road ride help

[crazycanuck]

Hi ladies,

Sad CrazyCanuck here...

Yesterday I went for an on road ride with the tri group i train with and have a few problems. (A bit of background info first: I missed quite a few of the bike sessions on the last course when i hurt my knee (still did the swimming) which is my main disadvanatge..I like mtn biking but group road rides just don't appeal to me.... )

I was told off for my bad bike etiquette. I was a half a wheel in front of one of the ladies (one of our coaches) and was promptly put in my place...i had no clue how i was supposed to ride...I was just paranoid of going too slow....

I'm lost....What is the main road ride etiquette?
What is the best suggestion for riding two a breast?
When riding in a group and we're going downhill, how do I on a mtn bike (usually in the middle) get enough speed to get uphill...

Any good sites you can suggest?
Thanks ladies!

[Eden]

I don't do any mt biking, but I can try to help with your road questions.
When they gave you grief were you out front or in the paceline?
When you are in a paceline you should ideally try to stay directly behind the person in front of you. If you overlap wheels (half wheeling) it becomes easier to touch wheels and cause a crash. If wheels are touched it will be you (the person in the back) who goes down. The person you touch wheels with usually isn't affected, but of course anyone who is behind you will have a problem.

If you were out front - Yes in a double paceline you do want to try to ride even with your partner, but I'm not going to get into any arguments about whether you should have slowed down or the other person should have sped up.

Some other main point of pace line etiquette:
This stuff is pretty much all about keeping everyone safe.

Assume the people behind you can't see anything around you. Point out obstacles in the road like big potholes, grates, objects in the road
point out other dangers - like parked cars if they are sticking out, curb bump outs, pedestrians and other cyclists. Every group will have its own prefered hand signals, so try to learn them - example you are on road with no sidewalk and there is a jogger on the shoulder on your right (I guess in your case it would be left, but you get the idea). We would call out "jogger up" or "jogger right" and point behind our backs towards the left because we want to move the whole paceline to the left so that we do not run over the jogger.

If you are on a road with little traffic you may want to call "car back" if you hear a car coming up. This will warn the people in front of you to not pull out of the paceline and to move to the right if they've allowed the paceline to stray out into the lane too far. On highly trafficed roads I usually assume that everyone does not want to hear an endless stream of "car backs" as they are all aware that its busy.

call out "slowing" and "stopping" so that you don't take the people behind you by surprise. Also learn to regulate your speed with as little braking as possible. The aim is to keep the paceline moving smoothly without yo-yoing, which can be dangerous and tiring and is amplified the farther back you are. A little touch of the brakes up front can cause the people at the back to have to really slam them on to avoid hitting the person in front them.

Oh and since you are all training for tri's this may apply. Paceline riding with aerobars is very dangerous, so unless you are doing a team time trial you should never use your areobars during a group ride or better yet take them off!

Hope this helps a bit. If I've been unclear about anything let me know and I'll try to explain better

[Eden]

A few other little things I've just thought of

If you are in rotating paceline (where everyone takes a turn at the front) don't speed up when its your turn at the front. Take note of the speed the paceline is moving at before you get up there and try to hold it steady. For you own sake don't slow down too much as you fall back or you'll have a hard time reintegrating at the back.

Any sort of sketchy riding - wobbling about, sudden lateral moves, sudden braking will make people want to avoid being behind you.

Being in Australia you probably don't have to deal with this right now, but if you intend to ride when it is the wet season out get fenders and put on a "buddy flap" - which is a homemade extension for your fender that hangs off of the back and acts as a mud flap. Your buddy flap can be as simple as some duct tape or as fancy as you want to get. Many people use a water bottle cut in half and attatched with zip ties. This protects the rider on your rear wheel from getting all of the spray and mud and road gunk all over their front and face. Not having these things will often get you banished to the back of the paceline for the day. I can post a picture of one if you'd like.

[crazycanuck]

Thanks for the info eden, i'm still taking in all of what you posted.

I was riding beside one of the coaches when i was given grief. I'd no clue about what i was doing wrong!

c

[Grog]

A few more things:

If you're riding in the front with the coach, then follow her pace. You want to stay totally even with her. Don't worry about riding too slow.

As much as possible, never stop pedalling in a paceline. When you need to slow down, just start pedalling slowlier (i.e. without applying pressure to the pedals) and braking at the same time as needed. It will be easier to start pedalling again and will decrease the risk of creating gaps in the paceline.

If you go down, chances are many people behind you will go down too. Group safety is your (shared) responsibility.

Point potholes etc. only when you are comfortable and safe to do so. If you have balance issues and know that you will swerve when you point an object, don't. Often it's better not to point than to make the whole paceline unstable. I still don't point obstacles on my left side because I don't feel as strong holding the handlebars with only my right hand (I'm fine on the right side... I should practice this more).

FENDERS: It is extremely important, if you ride together in wet weather, that your fenders (and those of all other riders) go pretty low. Let me quote my coach, Judy Latoski, on this: "The rear fender should have an extension to go below the level of the wheel hub." It is a security issue. The lower the fender, the less risk that your wheel send debris in the face or wheel of the person behind you.

Illustration: We had a minor accident yesterday during our club ride because a huge metal wire that was on the road shoulder was shot directly from a girl's rear wheel into another's front wheel. The wire wrapped itself around the wheel and spokes and brought her bike to a very, very brutal stop (she flew over the handlebars). We were lucky that there was very little damage, this happened toward the rear of the double paceline we were riding and the others avoided the crash somehow. A bit of road rash, a few bruises, and a damaged wheel... (Plus: the end of her ride, and of my ride because I was close to my house and went to get the car to drive her home.)

Points to take home: 1) the wire could have flown directly to her face if the fender had been shorter, so keep 'em long (the fenders, not the wires); 2) practice group riding skills, bike handling skills, learn from more experienced riders, admit your ignorance and be ready to learn; 3) ALWAYS stay focused; 4) ALWAYS wear glasses, with clear or yellow glasses if needed, to protect your eyes; 5) use your peripheral vision but stay focused on what's ahead; 6) keep riding but please be safe. As Eden pointed out, road biking etiquette is usually all about safety.

Good luck!

[Veronica]

I want to know why your coach wasn't more specific about what you should and shouldn't be doing.

V.

[shadon]

I want to know why your coach wasn't more specific about what you should and shouldn't be doing.

V.

I was thinking the same thing. If her function was as a coach. She should have shown you how to correct what you were doing. Sounds like all she did was point what you were doing wrong.

Not much of a coach IMHO. I hate hearing this stuff...I've had so many nice experiences as folks have taught me things. It just makes it easier for me to ride with a group if I know what to do!

[RoadRaven]

Like the others, I am stunned at Coache's attitude... she should be telling you what/why/how... Are you able to approach her and say

..."y'know the other day out riding, I know I didn't have everything quite right - can you give me a few pointers... particurlarly when you said **** when I was riding beside you..."

Hopefully she'll see her roll as mentor and model and support your learning.

It is very important to ride at a consistent pace and in a straight, predictable way when with a group
I'm sure if you explain to everyone that you are learning about riding in a bunch and you want to stay at the back rather than be in the middle or at the front, they will all be very happy for you to sit on the back until you have gained confidence to take a turn at the front

Good on you for not being turned off completely by this womans grumpyness... perservere, riding with others is different from solo and offroad, and is a lot of fun.

[crazycanuck]

I forgot a smidgen bit of info. It's an informal ride and our coach (she runs the program) didn't join us at first..(although she was dressed for a ride...!) and caught up to us further down the track. It wasn't until she started riding with the three of us (myself and another chickie were waiting for one more lady-we were sort of riding together-) that I was told my biking etiquette was shocking...

It's basically my own fault for not knowing...i hardly attended the bike sessions....i'm going to attend more this session..

Thanks for the info ladies...


c

[Melody]

It's basically my own fault for not knowing...i hardly attended the bike sessions....i'm going to attend more this session..

I don't know if I necessarily agree it's your fault for not knowing. You can't correct what you don't know... and of course, it would have helped if she told you how to correct. But, I don't think you're at fault.

Mel

[Geonz]

I'd apologize to the coach for your etiquette, for missing the sessions, and ask her for more pointers. Our ride leaders often talk through the whats and whys on rides. I bet you could google for "paceline" and find some stuff online, too. Mainly the key is to be predictable and consistent.
I have trouble when I'm riding my heavier bike in a group because it accelerates and decelerates so much differently... if the group slows down, I have to brake my tractor trailer more, and then pedal madly when they accelerate, and it makes for more of an accordion than a pace line. I've learned to take the faster bike even if I would be able to keep up on the sturdy one.