cycling
29. März, 17:51 Uhr
For friends who are new to cycling and interested in group road rides, here’s a list of tips to consider that have been collected from experience and from input from cycling FB and reddit groups. For newer riders, don't let the list overwhelm you...just pick a couple to work on and grow as you go.
Tips for cycling in a peloton/with a group
1. Be predictable and consistent. This is huge. Following or riding with someone that’s unpredictable and jumpy is no fun and dangerous, especially in a group. This is exponentially more important if you're up front and pulling the group. Smooth riding is generally safe riding. As a new rider...try not to go up front until you gain some experience and get to know/be known by the group.
2. Think of the riders around you and how what you do will affect them. Try not to surprise others.
3. If you need to do something less predictable or more inconsistent (i.e. sudden braking or swerving, etc.), say something (i.e. “Slowing!”, etc.) and/or hand signal to the riders behind you.
4. If you're in a draft line, call out and point out road obstacles that the person directly behind you could hit (i.e. pothole - "Hole!" Or manhole cover - "Lid!" Or debris on the road - "Debris!", parked car - "Car Right!", etc.). People drafting behind you can't see the road ahead...because you are in the way. Help them know what to expect so they have time to respond accordingly and to pass the word back down the line. Pointing towards the obstacle and/or giving directions is really helpful, too: "Hole right" or "Debris left"
5. Try not to yo-yo. If you find yourself pedaling fast to catch up, then hitting the brakes to slow down and then reaccelerating to catch up over and over, then try to manage your spacing in a more controlled manner. Pedal consistently enough to ease back into the draft, maintain your speed and spacing as best you can. The more you ride, the better/more confident you’ll get at maintaining a consistent speed while riders in front of you yo-yo.
6. Hold your line. Unless there's something to avoid, try not to swerve around too much...it's part of being predictable to the rider/riders directly behind you.
7. Learn the group's handsignals. Hand signals for turns and stops are pretty consistent, but there are other warnings for gravel, debris, rough road, etc...those signals can be a little different...but are usually fairly intuitive.
8. Watch how the group rotates the front. Some groups rotate where the person pulling the group drops back to one side and eventually comes back in the draft line while the next person takes their turn pulling. Other groups do it in reverse and send people up front to take over the pull.
9. If you are going up front to take a pull...speed up to pull in front of the person, then match their speed for a few seconds when you're there. This lets the person that just worked hard pulling the group catch their breathe and get into your draft shadow. Then slowly speed up and check behind you periodically to make sure they're still with you as you accelerate. It is super frustrating to fight the wind and pull the group for a mile, but then have some yokel jump out of the line to blow by you with nary a thought after benefitting from the effort you spent fighting against the wind for everyone in the draft.
10. Ask the group what their practice is for passing. Some groups only pass on the left. Others will allow passing on the right if there's room and if you say something to the riders being passed. You just don't want to surprise a rider by doing something unexpected. See "Be predictable".
11. When drafting, it's a good idea to look through the hips of the rider you're following to the wheels of the cyclist in front of that person. That just lets you gauge your distance to the rider immediately ahead of you and provide you a bit more reaction time if the person in front of them changes their speed/direction.
12. If you are up front and are going to pull the group from a full stop, start slowly and look behind you. Depending on the size of the group, it takes each person behind you several seconds to each clip-in and they don't all do it simultaneously. Once you see that everyone, in turn, is clipped in and following, then slowly build speed to pull the group forward. If the pace line is 10 deep...it could be up to 30 seconds until the last person is clipped in and ready to accelerate.
13. Always check if everyone is together after a stop or after going through a light that was changing to red. Yell back, "All here yes or no?!" And wait for the answer from the back of the group or speed ahead of the group a few yards and look back yourself to see if anyone was left behind at the stop.
14. If you are up front, focus on pulling the group forward. The point is to build speed as a group...not to dust the group and make them catch up. Drafting is supposed to conserve overall effort while resulting in greater speed.
15. If you're pulling the group, look behind you periodically. Rear view mirrors are invaluable for this. The old saying is, "If you think you're leading...but no one is following you, then you're just out for a stroll." A pull is only a pull if people are behind you, benefitting from the draft. Otherwise, you're sprinting/dropping the group and helping no one.
16. When in traffic and coming to a stop, don't pass cars on the right. Settle into the traffic line at the stop and take your turn as a group in traffic. It's super annoying for drivers and less safe for everyone to have the driver(s) pass the same rider/riders multiple times over and over.
17. Stay hydrated & keep your electrolyte levels balanced. On longer rides, drink more than plain water.
18. For longer rides, (more than an hour), eat something to maintain your energy. Lots of opinions/theories on the internet about amounts and what to eat. Find what works for you.
19. For roads with a single lane going each direction: stay in single file.
20. For roads with multiple lanes going in each direction, it's safest to ride in double lines and just take the right-most lane as a group. That compresses the length of the group and makes for better visibility/predictability among the rest of the traffic on the road as they maneuver around the group.
21. Drafting 101: move left and right behind the rider in front of you to find their "wind shadow" of choppy air when riding against a headwind and then settle there. You'll find a place where you won't feel the headwind as much when you're the "wind shadow". Realize that you may have to adjust position as the group and/or wind changes direction. Depending on where you are in the draft line you’ll use 25-33% less effort. So...almost any effort you spend to catch up and stay in a draft...is worth it.
22. Figure out or just ask who is leading the ride. Usually, there's one or two people that are leading the group, by providing directions and establishing the speed of the main group. Stay near them...you don't want to be in a breakaway group that rockets far ahead...only to find out the main group turned down a different route behind you.
23. If you find yourself or any other rider has gotten stuck at a light or had a mechanical problem (I.e. dropped chain or flat tire, etc.) or is just struggling to keep up with the group, let the leaders know by yelling "Riders back!" Or "Mechanical!" So they can stop the group to help and/or slow the group to wait for you.
24. Spin your pedals fast enough so that it's easier in the long run, but not so fast that it affects your ability to control your bike. I usually try to pedal between 80 to 95'ish rpm. Usually below 80 rpm, you're stuck mashing your pedals (i.e. only pushing on the downward pedal stroke which means you're likely pushing a bigger gear more slowly...which wipes out your muscles faster, generally speaking). 80+ rpm makes it easier to push around more of the pedal stroke. However, the point of bringing this up in a group ride context is that sometimes, people will spin at 115+, which typically starts to affect their ability to control their bike and can slow them down in the long run. I've read that Lance Armstrong had his cadence super high...but less (few?) people can maintain control of their bikes at that level. I've seen riders try to keep this super high cadence over long rides, but it makes them struggle to keep control of their bike because they're bouncing around all over their seat. They typically need more gearing/resistance to keep it under control.
25. Try not to overlap your front tire with the rear tire of the person you're following. It just helps avoid the situation where they move across your path and their back tire clips your front tire which makes you go down/fall. There are some exceptions to this rule (i.e. when the wind from the side pushes the echelon draft kind of sideways)...but leave that until you are a more experienced rider.
26. Come off a pull before you get too tired. There typically isn’t a minimum time to pull. Besides possibly slowing the pace, you risk being dropped off the back and causing the group to wait for you to get back on.
27. Think about the upcoming terrain. If you have trouble with hills, make sure that you’re not up front when you reach the hill.
28. Don’t come off the front in the middle of a hill (unless it is a long one). See above.
29. If you’re good at hills, don’t “peacock” and drop the group by charging up it.
30. When coming over a hill or around a corner, give the group a chance to get back on before returning to the ride pace.
31. Call out “Standing” when you stand up going up a hill. You typically slow up when standing and this will help the cyclist behind you.
32. If you're at the rear of the group, pass forward information about the traffic behind: "Car Back!" Or "Passing!" Will help the riders in front of you know what to expect. Surprise is almost always bad for the peloton.
33. If you're up front & pulling: Try to be consistent with your speed and keep pedaling where it makes sense. Otherwise, your speed variance can cause a concertina effect as riders behind you brake to adjust and then reaccelerate. Also, don't power out of corners as it will likely split the group (concertina effect again). Lastly, if there isn't enough room or time for the whole group to do it (turn, make a light, clear the junction), just stop and try to stay together as a group.