noodle soup

I ride with a few triathletes that are fine in a paceline, but I see many more that I wouldn't dare ride with.

caloso

Hoo boy, this is quite a post. Quite a lot going on here. If you'd read my post, you'd see that I was describing a way to go to the back and sit out the rotation (i.e. wheel suck) without disrupting the flow. Sitting up in a paceline is disruptive enough, but sitting up and swinging out is disruptive and potentially dangerous. At least give an elbow flick, hold your line, and turn your head to make sure you're not taking someone out.

Yes, by all means monitor yourself (whether by HRM, PM, or good old fashioned RPE) so you don't get in over your head in the first place. But the chances are vanishingly small for a healthy rider to drop dead in the middle of a ride because they've gone anaerobic. Even old kooks like me.

As for the never-go-anaerobic training theory, you could not be any more wrong. You could try, but you would not be successful. (But that's a subject for another thread.)

noodle soup

I get the feeling that he doesn't do too much riding with fast groups, but I could be wrong.

tomato coupe

Group rides are, in general, much less contentious than online forums.

furiousferret

Best way to do Charity Rides are in the back. Some of the more perplexing stuff goes on. On year at the Tour of Palm Springs we saw at least 10 crashes. Most of them due to a comfortable arrogance of people that only ride once every few years. The two best were;1) someone not looking where they are going and riding on to the sidewalk and into a sign 2) Two teenage girls taking their arms off the bars to high five only to take each other out and the girl next to them. I normally don't laugh at others misery and I didn't laugh that time because my wife would have killed me if I did...

My biggest issue with this sport in general is the lack of instruction on what on fundamental rules and behavior. The danger is never the group per se but usually the 1 or 2 people in the group that don't understand the basics of riding in a group.

Besides, I go any faster than 12 mph that'll put me over 120 bpm and with a pulse like that I might die.

Dan333SP

I've seen a lot during my years on BF, but today is the first time I've seen someone claim that there's a direct correlation between anaerobic training and early death.

RobotGuy

evan326

I'm honestly afraid of being the a-hole in the group. I'd either get dropped (which I could deal with) or would be going too fast or breaking too many rules.

WalksOn2Wheels

So in short: don't buy upgrades, and don't ride up grades because it will surely bring early death?

Damn, I must have taken 5 years off of my life on that Colorado ride last week.

noisebeam

Standing!

RobotGuy

TimothyH

My original post was not about rules or how fast you go or being an a-hole or anerobic training or heart rate or proving anything or how old anyone is.

It was about being smooth and predictable in a group, that's all. Steady speed, not overlapping wheels... extremely simple stuff.

Really wish everyone would relax.

It's fun to ride in a group and riding with smooth predictable riders is a rare pleasure. In a charity ride he is the guy everyone likes to follow and he makes going fast look almost effortless. Everyone should practice being that smooth, predictable guy others love to ride with. It's easy to do.

Try to transition smoothly from seated to standing without slowing down. Try to ride straight with one hand on the bar, while drinking, while looking behind you, etc (hint: don't drop your shoulder). Watch your HRM/Power/Cadence and try to hold a steady effort/heart rage/power over different grades and cadences.

That's all.


-Tim-

evan326

A lot of that "simple stuff" I've never heard of because I've never ridden with other people. Hence the a hole comment, someone would probably call me one for not knowing some of that.

bruce19

Agreed. Charity rides are a lot like St. Patrick's Day. As Jimmy Breslin once said.."It's when all the amateurs come out."

kbarch

We need to remember this. I'd say it takes a few months of intentional practice in order to become sufficiently smooth and reliable that others want to follow one on a consistent basis. It IS simple stuff: how hard can it be to ride straight, right? But it does take some amount of concentration (an ability to look through the eyes in the back of ones head helps), so it's not likely to happen unless people make an effort and decide to ride in such a fashion, and it's not something people can just start doing on demand.

WhyFi

I have a hard time controlling my heart rage.

DrIsotope

I too am filled with heart rage. I don't got time to be waiting for the lollygagging of the typical charity rider anyway. I mean, I've done a couple. There are two main groups out there: the ones that hit every SAG stop, and the ones that think there's a prize for getting the ride done as quickly as possible. It is possible to both and enjoy the ride and move at a decent speed. But I pray from the depths of my very own heart rage that I never turn into one of those "we're gonna yell at you" paceline shmucks.

gregf83 

I prefer riders to just learn to pedal with steady power. Some guys get fixated on their bloody Garmins and ignore the road ahead.

Samuel D

I disagree with half of these rules.

Overlapping wheels is often better than the alternatives.

Gratuitous hand signalling and shouting are especially annoying and not to be encouraged. The lead rider should instead ride smoothly around obstacles leaving a wide gap – especially around other cyclists. Too many people try to draft the cyclist they’re passing for a few seconds before swerving wildly and doing the daft sign language.

Obstacles do not include every dimple in the road. More risk is incurred by steering around these and flapping the arms than by ignoring them.

Hands-free riding in a group is sometimes fine and anyway sometimes necessary.

Etc.

Bomb Komodo

Dude writes a rant/novel about how smooth people need to ride in a giant charity group and then asks everyone to relax when they call him out.

Lol, love the internet.

dmanthree

You beat me to it. I've done a few large charity rides, one with thousands of riders. There is no peleton, except for the initial breakaway of fast riders. The vast majority plod along, not really knowing what's going on around them. But it's not a race, so normally all is OK.

kbarch

Of course wheels will overlap in the course of passing, but you'll have to describe the situation that makes continuous half-wheeling preferable, because I can't imagine it.

Samuel D

Crosswinds.

Changes of pace by the people in front that would otherwise demand significant braking.

kbarch

Yes, in crosswinds offsetting ones position is the thing to do, but I can't imagine that half-wheeling is any more advisable in that case, and if the people in front ride so erratically that "significant braking" is required to deal with changes in pace, half-wheeling seems even less advisable - seems the thing to do is keep back - or away.

But maybe you're thinking of something more like riding along side (but behind).... Yeah, if you're offset much more than an arms-length, even if it's not good practice, it's not as big a deal - offset much more, you may as well be on another planet (which is where many on big group rides are anyhow). But in a pace line it does complicate things for the riders behind a bit. It's nice to have the protection of two, but on less than perfect roads, one wants to follow the best line of a single rider, namely the one in the very front who can see whole road. If the rider immediately in front offsets himself, one has to choose between best line and best draft - or maybe ride over the obstacles the two in front pass on opposite sides.

SJM205