Group Ride Speeds & FAQ
Why do we have these gradings?
Gradings are there to help members of the club know what kind of ride they are going on. They have been designed to apply to any route and conditions but keeping it simple by bringing the choice down to “how fast do I want to go today”.
What do the speeds mean?
ICC Club rides are split into 5 grades based on speed, differentiated by the typical speed of the group riding on the flat. This will of course vary in practice, but the key is that the group will generally be going along at this pace when there is no real gradient to contend with.
I went on a Blue ride the other day and it was a lot faster than advertised. What should have happened?
Riders should always try to stick to the speed/grade that they agreed to do at the start. It is ok to call out for people to slow down.
Throughout the ride, the group should be checking with each other if the speed is ok. Everyone is free to say “no, this is faster than advertised”. If everyone is ok with the new speed, then all is good, and the ride organically changes grading.
If you do not feel confident speaking up, then try to have a quiet word with the leader at the start to explain that you are nervous. They will then check in on you the entire ride and take charge of the communication with the rest of the group. Also keep in mind that the more experienced club members will be able to spot a struggling rider, will check in on you and speak up on your behalf if needs be.
We are here to support each other.
I am confused, are the indicated speeds "speed limits", minimum speed, or middle of a pace band? i.e. Is silver 21-25, 22.6-27.5, or 25-29.9?
Think of them as a “target” speed on the flat so that when the group is riding with no real gradient, those on the front should try to keep it at this speed. Of course, going a couple of kph either side is fine, but the aim should always be to raise or lower to match this speed.
If the group is happily riding along well below or above the pace and nobody is being excluded, the grading organically changes. If you see this happening on the road, talk and make sure everybody is happy with the new target speed.
I want to ride in a group at 28kph on the flat. Why can't I?
If everyone rides at the speeds they see fit, then there is a risk of people being excluded and not trying different rides.
So, at the moment, we are asking everybody to stick to the target speeds. This will allow us to see if the bands are correctly calibrated or if they need adjusting. If we see there is demand for an extra band, or non-linear gaps between the speeds, we will happily introduce these.
We will assess the bands over the summer of 2021.
Why can’t we just use average speed?
Average speeds are a hard thing to judge consistently between rides. Average speed depends on many variables including the distance and terrain of the route, number of people in the group, weather conditions etc. Generally, the average speed is slower than the grading speed. So, if you’re wired to think in averages, pick a colour slightly higher than your brain thinks.
On the flat you say, but the Southeast is hardly flat...
Great point. The landscape in and around London is full of hills. What we mean by flat is anything without a major gradient. If you have to change one gear as the road rises or falls slightly, that’s still flat. If you have to think about which gear is important, then you’re probably on a hill going up or down.
Ok, I’m with you now. However, what do we do if there is next to no flat? North London Hills for example.
Routes like this are few and far between, with constant up and down normally reserved for hill repetition training rides. In the relatively unique circumstances of NLH, the grading speed becomes an average speed limit. The group should aim to go no faster than this as an average pace. This takes in the nature of the route which will generally bring an average speed down from the on the flat.
If you’re organising a group ride over a route like this, highlight this by calling it a “North London Hills style route” so that everyone knows this contains very little flat. We recommend only applying this where the flat is well below 50% of the course.
Why such large jumps in speed between the grades?
We have to strike a balance between choice, simplicity and efficiency. Our aim is to provide a small, defined set of grades. If the jumps were, say, 2kph apart, this would lead to lots of small groups. In reality, the difference between 24kph and 26kph could be as much as a head or tailwind.
What about all of these “Bluey Silver”, “Green with a hint of Silver” and “Blueish Black” rides I see on the forum?
These are an organic way that people have created to try and subdivide the gradings.
Please try to stick to the official definitions. With 5 different speed grades, there should be a ride very close to what you want.
I see a lot of debate about these subdivisions on the forum, what is wrong with them?
The grading system has been created to simplify ride choice. These subdivisions achieve the opposite. There is way of knowing what “Bluey Silver” means. What they achieve is to create so many different views of a ride that someone has to know the ride leader to understand what they mean. This creates cliques in the club and ends up “pooling” people on Green or Silver rides. The net result is an exclusive, not inclusive, club.
I’m a Green rider...
Woah there. Nobody is any colour rider; the ride is a colour. We are all free to try any colour rides we wish.
...Ah ok, I normally do Green rides. If I go for Silver won’t I be dropped?
All our colour rides are no-drop by default, so unless a ride is advertised as “drop”, no. If you tell the group that you are trying a Silver ride then everyone will be up for helping you along at the new speed. If you do find yourself struggling, tell someone and the group will slow down or take a break.
Several people also run “Come try...” rides. These will be for people wanting to see if they can go faster or at a longer distance. The leaders will all be looking out for you and will adjust the ride to ensure you are comfortable. Have a look out for these and go on one.
I normally do Blue rides, and I want to try Black. Won’t the racers come and rip my legs off?
This is why we have introduced Hors catégorie (HC) rides.
What is a “Hors catégorie” (HC) ride?
HC rides are very fast at what could be seen as training pace (40kph+) and are drop by default. This means that if you cannot keep up the pace of the group, you will be left behind. Expect a hard workout.
Interesting, why “Hors catégorie” (HC)?
HC comes from the classification of mountains in road racing. When the classifications were created, they were based on the highest gear a car could drive up the climb in. Hence 4th Category climbs are the least steep. As the races expanded to the high mountains, they found climbs cars could not go up and so were beyond category, or “Hors catégorie” (HC).