[BVC-CHAT] [Riders] tnp

[Christopher Menzel]

> 2/ Having ridden for a few years in Austin before, the thing I like  
> most about riding in C.S. is that our rides are inclusive. Not that  
> we sometimes don't take on a brusque or arrogant personal attitude  
> towards newcomers, but the *design* of our rides is so that it makes  
> them inclusive in that we try to let the weaker riders hang on at  
> least for a while. As such the hard-but-steady first lap is a good  
> thing.

That is pretty much my view of it.  Maybe this is just the influence  
of effete Euros like you and Euro-philes like me, but I like trying to  
be just a bit more inclusive than what one typically finds among the  
local roadies in other locales.

> The week in question saw the chasing pack reduced to 5 riders in the  
> first lap, with 3 off the front, both going at a pretty brutal pace  
> right from the start. The rest had pretty much gone home by that  
> time. I think that wasn't the sign we wanted to send.

Just to make clear what I think you are saying here, there's no reason  
a good TNP shouldn't end up with 3 of the front and a hard 5-person  
chase group but the idea is that, with a hard/steady first lap, folks  
shouldn't be getting dropped until the second lap and hence will have  
some incentive to finish the ride, either by forming a second chase  
group or by circling back around and giving it another go.

-chris