I was recently on a 15-25 person group ride (in the US) where the following happened:

At the start of a short descent on a low-trafficked road, the lead rider (Rider A) sat up and rotated off the front (towards the middle of the road), at which point the rest of the group (single file for the front few riders, 2-3 wide for the rest) picked up speed and continued down the descent on Rider A's right side. Rider A continued to coast along the far left side of the lane (alongside the double yellow lane paint) as the rest of the group passed them.

As the rear of the group passed Rider A on the descent, a rider near the back of the group (Rider B) passed Rider A on Rider A's left, thereby crossing into the oncoming traffic lane to pass them.

At the next regroup point, Rider B scolded Rider A for coasting on the descent, saying by doing so, they had no safe option but to cross the double yellow to pass. Rider A countered by saying that since Rider A stayed to the far left and held their line while coasting it was no different than a normal paceline, so it was Rider B's responsibility to pass in a safe manner.

Was either rider correct? What should each rider have done in this situation?

I was recently on a 15-25 person group ride in the US (where traffic is on the right-hand side of the road) where the following happened:

At the start of a short descent on a low-trafficked road, the lead rider (Rider A) sat up and rotated off the front (towards the middle of the road), at which point the rest of the group (single file for the front few riders, 2-3 wide for the rest) picked up speed and continued down the descent on Rider A's right side. Rider A continued to coast along the far left side of the lane (alongside the double yellow lane paint) as the rest of the group passed them.

As the rear of the group passed Rider A on the descent, a rider near the back of the group (Rider B) passed Rider A on Rider A's left, thereby crossing into the oncoming traffic lane to pass them.

At the next regroup point, Rider B scolded Rider A for coasting on the descent, saying by doing so, they had no safe option but to cross the double yellow to pass. Rider A countered by saying that since Rider A stayed to the far left and held their line while coasting it was no different than a normal paceline, so it was Rider B's responsibility to pass in a safe manner.

Was either rider correct? What should each rider have done in this situation?

I was recently on a 15-25 person group ride (in the US) where the following happened:

At the start of a short descent on a low-trafficked road, the lead rider (Rider A) sat up and rotated off the front (towards the middle of the road), at which point the rest of the group (single file for the front few riders, 2-3 wide for the rest) picked up speed and continued down the descent on Rider A's right side. Rider A continued to coast along the far left side of the lane (alongside the double yellow lane paint) as the rest of the group passed them.

As the rear of the group passed Rider A on the descent, another rider (Rider B) passed Rider A on Rider A's left, thereby crossing into the oncoming traffic lane to pass them.

At the next regroup point, Rider B scolded Rider A for coasting on the descent, saying by doing so, they had no safe option but to cross the double yellow to pass. Rider A countered by saying that since Rider A stayed to the far left and held their line while coasting it was no different than a normal paceline, so it was Rider B's responsibility to pass in a safe manner.

Was either rider correct? What should each rider have done in this situation?

I was recently on a 15-25 person group ride (in the US) where the following happened:

At the start of a short descent on a low-trafficked road, the lead rider (Rider A) sat up and rotated off the front (towards the middle of the road), at which point the rest of the group (single file for the front few riders, 2-3 wide for the rest) picked up speed and continued down the descent on Rider A's right side. Rider A continued to coast along the far left side of the lane (alongside the double yellow lane paint) as the rest of the group passed them.

As the rear of the group passed Rider A on the descent, a rider near the back of the group (Rider B) passed Rider A on Rider A's left, thereby crossing into the oncoming traffic lane to pass them.

At the next regroup point, Rider B scolded Rider A for coasting on the descent, saying by doing so, they had no safe option but to cross the double yellow to pass. Rider A countered by saying that since Rider A stayed to the far left and held their line while coasting it was no different than a normal paceline, so it was Rider B's responsibility to pass in a safe manner.

Was either rider correct? What should each rider have done in this situation?