Getting dropped



Uawadall

Well-Known Member
Jun 14, 2015
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How do you feel about getting dropped by faster riders? Unless your Chris Froome, everyone has come across riders at some point(even he did) who are faster than them. For me, I like to try and keep up as much as I can for as long as I can (wether it be 1 minute or 20 miles). It is also motivation to train more. I've heard of members at my local club quitting because they couldn't keep up with the A group. Of course I'd rather not get left in the dust by a pack of A riders, but chasing those faster is good training and tons of fun at times. Many times I've been given encouragement to train more and come back again by the droppers;). How do you feel about getting "dropped"?
 
How do you feel about getting dropped by faster riders?
I am old now. I no longer ride with groups. So I don't get dropped.

But I do attempt to keep up with people who pass me. Some just ride away and are never seen again. Some I see a few miles later when they run out of gas.

It is much different from my youth, when I would pass people and they would not see me until days later when I passed them again
 
EVERYONE gets dropped.

Including Froome. He got booted from the Giro after riding behind a motorcycle. After he got dropped and tried to use the moto to get back up to the front or limit his loss.

Cut to...Nibali doing the same thing this year.

How do I feel about it when I get the hammer dropped on me???

I don't 'feel' anything. Unless you are talking about the pain in my legs, the aching in my lower back or the burning in my lungs.

I work harder because someone else is faster, stronger and/or riding smarter than I. No big deal. And next time around maybe I'll drop them. I like your attitude, U. A man's just got to realize his limitations. Then try and overcome them if possible. We rarely get faster unless we put in time with guys that are faster than we. Getting dropped is just part of that training equation. We ride in pain. We suffer. We cramp. And finally, we get dropped.

And no matter how good a guy is, there will always be someone come along that's better on a given day.

How you deal with the gap in front of you?

That depends on a lot of things. Am I halfway up a short, steep wall? Am I just starting a long climb. but help is just behind me? Am I into a stiff headwind alone against a couple of true locomotives in the disappearing pack? Was it just a momentary lack of attention to a surge in pace I neglected to follow? Am I on a good day and ready to brag about closing big gaps all by my lonesome? It all depends, as they say. You can burn a match or three or you can put it on cruise control or you can just ride it on in.

Guys that quit cycling because they can't hang are not the guys I want to ride with. There's a metric **** ton of guys I can't hang with, but if they are willing to put up with my lack of talent I'm willing to give them my best effort.
 
So I don't get dropped.

But I do attempt to keep up with people who pass me. Some just ride away and are never seen again.

A rider passes you and you try to keep up but they just ride away? Pretty sure that means you got dropped. :rolleyes:
 
Even if you are great you have bad days where you can't pull the lead.
 
I almost always ride alone and at night so it doesn't happen to me very often but when it has it hasn't really bothered me. I ride for exploration and adventure and very seldom try to run the clock and or go at a fast pace.
 
I didn't get dropped much when I was young, but now that I'm 70, I get dropped more than I like, but hey, so what, I'm used to riding alone, anyway. I'm certainly not going to quit because of it. It's true that riding with better riders will make you a better rider. When I go out with a group, now, I try to pull as long as I can up front because that way I don't get dropped for awhile until I get passed or too tired to ride at the pace the rest of the group wants.
 
A rider passes you and you try to keep up but they just ride away? Pretty sure that means you got dropped. :rolleyes:
I am pretty sure that being dropped requires that I want to keep up but am unable to. I lose interest well before I am unable. For examples:

I was out for a 55 miles ride. About 40 miles in a kid passed me. I kicked my power up to a bit above FTP, sat a few seconds back of him, and watched him ride. There was a hill a couple miles ahead and I wanted to see him climb it. As it happened he eased up at the hill and rode on my wheel to the top. I learned all I wanted to from him and I watched him ride away. I rode home.

I am often not paying attention to my workout. If someone passes me, I pick up my pace until I get my heart rate up and then I ask if I want to keep up or if I want to resume my ride. I often watch the rider ride away as I resume my ride.

That is a lot different that what you suggest my meaning is.
 
EVERYONE will get dropped at some point of their life. Even if it hasn't happened yet, Mark my words it will do and the first time it does will be as humiliating for you as it has been for everyone else.

Like what people have already said, it happens to even the best cyclists so there's nothing to feel ashamed about, it does still tend to sting the pride a little though!
 
EVERYONE will get dropped at some point of their life. Even if it hasn't happened yet, Mark my words it will do and the first time it does will be as humiliating for you as it has been for everyone else.

Like what people have already said, it happens to even the best cyclists so there's nothing to feel ashamed about, it does still tend to sting the pride a little though!

A big blow to the pride yes but on the brighter side you could always have a little humble pie and think that you've simply been beaten by the better person and use that as an incentive to train more so that you can then drop that person.
 
I have no problem with getting dropped. I have met faster riders that I know I could not keep up with. But I am more of a pacing person though so getting dropped at the start of a ride really means nothing to me as I have passed riders in later miles. I've been dropped at the start of a ride only to pass that same rider 70 miles into a ride. Some guys drop me at the start of a 100 mile ride and stay ahead the entire time.

Do some timed events, you'll see what I mean!

Everybody get dropped. I've watched TDF races where Lance got dropped and he was doing drugs ha ha!

Those that say they don't get dropped are full of sheot! :rolleyes:
 
I did not get dropped in any 55+ races last year but I picked my events carefully.

I felt bad getting dropped out of the lead group on Paris-Brest-Paris last year. I chased back the first time but then it was inevitable and it was 900 Km Solo. I did really enjoy watching the German rider coming back up out of Brest before the Roc because he rode right off the front of 30-40 riders and Solo'd like 700Km. I love watching better riders. I'm just mediocre.

I get dropped in hills all the time. Not so much on flat or rolling terrain because at 6'4", I make enough power in absolute terms.
 
In a race I also don't mind getting dropped at the beginning as I'm experienced enough to know what pace I need to be at and as the race goes on the fast starters do tend to get pulled back into the pack.

As I've got older though, it's when the riders kick on again in the final few miles that I know if I can keep up or not, most of the time I can challenge but a few times now I've not been able to keep the pace a couple of others have but I'm fine with that.

I'm 38 years old now, and while that's not old, I wouldn't expect myself to have the stamina to keep pace with a 19 year old.
 
It doesn't really bother me much. I've never been the fastest of cyclists and would not feel offended if I was dropped by Group A cyclists. Besides, I like to ride in order to get from point A to point B and don't ride competitively. But if I was to ride with a particular group, I'd ensure that I was able to keep up with them before joining.
 
I don't do this type of ride, usually when I ride with my friends we don't leave no one behind because we are in together for the ride, to enjoy ourselves and not timing it.
 
It does all depend on the nature of the ride and I don't think that anybody out with friends for a leisurely ride would be leaving anybody behind.

Having said that, if we are planning on going for something to eat and a couple of beers during the ride, we have been known to say the last one to the pub buys the beer!

Nothing wrong with a little healthy competition every now and again!
 
In a race I also don't mind getting dropped at the beginning as I'm experienced enough to know what pace I need to be at and as the race goes on the fast starters do tend to get pulled back into the pack.

As I've got older though, it's when the riders kick on again in the final few miles that I know if I can keep up or not, most of the time I can challenge but a few times now I've not been able to keep the pace a couple of others have but I'm fine with that.

I'm 38 years old now, and while that's not old, I wouldn't expect myself to have the stamina to keep pace with a 19 year old.

Depends what 19yo you're talking about. If it's an overweight or gormless looking baseball cap wearing type with a create of Stella under his arm then I have all the confidence you can drop him :D
 
Yep, I have many years of riding, so I can manage effort and I could drop people behind, but that't not really my goal as I love to ride and to enjoy myself with others while doing it.
 
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