When I started with the London Cycling Club this year, I noticed that the app info about the rider development group rides said “No dropping allowed!” Not knowing a lot of cycle-speak yet, it sounded like a warning that I wasn’t allowed to drop out of the group ride. I had to finish with the group, even if I was slow or dead tired.
But it turns out that “no drop” is not about the responsibility of the rider to keep up: it’s about the responsibility of the riders in the group to support each other.
No-drop ride: This means the group stops for mechanical problems, flats, nature breaks, accidents and emergencies. Members of the group will drop back to ride with slower riders.
Cycling terminology: A guide to the group ride
When a ride is described as “no drop,” the expectations are clear: riders will not be left alone if they are slow or have a problem, and everyone takes some responsibility to support other riders. It promotes inclusion for different levels and abilities. One could even see no drop riding as a sort of team sport, in which riders share a goal to finish together through group effort.
Do the no drop riders get bored or annoyed when they can only going as fast as the slowest rider? I’ve tried to manage this negative self-talk by assuming that some riders, like Sam, see the fun of riding at all different speeds.
I am grateful for a cycling club that has patient volunteers committed to providing no drop, mixed gender development group rides. This year I am slow, and I do not have a road bike, so it feels incredibly supportive to have people willing to ride with me: at a sometimes uneven pace and at a distance I can manage in my first year of the sport.
I have not yet experienced a “drop” ride, but I wonder what it’s like and how I will feel in the group as I ride.
What is your experience with the different types of rides, FIFI community? When does the group make you feel like a team?
