Some riders are simply not bothered if they cannot keep up with their peers out on the road and in some ways, that’s a good thing. You’ve probably already heard it, but you should always ride your own ride and ride at 80% of your ability so you have 20% still in the bag if required. Riding on the edge of your ability is quite simply dangerous on public highways.
If you are riding out with bikers whose skills are stronger than yours and they don’t take into account your imbalance of skills, experience, or lack of confidence, then perhaps consider not riding out with them any longer. If you ride out with those that are simply reckless, then you should strongly reconsider riding out with them. It’s only a matter of time before their bag of luck runs out.
I’m incredibly fussy who I ride out with as riding buddies can inadvertently drag you into a situation you’d rather not witness! It’s not pleasant to watch and it will affect your own mindset when riding. I do get ‘egged on’ a lot when I’m leading European Tours’ and my advice is if this happens, not to bite. I’ve only ever found these people are out to prove something to you, because deep down they are lacking in one way or another.
No, it’s not that, I know I’m really slow…
When you ride out you’re aware that you’re not up to a safe speed and in keeping with the flow of traffic, then there’s probably a deeper problem.
I have trained some riders, who have passed their test (so will have had to get up to road speed on occasion) and won’t or can’t increase their speed. In turn they can also be considered unsafe. If this sounds like you and the thought of doing 60 on a Dual Carriageway scares you, there’s lots you can do to improve your confidence at speed. Remember, if you were to put yourself through a Module 2 test, then you might not pass doing less than 60 mph on Dual Carriageway, depending on the situation of course!