[jaseone]

I was out for an easy training ride last night in my neighborhood (The Musuem District), when I saw a large group of cyclists go by and my first thought was "Cool I should find out what ride that is and if it is regular, then join up for the next one", so does anyone have any info on that?

Then as I was stopped at a stop light, waiting to turn right there was another group of the cyclists stopped on the opposite side and as soon as the intersection was clear for them, before it was even clear for me to turn right and while the light was still red, the lead cyclist in the group just yells out "clear" and they all run the red light.

Uhm excuse me? If you're riding in a group like that then you should know better, us cyclists have a tough enough time on the road as it is without blatantly breaking traffic laws. Admittedly the stop signs and traffic lights in most of Houston are placed in rediculous locations (I've never seen so many stop signs in my life, not to mention all the damn four way stop signs that Houston seems so fond of) but that doesn't mean the law can just be discarded.

I may not come to a complete stop at stop signs as that would mean unclipping and putting a foot down but I come as close to stopping as possible so a cop would have to be really anal to pull me over for it.

 

[agracer]

So you're saying the group was stopped, then as the intersection was about to clear they went. And you don't stop at stop signs but call them out?

I ride with a group that runs past the Museum district on Wed. nights. Lately I haven't b/c it gets dark at 7PM and the rides are ~25-miles and don't start until 6:30. That's just a little to much night riding for my taste.

http://www.urbanbicyclegallery.com/club_information.html

They ride Sat, Sun, and Wed, although the Sunday rides are now training rides outside of town for the MS150 team (but I don't do those). Wed. usually go through downtown, past the museum, zoo, medical center, back west and then back through River Oaks (good god those are some BIG houses!) then back to the shop. Saturday goes through the Heights.

Northwest Cycle Club also rides ~40-miles out of Zube park off 290 on Saturday mornings. That is a nice ride with many different speed groups. There are almost no stop lights/stop signs and the 16-18 group I ride with (they go closer to 18-20 than 16) all work together in a nice 2-column pace line taking turns pulling and moving to the back. It's a lot of fun.

If you decide to drive out to Zube, know this, the groups go A LOT faster than they say. At the start (~100 riders minimum, 200+ in the summer time) they call out each group. The 18-20 "fast" group. They start at 20 and go up from there. The "real" 18-20 group keeps the pace closer to 22 than 18. The 16-18 "fast" group goes closer to 20 and the 16-18 "real" group keeps it closer to 18 than 16, but they stay together pretty well.

Many times the group I'm with pass other riders who've been dropped from the faster groups. That first one especially is a burner. I accidently went with them once and got dropped in ~5-miles. We averaged 22mph for that first 5-miles and the group speed is supposed to be 18-20...don't understand it but it is what it is. But I have no problems keeping up with the 16-18 "real" group. I'm a newbie and only been riding for 6-months just FYI to help you guage which group you may want to go with.