I need that challenge to get fitter / faster though, and am loving the whir of a group ride and post ride coffee and panattone.

The back is the proverbial Dragons tail though.

Remember, Manuals, wheelies, endo turns and the like aren't just for MTB use only. Impress 'em with a 300 yard manual and a couple of stylish whips off of a speed bump or two............

Not sure what that means oldgit?

I think it means that you have to breathe in a hell of a lot of fart gas

The back is the proverbial Dragons tail though. ❓