Afraid of drafting or group riding? Share with me why.

[Sky King]

Ditto, being predictable!!! Communication. Another thing I would point out, regardless of if you are riding in a group or by yourself and you are overcoming another biker USE YOUR WORDS, let them know you are behind and intending to pass. I will be riding along, minding my own business and enjoying the wind in my ears and suddenly a biker goes zooming by me in an all out sprint - not only do they not say on your left, most of the time they don't even say hello. The other day the guy who passed me was really lucky I didn't smack him, was a very pot hole type road where riding in a straight line is not an option and he was damn lucky I wasn't swerving - I had no idea he was coming up behind me.

I think an important skill is knowing how not to be a person who causes trouble for others -- riding predictably, calling out obstacles and speed changes (slowing, stopping), recognizing that others may not be comfortable if you pass them with only a few inches of clearance, things like that. And letting people know if they should not follow you closely, e.g., if you plan to stop frequently (such as to take photos) or encouraging them to pass you if you're not comfortable in a large group.

As for skills, emergency stopping would be good. I've had to grab my brakes a couple of times to avoid crashing into someone who stopped unexpectedly in front of me and ended up fish-tailing both times.

[Crankin]

Sky King, I have that happen a bit on one of the roads right near my house. It's a long sort of flat road that is popular with cyclists and commuters. Most of the time I can feel someone coming up from behind, but I have been scared to death a few times. This road is also not in the best shape and while it's a country type road, it is full of cars.

[Catrin]

I was always scared at the idea of riding close to others and took measures to prevent that from happening in group rides. Not that it actually mattered, I am a slow rider and was always riding by myself at group rides after 10-15 minutes anyway.

To be fair and honest, I am unsure if my problem was truly not trusting other riders, or my own ability/skill of dealing with emergency situations if something happened. I was far less concerned about dealing with rednecks on back country roads than I was riding around larger number of cyclists.

[OakLeaf]

I've been thinking about this - and kind of dredging my memory since I haven't been riding at all lately - and knowing that I used to be extremely comfortable in pacelines (absent squirrels of course) but came back a whole lot less confident after my faceplant -

I think a lot of ANY type of vehicle handling comes down to visual skills. That soft focus and total awareness of what's in peripheral vision, "seeing with your whole eyes" as I call it, becomes exponentially more difficult when you're keeping a very close eye on a 21 mm wheel two cm in front of your own. It's soooooo easy to tunnel your vision down to the wheel in front of you. And (as I learned the hard way TWICE, sigh), tunnel vision is the precursor to target fixation.

Then, seeing what's directly ahead of the paceline is at best difficult, and when you're riding with a lot of people bigger than you are as I typically did, impossible, so learning to read the road and the behavior of other vehicles when you can see them becomes extra important.

I'm not sure how to teach visual skills, but I know it's important to mention them.

[Wahine]

I've been thinking about this - and kind of dredging my memory since I haven't been riding at all lately - and knowing that I used to be extremely comfortable in pacelines (absent squirrels of course) but came back a whole lot less confident after my faceplant -

I think a lot of ANY type of vehicle handling comes down to visual skills. That soft focus and total awareness of what's in peripheral vision, "seeing with your whole eyes" as I call it, becomes exponentially more difficult when you're keeping a very close eye on a 21 mm wheel two cm in front of your own. It's soooooo easy to tunnel your vision down to the wheel in front of you. And (as I learned the hard way TWICE, sigh), tunnel vision is the precursor to target fixation.

Then, seeing what's directly ahead of the paceline is at best difficult, and when you're riding with a lot of people bigger than you are as I typically did, impossible, so learning to read the road and the behavior of other vehicles when you can see them becomes extra important.

I'm not sure how to teach visual skills, but I know it's important to mention them.

This is actually a really good point and I think there are some skills that you can teach to help with visual awareness/attention. I hadn't thought of that and I will try to come up with some drills.

[OakLeaf]

USE YOUR WORDS, let them know you are behind and intending to pass

Happens to me all the time when I run on the MUP. (I only run there if I need someplace flat to do intervals, or if I know I won't get my act together to run if I come home after I drive into town for the farmers' market.) I'll holler "On yer RIGHT" as they go by.

[Jolt]

Ditto, being predictable!!! Communication. Another thing I would point out, regardless of if you are riding in a group or by yourself and you are overcoming another biker USE YOUR WORDS, let them know you are behind and intending to pass. I will be riding along, minding my own business and enjoying the wind in my ears and suddenly a biker goes zooming by me in an all out sprint - not only do they not say on your left, most of the time they don't even say hello. The other day the guy who passed me was really lucky I didn't smack him, was a very pot hole type road where riding in a straight line is not an option and he was damn lucky I wasn't swerving - I had no idea he was coming up behind me.

Yes, definitely an issue. Even if it's a nice smooth road, I hate being surprised by someone suddenly going past without warning me and I'm sure nobody else likes it either.

[TrekDianna]

I don't like riding that close to others. I really don't like riding with others at all. I tried group rides and I would rather be by myself or with my partner. I am much more interested in the scenery and the silence.