Easy group rides

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In our usual Sat and Sun group rides of 3-5 hours, about 1-2 hours fall into my active recovery zone. As I hate to waste time, am I better off limiting the group rides and train solo in order to sustain a higher power?

Yes.

Yes.No, easy group rides are the best way to meet good training partners.

I train alone. Group rides are full of wankers.
Yeah, those blokes in rainbow jersies are the worst.:p

I'm a fairly recent convert to road/crit racing from basically being a solo rec rider.
I found racing in a group a little daunting at first & initially thought it to close for comfort. Now I am riding in very close quarters, particularly now I'm up a grade & feeling really at ease . I actually touched the rear tyre of the guy in front last race. I wouldn't make a habit of that but I was rather relaxed about it. One of my coaches actually says "Hold that fkn wheel in front" So the racing is enough 'practice' for group riding IMO.
I still train mostly solo & I think you can be more in control of what you're trying to achieve. Certainly makes you stronger quicker :)
To those who choose to train solo, I reckon there is nothing like it. When you start racing though your adrenaline will give you such a high you will wonder why you waited so long :rolleyes:

Its ok Al.Congratulations 1000th post :)

try to ride it all in your big ring.



In our usual Sat and Sun group rides of 3-5 hours, about 1-2 hours fall into my active recovery zone. As I hate to waste time, am I better off limiting the group rides and train solo in order to sustain a higher power?

try to ride it all in your big ring.Ummm, that won't do a thing for sustaining a higher power. If the group rides at a pace that's below your intended workout level then it'll still be too easy, you'll just get the pleasure of grinding bigger gears while you workout below your target level. That might feel hard but it won't improve your fitness and if you followed Andy's recent thread on Strength Endurance Training, it won't even result in increased muscle strength. http://home.earthlink.net/~acoggan/setraining/ (http://home.earthlink.net/%7Eacoggan/setraining/)

If you're on a power based training program it really pays to ride alone unless you simply want the company or need the group riding practice or on those hammefest rides if you're targeting L6 and L7 work. But for the most part just ride alone and work at a level appropriate for your own fitness. One really nice benefit of solo training is that you tend to become a better time trialist which is key for racing, even mass start racing if you ever want to get off the front :)

-Dave

In our usual Sat and Sun group rides of 3-5 hours, about 1-2 hours fall into my active recovery zone. As I hate to waste time, am I better off limiting the group rides and train solo in order to sustain a higher power?
Why not go to the front and pull them along? In fact, from the front you can dictate the pace. If you split up the pack, that's ok too. No point in having an entire group ride at one fixed pace anyway; it's boring for the fast guys and too hard for the slow ones. You can always agree to meet up at the rest stop or at the finish.

Not sure how your group works, but above is pretty much standard practice for the club rides here. If 12-15 riders show up, there are normally 3 mini-groups that form up pretty quickly.

Why not go to the front and pull them along? In fact, from the front you can dictate the pace. If you split up the pack, that's ok too. No point in having an entire group ride at one fixed pace anyway; it's boring for the fast guys and too hard for the slow ones. You can always agree to meet up at the rest stop or at the finish.

Not sure how your group works, but above is pretty much standard practice for the club rides here. If 12-15 riders show up, there are normally 3 mini-groups that form up pretty quickly.
That is what I have been doing, going to the front, taking hard pulls, and when the road goes up (hills) I challenge myself. If I drop to many I hold up some. I feel the same way though and will begin searching for a stronger group that will be dropping me. I like to be pushed and in some groups this can be a bit hard, perhaps you could look for another group to ride with if this continues to be an issue for you.

Thanks for your answers! In fact I'm mostly doing long distance triathlons so the key is to improve my time trialing abilities. If I go to the front and pull too hard the coach will order me to slow down because the slower guys might get dropped... I think I will do more long solo rides with the powertap and just join the group to socialize from time to time.

Why not go to the front and pull them along? In fact, from the front you can dictate the pace. If you split up the pack, that's ok too. No point in having an entire group ride at one fixed pace anyway; it's boring for the fast guys and too hard for the slow ones. You can always agree to meet up at the rest stop or at the finish.

Not sure how your group works, but above is pretty much standard practice for the club rides here. If 12-15 riders show up, there are normally 3 mini-groups that form up pretty quickly.This is what my club does and it does it intentionally.

I know its not what your coach wants you to do, but why don't you suggest it the coach