Story courtesy of Simeon Green/ PezCyclingNews http://www.pezcyclingnews.com
. . .As with everything, there is an exception to the rule. If there is an uneven number of riders in the group and you don’t have anyone to ride along side, you should place yourself in between the two riders ahead of you, with your front wheel between their two rear wheels. This allows the riders behind you to remain bar to bar and to keep the group tightly together. The riders behind you should ride with their front wheels either side of your rear wheel. It’s not acceptable to sit directly behind the rider ahead of you and leave a gap to your side.
Now, before you spark up and say that riding between the wheels of the riders preceding you is unsafe, let me point out, that if everyone is riding bar to bar as they should be, you are guaranteed the space of a handlebar’s width within which to move, which should be ample. So even if the two riders ahead of you knock into each other, you should have plenty of space. This is a pretty safe place to be.
Rule 3: Peeling Off
When you are tired of riding at the front, and you feel it is time for you to go to the back, make sure the rider beside you knows you are tired and want to go back. Once you have both established that you are going back, check briefly that there isn’t someone overlapping your back wheel, then both riders slowly and gradually move to the outside and let the group come through the middle. Do not suddenly veer off to the side, peel off in a steady and controlled manner.
Rule 4: Pulling Through
When the two riders ahead of you peel off . . . . . I will explain what to do in a few days on my next post - I am off to the trainer and my new cyclocross videos!
Not to be overly critical, but if you really want a double pace line to really motor... you need a revolving double-line. Example is similar to that posted, but if riding north, and there is a slight head wind from NE, the revolving pace line, would rotate counterclockwise... this permits a line of rider on the left to be about 1-2mph slower, sheilding the the line to the right which is drafting each other and protected from the line on left... with this configuration, you constantly move, but you can as a group exceed by about 25% a stationary double paceline. If you are in TTT, this is the procedure that wins events. Happy New Year
ReplyDeleteRodder07 - Totally agree and I will touch on your point soon! Glad to hear you are reading thoroughly - I will definitely be speaking to you for my TTT
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