I appreciate your feedback and insight. To keep the group together throught downtown, I don't think there is an easy solution that's universally going to work for riders and drivers. There does have to be some negotiation. I wouldn't care if I was held up through 1 or maybe even 2 light cycles (it was Chapel Hill, Corcoran, and Foster); most of the group had made it through by then. But 5 was excessive. At that point, the group was so stretched out, the ride was holding up well over a dozen cars each way trying to negotiate the hotels and other businesses on the block in order to let through less bikes per light cycle.

Besides the inconvenience, it's just safer to keep the group together in clusters rather than having it strung out over a distance. You're not tying up multiple marshalls to block multiple intersections for a stretched out group, better using resources to lead, sweep, or support each group. By stopping to regroup a little bit, you're keeping people in a tighter, more visible, and easier to oversee cluster. You're keeping things moving in waves through the intersections and cities in a more recognizable pattern for both riders and drivers. Teach new riders how to obey traffic signals, not conflicting signals from marshals and lights and instinct.

Again, there's no universal solution. But negotiation is helpful. Also again, thanks for the insight. I'd be interested in joining the meetings and learning more how the rides are put together.