Absolute Cycles breaks down their riders into 4 groups:
Intro, novice, advanced and expert. (not sure if it's the same for all organizations).
Last Saturday was my 2nd time riding with ACE and since I was evaluated last time and lost my red shirt, I was told I could ride in novice group.
My 1st session was predictably slow. This was on a new-to-me track (Lightning) and I was taking my time learning the lines, picking out visuals and just getting general feel for the track. Other riders were flying by, and I was totally fine with that.
For my 2nd session, I dropped down to intro to ride with my friends and to see if the lines I chose on my own were close to the lines ridden by coaches.
For my 3rd session, I went back to novice group and while my overall speed increased.. everyone else in the group seems to have flipped the switch to full-on race mode. I've no issues with people passing me, but passing within a foot of me? On the inside, pushing me wide? Passing on the outside is allowed in novice group, but inside passers should have been flagged, no?
I felt anything, but safe, and wasn't having fun at all. I actually decided to pit in, after 3 laps and just as I was doing so, another red flag went up (3rd of the day, in novice group). These guys were crashing left and right all day!!
I overheard that they split riders up within the intro group. There were 4-5 faster people. So I dropped down to intro and got on the back of the faster 5 (pun intended ) and had a great time for the rest of the day (2 more sessions).
My question is this: how can I safely continue to have fun and make progress without being what felt like a standing obstacle on the track?! Is it normal for novice group to ride like this?
Intro, novice, advanced and expert. (not sure if it's the same for all organizations).
Last Saturday was my 2nd time riding with ACE and since I was evaluated last time and lost my red shirt, I was told I could ride in novice group.
My 1st session was predictably slow. This was on a new-to-me track (Lightning) and I was taking my time learning the lines, picking out visuals and just getting general feel for the track. Other riders were flying by, and I was totally fine with that.
For my 2nd session, I dropped down to intro to ride with my friends and to see if the lines I chose on my own were close to the lines ridden by coaches.
For my 3rd session, I went back to novice group and while my overall speed increased.. everyone else in the group seems to have flipped the switch to full-on race mode. I've no issues with people passing me, but passing within a foot of me? On the inside, pushing me wide? Passing on the outside is allowed in novice group, but inside passers should have been flagged, no?
I felt anything, but safe, and wasn't having fun at all. I actually decided to pit in, after 3 laps and just as I was doing so, another red flag went up (3rd of the day, in novice group). These guys were crashing left and right all day!!
I overheard that they split riders up within the intro group. There were 4-5 faster people. So I dropped down to intro and got on the back of the faster 5 (pun intended ) and had a great time for the rest of the day (2 more sessions).
My question is this: how can I safely continue to have fun and make progress without being what felt like a standing obstacle on the track?! Is it normal for novice group to ride like this?