group rides

HCV ORGANIZED RIDES

​

We all love a great group ride. The goal of Hub City Velo is to generate an environment where cyclists feel welcomed & safe. Group rides exist in order to help cyclists maintain fitness, plug into their surrounding community and to give cyclists a dependable, consistent ride they can participate in weekly. The group ride is where you learn to draft, how to ride shoulder to shoulder so you can talk without yelling, how to gauge your efforts so no one has to wait up for you, and so many other skills. If you want to be a better bike rider, become a regular at a local group ride.

​

​

 WEEKLY RIDE OPTIONS: 

• Tuesday night MTB or Worlds (road racing). 5:30pm from Jackson Station. Announcements will be posted on our Facebook page and Instagram account so please follow us.

• Saturday mornings, 8am. Most every Saturday, Jed's Perfect Endurance announces group rides. Distances will vary, but will typically be in the 40-45 mile range. The ride is broken into different groups based off ability. For more information on these, follow Jed's Facebook page, or visit his website event page. 

• HCV's Easy like Sunday Afternoon Ride. This will typically be a 1.5-2hr recovery ride with different start locations throughout Hattiesburg that typically are include the Longleaf Trace and may or may not include an espresso from a local favorite.

​

To be one of the riders everyone looks forward to seeing, here are some etiquette and skills HCV requires you to follow so you don’t end up being “that guy”.

​

​

 GROUP RIDE RULES & ETIQUETTE: ​

 

Group rides will be considered FITNESS rides and will usually maintain a 17-19mph average pace, unless communicated otherwise beforehand. You will NOT be left behind so all HCV group rides will always be NO-DROP rides. The goal of the ride is to keep cyclists grouped together. With that in mind, cyclists participating in a HCV group ride will be required to do the following: 

 

1. // Obey the rules.
    

2. // Be a leader & lead by example. Encourage others to do so. 
    

3. // Introduce yourself. If you are a new cyclist to the group, it is courteous to announce yourself.
    

4. // Regroup at all major stop signs. This allows the group better chances of staying together. It also provides opportunity for cyclists to communicate to each other how they are feeling, what may need to be adjusted, etc.
    

5. // Stop for mechanicals. If anyone has a mechanical, the entire group will stop. This allows seasoned cyclists to share their skills and new cyclists to learn them.
    

6. // Ride in a single pace line. You are to ride directly behind other riders. DO NOT LAP WHEELS (aka “half-wheeling others”). 
    

7. // Be a leader. Be courteous to all riders. 
    

8. // Ride at your own risk. HCV is not responsible for riders. All riders are responsible to obey all traffic laws and ride at their own risk. 
    

9. // Rides are self-supported. You should come prepared with water, an extra inner tube and tools to change a flat. On longer rides, snacks and/or money for purchasing snacks are also suggested. 
    

10. // Come safely prepared. Helmets ARE REQUIRED on all HCV rides and blinking red, rear lights are encouraged. If you do not have this equipment already, someone will help you get it. The arms of your eyewear shall always be placed over the helmet straps. This is for various reasons that may or may not matter; it’s just the way it is. Have the route downloaded to your computer in plenty of time before the ride starts. Club members have exclusive access to downloadable HCV route maps with the Garmin Connect app. You must have these routes downloaded to your device before the group ride starts. Instructions for accessing these maps are included in the membership confirmation email. If you need assistance with this, please send us a message and we'll be happy to help set you up.
     

11. // Challenging “hot spots”. For a challenge, there may be designated "hot spots" per each route that riders are welcome to push their effort on but these should be communicated beforehand. 
     

12. // Work together to avoid flat tires. Flat tires suck for everyone, especially when you’re in a group that stops to wait for the affected rider. If you are on the front, you are to loudly say, "BUMP RIGHT" or "HOLE left", etc before reaching those spots. Also, help minimize flats in the group safely by physically pointing to the holes, glass, and random car parts that litter the roadside. This hand signal needs to travel all the way back, so pass it on so the people behind you get the message. 
     

13. // Be proactive around safety and pacing. Nobody likes being barked at constantly, and certainly not during a nice group ride. But there are some times when it’s good to speak up. The riders at the back should let the group know when they need to single up to better share the road with cars, or when there are vehicles about to come around. Cyclists are to communicate to one another when gaps are forming. The riders in about the 3rd row of a double pace line are in a good position to call for an adjustment to the pace. At this point in the group you can tell if the riders around you are struggling with the speed or the wind direction. Riders in the first and second rows can sometimes misjudge their pace and position relative to the rest of the group. And of course, it’s everybody’s responsibility to watch out for potential bicycle-car collisions. If you see something, say something!
     

14. // Stay off the brakes. You’re going to need to make minor speed adjustments in a group ride, and you want to do this with air resistance rather than braking whenever possible. That means sitting up a bit and/or moving out into the wind a little to slow down, or tucking into the draft and pedaling a bit more to speed up. When you tap the brakes, you slow more abruptly and that signals the rider behind you to tap his brakes, and so on. Obviously there are times when you need to and should use the brakes, but try to make minor speed adjustments without braking to avoid a herky-jerky riding experience for everyone around you.
     

15. // Hold your line. Ride predictably, and don’t make sudden movements. And, under no circumstances, are you to deviate from your line.
     

16. // Pull longer, not harder. If you’re feeling like superman or you’re the fast guy of the group, don’t ramp up the speed when you get to the front. It’s not nice and it makes the pace uncomfortably hard for your friends. Instead, ride the group’s pace and stay at the front longer. You’ll get the training you want and give the rest of the group some extra time in the draft.
     

17. // Pull shorter, not slower. If you don’t have the fitness to take a long pull at the group’s pace, you should still rotate through like everyone else, but just pull off quickly. There’s no rule that says you have to take a pull equal to the guy before you. The rule is that you need to pull at the group’s pace. Don’t slow down, because then everyone stacks up behind you. For a smoother experience for everyone, keep it short and pull off.
     

18. // Pace the climbs for the middle of the group. When the pack hits rolling hills it can be hard to keep the group together, especially when “that guy” drills it on the front. When drafting is less of a help to the riders in the middle and rear of the group ride, it’s important for the riders at the front to consider everyone when establishing the climbing pace. On social group rides it’s typical to wait at the top of longer climbs, but to minimize the frequency of these soft-pedal periods or stoppages, try to set a pace that’s comfortable for the middle of the group. This may mean it’s a bit easy for the fast guys at the front and pretty challenging for some folks at the back, but this pacing strategy is good for keeping the group together over the majority of hills.
     

19. // Support your local bike shop. When you’re able, buy parts or accessories from your local guys as opposed to online. 

 

 

 

DON’T…

… pull so hard you drop yourself

Social group rides tend to wait for dropped riders, which is great, but try not to make them wait for you because you were riding like an idiot. If you take monster pulls at the front and then get dropped, you’re not making any friends. Learn to gauge your efforts and keep something in the tank to make sure you can latch onto the back of the group and stay on a wheel.

 

… show up late and unprepared

We’ve all been late to a group ride at some point, and we’ve all forgotten something important (like food) before. It happens, but it shouldn’t happen often. Be on time and be self-sufficient. This includes tools and a pump. We’re all nice people and we’ll give you a tube or some food if you need it, but try not to need it. Also have the route downloaded & plugged into your bike computer. Try not to make others wait while you do something you could have done easily the night before.

 

… half-wheel (or lap tires with) your riding friends

It’s just bad form. The right way to ride in a single file pace line is wheels directly behind other wheels, not to the side. The right way to ride in a double paceline is handlebar-to-handlebar, not half a wheel ahead of the rider next to you. Half-wheeling pisses people off, especially when you accelerate to maintain the half-wheel advantage despite your partner’s attempt to pull even with you. It also messes up the spacing for everyone in the paceline behind you.

 

… run red lights

Just don’t do it. Besides being unsafe, against the law, and damaging to our collective reputation, it’s also disrespectful to all the groups who are working hard to convince communities to improve cycling infrastructure and enhance cyclists’ safety. Unless you’re in Idaho, which has had the “Idaho Stop” since 1982: cyclists can legally treat red lights as stop signs and stop signs as yield signs. Go Idaho!

 

… get in your TT bike drops

If you are in a pace line on a time trial bike DO NOT get in your drops. 

 

… litter

Respect the earth; don’t litter.Cycling is not an excuse to litter. Do not throw your empty gel packets, energy bar wrappers or punctured tubes on the road or in the bush. Stuff em in your jersey pockets, and repair that tube when you get home.

 

… play leap frog

Train Properly: if you get passed by someone, it is nothing personal, just accept that on the day/effort/ride they were stronger than you. If you can’t deal, work harder. But don’t go playing leap frog to get in front only to be taken over again (multiple times) because you can’t keep up the pace. Especially don’t do this just because the person overtaking you is a woman. Seriously. Get over it.

​

​

If you have any questions regarding these rules please ask the group leader prior to ride start, or email us.