All,
Further to the discussion at the bus stop this morning I just wanted to reiterate a few key points:
The TRC welcomes guest riders from other clubs and unattached riders to join our Sunday rides. You are welcome to join any group that fits your riding objectives.
We are seeking to split the riders into groups based on speed in the interests of providing an enjoyable group ride for everyone and to reduce the size of the groups on the road at the start. The large groups have drawn a number of complaints from the public and are probably not in the interests of our own safety with cars choosing to pull into the peloton as a result of trying to overtake a group of 50 riders.
Traditionally we have all started as one group and then as the pressure gets applied the group fragments in to a number of smaller groups and people can get dropped and lost.
So … all we are doing is forming the groups at the outset rather than allowing a natural selection on the road.
Getting used to this will take a bit of time for everyone to understand the new plan and to work out which group you should be in.
Today we had 46 riders and we split into 4 groups; Steady, Medium (x2) and fast.
There was reluctance for anyone to go off first in the fast group; if you are a strong rider (e.g. sub hour for a 25 TT) then this is the group that probably would suit you.
We are also seeking to vary the rides routes and lengths as things develop and there will be a rota of ride leaders published shortly.
See here.
http://www.thanetrc.org/social-riding.shtml
As we have been doing the same thing on a Sunday for probably 10 years and the ride has now become so popular we need to make some changes. It will no doubt take a few weeks to bed in to please keep an eye on the website & social media so you know what is going on. Also please be prompt for the meet up so you can depart with the correct group.
Attached are a couple of photos of the magical mystery tour Chris Bax lead today which was an excellent change of scenery.
Here is the route taken by the steady group (averaged 15mph) http://www.strava.com/activities/203510080/
Posted by Rick Perkins