From turning up late to half-wheeling: seven group ride dos and don'ts

Riding in a friendly group is one of the most enjoyable ways to spend time on two wheels. The shared camaraderie of physical endeavour, whether that's on the road or on the trail, is rarely not memorable. It can enhance the best moments and get you through the tough bits.

Joining a club, where routes and ride leaders are ready-made and waiting for you, can be a great way of doing this – although not the only way. A bunch of friends meeting for a regular ride can be just as much fun and, of course, there's nothing stopping you doing both, and many people do.

Whichever form your group riding takes, there will likely be a few dos and don'ts that accompany it. In a club these are usually available to read in black and white on its website, and while that sounds slightly ominous, they're only there to help everyone have a safe and enjoyable time on the bike, and are mostly just common sense.

When it comes to the group blast with your buddies, things are rarely so formal, but there's still likely to be an unwritten code that means everyone has a smooth and fun day out.

We've picked out a few of the most common dos and don'ts and looked at some of the different ways to approach them. It's worth saying that the 'rules' vary from one group to the next, so if you're new to a club, having a quick glance at them before setting out on your first outing is a good idea.

DO: Turn up on time

If you ride with your group week-in, week-out, life's averages dictate that there will eventually be a day that you don't manage to get there on time. Message ahead and let someone know, and your group is likely to wait until you arrive, especially if it's only 10 minutes or so.

However, clubs are likely to be less sympathetic to the rider that makes a regular habit of delaying things for everyone.

"Just like making sure you bring the right equipment and you're bike's in good shape, it's just about respecting each other," says Myles Barrell, co-founder of Team KMOTB.

"We used to be super-militant on this – we would just leave at the specified time, especially when we were more focused on performance and average speed, that sort of stuff.

"We had a couple of people that learned a few hard lessons," he adds, "in terms of just being left behind and having to catch up."

MAYBE: Attack the hills (but check first!)

The clue is in the name – 'group' ride. Once everyone starts attacking each other that description ceases to apply. Of course, as bike riders we all know how much fun it can be to duke it out for the top of a climb, or to sprint for a town sign, so there is often a place for this, depending on the group you're riding with.

Because hills tend to show up the differences in fitness from one rider to the next, they can make staying together as a group problematic. This means they're often seen as a bit of a free-for-all – with everyone waiting for each other at the top, of course. Likewise, your club might have its own favourite town or village signs to sprint for, generally in a safe place and often towards the end of the ride or the cafe stop. But before you launch into your most ferocious, race-winning attack, do check with the ride leader first.

"I don't have a problem with that," says VC Bristol club chair David Rutty. "As long as they wait and regroup at the top. You've got so many different expectations about what a ride is nowadays that I think we realise that some people like doing that, and that's fine. So off you go. Even if we weren't racing up it, people are going to go uphill at different speeds anyway."

DON'T: Ride half a wheel ahead

Not everyone will be familiar with the term, but nearly all of us will be familiar with the irritating sensation of being 'half-wheeled' by a riding buddy. This takes place when one is seemingly determined to ride just half a wheel ahead of the other. This causes the trailing rider to speed up to draw level, setting off a chain reaction that sees both riders speed up in turn as the front rider seeks to stay ahead and the trailing rider seeks to catch up.

Amazingly, both parties (and the half-wheeler in particular) can be oblivious to the fact this is happening until the speed becomes high enough that heart rates and effort levels start to get out of control.

In terms of group etiquette when it comes to half-wheeling, you're going to struggle to find anywhere that embraces this kind of riding, so our best advice would be to stay aware of where your front wheel is compared to the rider next to you, and don't get carried away.

"We're really about safety, respect and conscientious riding," says Barrell, "and I think [not half-wheeling] forms part of that. You're either side-by-side with someone, you're in front of someone, or you're behind them. You never half wheel."

"The whole point of coming out as a group is to stay as a group," Rutty adds. "So, yeah, it's a firm 'no' to half-wheeling."

DO: Bring your mudguards / fenders in the wet

Once upon a time, turning up at the winter club ride without mudguards (or fenders, depending on where in the world you're from), would be liable to see you sent home in disgrace – or at the very least, sent to the back of the group for the duration.

These days, however, attitudes to getting sprayed with road grime and standing water seems to have eased, and some clubs welcome riders sans guards over the winter.

This could be to do with the fact that many modern sets of mudguards are pretty good at protecting the bike but not so brilliant at doing the same for the rider behind. Many clip-on rear guards are too short for this, and even full length bolt-ons can be of limited use without a mudflap at the back.

All this said, some clubs do still expect guards / fenders to be fitted when you turn up on the winter ride, and it's something that is definitely worth checking on before you leave the house.

Team KMOTB is "fairly militant" on the issue, Barrell says, with guard-less bikes asked nicely to ride at the back of the group on wet days.

"It makes riding more enjoyable, right? And if you're showing respect to your other riders, when it's been pouring with rain and there's gravel and grit and all manner of stuff on the road, it makes it a much more enjoyable experience than chewing on whatever the person in front of you is riding through."

DON'T: Forget your inner tube and a multi-tool

Many of us will have felt it. The stares of your riding companions – some less sympathetic than others – as we fumble in our pockets and seat packs for an inner tube that we know deep down we do not have.

Perhaps even worse are the times that the group has been held up more than once thanks to your own worn tyres picking up multiple flats, and even your reasonable single spare tube has not been enough. When all of this takes place in inclement weather, well, that's the cherry on the cake.

This has happened to me before – it taught me a valuable lesson about timely tyre replacement.

The lesson is to make sure you're well equipped on the club run. Bring at least one spare tube – or a tyre plugging kit if you run tubeless – and a multi-tool that preferably includes a chain tool and a spare link.

VC Bristol keeps things fairly relaxed, Rutty says, but does encourage self-sufficiency.

"We don't try to be too prescriptive, but we just try and help," he says. "You know, it's like, 'you'll probably need a couple of bottles and some food, and make sure you've got tubes and a pump, or whatever you need for tubeless… We can usually sort stuff out among the group, but yeah, it's good to be relatively self-sufficient if you can be."

DO: call out cars and potholes

Depending on where you are in the world, these things may be the bane of your ride or they may be blissfully few and far between. If it's the latter then congratulations, you may have found cycling Nirvana.

If you ride on the road and live in the UK on the other hand, you will be annoyingly well versed in both of these things. It will also become clear to you that the group calls out holes, traffic, and traffic furniture as much as possible, drawing the attention of fellow riders to them and keeping everyone safe and aware.

If you're new to group riding, you might feel a little self-conscious about it, but do join in – everyone will appreciate it.

"When we've got someone that's unused to riding in a group, we'll always, when we start at the cafe beforehand, just run through the hand signals," says Barrell, adding that there will also be more experienced members posted throughout the group to help out the new riders where necessary.

"The key thing is making sure that you're talking to one another throughout the ride," he adds. "You know, it's a good time to chat, but there's always a lot of communication throughout the trip."

DO: Just get out and enjoy the ride!

If it all sounds like rather a lot to take on board, don't let it worry you. These are not 'rules' you're going to be tested on at any point. Rather, given that all clubs and groups differ, they're things you pick up as you go by watching and listening to your ride mates.

As Barrell says: "The rules are there predominantly to keep us safe, to ensure that we work well with other road users. We put them in place just to help each other more than anything."

It means you can head out on the road and concentrate on enjoying your ride, in the knowledge that it's safe, and organised, and others are looking out for you.