Harmonie Hundred - Day Two - Learning Group Riding

[silver]

It was very nice! But I don't know what you would qualify as worth a trip from Indy. It was not a difficult ride in any way. Sat. was mostly flat. Sun had one nice hill and several smaller ones. There was no support at intersections but it wasn't a problem. The course was well marked and the roads were mostly nice (a couple of places with gravel). There was sag support on the roads and the rest stops were nice but still the basic fig newtons and store bought cookies fare. Lunch on Sat. was Subway sandwiches (which I love) and brunch on Sun was homemade egg McMuffins (which I also loved) but nothing fancy.

I could easily go out by myself and ride 50 miles, but to me it's been really important for Mr. to ride with others and I think that this was a great opportunity for him.

I still have a lot to learn about group riding myself. As a triathlete, we don't do much drafting and such.

I'd never pulled a "paceline" before and was apprehensive when it was my turn. I found that I usually pulled up with too much power and pulled out ahead. As the only woman, I felt that I had to make extra sure that I wasn't holding the group back and I think that I over did it? how do you know how hard to pull? Also, how do you know when it's your turn to pull up front?

Then at one point I was really dragging and told them that I couldn't pull for a bit. Mr. took a couple of my turns while I gathered strength. Is that OK?

[anakiwa]

I'd never pulled a "paceline" before and was apprehensive when it was my turn. I found that I usually pulled up with too much power and pulled out ahead. As the only woman, I felt that I had to make extra sure that I wasn't holding the group back and I think that I over did it? how do you know how hard to pull? Also, how do you know when it's your turn to pull up front?

Then at one point I was really dragging and told them that I couldn't pull for a bit. Mr. took a couple of my turns while I gathered strength. Is that OK?

I'm hardly an expert but here's my 2 cents.

Don't worry about being the only woman! You'll be much better off staying at a sensible pace! (I did a century ride last summer with a group I only knew part of- there were 2 women and 5 men- in the first half some of the men kept pushing to stay at the front of the group- by about mile 70 they had been solidly dropped.)

In general, it's your turn to pull when the leader pulls off to the side to let the rest of the group by.

One way to judge how hard to pull is to watch the average speed- it should stay roughly the same with anyone out front (of course this only works if the conditions stay roughly the same). But, make sure you also remember- if you're out in front- you call the shots- you can speed things up or slow things down.

I think a purist would say you don't skip your turn- you just slow the pace down or take a short turn (but IMO in a casual group- if you're feeling tired skip a turn).

Have fun!

[Mr. Bloom]

Don't worry about being the only woman! You'll be much better off staying at a sensible pace!

It was funny...I didn't see it as a male/female thing. We were all concerned about the same questions. When I was pulling, I thought is should...well....PULL! And the other guy, who we had only met on the ride, was trying to do the same.

So, at one point Silver says "I can't keep up this pace". Well, the two guys immediately gave a HALLELUJAH! Silver broke the ice and freed us up to admit that we were ALL whipped. Fact is that on the flats, Silver can fly!

It's wasn't a macho thing, fact is, I think we each felt a responsibility to help the others keep a pace.