Paceline/drafting

[Eden]

What's the usual etiquette for swapping leads? Is it the decision of the leader or the 2nd in line? What's the signal for a swap? I don't ride pacelines often enough to have this figured out.

In general its the decision of the person on the front to pull off. If its a group that has ridden together a lot and the paceline is working very smoothly the leader may merely pull off. If the group is unsure there are a few signals you can use - the most common is the "funky chicken" - as you pull off you waggle your elbow a few times - but sometimes this is too subtle and people who are also worried about riding close, watching traffic, etc dont see it, so I take my whole hand off the bar and wave the next person (or people if the paceline is double) through.

Of course if someone is sitting on the front and going progressively slower, or zoning out its perfectly fine to yell hey! rotate! up to them.

As a woman, and only a relatively short time of racing, and with much to go still in the way of increasing my speed, I feel no shame at all for "sitting in". Most of the groups I ride with are mostly men.

When I ride with my husband's team occasionaly I also have no shame about not taking turns at the front. We have an unspoken agreement. They don't go easy on me, but they don't expect me to pull either. In any case I'm only 5' tall so I'm a lousy draft Usually I stick behind the hubby and we pull off the front together.

If in a race situation and I have been sitting in because I cannot pull, I also tell those I am with I will not contest the finish or any places.

generally if I have to sit in I'm not in any position to contest the sprint anyway , but seriously at my size I don't usually try to pull the peleton, but if I am in a breakaway I'll do my fair share of the work. If the person(s) I'm in the break with is so strong that I'm just hanging on then there's no way I'll outsprint them anyway.