As with most weekends, on Sunday, I joined the Princeton Sports ride in Columbia, MD. I love this ride. It’s a great group of people of all paces and there’s usually a longer and a shorter ride available. The best part is that it’s a supported ride, so if something goes wrong and my bike spontaneously combusts mid-ride, I can call and someone will pick me up.
It’s always interesting to join the ride because there are some people who just don’t seem to understand the rules of the road when riding. We are sharing the road, so with a few exceptions where we take the lane, we make a point to ride single file except when passing. Some riders… have yet to figure this out. Yes, they’ve been reminded.
So a few tips when joining a group ride on the roads.
Ride single file unless instructed otherwise. This is also good practice for triathlon, because triathlon does not have a peloton. The rules indicate riding single file. This prevents you from getting hit by a car. Not everyone respects the 3 feet rule.
If you are going to pass, call out that you are passing on the left. And listen for other people calling out. This weekend, I called out, went to pass, and the woman attempted to pass the person in front of her, nearly colliding with me. I think she made the person in front of her fall, though I wasn’t in a position to look (and I could hear that she was okay, otherwise, I would have stopped).
Signal your turns. This helps the cars and the other riders. You don’t have to know the official hand signals. If you are turning left, stick out your left arm. Turning right, stick out your right arm. It’s better than nothing.
Along the same lines, if you see something on the road like a pothole or a stick, yell to the person behind you and maybe try to point at it if you can.
In my ride, you hear constant calling out, letting others know that there’s a car ahead or a car behind.
Or in the case of this weekend’s ride, “Geese! Momma and baby geese on the road.” Now there’s something you don’t want to hit.