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Emma Carney's Bike Safety and Ethics.
When you ride as a group, your conduct will directly affect the flow of the group on the road.
Riding in a group such as this will have a mix of experienced riders, and those who have not fully developed their pack riding skills.
It is important to recognise which category of rider you fit into, and act accordingly.
Strong riders need to protect the weaker – don’t expose them to the dangers on the road.
Weaker riders need to make the group aware they are struggling, uncomfortable with the current situation or unsure of how to handle the current conditions.
When we are looking after each other while riding, the added dangers of traffic, obstacles on the road, adverse weather, mechanical problems & refuelling will become much more manageable.
Remember the back of the pack is NOT necessarily the easiest place to sit. You will obviously have an easier ride into headwinds, but will have to continuously adjust your riding to the groups pace change, avoid obstacles without a good view for what is coming up, and basically are not able to relax behind such a large number of riders.
It is important when we break down into smaller ‘teams’ that the team leaders have the weaker riders sheltered at about 2nd – 3rd wheel. That way everyone can keep an eye on them and they are in a most comfortable position in the group.
Below are a number of key points to be aware of throughout the ride. Everyone needs to have a clear understanding of how the group is planning various ‘recoveries’ – eg how are we going to ride the rotating turns, how will ‘calls’ be made, our plans for flat tyre changeovers…etc.
When everyone knows the procedure, we will be more efficient as a group.
PACK RIDING
There should be no reason for you to turn around – especially the front riders. The most common way to crash is to ride down or into an obstacle, resulting in putting the whole group in danger. Looking at where you are riding is the only way to avoid this.
Traffic is the usual reason for riders to look behind. The last riders in the pack should be able to hear traffic, and call “car/truck back”. They may look behind occasionally, but remembering a split second mistake is all that is required to cause a fall.
**(way to look back is to rest your hand on the rider beside you, so your steering stays intack)
- Make the group AWARE of obstacles
Pointing out obstacles & taking your hands off your bars often becomes dangerous in a large group. Try to call out any obstacles so those behind are aware of the upcoming danger.
- Hand Placement on handlebars
The safest place are your hoods & drops. These hand placements keep you in close range of your brakes
Rather than braking hard in a group pack situation, try to ‘feather’ your brakes. This requires you to remain aware of what is going on around you, so excessive braking is not required, and those behind you will not be put into a sudden braking situation also. Feathering is really just gentle, controlled braking.
Similar to braking above – smooth pedalling is required by everyone in the group so there is a constant rhythm in the group. When pedalling is erratic, those behind will not have a comfortable wheel to follow. Uneven pedalling breaks up the group dynamics, as those behind can’t relax.
Try to continue pedalling when taking a drink also – keep the group rhythm going.
Please use correct water bottles for each ride. Sports drink bottles do not fit bidon cages properly, can bounce out and bring others down.
The enjoyment of riding in a group is having others to get you through the ride. Constantly riding half a wheel in front of your training partner is probably one on the most frowned upon habits for cyclists. Don’t do it.
There is no recovery from a front wheel deflection. Overlap your front wheel with the rear wheel of the rider in front & you will put yourself in great danger of crashing.
Basic survival rule. One day it will be you. No one is immune from a bad day out on the bike.
- Rolling Turns/Pack Dynamics for Turns
Taking a turn does not mean you have to be going flat out on the front. More often than not, you are just needed to take a bit of the workload for the group.
For weaker riders, try to take your turn after a weaker rider or side with a weaker rider (depending on format the group is using), so you don’t have to work too hard to get to your turn.
It is important you let the turns to roll, don’t make it difficult for others to roll up to the front.
If you notice a gap forming, either fill it (safely) or communicate with those setting the pace to slow up slightly.
Once you have finished your turn, roll off in a smooth fashion. There should be no need to stop pedalling. Soft pedal until the new leaders come through. If you are returning to the back of the bunch, start applying more pressure to your pedals so you slip back into the groups pace once in position.
No one likes traffic out on the bike. There are a number of important points to remember to adhere to while coping with traffic.
- Don’t look behind.
- Be decisive, signal, make decisions that will keep the entire group safe – not just yourself.
- Obey traffic rules.
- Leave drivers to worry about overtaking, don’t pull over.
- Decide on the pack rotation you are going to use and stick with it – stay a decisive group in the traffic.
- BE PREDICTABLE
If we do break into ‘teams’ it is important to remember that riding single file often makes it harder for traffic to overtake (as the group is now longer), and traffic can attempt to squeeze past. A thicker group is quite often the safest option.
To make climbing easier, ensure you –
- Ride the correct gear – try not to grind
- Standing – if you need to stand, change gears to compensate for the slower cadence, allowing you to stand up smoothly & keep a steady pressure on the pedals
- Sitting – use the opposite technique to the above. Change down to keep steady pressure on the pedals.
- Do not ‘roll back’ – this occurs when you either change from sitting to standing (& vice versa). If this is done badly, you will slightly roll back – and be close to bringing the rider behind you down.
- It is often better to drink on the uphills rather than downhills
It is important the leaders continue to pedal downhill, as the draft effect is accentuated when going downhill.
If you are following, back off a couple of bike lengths as often the leaders will not be able to go any faster.
No one should be freewheeling an entire descent. Soft pedalling also helps to remove the lactic acid built up in the legs from the previous climb.
A lot of the above information is common sense, and most riders have developed these skills over the past few months during our training rides. A final thing to remember is to stay relaxed. Anytime you are riding in close proximity with such a big group, there is always the chance of ‘bumping’. A relaxed rider will absorb the bump, and cope….a tense rider will be surprised, will over react with a swerve and put themselves & the group in danger.
The key is – Have fun!
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