Someone cries off

Usually by sending a weaselly message to the group WhatsApp chat. There is no greater shame in cycling. Except possibly doping.

– How to start a cycling club… and ten tips to make yours a success –

But not even Lance Armstrong phoned his DS on the day of Liege-Bastogne-Liege claiming he had ‘a stomach bug’ that ‘just came on over night’.  It’s funny how people always get stomach bugs on rainy mornings, isn’t it?

You all get lost

No group ride is complete without someone either forgetting the route (if you’re old school) or simply failing to follow the route directions on their GPS bike computer correctly. We’ve all had that sinking moment of realisation that the ride ‘leader’ you are all blindly following has absolutely no clue where they are, or even where they’re supposed to be.

Ever been on a ride where the leader is navigating using a GPX file loaded onto a running watch? We have. It was funny for the first 20 minutes.

Thank heaven for Google Maps is all we can say.

You all get competitive

At some stage, typically a particular hill or Strava segment, people on the group ride will get competitive and try and beat each other.

This usually happens when the cafe you’re stopping at for mid-ride coffee hoves into view and people feel they have a bit of energy left in the tank.

The mature thing to do is to not join in. The fun thing to do is to give it the beans.

Someone gets hangry at the cafe stop when their cake takes too long

Yes, Darren, it has taken over ten minutes to produce the single slice of Victoria sponge you ordered.

No, I don’t know why my delicious slice of coffee and walnut cake arrived almost instantaneously.

Yes, that does seem unfair. No, I don’t think you should ‘go back there’ and threaten the teenager working in the kitchen with your extendable hand pump.

You all stop for a pee. Individually.

Instead of being able to wait till the cafe, you all insist on stopping individually at roughly five minute intervals and crashing off into the trees for a solo wee break.

Admittedly, this is more of a dude thing, but girls can be culprits too. It’s like your mum always told you, ‘make sure you go before you leave the house’.

Someone offers you one of their homemade energy balls

What is it with cyclists these days, all baking up their own energy bars and producing performance-enhancing sludge with their kitchen food processor?

When did we stop buying disgusting-tasting sticky liquids in plastic pouches from shops, instead of manufacturing our own disgusting-tasting sticky liquids, but with added chia seeds? We’re not sure how the trend began, but we can’t want for it to fizzle out.

Someone doesn’t shout hole

Even though there definitely is one and someone else ends up disappearing into a gaping chasm.

Someone makes a terrible excuse for getting dropped

Cyclists love an excuse – here are some of our favourite excuses for getting dropped.

You realise your bike friends are the best friends

Even if they are late-running, hangry, excuse-making, hole-yelling, lost-getting numpties.