This is nothing new but rather a reminder to myself, and plenty of others. Not sure why I’m even writing this but it’s just been on my mind since Saturday. I was in a large organized ride this past weekend and ended up in a fairly fast group of about 10 guys. Not sure about others, but I always h…

Some people have different agendas on group rides too. I like to call Saturday rides “Saturday Worlds”. We always treat it like a race because it’s fun. But there are times when I have intervals I want to get done, but also want to do the group ride. So I might have Vo2 max intervals I want to d…

I go through those mental hurdles during a race a lot. The anxiety of man I can’t keep this effort but then somehow you do. Or you don’t and it was out of your league anyway. It is good mental training. I’ve learned to tell my brain there is relief coming(even if I have no idea whether that’s true).…

I was under the impression that monster pulls aren’t actually good for the group. You just want to sustain a steady speed for the entire group, and so 1 or two people overdoing it means everyone else is also ramping up.

[image] fasterthanever: I was under the impression that monster pulls aren’t actually good for the group. we welcome long hero pulls when battling a headwind for an hour! And after blowing up, I return the favor for stragglers. Those group rides are some of my best tempo/SS/threshold workouts…

Depends on the group! If it’s a group where monster pulls and attacks and people getting dropped is an accepted part of the etiquette and everybody knows what they signed up for then it’s fine. But yes, turning up to a ride that’s advertised as a steady Z2-3 no drop ride and then doing VO2 interval…

[image] Tallrunner49: You can go from feeling like “I’m ok, I can hang with these guys” to “Crap, I’m never going to make it” in a very short period of time. I guess this is what as described as Type 2 fun Checks. Just look at my most recent hammerfest group ride where we intentionally crank…

Surging in a race/group ride is temporary to drop the weak competitors, whether that is mentally or physically weak. That pace is generally not sustainable for anyone unless they’re massively more fit than the others. If you can hang on the pace will settle in, it always does eventually. Just get in…

Ive been there on my local fast group ride. The feeling though when you finish with the bunch after feeling low during the efforts is good for mental strength. Saying that so is getting dropped to keep you in check some times it wont be your day.

When I first started riding with local groups, I was blowing up trying to maintain the speed of previous people at the front. I can’t pull hard into headwinds for very long, and would often bite off way more than I ever should. I started doing pulls that were a push for me, but not a leap, and some …

I just got back from a relatively flat group ride. I tend to think I take reasonable pulls, and there will always be someone who jumps in front and surges instead of gradually setting a higher pace if needed. When this happens I tend to just jump to their wheel and stay there or ride in parallel if…

Mental Games of Group Rides

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rkoswald April 24, 2024, 8:23pm 12

Checks. Just look at my most recent hammerfest group ride where we intentionally crank up the speed each lap, starting at 24mph and ending at 27mph. I think we’re supposed to be working as a group to maintain that speed but we surge a lot. Last week I tried pulling during the 26mph lap and only accomplished burning my last match and getting dropped for the remainder of the ride.

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Mental Games of Group Rides

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Mental Games of Group Rides

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