What’s the Ride Captains’ role on the road?
Bloody hard work! Safety of all the riders in the group is always our first concern and that includes positioning on the road, keeping the group rolling smoothly and even reminding people to eat and drink regularly. The last is a genuine safety issue as it’s when riders start running low on fuel that they tend to lose focus and make mistakes. We’re also nurturing and encouraging but, if necessary, firm too.
Describe the Group 5 experience in a single sentence
Amazing! Everyone will have highs and lows but the support and camaraderie in the group will be superb and I guarantee the sense of achievement at the end will be immense.
What average speed will Group 5 be aiming for?
23 kph
That’s a bit faster than I manage on my own, should I be worried?
Not necessarily as there will be a benefit to riding in a group but it’s not a magic speed bullet and, especially for rides up to 100km or so, you want to be getting pretty close to that average speed on your own.
On the event, you’ll probably find that you’ll either feel as though you’re riding a bit faster than you would on your own or, quite often, it’ll feel slower. Don’t worry about this, the Ride Captains know what they’re doing, are managing the pace and will get you to Paris.
How important are group riding skills and how can I learn them?
Really important. We won’t have time to learn this on the event so the more time you can spend riding in a group, getting used to following a wheel and being comfortable eating and drinking while riding next to someone, the better. I’d really urge you to come along to our monthly rides for this reason.
I can’t emphasise how important being able to eat and drink on the move is. We’ll only typically have three scheduled stops and three sips of your bottle and three snacks won’t fuel your ride.
https://www.hotchillee.com/hotchilleehandbook-group-riding-tips/