Thursday B Rides
Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2018 10:33 pm
I’d like to venture an opinion about the Thursday night B rides - this is intended to be wholly constructive, I hope it will be taken as such.
Even in the few months that I’ve been taking part, the most noticeable thing about the B Ride and the summer Thursday edition in particular, is that the difference between our fastest and slowest riders is much greater than previously. This has been an organic process and highlights the success of our Thursday nights, which are both a platform for rider development and also a relaxing post-work run out with cycling friends in beautiful countryside. The B Ride has a demonstrably broad appeal and that’s a great thing, something that should be encouraged and developed.
The only downside is that it is now much harder for the B Ride to be all things to all men / women, as it has to pull off the very difficult trick of accommodating a wide range of average speeds. That in turn means that we often no longer ride as a group, which defeats some of the B Ride’s objective for many participants - it should provide a training ground for those who aspire to improve and move on to the B+ or A rides but it also needs to cater to those who have no such ambitions.
I think the obvious solution (though probably not the only one) is to split the Thursday B Ride into, say, B1 and B2 groups. We’d all do the same route but B1 could head out a couple of minutes ahead of B2 and go at whatever speed they like, probably dictated by the fastest rider. From recent experience I think that could well be an average of 18+ mph, maybe a bit more.
B2 could then set off on the same route at a more relaxed pace, maybe 12-14mph and enjoy a social ride with the opportunity to chat and enjoy each other’s company without worrying about getting dropped or holding anyone up.
It’s not easy to please everyone but maybe this is worth a trial for a few weeks?
Even in the few months that I’ve been taking part, the most noticeable thing about the B Ride and the summer Thursday edition in particular, is that the difference between our fastest and slowest riders is much greater than previously. This has been an organic process and highlights the success of our Thursday nights, which are both a platform for rider development and also a relaxing post-work run out with cycling friends in beautiful countryside. The B Ride has a demonstrably broad appeal and that’s a great thing, something that should be encouraged and developed.
The only downside is that it is now much harder for the B Ride to be all things to all men / women, as it has to pull off the very difficult trick of accommodating a wide range of average speeds. That in turn means that we often no longer ride as a group, which defeats some of the B Ride’s objective for many participants - it should provide a training ground for those who aspire to improve and move on to the B+ or A rides but it also needs to cater to those who have no such ambitions.
I think the obvious solution (though probably not the only one) is to split the Thursday B Ride into, say, B1 and B2 groups. We’d all do the same route but B1 could head out a couple of minutes ahead of B2 and go at whatever speed they like, probably dictated by the fastest rider. From recent experience I think that could well be an average of 18+ mph, maybe a bit more.
B2 could then set off on the same route at a more relaxed pace, maybe 12-14mph and enjoy a social ride with the opportunity to chat and enjoy each other’s company without worrying about getting dropped or holding anyone up.
It’s not easy to please everyone but maybe this is worth a trial for a few weeks?