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.
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.
2013 Specialized Myka FSR Comp
2013 Specialized Ruby Sport (carbon)
2014 Salsa Vaya 3 (steel)
2014 Felt Z75
All of the above. Plus turning, how not to be those unreliable people, if you're riding in a more social ride, how do you have discussions with others about it? Ive almost gotten thrown from my bike because the chick in front of me didnt give any pot hole warning ... she was on a mountain bike andI was on a road bike.
Also, how domI find out more of this type of information?
"There is nothing, absolutely nothing, quite so worthwhile as simply messing about on bicycles.” -Tom Kunich
I was thinking about this thread the other day during a big club ride. Reading a cue sheet is much harder while riding in close proximity to others -- you can't afford to look down to see what the next cue is when you have to keep a close eye on the wheel in front of you. I really don't know how you do this in a paceline. I guess you have to rely on the lead rider to know when and where to turn, but if people are taking short pulls, the lead rider is changing often, right?
I don't ride in organized pacelines, but fairly often will ride at the back of a group of riders. Some of the faster folks who are at usually the front either don't look at the cue sheet or just have a bad sense of direction, and they often miss turns, and then folks who are blindly following them will also miss the turn. Missing a turn is certainly preferable to touching wheels and crashing, but it sucks when I'm off the back and have to burn a lot of matches trying to catch up with the errant fast riders while screaming "Come back! You missed the turn!" (And yes after screaming "Come back!" several times I will add "Shane!!!" but no one ever gets it. I guess they're not Alan Ladd fans...)
- Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
- Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
- Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle
Gone but not forgotten:
- Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
- Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles
have a nice ride" and then muttering " *******" to people who pass me on the left without warning. I also happen to ride with a rear view mirror so can usually see them coming and will warn others ahead of me. I have had several "hammer heads" even try to pass on the right which only puts them in danger as I tend to ride to the right being a slower rider. Sometimes there is just excsuing stupidity excedpt to hope they take themselves out of the gene pool.
On the other hand two of my best biking buddies were met when I passed them and rode beside them briefly while introducing myself so there's alesson there as well.
marni
Katy, Texas
Trek Madone 6.5- "Red"
Trek Pilot 5.2- " Bebe"
"easily outrun by a chihuahua."
A little late to the thread with my 2 cents... Pace lines take a lot of practice! I remember when I first tried, I'd focus on the wheel in front of me. It took quite a bit of practice to start looking at the bum in front of me to judge distance to the bike in front and to look past the person in front to scan the road ahead. At any rate, it demands a lot of concentration. Now I have moved to DC and the groups I have joined don't pace line at all, it's just group riding.
Learning how to be smooth also takes time: not only communication, but smooth pedaling. I learned to sometimes touch the brakes while I continue to pedal. There's nothing worse then being behind a person that pedals and coasts, pedals, coasts... That's a bad wheel.