Gulp - Gone and done it now!

[SnappyPix]

MM

Thanks for the advice - the event is being organised by a traditional cycling road club, and the bloke in charge has been very disparaging about the group of triathletes, so much so that he keeps trying to persuade me to ride with a different group.
As you say, I think it's pure snobbery on the bike club's part.
No road skills, no team ethos, no idea how to collectively fix a puncture fast, etc. etc. However I did point out to him that a collective group of women will instinctively look out for one another, pull together and work as a team, which is apparently what the leader of the triathletes said to him too!
I'll bear in mind the top tip about the freewheel.

[nuthatch]

Well, I think I've solved the mystery of the C-Road, MM. I watched the Tour of Flanders yesterday (replay with Phil Liggett/Bob Sherwin on OLN here in the US) and those roads the boys were riding HAD to be C-Roads!! They looked no more than 6 feet across in some sections!! Those Belgians had too many bricks on their hands, too - cobblestone everywhere!!

[Adventure Girl]

I thought you couldn't draft in triathlons. Maybe you can in some and can't in others... If drafting is not allowed, then I wouldn't expect the triathletes to train in pace lines much. I agree with what a few others have said here, talk it over with the others before the ride. Find out what their plans are and what they expect from you. And find out what to expect from them!

I have one more tip that I didn't see mentioned before. Don't overlap wheels with the bike in front of you. SadieKate said, "don't touch the tire in front of you." But actually keeping your wheel behind the the one in front is important. If you are overlapped and they move laterally, they may take you down. And if you go down in a pace line, EVERYONE is going to go down!

Good luck!

[MightyMitre]

Hi Nuthatch - wasn't Flanders great, and my fave Tom Boonen won! I was on the edge of my seat as he tore off down the road.

As far as C roads go - you've got it! Perfect example. Thing is, they're not as rare as you might think. My parents live down a lane one car wide and even the larger B road is so narrow in places you have to slow down to pass each other. Not much room on this little island of ours but sure is pretty in the spring when all the hedges start to turn green.

Snappypix - you should have a great day. It's good fun riding in a bunch and you'll be amazed at how much easier it is with a whole load of you for shelter. Enjoy.

Adventure Girl - I believe drafting is allowed in officially recognised triathlons, which I think is a bit daft. It means you might as well do away with the swim as it gives you no advantage, if someone last out of the water is just going to sit on your wheel the whole way round, resting, then beat you in the run.

At the end of the day I s'pose it's all people-on-bikes which has got to be good.

[slinkedog]

My friend who does tons of tri's every year says that drafting is MOST DEFINITELY NOT allowed on the bike. You can't really avoid it on the swim portion, but apparently most events are pretty closely patrolled for drafting violations on the bike. She told me one time what the allowable distance is on the bike, but I can't remember what it was. Blaine (my husband) did a tri with her just two years ago (the Wildflower in central CA) and she did the swim and the run and he did the bike. He said everyone was very good and no one tried to draft off of anyone.

However, that said, a couple of weeks ago Beth (my tri friend) and I were out riding together and we went past (going the opposite direction) her tri team that were out for a training ride, and they were in a huge paceline. There were like 30 of them, I think. So, I guess the rules don't apply for training!!

[nuthatch]

Say, where's MightyMitre been lately? Her buddy Tom Boonen went and stole the Paris-Roubaix win from big Georgie. I expected her to be posting a "woohoo"! Poor ole George looked like he was going to weep at the post-race interview!

[SnappyPix]

Well, I’m still on a high after cycling my first imperial century yesterday!
It was a great day out, and the group of triathlete ladies I was cycling with were quite a set of characters!
The winds must have been around 30mph, as at one point we were battling against a headwind, changed course and found ourselves coasting on the flat, completely free-wheeling at 33.5mph (without so much as a pedal stroke!).
I was really nervous before the event, thinking I’d be the weakest of the bunch, but in the end, I surprised myself completely by being one of the strongest! The hill climbs were hard but a small group of us found ourselves waiting at the top of each hill for the rest of the group to catch up. I’m used to averaging around 15-17mph, so the pace seemed slow for me at 12.5mph, but it was a wonderful experience cycling as a group (especially a group of 15 women!), having something to judge your fitness against - and having other people who share your passion!
We’d actually on managed 95 miles when we got back, so had to cycle 2.5miles up the road and back to make it a century!
I thought I’d be really dead on my feet at the end of the ride, but could have actually gone on about another 20 – and today I feel fantastic!
Obviously the long training rides prior, and fuelling up properly did the trick(can definitely recommend SIS PSP22 http://www.scienceinsport.com/)
I’m now on a complete high, and already thinking about entering my next event! The ladies suggested I try time trialling, so it might be fun to give it a try!
I’m so excited – cycling is just brilliant!

[spazzdog]

The tri-grrls may be using the ride as a trianer for a different ride. My ex that did Ride the Rockies used to paceline practice... maybe these grrls regularly enter straight bike events as a team.

[jobob]

Say, where's MightyMitre been lately? Her buddy Tom Boonen went and stole the Paris-Roubaix win from big Georgie. I expected her to be posting a "woohoo"! Poor ole George looked like he was going to weep at the post-race interview!

Tee-hee, maybe she's afraid we'll flay her with flat tubes or something.

So I'll start - WooHoo for Tom Boonen, what an enormous accomplishment with back-to-back wins of Tour of Flanders and P-R at such a young age ! Watching the OLN coverage you could just tell once they got on to the track section, there was no way in creation he was going to let Hincapie or Flecha get the best of him.

And BooHoo for George, he was thiiiis close, that has to hurt. Poor bunkie, he just doesn't seem to have that killer instinct, does he?