Paceline Etiquette Question

Triathlon Forum
1

How do most of you ride while in a paceline? Do you ride your turn up front and then drop back on the left while the other riders come up on the right, taking your position at the end of the peloton, or do you drop off to the left, having the second cyclist to ride up to take the lead while you move back into a second or third position (not necessarily at the back of the group)?

I’m most familiar with the first option, having ridden with roadies in a former life, but find that most tri geeks I train with use the second option. Whaddup?

2

I believe you are supposed to rotate counter clockwise, working your way up the line and when you get to the front you move over, falling again to the back.

3

That is what I’ve thought and been used to … the squirreliness of riding up to take the lead and not dropping back all the way to the end of the line is an interesting twist.

4

Depends on the wind, road, folks you are with and their strength. I will often pull for 5 minutes, drop back for one (to third in line) then re-take the lead. Folks I ride with know that is what I am going to do.

Often times there will be some in the back that cant pull and are just hanging on, you need to get back in line in front of them. Communication is key.

5

Freeloaders make the lead rider move into the 3rd or 4th spot so their turn at the front never comes up.

6

Freeloaders make the lead rider move into the 3rd or 4th spot so their turn at the front never comes up.Yes, I do!

:slight_smile:

7

How to Ride in a Paceline

By Fred Matheny of www.RoadBikeRider.com

Solo rides are a great part of the cycling experience. Nothing beats cruising along and looking at the scenery, or attacking a climb at your own pace and intensity.

But riding with a small group can be even more fun. You cover ground faster, meet people, and experience the thrill of shared effort.

Paceline riding isn’t difficult to learn. Here are the basic skills: 1. Riding a Straight Line

Start by learning to ride like you’re on a rail. Practice by holding your line during solo rides. Put your wheel on the road’s white edge line and keep it there. Relax your upper body, keep a light grip on the handlebar, and fix your peripheral vision on the line. Keep your actual focus 20 or 30 feet in front of the bike. Remember, the bike will go where your eyes go. 2. Following a Wheel

Drafting another rider saves you at least 15 percent in energy output. It’s foolish to be bucking the wind all the time when you’re with other riders. Share the work by drafting them and letting them draft you.

Position your front wheel 1 to 3 feet behind the rear wheel you’re following. The closer the better, in terms of the draft, but closer also requires a lot more attention. When necessary, turn the cranks without putting pressure on the pedals (“soft pedal”) to maintain correct spacing.

Use the brakes sparingly. Jerky braking creates chain reaction problems for riders behind you. If you need to brake, feather the levers lightly instead of clutching at them.

If a gap opens, don’t make things worse by accelerating too hard, overrunning the wheel in front, then grabbing the brakes. Instead, ease back up to the rider in front. If you don’t become proficient at following a wheel, you can waste more energy than you save by constant yo-yoing.

Look past the rider directly in front. Don’t stare down at his rear wheel or you won’t see things that may cause him to brake or swerve. 3. Paceline Pointers

First rule: Be predictable. Close riding demands that everyone be on the same wavelength. There must be a basic understanding of what is and is not expected behavior in a given circumstance. Experience helps.

Don’t accelerate when it’s your turn at the front. Note your cyclecomputer’s mph and maintain the group’s speed when the lead rider pulls off.

After your own bout against the wind, pull off to the side agreed upon and stay close to the others as you soft pedal and slide back to the rear of the paceline. This enhances the drafting effect for the whole group. It also keeps everyone as far out of the traffic flow as possible, making paceline riding possible even on busier roads.

As you come abreast of the last rider in the line, pick up speed and then slide over behind his wheel as he comes past. When done correctly you won’t need an energy-wasting acceleration in order to latch back on. Once in the caboose position you can take a drink or stand to stretch without disrupting the paceline’s smoothness.

Protect your front wheel. If your rear wheel is struck a fall is unlikely because it has nothing to do with steering the bike. However, if your front wheel is contacted it will often be twisted off line faster than you can react. You’ll almost certainly go down. Help prevent this by never overlapping someone’s rear wheel.

8

“I will often pull for 5 minutes…”
I think the problem with your finger has just been diagnosed. Perhaps you should consider switching hands?

9

Freeloaders make the lead rider move into the 3rd or 4th spot so their turn at the front never comes up.Yes, I do!

:slight_smile:
Brilliant - I never thought that was the case, but now I can definitely see that’s the reason these guys hang back and keep waving me in.

10

Tri geeks and roadies mixing in pacelines has created some interesting new dynamics. Often you get tri folks who want to be part of the group ride, but who don’t want to draft. They sit a ways off the back of the paceline and “gatekeep” to allow those who are up in the rotating part of the line to drop in at the back of that section, but in front of themselves. (Was that clear?) It’s no problem when everyone knows what’s going on and the tri guys who are lurking off the back leave enough room for the rotators to move in at the back of the rotating line.

It’s customary that the lead rider should pull off to the left and then drift to the back of the line and get back into the draft. There are exceptions (like echelons), but they’re usually reserved for serious racing. Sometimes only two or three riders will share pulls at the front of a longer paceline. That usually happens when there are two or three riders who are significantly stronger than the others (who are just hanging on for dear life). Here again, it needs to be established that someone is a gatekeeper who is willing to open a gap and let in the rider who is rotating off of the pull at the front.

All that makes sense to me 'cuz I know what I’m talking about … but as I re-read it, I’m not sure anybody else could follow it. I hope it’s clear.

Bob C.

11

Are we talking single or double pace lines? Our group spends very little time in single pace lines so I don’t know about clockwise or counter, but in our doubles we run counter. ie. If you are front left, you would move tot he right, and then slide down the side nearest the shoulder, and then work back up the side in from the shoulder.

12

If I am riding with a group of riders of similar ability the leader rotates all the way back and each person in line takes a pull before doing the same. If we have some weaker riders in the group the leader will rotate back into line just in front of the weaker riders so they can sit in without pulling.

13

Often you get tri folks who want to be part of the group ride, but who don’t want to draft. They sit a ways off the back of the paceline and “gatekeep” to allow those who are up in the rotating part of the line to drop in at the back of that section, but in front of themselves. (Was that clear?)

Yeah - the ‘gatekeeper’ idea is interesting. Sort of fits w. the other responses indicating that others are hanging on for dear life. The latest paceline ride had me w. three buddies riding w. three other triathletes who just ‘joined up’ and didn’t really seem to know how to ride. One guy would blast off the front when he took the lead, another would drop back only to second position, sometimes off the left, sometimes off the right. Oooh boy. And often they’d STOP pedalling when they felt it was easier, rather than shifting up or moving out of the line.

14

Are we talking single or double pace lines? Our group spends very little time in single pace lines so I don’t know about clockwise or counter, but in our doubles we run counter. ie. If you are front left, you would move tot he right, and then slide down the side nearest the shoulder, and then work back up the side in from the shoulder.
Both - my roadie experience in single is that we run counterclockwise and while in a double, we run counter and clockwise accordingly.

15

The latest paceline ride had me w. three buddies riding w. three other triathletes who just ‘joined up’ and didn’t really seem to know how to ride. One guy would blast off the front when he took the lead, another would drop back only to second position, sometimes off the left, sometimes off the right. Oooh boy. And often they’d STOP pedalling when they felt it was easier, rather than shifting up or moving out of the line.

I’m one of a few roadies who rides with a group of trithletes who train together on Saturday mornings. Some of the tri guys are skilled riders. Some are not … at all. We’ve had all sorts of problems, so I sent out a long e-mail on paceline ettiquette just 2 weeks ago. I haven’t had a chance to ride with them since I sent it out. It’ll be interesting to see if anything sunk in. I know your pain.

16

Yes, mixing and matching has it’s consequences. This last Sunday - 2 days ago - during the course of a group ride a dog ran into the road. The lead rider slowed, but the trigeek girl on his wheel overlapped him to the point that she put a tire burn on his calf before she went down. Can you say aerobars in the paceline? Idiot. Of course more carnage ensued from the trigirl’s fall, including my wife going over her handlebars and doing a face plant. Luckily she’s a tough old bird and took it like a man. Why don’t riders look further up the road than the wheel in front of them? Whenever I’m in a paceline, I’m always poking my head out and looking at what’s happening up the road. If you stare at the rear wheel ahead of you, it’s WAY too late when they suddenly slow or take evasive maneuvers.

17

In my last reply to you, I alluded to an e-mail I sent to my riding group about riding in pacelines. I found it in my “sent items” file and pasted it below. I’m sure this isn’t comprehensive or original.

I don’t mean to present myself as any authority on cycling, but I’ve
probably logged more road miles than most members of this group. I’ve been at it for well over a decade now and I’ve made every mistake in the book myself … and hopefully learned a bit from them. Based on a few things I’ve observed from riding with the SVR group these last few weeks, I feel compelled to talk about group riding skills and paceline etiquette. This is definately one of those things where I’m hoping you’ll do as I say and not as I do. I’m sure I don’t do all these things right all the time. But here goes:

DO NOT overlap wheels in a paceline. Don’t let your front wheel get
alongside the rear wheel of the rider in front of you. The rider in front
of you should have the freedom to move either left or right without
contacting your front wheel. If they do contact your front wheel, you WILL go down and you’ll probably take out a few riders behind you, too.

DO NOT make sudden moves in a paceline or pack. Be smooth and predicatable. Remember that you probably have another rider only inches from your rear wheel and they’re counting on you not to do anything unexpected. So DON’T.

If you’re on the front of the paceline, you’re the eyes and ears for the
whole group. Be sure you’re watching the road, the traffic, the Jack
Russell terriers.

If you’re NOT on the front of the paceline, DO NOT assume the guy on the front is watching the road, the traffic, the Jack Russell terriers. Don’t fixate on the rear hub of the bike in front of you (or that rider’s ass). No matter where you are in the paceline, you should know what’s going on up the road.

If you’re on the front of a paceline, and you’re done pulling and want to let the next guy through, DO NOT suddenly sit up, declare your pull at the front over, then veer out of the line. This is a sure way to cause mayhem behind you. Veer out of the line BEFORE you sit up and slow down.

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT ride on your aerobars in a paceline unless you’re on the front. You’re too far from your brakes to make the kind of subtle speed adjustments necessary to be safe. Everyone should learn to ride in a paceline with minimal braking, but you’ve gotta have your hands near your brakes “just in case.”

Learn to ride a straight line. It’s awful to ride behind someone who’s
constantly moving right and left or drifting around. If you can’t hold your bike on a line close to the white line, you need to work on your riding skills. Buy some rollers and use them over the next winter. If you don’t learn to ride a straight line on them, you’ll end up in a heap on the floor.

If you’re second in line, DO NOT suddenly lift the pace when the rider ahead of you finishes his turn at the front and pulls off. It’s OK to take a strong pull, but give the guy who just spent himself on the front a chance to get tucked in at the back of the line … then gradually lift the pace to where you want it.

Our group is pretty good about this, but it bears mentioning. When crossing a busy road, the first rider should be considerate of what the last rider will face in terms of cross-traffic. It’s natural to want to follow and keep up with the leader. Leader … don’t lure others into danger.

And guys … PLEASE … lets share the road with cars. We went down Lebanon Road last Saturday in a huge pack and there were several times I was sitting at the back yelling, “CAR BACK” and y’all continued to ride 2 and 3-abreast … completely inconsiderate of the traffic. When we get on busy roads like that, we need to get single file and stay that way. On ALL roads, when someone yells “CAR BACK,” we need to get single file. It’s stupid of us to provoke the wrath of motorists by being inconsiderate. Lets not be our own worst enemies.

Anyone got anything to add to this?

Sorry if this comes off preachy. Again, I realize that much of this is “do as I say and not as I do.” I’m just seeing some stuff on Saturdays that I hope I don’t do and I think it may help some of the less-seasoned riders to know these “rules.”

Bob C.

18

I was taught that the “proper” side to pull off on is the one “into” the wind…the limiting case, of course, being what occurs in an echelon when dealing with a very heavy sidewind.

If there’s no wind (unlikely) or it’s a dead straight tailwind or headwind, then you pull off to the “agreed upon” side, which in the US is typically to the left (away from the curb)…after a quick glance back over your shoulder to check if any auto traffic is overtaking, of course.

Anybody waving you in before you get to the back of the paceline is just a “cling-on” :slight_smile:

19

“Why don’t riders look further up the road than the wheel in front of them?”

For the same reason that car drivers don’t do this either. They seem fixated on a patch of pavment or whatever is right in front of them. Note this the next time you are out running on a country road and running facing the traffic as you should be. Note how many cars will not see you until literally the last second, then they are swerving wildly out of the way of you. I find this rather scary - they have not seen me, the 6’2" man with the neon running jacket running along the road right at them!

Fleck

20

I was taught that the “proper” side to pull off on is the one “into” the wind.

I was taught this, too. As far as I’m concerned, it has no relevance in day-to-day riding on roads that are open to vehicular traffic. I don’t believe any group of riders has any business riding a paceline far enough out in a lane of traffic to leave room for riders to pull off and drift back on the right hand side. It’s one thing if you’re in a race on a closed course. It’s another animal out on the open road.

I know in most places it’s legal to ride two abreast (and a paceline peeling off to the right instead of the left shouldn’t take up any more room), but I despise the practice. It’s part of what makes cyclists their own worst enemies.

Bob C.