Ride Styles

SF2G riders like to go different speeds depending on their mood/hangover, so it's helpful when someone announces an upcoming ride to proclaim the intended style of the event. Below are some guidelines we use.

New riders: If you're at all unsure about which "style" to ride with, it's recommended you ride an NRLB (no rider left behind) ride first. Also keep in mind that there's a big difference between a 20 mph avg. over 10 miles, and the same over 40 miles and with lots of and stops/starts for traffic lights and whatnot -- that's fast. If you opt to not ride NRLB your first few times, be conservative in estimating the style ride in which you'd best fit in.

Speeds, rolling times, regroups: The speeds laid out below are the rolling average over the entire 40-some miles of the bayway route, which means there may well be sprints/attacks/pacelines that are much faster than that. However, there are often regroup points (including, at the very least, the San Mateo restroom break), so you'll have a chance to catch up if you get dropped. Important note: Again, estimated ride times are "rolling" (moving) times. Due to traffic lights and regroups, most rides take 15-30 minutes longer than the rolling time.

Now that that's out of the way, here is the vernacular:

• Style I: Very fast, 19+ mph avg speed / ~2hr rolling time
• Style II: Moderate-to-fast, 16-18.9 mph avg speed / ~2hr 30min rolling time
• Style III: Relaxed-to-Moderate, 14-15.9 mph avg rolling speed / ~3hr rolling time
• Style IV/NRLB: Beginner pace -- "No rider left behind"; this means someone's volunteering to sweep and ride as slow as necessary to make sure everybody finds their way with a guide. See also First Friday Friendly Frolic!

Common modifiers may include things like "endurance pace", "sprints-with-regroups (SWR)", etc. Please see terms for more information.

For reference, the fastest Bayway time yet recorded is 1:54, done at an average pace of 22.3 mph. Check out the SF2G Hall of Fame page.

From SF2G Archive