Grading

I have completed 3 Group A club rides as a Guest and have now joined the club. It's very friendly and well organised club compared to other ones I tried, great website too. One comment is that on today's Group A the pace and approach was very different to the other two - it felt like being on a Time Trial/ keep up or get dropped. I was dropped twice (traffic lights and a hill) and the second time nobody waited, so ended up riding alone. There were occasions where I waited for others who slowed, so a bit miffed that no one waited when I did. I enjoyed the ride but had I been in serious trouble it could have been a concern.

On that note, the previous two ride leaders both mentioned about how they could get more of the Group B's into Group A. Could I suggest that all members complete say, 5 laps of Regents Park, then submit their average speed and the club forms a grading system for Group A+, A, B & C. I felt that today's Group A was more A+ and TBH I would have preferred the Group B today had I known the pace was to be that high. It was billed as 50 miles and I was even asked if I had to be back home for anytime - so implied that it was a long day - I ended up doing 92 miles, but had an enjoyable day

I hope this feedback is seen as constructive, don't want to come across as a whinger, but the grading may help some people decide to join a different group to their usual. Plus Guest members can do their laps and determine which group to join.

Otherwise a great club.

Hiya +user6634 - thank you for your feedback on today's 'A' ride and I'm sorry that things didn't feel as cohesive as they should have done. I've flagged your comments with the A riders so they can comment specifically on the ride today (as I obviously cannot!).

With regards to grading, my general comments are - we ask all our members to conservatively grade their own abilities against the advertised average speeds of each ride. Of course, these averages change depending on who's riding, weather conditions, etc, etc. I think getting averages from Regents laps is really only useful to knowing..... how fast you can do Regent's laps! I am not sure that they would be reliably transferable to a group riding / club ride environment. Next time you're chatting to the ride leader pre-roll out, please do make sure you let them know your expectations as well - it's a two way thing and its helpful for ride leaders to know what people want from the ride so they can pitch the pace and distance correctly.

Again, thanks for the feedback, and hopefully this won't deter you from joining ICC (if you have not already?!)

Thanks,
Laura

Many thanks for the feedback, which is much appreciated.
Apologies if you felt the pace was too quick. It was not intended to be materially different to the previous rides, though these things are always difficult to gauge precisely. Judging from the stops the gaps which formed suggested that everyone was in the correct ride. Perhaps I was too keen to ensure that everyone was back in time for Milan San-Remo, in circumstances where everyone seemed to be riding well! hope you still enjoyed your ride.
Best,
Richard

Hello Laura & Richard

Thanks for comments, I have joined up; did a B ride today and that was good. I'll find my way and appropriate group level after a few rides.

I have tried to change my username a few times but I keep getting an error on the site - it says alphanumerics only _ I would like to be called Tom (its a bit more personal than User 33665!!!)

Best

Tom,
Great. I am glad you enjoyed it.
It was certainly a perfect day!
Best,
Richard

Tom (@user6634) you can flag up issues with the forum software by contacting @Velocio or @DavidK or going here: http://meta.microcosm.app/microcosms/2/

@Shannonball is a moderator and he might also have the power to fix your username.

Tom @user6634 have you joined the club? That might account for the restriction on your account. Email me at [email protected] and we'll sort out your issues

I have joined, last week, been inundated with emails from British Cycling ever since:-)

Are these from ICC triggered by BC or from BC direct?

If you are a BC member, you should be able to change your email preferences.

Bit of both really; haven't read them all yet