Riding in a Group when Cycling

I have been leading rides for a local cycling club, the Denver Bicycle Touring Club (www.dbtc.org) for several summers. Frustration has been visible and unsettling. I wish that the riders on these group rides would read this article and pay attention.

Peleton is French for a tight group of riders that follow some rules to optimize efficiency. A group achieves a much greater speed than a single rider with the same effort. It does helps if all riders are in roughly the same shape or at least have a commitment to ride together. Small differences can be compensated by letting stronger riders spend more time in front, which takes the most strength because they are the only ones who feel the full force of the wind.

When riding in a group, ride in a single column. Everybody keeps a distance of about 1/2 wheel diameter to the rider in front to save as much energy as is safely possible. When the rider in front gets tired, he accelerates a bit, goes to the side. It helps to agree ahead of time which side will be used.

Some groups regulate how long people stay in front, and some use a rotating Peleton.

The key to riding in this way is keeping the speed absolutely constant. A gap of 15 inches at speeds of 15-18 mph does not leave a lot of room for error. This means that you watch the rider in front of you while keeping your eyes on the road ahead; never stare at the wheel.

Never, ever brake without announcing it with the agreed-upon hand signs well in advance; it's better to break out of line than to brake in emergencies.

Accelerate and decelerate very slowly if the terrain changes; remember that the group doesn't reach the incline or dip all at the same time.

Don't suddenly stand up because that shifts the bicycle backwards as your center of gravity moves forward.

Similarly, it's important to always ride in a straight line because the front wheel of the rider behind you might overlap your rear wheel. If you make a sudden move to the side, you could kick his bicycle out from under him. If the rider in front of you does this to you and your wheels touch, steer into him hard. The worse that can happen to him is that you displace his wheel, but the alternative is crashing and having the rest of the group run over you.

If you are in front, use hand signs. Otherwise, immediately duplicate the hand signs of the rider in front of you even if you can't see the obstacle yet. We use the following signs:

Point with your index finger at potholes or other obstacles, even if they seem harmless because they might surprise riders behind you. Remember, they usually can't see much of the road in front of them. Call out "hole", "glass", or "tracks". Railroad tracks are dangerous.

If you need to shift the paceline because the road narrows or you need to pass bicycles or parked cars, wave your palm behind your back towards the side you want them to go.

Raise your hand if you plan to stop or brake. Never brake without announcing it first.

Remember that when you are in the front position you take responsibility for the entire group. You are their eyes, and you have to think ahead for all of them. For example, don't blast through yellow lights because the last riders will be forced to run a red light.

Before getting seriously tired in the front position, accelerate, move to the side, and wave the following riders through. Always wait for a wide stretch of the road. Don't do this at a dangerous or difficult place such as a steep incline, dip, or curve. Don't wait until you are completely wasted - you will have to accelerate to catch up when everybody passed you, and the following riders are rested and may want to go faster than you did.

Don't ride too closely to the edge of the road or parked cars. If you miss an obstacle or a car door opens, there will not be enough time for the entire group to react.

Also choose the rider in front of you carefully. If he can't keep his speed constant you'll be on full alert all the time to compensate his speed changes to keep the entire paceline from fluctuating. Also you will need to keep more distance for safety which reduces the advantage of drafting; you'll feel more headwind.

In my experience, if the group splits for any reason when some riders race ahead or others fall back at a difficult section such as cobblestones, always stay with the front group even if it's much harder than staying with the slow group. The reason is that the slow group will have to catch up while the front group takes it easy to allow them to catch up, and when the group is back together there will be those who just got a chance to relax and those who had to catch up, and guess which one is better. Having to catch up for any reason takes more strength than anything else, especially because you usually won't have the benefit of drafting somebody to avoid or reduce the headwind.

When I started riding I was always puzzled how good riders seemed to be completely unaffected by short hills - they just kept riding at the same speed while I was slowing to a crawl. Today I know how it's done: riding longer distances is done with low effort, leaving plenty of reserves for short sprints. Low effort can mean only a few mph less than usual because wind drag increases so sharply with speed.

Content by Thomas Driemeyer, www.bitrot.deEdited by Reg Gupton, gupton@growthseminars.com

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