Loner Manners?

[Grog]

Forgive my confusion and please provide me with information:

When riding with a group, I've only ever ridden in paceline-ish formations. Sometimes it would break down into smaller groups (2-4 riders) but my club (and myself as an occasional ride leader) enforced the idea of us behaving as "one vehicle" (we had yellow jerseys so a yellow school bus was suiting) We rode on streets with moderate traffic a lot and it really helped to keep us in ruly, organized, structured groups. When I ride with my husband we keep very close together 95% of the time as well. Or we try to...

I don't know groups/club around here that ride differently, but I have not seen that many.

As a driver, I don't mind passing a paceline, even a double one, mainly of course because I am familiar with them and know they are predictable. What unsettles me more is passing a large number of small groups of cyclists, which don't usually ride single file unfortunately.

How exactly do "social rides" as some have described above work?? How do people spread themselves on the road? What does it mean to "ride together" if everyone is riding sort of separately? I'm looking for a new club to ride with and I expect it to be more "social" so I'd like to prepare mentally.

[mimitabby]

As a driver, I don't mind passing a paceline, even a double one, mainly of course because I am familiar with them and know they are predictable. What unsettles me more is passing a large number of small groups of cyclists, which don't usually ride single file unfortunately.

How exactly do "social rides" as some have described above work?? How do people spread themselves on the road? What does it mean to "ride together" if everyone is riding sort of separately? I'm looking for a new club to ride with and I expect it to be more "social" so I'd like to prepare mentally.

Unless there are two or more lanes going in one direction, we stay single file. If we have a lane, we'll have bikes side by side. When you ride really long rides (20-100 miles) it's hard for everyone to ride together, so we more or less stay in clumps. hills are another situation where you're better off NOT close to other bikes, because one person might be grinding up the hill at 4mph and someone else at 14mph so we tend to get spaced out and then regroup from time to time.

[SadieKate]

Silly me, here I thought that riding single file was pacelining without the intent of drafting.

I also don't plan on driving donuts on icy roads, but I took a class to learn what to do just in case I found myself in an unplanned whirl.

I have definitely had creepy guys follow me on a bicycle. Multiple times, I've also been followed dangerously by cars, including one for 100 miles down I-5 back before there were towns and highway patrol cars at frequent intervals. I've had way too many encounters with guys that don't know how to respect personal space to let anyone follow without some kind of evaluation.

[Eden]

Silly me, here I thought that riding single file was pacelining without the intent of drafting.

I'll have to agree with you here - riding in a line with other people is pacelining no matter how fast you are going and not knowing how to do it is dangerous no matter how fast you are going... in fact falls at slow speeds are probably more likely to result in broken bones than really fast ones, which result in more road rash....

Even if you are a loner if you EVER plan to do an organized ride you will more than likely end up in some sort of informal paceline, so better to know how to do it than end up in over your head.

[Crankin]

Well, the only time I went down on a group ride was when the leader slowed without signaling. My husband was behind him, thinking this guy knew how to paceline. After he hit, he knew he was going down, and swung wide so I wouldn't hit him. Of course, my eyes followed him, and I went down, along with the 2 behind me. We were going around 20, which may not be fast for some, but for this group it was. I wasn't hurt, but I was shook up, my helmet scraped, and I had a headache for a week. We left the group and rode to the emergency room after my husband's elbow swelled like crazy (it was just from the medication he takes).
Not my best ride and I will never go on a ride with that leader again. He's very nice, but doesn't know how to lead.

[jobob]

Well, the only time I went down on a group ride was when the leader slowed without signaling.

Sounds a lot like the Ride Leader from Hell that snapdragen and I had a few years ago, when we participated in a series of training rides put on by a local club to to prepare us for the Cinderella ride.

Luckily no one suffered any bodily harm on account of said ride leader's boneheaded maneuvers, but I considered strangling her on more than one occasion.

[Geonz]

We also have social rides that have absolutely nothing resembling a paceline. There is, simply, more room between riders. Many of the riders are really glad that there is a chance to go for a ride and not have to have an extra skill set (and there's the occasional person who's been in a crash and is gun-shy... ). Sometimes there are 30 or 40 of us ... but it doesn't take long to become subgroups and we *do* talk about & encourage & dare I say enforce not being a traffic hazard with creative clumping.

Just a word in defense of outliers... many people overestimate their averages because they sort of interpret it to mean "the speed you spend most of your time going." Most faster riders (and it sounds like your club's easiest rides are pretty fast) use the actual average that the speedo gives... which means (at least around here, where we generally have to go a bit in traffic to get out to the ountry) that most of the time we're riding significantly faster than the "average." It's a constant communication challenge. (I can also sympathize with hoping that the easiest club ride would actually be in the range of a relative beginner.)

[SadieKate]

hills are another situation where you're better off NOT close to other bikes, because one person might be grinding up the hill at 4mph and someone else at 14mph so we tend to get spaced out and then regroup from time to time.

But if you can climb at the same pace as someone else and can trust their skills to ride a straight line, why not climb somewhat closely? I'll let aka_kim pull me up any hill.

Descending spread out, but climbing with a trusted comparable rider? Why not ride fairly close?

[mimitabby]

SadieKate you answered your own question. I don't know anyone who rides my speed up hill. They are either faster or slower.

When I did Hurricane Ridge with RD, he circled me often and our riding partner met us when we got to the lodge on top.

[SadieKate]

SadieKate you answered your own question. I don't know anyone who rides my speed up hill. They are either faster or slower.

I wasn't really asking a question. I was wondering why you appeared to be making a global recommendation that everyone spread out when climbing a hill.

[SadieKate]

Oakleaf, I know there is no drafting advantage to following closely on a climb but there sure is a mental boost and the companionship of shared misery.

Generally, people don't stand in pacelines. Do it at the back.

And if you're climbing closely with someone and need to stand, just call it out beforehand. It's a good idea to be climbing spaced a little bit apart so that the kickback of standing won't cause contact but you can still be close enough to gossip.

[Brandy]

Oakleaf, I know there is no drafting advantage to following closely on a climb but there sure is a mental boost and the companionship of shared misery.

Generally, people don't stand in pacelines. Do it at the back.

And if you're climbing closely with someone and need to stand, just call it out beforehand. It's a good idea to be climbing spaced a little bit apart so that the kickback of standing won't cause contact but you can still be close enough to gossip.

Or drop the "f-bomb" repeatedly. On the Eastern Sierra Double last year I was riding with a girl and her fiancee and he actually dropped us because our language got so colorful on one particular climb.

[maillotpois]

It's a good idea to be climbing spaced a little bit apart so that the kickback of standing won't cause contact but you can still be close enough to gossip.

I think this is fine, just as long as you are not talking about me.

[MM_QFC!]

...but you can still be close enough to gossip.

or whine together!

[OakLeaf]

Descending spreadout, but climbing with a trusted comparable rider? Why not ride fairly close?

For one thing, when you're climbing, even strong riders are going so slow that the advantage from drafting is minimal.

For another, flatland pacelining is a way for riders of comparable but not identical abilities to stay together; stronger riders take longer pulls, less strong riders take short ones or even peel off as soon as they reach the front. Strength and weight differences are greatly magnified once you get into the hills.

But mainly, even with only two riders, one of you may want to stand up when the other wants to stay in the saddle.

Personally I don't have the skills to micro-control my bike's front-to-back movement when I stand up, even though I'm perfectly comfortable in a flatland paceline. Other riders, who spin perfectly smoothly, get into a big side-to-side sway whenever they're standing up. There's just a whole 'nother level of bike control involved when you're standing.

With all these disadvantages, and with the advantage of drafting being so small, the groups I ride with in hilly country never stay that close together.