I leave blind shoots. New growth off them blooms in time.

wonder if we would SEE anything else.. if you included pix???

Blind shoots look clean and neat. Midged shoots look withered, burnt, black in the very apex. If it's rose midge fly damage, you're in for a battle controlling it. If genuine blind growth you have two options that I see. 1. Leave it be as Sheila advised. 2. Cut back the blind shoots to a strong 5 leaflet leaf where the stem is also minimally pencil thick.

Some rose varieties are known for producing blind shoots. It's in their genetic profile to do so. Blind shoots come on varieties who characteristically don't produce blind shoots except when the bush is under some form of stress: heat, water deprivation, shade, undernourished, etc....and young bushes often produce blind growth and grow out of it once they grow up.

Moses