Is it my imagination or does it seem to rain every Thursday?.... but it does give me time to ponder something.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm a regular SBRA B+ rider. I've been with the club for a year and a half. I have also led about twenty B or B+ rides this past year.

I went on a very unusual ride on Sunday with another bicycle club. It was listed as a B+ ride. Their definition of a B+ ride is similar to SBRA. There were about 14 riders, and it's worth mentioning, there was only one ride leader. The ride started out with a very nice steady pace through Greenlawn on fairly flat roads. The group was loosely spaced and single file.

About 3 miles into this club ride, we came to Stillwell Lane in Laurel Hollow. For those of you who don't know Stillwell, it is a great road to go up, or down. It's about one mile long with one lane in each direction and it gently curves it's way through a quiet north shore neighborhood. You can charge down Stillwell at 25 mph with very little effort.

But.... on this ride, we were climbing up Stillwell. It's not out-of-the-saddle-steep, but you do need to find a proper gear and work your way to the top. I hadn't ridden with this club in a while, but many of the members would at the very least recognize me. About half of them probably know my name. The VP of the club was in this group and the two of us are very friendly.

Once we started the climb, I felt the pace was a little slow. I also sensed that there were other people in the group who really wanted to charge the hill stronger. So I decided to ride up next to the ride leader, a man I really didn't know at all, and, respectfully, work my way off the front. I am one of those people who can inadvertently, and impulsively, do things that "stirs the pot", as my wife says.

But part of me really thought there would be other riders right behind me. This would be a common SBRA B+ ride maneuver. So I went off the front, slowly at first, then felt that pre-ride PowerBar kick in, and really started to motor up and pull away. About 30 seconds later, I checked my mirror to see how many riders I was pulling along, and what did I see? Was there half the group hanging onto my wheel? How about maybe a couple riders? How about just one? Nope. I was out there in front all by my lonesome, and admittedly, feeling a little silly.

It wasn't that there weren't people in the group faster than me. I think there were. They just opted to respectfully stay behind the ride leader. As I waited at the end of Stillwell, the ride leader pulled up to the stop sign, waited for a clearing, and shot me a small caliber look of disdain before making a left turn to continue the ride. From that point forward I stayed tucked into the group and minded my manners.

This ride leader posted a B+ ride. He stayed on the front end for 99% of the ride that stretched out over 45 miles. Granted, there was no pacelining, no cue sheet, and numerous turns in unfamiliar neighborhoods. However, the final average speed, even with the hills, was just under 16mph. I have a friend who worked for NASA as a velocity engineer on the space shuttle program. I forwarded him all my data from the ride. It took a couple days of calculations, but his findings did confirm that this was officially a B+ ride.

Towards the end of the ride, I mentioned to my friend (the club's VP), how unusual it seemed to me that a B+ ride leader would be on the front end for the entire ride and no one (except silly me) would ever pass him by and try to speed off into the distance dragging away half the group. He then explained to me that such behavior, and I paraphrase, would be highly frowned upon. He went on to say, that some of their ride leaders, would purposely alter the route by making unscheduled turns in an effort to drop anyone who rode off the front. His feeling was, if you pass the ride leader, you're off the ride.

So what do you think? Would we want our B+ rides to be so organized? Isn't the chaos of some B+ rides exciting in it's own way? Or do B+ rides without speed limits actually create an obstacle for stronger B riders to step up. Let's face it, the big hurdle from B to B+ is the one many people want to clear. Maybe having so many B+ rides turn into A rides is actually preventing some club members from trying to step up and test their limits. Or is that just a rite of passage? Maybe you can't work your way to the B+ level until you've been dropped a couple times. It builds character, as my father use to say.

Opinions? How about....

Is the B+ category even necessary? Some clubs have just A, B, C, and D.

Is the "A" category under used?

Should the club encourage more frequent multi-level rides that depart at the same time and cover the same route? Or is that really up to ride leaders to make their own "partnerships".

Would a new B/B+ ride category with mandatory cue sheets be a welcome alternative?

I'm happy anytime I get a chance to ride my bike, but sometimes I sense frustration from other members. What do you say? Here's your chance to contribute.....

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