The Unwritten Rules of Cycling Group Rides

At some point, every cyclist wonders, am I ready for the fast group ride? But riding with a fast group isn't just about being fit.

There are unwritten rules, when to pull, how to communicate, where to ride, and mistakes that can get you dropped or make you the rider that nobody wants to ride with.

Today's guest has spent years organizing one of the fastest weekly rides in the Midwest.

He's watched hundreds of cyclists come through from first timers to elite racers and will help us break down the unwritten rules of fast group rides.

All right, welcome back to episode 41 of Recreational Rider to Racer podcast series.

I'm Greg, along always followed with Josh.

We are working dads, husbands, cyclists, enthusiasts, racers who are transforming from recreational riders into racers.

If that interests you, follow along on our journey.

You will not be disappointed.

All right, so today's guest is Joe Carver.

Man, we are pumped to have you on.

I'm going to do a quick intro of you because I always think it's fun to get to just hear a little bit of background of where everybody's been and kind of how they got to where they were.

But your Cat 3 racer has spent years organizing one of the fastest weekly rides in the Midwest.

Greg and I have done this many times.

It's super, super fun.

and you've watched hundreds of cyclists come through from first timers to elite racers and today we're kind of diving into the unwritten rules of group rides for both the fast and slow and then along with that we're talking about race etiquette because you race we race and I think that would be really interesting for a lot of guys and gals that maybe have done group rides but we're maybe potentially making that transition into racing and so talking about those two things.

But just some fun background on you.

Joe works as a forensic chemist for the FDA.

You must have just loved chemistry in school.

I did.

You know, that's... not a lot of people that do so uh it's great we so some weekends a month you work for a small outdoor store in milford called rrt roads rivers and trails that's fun and you've been riding consistently for about six years started out sounds like maybe as a covet hobby and you were a runner had parents who were cyclists and then uh you really have been racing for over three years um i've raced for a team nexogen for a couple years and then recently has joined suplex velo late last year Has done mostly road races and crits, but also enjoys racing gravel and cyclocross.

And so best part about this is you got six bikes, five that are active, one's retired.

I love that.

But yeah, so currently he rocks a SL7, right? Yeah, just like us.

Welcome to the club.

You're in good company here.

But yeah, man, welcome to the show.

Thank you.