The Disadvantages Of Cycling Group Rides

The previous article, The Advantages Of Group Rides, explored various aspects of cycling group rides; it is time now to analyse all the disadvantages.

If a group rider lacks discipline and attentiveness on the road, he surely will learn the hard way. If he gets easily distracted and cannot hold the desired speed or course, crashes are his destiny. After years of riding, I have observed the following to be true. Read on.

Snobbery on wheels

Members of cycling groups tend to promote exclusivity by remaining in their comfort zones and choosing not to casually ride with others. Riders who cannot beat them, usually join them. I beat most I encountered and decided not to join them.

Just because some prefer riding alone must not mean they are lesser cyclists in terms of speed, performance or power. Several years ago I overtook someone riding a Pakistani steel bike. I noticed he had modified it for speed by removing the mudguards and having two hand-grips welded to the spot where the head-tube met the top of the fork.

Just when I thought he was far behind, he speedily overtook me, holding the hand-grips in ‘race’ position, with a non-aero shalwar-qameez flapping about in the wind but display no apparent loss of power. Being at the tail-end of my 50-km ride, I was unable to overtake him despite going full throttle.

The moral of the story: neither underestimate anybody’s capability nor mock the bicycle brand. Lone wolves may bite hard.

Early birds

In summer or on foggy winter mornings, some ride without headlights and taillights, thus showing no regard for road safety and quality sleep.

Some groups start well before dawn, thereby destroying REM time. REM (rapid eye movement) time is the period of deep sleep during which we dream. The eyes are closed but the eyeballs move in all directions as if glued to a giant TV screen. Perhaps our souls travel to other parallel universes, or off-load sensitive data to God’s supercomputer for analysis on Judgment Day, or receive warnings and good news in coded form. Try losing one night’s REM sleep and see how the day goes by.

A musical break here for REM's classic song: Everybody Hurts?

Late Lateefs

Here is a scenario. The rendezvous is 5 a.m. The entire group is waiting for one undisciplined unpunctual rider. He sends several text messages to the group-leader promising he is 'on my way', then finally joins the ride but offers no apology.

Aiming to be punctual is stressful and arriving early is utter waste of time. If you dislike discourteous time-wasters, it is best to ride alone.

Pied Piper on wheels

Once during a group ride, when dark clouds appeared, the group-leader insisted on continuing the ride. Soon there was heavy downpour and very strong gusts but the riders went on, trying hard not to slip or fall.

Later the leader admitted, "I love to ride in the rain!" Not everybody was amused.

Considering that water ingress caused rust in the bicycle components (especially the hubs and the bearings), I spent the next two days getting the hardened dirt off the bike.

When one rides alone, there is no silly urge to prove anything to anybody.

The road to progress

Until a few years, I routinely rode moderately fast. Then I switched to other methods of training to build better stamina and gain greater power.

Since most groups take unnatural pride in going fast, it is best to ride alone and achieve important fitness goals at a pace that the mind and the body can handle.

Lean and mean

Although professional road cyclists consume plenty of carbohydrates and proteins, they tend to be skinny and have low body-fat due to high caloric expenditure.

By contrast, the average overweight amateur rider in a group dreams about losing weight just by cycling. He rarely achieves the ideal body weight for his height, joins a gym for weight-training, resorts to consuming questionable food supplements, ends up increasing the body mass, and ends up buying lighter carbon bikes instead of reducing his own weight.

Thinking deeply about these matters is not possible when riding with groups. The best thoughts and plans come when one is alone.

Sprints, anybody?

I hardly ever see local cyclists launching sprints. Everybody is either going moderately fast or slower than normal. The following seven reasons show why cyclists do not get their rear ends off the saddles:

1. FRAME SIZE: Their bikes may not be the correct size for their bodies.
2. BIKE FIT: Their bikes may be poorly set up for comfort and speed, thus encouraging wrong body angles which lead to aches in the arms, neck, back, knees, ankles etc.
3. FOOTWEAR: Their ordinary flat pedals prevent make from getting a decent foot-grip. They seldom use clipless cycling shoes for a locked-in grip; this prevents them from transferring greater power to the pedals. The solution for issues 1, 2 and 3 above is to pay for a professional bike-fit which perfectly matches the body to the bike.
4. WEIGHT: They are overweight or obese. Sprints require flexibility, agility, swiftness and power. Developing each quality takes time and consistent effort.
5. KNOWLEDGE: They are unfamiliar with the correct technique for sprinting.
6. PRACTISE: They have not practised frequent power generation required for sprinting and which requires up to four times more power than normal pedalling.
7. FEAR: They imagine sprinting will increase the heart-rate so much that it will explode. I recall riding with a doctor who preferred staying below 135 BPM (beats per minute). He was fifty, overweight and afraid of stressing his heart.

Strava pandemic

Many group riders are addicted to uploading their ride statistics on Strava. The app was free until recently but is now a subscription service.

On the Strava platform, grown men suffer from pedalling envy because they imagine they will improve just by peeking at others’ ride statistics.

Riders have been caught on the internet faking the starting and the end points of their rides or showing fantastic power figures (FTP, watts) by drafting behind passing vehicles.

One must have aims in life. All my rides are learning experiences through training. It is helpful to assess routes, their vibration levels, slope angles and traffic patterns. None of these fine activities are satisfactorily possible if one rides in a group.

Aunty social

So intensely focussed are some riders on the rear wheels of those ahead, they seldom acknowledge other riders on the road, leave aside wave at them. I used to cordially wave at other riders but then quit the distracting habit because I found them looking through me.

Social roller coaster

Some fully grown riders regularly join so-called ‘social rides’ where they pedal with children on tricycles and hijabi ladies sitting very low on creaky bikes.

Who wants to ride at 15 km/h when 30-35 km/h is the normal speed for good riders? Who wants to be in a wolf-pack or a group of cackling crows when soaring like an eagle or roaring like a lion is the thang to do?

Then there are them bachelors who ride just to blend with the ladies at every sponsored group ride. Feeling a bit under pressure, some married men too play this game.

Essentially, a social ride is the comedy version of a serious ride.

Road-deaf

Just because Bluetooth devices are available must not mean one should cover the ears while riding. Earbuds belong on an indoors trainer or in a gym. Incidentally, the word gymnasium comes from the Ancient Greek term gymnós, meaning 'naked or 'nude'. Only adult male citizens were allowed to use the gymnasia.

Not only is wearing large headphones in public a poor fashion statement, it is outright dangerous because one is totally isolated from the surroundings, and the sweat absorbed by the earpieces turns into deadly germs to cause fungal infections—call that hearing AIDS.

Instead of being all ears to the traffic, some riders prefer listening to music or recitation of holy texts.

Forget riding with clowns and instead go solo to develop better road-sense and peripheral vision.

Chatterboxes on saddles

What I enjoy most about solo rides is the pleasure of having a quiet mind, devoid of jumbled thoughts, purely focussed on the ride. I call it medi-cadence—a combination of yoga meditation and cadence (pedalling speed).

Talking while riding has its pitfalls:

1. It robs one of energy and distracts from the road.
2. Even two bottles of energy drinks in the bottle cages may not be able to prevent drying up of the throat due to excessive talking.
3. Opening the mouth unnecessarily may allow insects to enter it.

Many who regularly use cellphone while riding find it impossible to ignore requests for position reports from suspicious wives. I know several riders who have crashed into one another or caused road accidents because of cell phone distraction.

Bad company

Most riders in a group with easy-going natures, at least one will be a stick in the mud. I have known such people who show no warmth and do not reciprocate good wishes. They are there to quietly watch or jealously look at your accessories and the bike. Such people seldom smile and almost never laugh. They are emotionally repressed, perhaps dangerous, and could do mankind an immense favour by staying at home.

Again, the best company on the road is your own company.

It is time to listen to another classic song from 1975 by Bad Company: Feel Like Makin’ Love.

Break-dance

Many groups that I have ridden with destroy good cycling pace by taking several short breaks or slow down repeatedly to allow those lagging behind to catch up.

When one rides at a pace of two minutes per kilometre, it translates to a speed of 30 km/hour. Not many group-leaders will maintain steady speeds unless they use cycling computers and possess leadership qualities. And not every rider uses a cycling computer which means he lacks interest in ogling at important statistics and progress.

Eating out (hogging)

Coupled with good dietary habits, cycling can indeed help one lose weight. Take a look at professional cyclists who are mostly tanned skeletons riding in pelotons and need much less body-fat during fast climbs over mountainous terrain.

Most riders I encounter are overweight by 10-25 kg. They routinely stop at coffee shops to consume commercially prepared drinks or full breakfasts and then report the hogging activity on Facebook.

Why people take photos of food before having it is fit for analysis by a psychiatrist. The text of their posts and the faces wearing patent smiles remain boringly the same. Some in such groups are quick to shoot photos and video clips while riding. Who wants to be in a group that focuses too much on the 'fun' aspect?

Eating out destroys whatever health one builds up with cycling. Instead of paying monthly food bills, I find it satisfying to buy better apparel, accessories, spares or tools for bike maintenance.

Ta-ta

In essence, total cycling success requires:

1. A focussed mind in a fit body.
2. A decent bike with well-maintained hardware.
3. Muscular strength.
4. Correct techniques. 

Remove any part from the above and the magic disappears.

I could say more on the subject of why cycling group rides remain unattractive to many riders but let me sign off by wishing you success in whichever way you chose to stay happier, healthier and sane.

Disclaimer:

If anybody that I know thinks that I have poked fun at his habits, then he should thank God for not being named here.

©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2025

The Advantages Of Group Rides

After twenty-two years of cycling and having ridden several thousand kilometres, I would like to share my observations, likes and dislikes regarding group rides.

Let me start with the advantages and observed facts. In a future article I shall deal with the disadvantages.

What’s a group-ride?

This has nothing to do with groupies of pop bands. Group-rides happen when cyclists form a short beeline or a large peloton (French for group, pack). Usually, two is company and three is a crowd but some cyclists just cannot ride without either being part of a crowd or leading one

During early summer mornings—usually on Sundays—I witness private or corporate group rides composed of 20-200 cyclists. Usually bike shop-owners organise such events by renting bikes at Rs 1500 ($5) per day.

All that bike-power of ‘social’ rides looks impressive on the roads mainly due to the protection provided by police patrol cars to the privileged amateur cyclists. If having dreadfully slow ladies and children on tricycles trailing behind is your thing, by all means, join the fun.

Serious cyclists usually ride in groups. Some even train to compete as teams in races. Their clothing and lighter carbon bikes inspire amateur riders to emulate them.

If you wish to be inspired, the world’s most famous race, Tour de France, is taking place these days (05-27 July, 2025). Do watch the stages on cable TV or download the app .

Draft dodgers

This is not the draft-dodging the governments face during wars. Drafting or slipstreaming simply means riding right behind another cyclist to save up to 30% energy. That helps one go faster because of lesser drag (air resistance due to the rider’s physical body). Furthermore, body-hugging clothing and an aggressive posture on the bike enhance performance.

When strong riders take turns leading the group to keep up the pace, the entire group benefits from going faster but with lesser energy spent. However, always letting one rider lead the group only satisfies team captains with inflated egos.

Funnily enough, I have seen riders with very expensive bikes—costing as much as $10,000 or PKR 2,850,000—sneak behind passing vehicles to falsely log higher power and average speed figures on their Strava app running on cycling computers. Sharp-eyed folks on the internet have already caught several dishonest cyclists with their cycling shorts down.

Impressive look

Riders wearing impressive cycling club jerseys usually have other commuters respectfully give way on the roads. Passer-by’s rarely engage with groups but freely interact with lone cyclists from whom they invariably ‘wish to know the price of the bike’.

I have some standard responses:

“I got this bike as a gift.”

““Do you wish to buy one? It may cost anywhere from $300 to $10,000.”

“I can't get into a discussion while riding. Visit the nearest bike shop and find out for yourself.”

“I stole this bike.”

Given the kinds of criminals zooming about on motorbikes, one never knows who is who, hence giving correct details could attract trouble.

Coffee and meal breaks

It is quite common for riders to stop mid-ride or at the conclusion of it for coffee, sugary fruit-juices or greasy snacks. The arrival of several riders at restaurants makes the owners happily ignore the sweating bodies ruining the upholstery fabric.

Some fun-loving souls indulge in sugar-loading and belly-filling junk food and then announce: “Hell, I burned 1500 calories today!”

If you wish to give the impression that you are working hard on losing weight but secretly cannot stay away from unhealthy or excessive food consumption, joining a casual cycling group is best.

Get togethers

Prosperous riders occasionally host post-ride breakfast sessions at their sprawling homes where they regain twice as many calories that they burnt during the morning ride. Other activities may bring together group members for mountain-biking or hiking trips in the mountains. In short, the male-bonding helps strengthen the brotherhood.

FAITH-ful riding

Accustomed to running to the mosque for congregational prayers, riders with religious minds have also joined the race for better health. There is no harm imagining one is atop a camel in the desert while riding a bicycle.

Two years ago, I remember seeing a long-bearded track-cyclist preparing for the Asian games scheduled to be held in India. The aerodynamic drag induced by the beard is measureable. Although every cyclist need not shave his legs for better aerodynamics, having a clean-shaven face certainly helps during intense summer rides when sweat and dust become unbearable.

Then we have the hijabi ladies who do not fear their headscarves getting entangled in the wheels, the chains or the pedals. Having very limited peripheral vision with this bit of clothing is less important to them than the group activity, the gup shup.

Competitive teams

When I started riding in the early 2000s, I never saw ordinary riders on the road except teams belonging to the Pakistan army, WAPDA or Pakistan Railways.

During the past few years, and especially when the COVID pandemic erupted, droves of people bought bicycles, formed groups of all kinds, and created teams and clubs whose members occasionally competed in organised races for cash awards. Cycling allowed one to get out of confined germ-infested spaces and into the open.

Peer-pressure

Cyclists who join a group are expected to come up to higher standards of stamina and speed—if at all the group is progressive and somewhat competitive. Hence, slower riders improve their performance if the social pressure is used positively.

Within a group, one quickly learns about routine maintenance, riding techniques and equipment. It might come as a surprise to pilots—it did to me, being a veteran commercial aviator—that the handlebar area of a bicycle is also called a COCKPIT, except that no cocks are found in any pit.

What else is out there?

Now compared with golf, cycling is cheap—unless you are fixated on rubbing shoulders ('networking') with the elites.

A set of golf clubs could cost as much as a decent mountain or road bike but the membership of a prestigious golf club could set you back by millions of rupees. Walking a kilometre or two and swinging at balls burns far fewer calories than a ride. My average ride is 60-70 km, done in 02:30 to 03:00 hours and which helps burn 1500-2000 KCal.

If you go to a gym to lift weights, how are you using all that power, muscular strength and abdominal 6-pack doing an office job?

If you swim, are you comfortable being in pools filled with other people’s germs, sputum and urine?

If you prefer jogging beyond the age of fifty, do you want your knees and other joints to suffer due to all that bouncing on paved surfaces?

Let it sink in: nothing truly compares with cycling as additionally it brings back one’s childhood in adulthood and beyond.

Finally, if you are the social kind who loves to party on two wheels, then join a group. If you are a lone wolf, then read my upcoming article: The Disadvantages Of Group Rides.

BONUS: Pro Cycling Calendar 2025.

©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2025

Fixing The IKEA FIXA Cordless Drill Machine

First of all, the name IKEA is not pronounced as EYE-KIA—as most people do—but EE-KIA—as the Swedes do. With this settled, let us move on to the story of a dysfunctional IKEA FIXA cordless drill machine.

History

I bought this cheap babe to supplement what I already owned: a mid-sized Black & Decker 2-speed hammer drill and a larger Bosch variable-speed bi-directional hammer drill. I needed the IKEA FIXA to help do odd jobs without the inconvenience of using heavier drills in confined spaces.

Soon I discovered that the FIXA was the McDonald of drills—it partially filled a need but without much satisfaction. The battery drained fast and for some jobs I again reverted to using my other bulkier babes.

ROBBERY, ASSAULT AND BATTERIES

There came a fateful day when the internal batteries of the FIXA peacefully passed away during sleep. To find out what kind of rechargeable batteries lived inside, I opened up the machine.

The batteries looked like oversized AA (1.5 volts) babes but were actually type 18650 (3.7 volts each or total 7.2V/1.5Ah). I sourced new batteries from the local electronics market, hoping they exceeded the 1500 mAH (milli-Ampere hour) rating of the original ones.

The poorly documented User Manual of the FIXA neither mentioned anything about the battery type nor their rating, which meant they did not want one to replace them but rather follow the IKEA philosophy behind disposal furniture.

The marking on the original batteries was:

MNKE IMR-18650 (MH46608 RoHS)

It's a fact that manufacturers of this age deliberately make things difficult or impossible to repair for end-users. Although the original batteries were spot-soldered, I got the new ones plain soldered instead. It was a technician who opened up the drill, unscrewed the main components sloppily and caused the gears inside to fall out. He was unable to reassemble the parts in the desired order.

Nevertheless, I charged the new batteries for several hours but the machine refused to work.

Feeling stuck, I resorted to searching for a newer cordless drill on Ali Express. The shops sold drill for around $40 each but charged $300 as freight because the Li-Ion batteries needed special handling and packaging due to their dangerous chemical composition.

During air-travel, the airlines check-in counters and the airport security personnel do NOT want passengers putting these Li-Ion batteries in checked baggage but rather hand-carrying them. Carrying more than normal quantities of these batteries also raises suspicions and objections—unless you happen to be a serious photographer with fantastic convincing power.

Hit and trial

Before I began fixing the FIXA, I had successfully disassembled my other drill machines and then lubricated them using white lithium grease at some spots and white PTFE grease elsewhere. By contrast, the FIXA originally had grey graphite grease inside it.

I tried hard to put the fallen nine gears in place but failed. Taking the FIXA to various drill machine repairsmen proved futile and there was nothing on YouTube that seemed to help.

Frustrated almost to the point of throwing away the FIXA, I took the machine apart to investigate. The least I could do was embalm it (grease) and dress it in Sunday-best (clean-up) before cremating it with great respect.

Indian Jones and the temple of gears

Forgive me for not taking any photos of this effort and enjoy just the text below for technical salvation. 

IMPORTANT: It will do you a lot of good to be methodical and neat. Place every part on a large surface and in the correct orientation (left/right sides) and disassembly order, or simply shoot photos to recall how the striptease went.

1) The drill body is composed of two sides held together by seven Philips (cross-head) screws. Place the machine on its left side over a table and start unscrewing using a Philips screwdriver. Use the correct-sized tool to prevent damage to the screw-heads. Carefully lift up the entire right side of the body by lightly prying open with a flat-head screwdriver. 

2) Inside the handle grip are: the charger socket, two batteries, a trigger button and its control module.

3) On the upper portion are three components screwed together:

a) A motor that drives using 7.2V power (3.7V + 3.7V) of the batteries.

b) A plastic unit that contains a metal barrel with nine interlocking gears (toothed wheels).

c) A keyless chuck assembly that holds the drill bits.

4) Inside these three main parts are more parts. The motor's front is screwed to the rear of the plastic unit using four Philips screws. Separate the two while holding both horizontally and without jerking.

5) The plastic unit contains a metal barrel with horizontal grooves and nine interlocking gears.

6) Between the motor (on the left) and the plastic unit (on the right) are a felt gasket and a metal washer. Placed atop the motor's centre is a single gear connected to a shaft below that rotates when the drill's trigger is pressed.

7) When I pressed the trigger, this gear spun, which told me that the motor and the batteries worked but the nine interlocking gears or the chuck had issues.

8) I wiped the greasy parts first with a paper towel and then degreased them with Spray Nine's Grez-All liquid spray which required washing off. Degreasing aerosols are also available that clean and then evaporate immediately, leaving no residue behind.

9) Over and around the single gear in the centre of the motor assembly, I used SUPER LUBE multi-purpose synthetic grease with PTFE, an American heavy-duty grease. It's white, multi-purpose (without silicone but with PTFE added), four times longer lasting, corrosion//water/rust resistant, has a wide-temperature range and is NLGI GC-LB approved grade-2.

10) I first sprayed some WD-40 into the lone gear's shaft to smoothen it and then some specialist contact cleaner. The latter was also sprayed into the rear of the motor's cavity where I could see something turning, and also in the trigger. One should always be a smooth operator.

11) Operate the drill, if possible, to check for a smoother-sounding motor.

12) Holding the drill horizontal, I carefully separated the gear-chuck assembly, ensuring the gears didn't fall out. Inside were three gears mounted on three pins at the top of a round metal plate (inside the metal grooved-barrel in the plastic unit).

13) Three more gears could be seen sitting over three pins at the bottom of this first round metal plate (inside the metal grooved-barrel in the plastic unit).

14) These three gears faced a second round metal plate below, and which again had three gears mounted on three pins.

15) These six gears (3+3) faced each other and were interlocked to spin together. This was important to note for later assembling.

16) I degreased, cleaned and then greased these nine gears, and other parts and surfaces.

Down the rabbit hole

17) At the base of the entire housing that held the round metal barrel and the nine gears, there were six holes. Each hole contained three steel balls (I missed measuring the diameter with a Vernier caliper) that sat one on top of the other. 

At one point, eighteen dried up steel balls fell out due to dryness and goofy disassembly. I lost track of how the gears interlocked and where the steel balls went. Having these small balls fall on the floor means looking for them doggy-style under the furniture.

Considerable time was wasted during reassembly in trying to figure things out. Hopefully this article will help you stay on the right path.

The chuckling CHUCK

18) The chuck's front had a Philips screw that I turned clockwise to loosen. The chuck refused to come off. Bad, bad chuck.

19) The three pins of the plastic unit (on the side facing me) were screwed into the chuck assembly and required action from inside. I took the machine to a drill repairsman who used a broad metal file's front edge to unscrew (anti-clockwise turn) the pins while holding the chuck firmly. Not death but male strength did them part.

20) Underneath the plastic unit, a large screw, a metal washer and a spring coil were seen. The spring coil was designed to move when selecting the torque by rotating the FIXA's dial from 1 through 15 on the chuck. Up to 5 Nm (Newton meters) of turning power was available with only single speed bi-directional operation. All the parts were cleaned and mildly greased.

21) Actually the spring coil had become unpredictable due to being unseated and the metal washer had moved out of place which caused the eighteen steel balls to fall out of their six holes into the cavity below.

Everybody, assemble HERE!

22) All eighteen steel balls were mildly greased, then dropped using a tweezer, one by one (three each) into the six holes. This was better than playing golf.

23) With the bottom coil and the metal washer in place, the steel balls stood their ground. The plastic unit containing the steel balls and the chuck were reassembled by carefully inserting a metal clip that held them locked in place. The operation was hand-checked by rotating the torque selection ring.

24) One wire (out of the two) behind the motor became unsoldered during re-assembly. This was re-soldered. Both the wires had heat-shrink tubing over them to protect the terminals from jerks and dust.

25) With a pounding heart, I closed the drill's body but it refused to spin when operated. This was fixed by carefully seating the assembly's front end into the body's notches to get the torque ring rotating freely.

After several years of dormant existence, the FIXA finally whirred into action. Agreed I spent time worth thousands of Rupees but looking at the happier side, I saved $50 plus $300 freight and learnt some new things in older age.

©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2025

PS (19 April 2025): I found this video useful.