Maximum group size in club run.

jerry3571

Hi,
Is there anything in the Highway Code about the maximum number of cyclists who can ride together in a group?
Have noticed larger groups can cause issues if they're too many.
Thanks

Flâneur

No idea about the highway code, and this is far below most club run sizes but I find 8 is near perfect and 12 is the top end before you know you will really piss off drivers

SoSimple

Agree with above numbers - any more than that and we tend to split the group by creating a time gap.

As a driver, I've sat behind a large group and felt frustration as they were riding 3 abreast at times and oblivious to the chaos they were causing behind them.

We need to co-exist with cars and get away from the 'us and them' battle

sloppyschleckonds

5 pages....

charlie_potatoes

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

5 pages....

This

Garry H

It depends on whether they are wearing helmets and waving at other road users.

lancew

My club policy is 10. Statement given is that after that you're just being lazy*.

*serious reason is for safety as the OP suggested.

cougie

I've seen those tour de France club runs on the tv. Hundreds of them.
Lunatics!!

jerry3571

cougie wrote:

I've seen those tour de France club runs on the tv. Hundreds of them.
Lunatics!!

Always one!

Thanks for replies

bobmcstuff

I ride with 2 clubs, one has 12 and one has 10 in their policy. The one with 10 rides through city suburbs at the start and end so this makes sense.

I've been in bigger groups before and it's a bit much.

drlodge

One of the clubs I ride with (or used to) had 8 as the optimum maximum group size. Personally I feel the smaller the better - there is not safety in numbers, quite the reverse. I think 4-6 is a nice size, 8 is manageable but more than that and the group gets too big to allow cars to pass on narrow twisting roads. It also depends on the type of roads you're riding on and the level of traffic likely to be encountered.

DeVlaeminck

We tend to ride in a group of however many turn up. Our club runs aren't that big but chain gangs and some local rides can easily exceed 20 riders.

bobmcstuff

drlodge wrote:

One of the clubs I ride with (or used to) had 8 as the optimum maximum group size. Personally I feel the smaller the better - there is not safety in numbers, quite the reverse. I think 4-6 is a nice size, 8 is manageable but more than that and the group gets too big to allow cars to pass on narrow twisting roads. It also depends on the type of roads you're riding on and the level of traffic likely to be encountered.

Hmm, I think 8 is about perfect - but you need to be a bit disciplined with singling out and breaking the group for narrow roads.

bobmcstuff

DeVlaeminck wrote:

We tend to ride in a group of however many turn up. Our club runs aren't that big but chain gangs and some local rides can easily exceed 20 riders.

I find chaingangs with that many people just get a bit scrappy and start breaking up.

Much prefer 8-10 riders all working well together.

DeVlaeminck

bobmcstuff wrote:

DeVlaeminck wrote:

We tend to ride in a group of however many turn up. Our club runs aren't that big but chain gangs and some local rides can easily exceed 20 riders.

I find chaingangs with that many people just get a bit scrappy and start breaking up.

Much prefer 8-10 riders all working well together.

Absolutely agree. First group is ok as the sight of a few semi pros in the mix puts most off leaving with them but once the second group rolls out people tend to think I'll give that a go then others think it's a fair sized group I'll be able to hide and then others that might have waited think anyone half decent is already rolling out then people think hang on I don't want to be the only one left and before you know it you can have 30 riders.

Attempts have been made to regulate it but it's a full time job and unless they stand there every week telling people it reverts to type.

drlodge

Bigger groups might be OK if well disciplined and are in a tight group, but club groups will fragment which means 10 or more people take up a hell of a lot of space.

bobmcstuff

DeVlaeminck wrote:

bobmcstuff wrote:

DeVlaeminck wrote:

We tend to ride in a group of however many turn up. Our club runs aren't that big but chain gangs and some local rides can easily exceed 20 riders.

I find chaingangs with that many people just get a bit scrappy and start breaking up.

Much prefer 8-10 riders all working well together.

Absolutely agree. First group is ok as the sight of a few semi pros in the mix puts most off leaving with them but once the second group rolls out people tend to think I'll give that a go then others think it's a fair sized group I'll be able to hide and then others that might have waited think anyone half decent is already rolling out then people think hang on I don't want to be the only one left and before you know it you can have 30 riders.

Attempts have been made to regulate it but it's a full time job and unless they stand there every week telling people it reverts to type.

I find on ours since the first and second group follow the same route, the second group swells as it picks up people who got dropped from the first group. It started off being a reasonable size but we picked up about 3 or 4 from the first group. Also there were a couple of middle aged choppers who kept surging and wouldn't keep the gaps tight, so we kept getting splits. Then the guys who got dropped from the first group tend to be a bit stronger which only contributes.

I think after last night I possibly need to start going with the first group as it wasn't a very smooth chaingang and I didn't really get put under pressure till right at the end anyway.

I really enjoy riding with 5 or 6 guys doing through and off but people don't seem to be as keen on that (possibly because you can't roll through as easily...)

bernithebiker

Depends where you are.

Out in the country (no, not Surrey!) early on a Sunday morning is going to be a lot easier than negotiating towns.

Here in Brittany, France, the Sunday club run is sacred and groups of 20 to 50+ are not uncommon.

And Spring in Majorca...well...big groups are everywhere.

ddraver

That, given the attitude to cyclists on the road in the UK, 10-12 is probably right, although we can get away with a few more on the quieter roads in Cornwall on a quiet morning. In Holland we would regularly have wednesday night groups of 40 odd. Riding 2 x 2 on a bike path 4 cyclists wide when the group from the other town comes past also 2 x 2 is quite an experience...

bernithebiker

ddraver wrote:

That, given the attitude to cyclists on the road in the UK, 10-12 is probably right, although we can get away with a few more on the quieter roads in Cornwall on a quiet morning. In Holland we would regularly have wednesday night groups of 40 odd. Riding 2 x 2 on a bike path 4 cyclists wide when the group from the other town comes past also 2 x 2 is quite an experience...

Ever ridden the 20k cycle path along Palma seafront to El Arenal?

It's a narrow 1-1 in many places. Going flat out down Sa Calobra has nothing on this. Accidents are plentiful and messy.

When some lycra heroes meet 20 big German tourists on electric bikes, bad things happen.

ddraver

I have not but sounds familiar...

niblue

I've never ridden in a group but did see several club groups on my ride round some Essex lanes this morning. None of the groups was more than about a dozen I'd have said and there was one club which looked like they'd split into 3 groups of about 10-12 each which seemed sensible. I think it must have been close to the start of their ride as well because the groups were only a few hundred yards apart.

Tashman

Saw a group today near Lewes causing havoc. Not a club run but a large group of 30 or so on any old bike crawling along all strung out. I was nearly hit by someone driving in the opposite direction on a blind bend by someone who had obviously lost patience

chrisaonabike

bobmcstuff wrote:

Hmm, I think 8 is about perfect - but you need to be a bit disciplined with singling out and breaking the group for narrow roads.

... or even wider roads.

I've yet to see it.

More often it's an inconsiderate group of anything from 5 to 25 that swarms past me, forcing me to brake as they carve me up; the cars come past me after that since I'm all on my ownsome and make myself as overtakeable as possible when it's safe, and then all I have to watch is tail lights behind the group of two abreast for many hundreds of yards, sometimes a mile or two.

I've been riding for nearly four years now, and I've seen the above so many times that it just puts me off joining a club.

I think there's a group mentality that is simply immune to consideration for other road users, be it four wheels or two.