I don't purport to have any answers, but I do feel moved to respond to some of Greg's numbered comments:
1. Splitting for these reasons is perfectly valid (save hair colour, because that just reminds JT of all those dusty combs and brushes in his bathroom drawer.) However, I know for a fact that some people don't come out regularly for weekday TS CX rides because the pace is not consistently high enough, given our regular riders' varying levels of fitness and comfort with technical riding. With that in mind, splitting in the parking lot on the basis of Rippers and Pokers may actually be welcome, and increase our aggregate ride satisfaction.
2. Re-groupings are the essence of these rides. Riding at the average speed of the slowest rider is sacrosanct. TSCX rides are just as much a Tripleshot ride as every road ride (save the A's!) and woe be to the ride leader who fails to stop at all ambiguous turns or at the end of technical segments to do the count before continuing. (But wait, I hear you say: isn't this coming from the mouth of that jerk who has so often ridden off out of sight and occasionally lost the odd duckling to the wilderness? Yes, yes, but I never MEAN to!
)
3. Yes, just as we are creative with our ride routes, we have the benefit and flexibility of picking different coffee spots, if we like. HOWEVER, rides organized through the forum remain Tripleshot rides. And post-ride coffee—
Tripleshot coffee—remains an essential element of our Club culture. This is particularly important for those of us who enjoy road seasons of three months a year, or less. I think it's important to consistently make coffee at Shoal Point, else we risk creating an actual rupture or schism in our dear Club's makeup. But my heart still bleeds a little for our poor Gordon Head denizens, and their 12K post-coffee slog to get home. So PV, Kofi, and even Township should definitely be on the menu some days.
4. From experience, rides work much better when there is unambiguously one ride leader at any given point and everyone follows that leader (this remains true EVEN IF said leader is a raving lunatic who has no idea what he or she is doing!) You simply can't figure out a route, turn-by-turn, with any sort of communal, or democratic process. At least not if you want to avoid a whole lot of time chatting with your foot down.
The ride ambassadors idea is an excellent way to shake up routes and leaders; but there too, the best experiences come when someone has taken the time the night before to map something out, memorized the turns etc. If flow is the goal, preparation will usually be key. The more people who take the time to learn some of our more common routes, the more potential ride leaders we have and the more flexibility we have to engage in spontaneous ride splitting etc. So the key to facilitating splits may be to continue regular ride ambassador days and share around leader opportunities.
That's all for now. Off to do some thumb pilates...
Hugs & kisses, Rolf.
Maybe the group names, "Rippers" and "Pokers" are not quite right - but the idea is (at least in my view). And so to you, Rolf,