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Why Group Rides Are Often Counterproductive
Most cyclists enjoy riding with others, with their club, or with friends, in what are called Social Rides. These stimulating get-togethers punctuate the week, from the Sunday morning rendezvous to the sometimes recurring Wednesday afternoon ride, or even Tuesday and Thursday evenings after work. Initially, group rides foster progress. But over time, they can lead to stagnation, or even regression. Here’s why.
By Guillaume Judas – Photos: depositphotos.com
- “Are you riding today? Meeting up with the group?”
- “If you’re free at lunchtime, I’d like to ride with you if you’re up for it.”
- “You were a bit short on the climb today. Didn’t you like the acceleration?”
We all know these exchanges with cycling friends, especially with those who constantly find their motivation in confrontation or comparison with others. Even a ride with buddies turns into a dick-measuring contest, where there’s always one trying to get a wheel ahead (when riding side-by-side, one of the two always wants to be a wheel ahead of their riding companion, as if to show they are stronger).
Yet, it must be noted that most of these cyclists stop progressing after a certain time. This is not the case for those who are smart enough to decline these constant challenges from time to time.
Accumulating Fatigue
It’s a fact: Social Rides often turn into something far less amiable after a few kilometers. A controlled endurance ride most of the time transforms into a frantic race to a fictitious finish line. These efforts cause unexpected fatigue that then sabotages key training sessions, hindering adaptation and slowing overall progress.
For this reason, it is necessary to remember that the key element for progressing above the FTP threshold is high intensity. In other words, to truly progress, you need to be able to ride at very high power levels, in short bursts, and during well-calibrated sessions throughout the week or by following a training plan. This requires freshness. Constant group rides lead to chronic low-level fatigue, enough to disrupt the proper execution of sessions that truly make you progress.
Lost Time
Regularly participating in group rides comes at a cost: you neglect other aspects of structured training. Training correctly means identifying your specific weaknesses and methodically developing them throughout the year. This takes time, and several group rides per week leave little room for anything else specific.
Bad Timing
Many cyclists prioritize group rides no matter what, even during recovery weeks or critical training phases. This disrupts proper periodization, where intensity and volume should be carefully adjusted to ensure a peak in form at the right time.
Adapting Participation in These Types of Rides
Group rides absolutely have their place in training and progression, especially if you thrive on them. After all, there’s a lot of truth in the adage that a happy cyclist is a fast cyclist!
But you need to find the right balance:
- Use intense group rides as race simulations during a final competition preparation phase.
- Regularly participate in group rides during endurance phases, even on the condition of staying in the peloton and not systematically trying to stand out.
- Adapt: if a ride is more intense than expected, adjust the following week to manage fatigue.
- Skip rides if necessary, especially during recovery phases or before an event.
As we see here, it would be a mistake to base your cycling progress solely on group rides. To progress over a season, but also in the long term, it is essential to personalize your practice according to your age, your baseline level, your free time, and your goals, and to respect periods where you work on certain qualities and other periods where you recover.
But it would also be a mistake to completely exclude group rides from your practice, both for their social virtues and because they also allow you to compare yourself from time to time. It’s up to you to find the right balance.
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