Hi
The description is there to give a better idea than speed, as it very much depends who is riding on the day as I'm sure it will be different people and different leaders sometimes too. I would expect everyone to take a turn on the front any way, just because I'm 'leading' a group it doesn't mean it has to be done from the front and I won't be towing everyone round for the whole ride! I would say this group is as much about having a bit more experience (hence the through and off description) as it is speed/fitness, which often means rides will naturally be a little faster and/or at just a more consistent pace, but again that depends on the route too. If anyone is near the speeds of the speedy group (Jon's Sunday group) then this isn't the group for them unless they want a more leisurely pace. Personally I can quite comfortably ride from home in Roundhay to Burnsall via Appletreewick & back which is a 60 mile round trip, in 4 hours, but a hillier route will take me longer. A 45 mile ride from Otley heading out towards Wetherby the other weekend was a little under 3 hours. This may now put some off too, but it's difficult to know what information to give. I still think there's scope for a Group 4, but others don't seem to think so, so we'll just need to give it a go and take things from there I think.
Just a reminder that if people don't post here to let me know they're riding at the weekend, I wont be at Otley but will ride from home instead or perhaps change my plans.
Hope that helps.
Cheers, Khara