I'll be honest, I have ridden in very few group rides. I have done the March of Dimes ride here in KC a couple years back. I believe it is the largest in the nation. But it is different than a group ride. I rode it solo, essentially. We did the route, but there are thousands of bikes that do the route during the day. You can start and stop at your leisure. It isn't a true group ride. More of a community route. And I used to ride with friends, some good riders, some so-so, back in my youth. I still prefer to follow. I never want my pace to challenge another's safe pace. I want my pace to match follower's interest level; I don't want to be bad-mouthed for being too cautious if I thought they needed a break! So leading can be hard to enjoy unless it is with someone I know well. When I rode with groups of friends, I had the best tires and fastest bike. I never had to worry about keeping up. That's probably the case these days, too. If I felt I was getting out over my skis following, I don't have too much ego to be left behind and stay within my safe range. It just never happened, that I remember.
I took a RTE with KCMOSteve a couple weeks back. I just followed him to the burger joint. Had a good time. Both told good stories. It was a spirited ride, nothing crazy. We don't have many challenging twisties around here!! Straight line speed isn't usually challenging for most riders, depending on the bike. But, I am going to the CO ride and BBQ at Darbinco's later this year. I'm looking forward to riding within a group. And I don't know how anybody rides, and nobody knows how I ride. But, I have some confidence that it will go very well since there aren't many young foolish riders on K16's, so I can relax the paranoid 360 deg vision and just ride. I'm looking forward to finding out where my sweet spot is and anticipate spirited riding through sweeping mountain curves. I don't know how large the group(s) will be. I'm assuming, since we all gravitated toward the same riding platform, most will enjoy similar riding experiences. Some may be way out front, and some in the middle, and some who will bring up the rear at a more relaxed pace. I haven't ridden with more than one other bike in the last 4 years. I'm excited and eagerly anticipating being in one of those 3 groups!