We’ve had a few beautiful weeks in Portland, the sun is shining, the birds and chirping, and people are dusting off their bikes or eyeing new ones. This means an influx of new riders to clubs like Portland Velo who don’t know the ins and outs of pack riding. If you would like to ride with a group but feel a bit intimidated by here, here are some handy tips to get you on the road.
A little primer on pace lines first.
How Pace lines work. So why do cyclists ride in groups? Besides for social and fitness reasons, it’s the slipstream/drafting. When you’re going upwards of 20mph, wind resistance really starts to be a drag (ha!). If you’re in a pace line, you can greatly reduce the effects of wind resistance, as the person in front of you is breaking the air for you. But you must be close to their wheel in order for this to be effective; if you’re much more then a foot behind, you’ll find yourself with a face full of wind. However, riding 20+mph 6″ behind someone with someone else 6″ behind you calls for a lot of concentration and trust. A generic pace line works like the silly little animation below:
Person in the front gets tired after a while (1 minute-infinity), pulls out, and soft pedals until everyone passes them, then quickly moves into the back of the pack. This is a crucial moment, if you’re not fast enough, the group will pull away from you and if going fast, it will be difficult to catch back up.
A more “advanced” version is a rotating pace, often used in races. This goes much faster, as 1/2 the group is pulling in a sense. Basically, everyone to the outside is going faster then everyone on the inside–when you get to the front of the outside line, the person on the inside line yells out “clear”, and you move over. Slow down a bit, so that the next person in the line can pass you (as they must pedal faster then you to pass you, obviously). When you get to the back of the inside line, the person behind you will move into the other line, and when they pass you, you move back into the outside line and pick up the pace to move forward again. These are intense and take a lot of intense concentration, especially if riders are inexperienced and the pace is fast.
1) Your bike. Mechanicals happen. When you have a big group of people together, the odds that someone gets a flat or has a mechanical problem goes up. Generally in more social groups, everyone will stop and wait for you to fix your bike–but they’re definitely doing you a favor. So make sure your bike is in working order. Have your early spring tune up, and get new tires to reduce the chance of you getting a flat. Make sure you carry all necessary flat-fixing gear, even if you don’t know how to fix one. I didn’t know how to fix a flat when I started riding with my club, but by having a bunch of different people help me out, I learned how to do it myself and pass along the knowledge, although learning to do this ahead of time doesn’t hurt. You should carry: at least 1 tube, preferably 2, a pump or co2 cartridge, and tire irons. A multi-tool is also a good idea, especially if you don’t have a quick-release seat post and need to make adjustments on the road, or tighten a rattling screw somewhere.
2) You. Choose a group appropriate to your riding level. If you’ve never ridden with a group and have mostly been commuting a few miles a day, choose the slowest group. PV generally has a 15-17mph, 19mph, 21mph, and race. If you have no idea where you ride, try getting a bike computer and see how fast you generally go when on an extended ride. Keep in mind the slower groups often tend to rest and regroup more often, where as the fastest groups will tear up hills and not rest at the top. It’s best to start with a slower group and work your way up so you don’t get dropped and discouraged. However, if you find yourself in a group that’s too slow, do NOT push the pace and go off the front, you will not be making any friends. Consider it a social ride and go with the flow, you can always go out for again that day by yourself if you need a speedier ride.
3) Smooth it out. Time to talk pack riding skills. The #1 basic rule of riding in a pace line is keeping all of your movements smooth. Don’t brake suddenly or unexpectedly. In fact, unless it’s absolutely necessary, don’t brake at all. Try to keep pedaling continuously at an even tempo, and if the pace slows, just ease up and coast a bit. But try to keep your distance the same between yourself and the person in front of you. Don’t suddenly coast for no reason, get a few feet behind, then pedal to catch up–this create a sling shot effect behind you. Everyone behind you does whatever you do–amplified. If you have to catch up, everyone has to catch up. If you brake, they brake. Notice yourself in traffic in a car–when everyone’s at a stop light, every car is fairly close together. When the light turns green, everyone doesn’t just suddenly go at once. The first person goes, then the next, then the next…the person in the way back might not even start going until the light is red again. But they have to hit their gas harder then the person in the front, because they’ve lost more ground. It’s kind of hard to explain, but once you’re in a pace line that’s accordion-ing back and forth and you’re in the back, you will learn quickly about this. If someone up ahead suddenly decides to coast, then the person behind them keeping a solid tempo has to brake, the person behind them is suprised at the sudden slow down and hit the brakes, and on down the line, until the last person is slamming on their brakes to avoid an accident. So keep it smooth and predictable.
Along with slowing and speeding, “keep it smooth” also refers to your line. HOLD YOUR LINE! If you’ve ever raced at PIR, you’ve probably heard this shouted at you or your fellow racers. Don’t wobble around, don’t steer unnecessarily–basically just follow the path of the person in front of you. If you find that your pace line has turned into a big pack 5 abreast, when you head into a corner, hold your line steady so that you stay the same distance away from everyone around you as you corner. This is more an issue if you have a double pace line–if you’re on the outside and you’re trying to come into the corner tightly like you usually do when alone, don’t force the inside person into oncoming traffic. That’s not very nice.
4) Call out obstacles. The first time you’re in a pace line, you will notice your fellow cyclists making weird hang gestures and calling out strange phrases. You may have no idea what they’re doing or what they’re saying. Doesn’t matter–just repeat it, whatever it is. When you’re in a pace line, the only thing you can see is the person’s butt behind you–you won’t see a pothole until your front tire is in it. Typical hand signals and phrases you may encounter:
- “Car Back!” That means there’s a car coming up behind you. If you’re in the back of the line, this is the one of the few things that you spot first and call up. If you hear this (and call it out), try to get into the line if you’re not already and don’t try to pass anyone. If you’re on a busy street with lots of traffic, it’s not really necessary to keep calling it out, unless there are riders who are oblivious to that fact.
- “Car up!” Not as vitally important as car back, just means a car is approaching you from the front. Generally, don’t ever cross the yellow line anyway, but if you’re planning to pass someone, might want to hold off, or just making sure you’re not right on the line, especially if you’re going into a turn.
- “Car left/right!” Means a car is pulling up to your road from a driveway/side street. Just keep your eyes out in case the driver doesn’t see you.
- “Clear!” When crossing or turning on busy streets, ALWAYS look both ways. Clear means it’s clear to go, but look anyway. A car might’ve pulled out between the first person calling clear and you actually crossing the street. And many times people in the back will call it out without even looking, just because the person in front of them did. Don’t be that guy.
- “Tracks” Railroad tracks. This might also be a hand signal — 2 fingers out, tapped on the lower back a few times.
- “Glass”/”gravel”/”hole” etc… call out stuff that may pop a tire and you’d like to avoid, like glass. Call out gravel if going around a corner and there’s gravel that may cause someone to skid. If there’s a huge hole, point AND yell out “hole”.
- Pointing to the ground. This is how cyclists point out physical obsticles on the ground, like dead animals, rocks, pot holes etc. If the person in front of you points, point for the love of god. You won’t know what it is until you’ve passed it. If you wait until you see it, you will avoid it but be too late to point it out to the person behind you, and they will hit it. Not good.
- Sweeping gestures. This is kind of hard to explain, but basically if there’s a large object or person that you need to get out of the way for (a runner on the side of the road, a car parked in the bike lane etc), the person in front of you will make a large sweeping motion that basically means, “move over”. You might also hear “runner up”, “rider up” (if there’s a slower rider you are passing), or “door!” if someone’s getting out of a parked car.
5) Take your turn. But only if you feel comfortable. When you first ride with a group, it’s ok to sit back and enjoy the hard work of whoever is in the front of the pack pulling for everyone, particularly if you’ve never ridden in a pace line before. It’s best to let everyone know that, so they can watch out for you and won’t feel like you’re not pulling your weight if you skip the front. Don’t try to take the lead until you have the hand signals down, though, because not only is the person in the front responsible for taking the brunt of the wind, they also must identify all possible dangers and alert the other riders. When you finally decide to take the plunge, you will soon realize the advantage of the slip stream, as you will have to push much harder to keep the speed the same–something you must do. Don’t slow down when pulling, that will cause ripple effects through the group. Keep the pace up, and when you get tired, simply pull off the side and slip back into the pace line in the back. See above for how this works.
6) Play it safe. No matter what happens, keep your wits about you. Look around, be safe, be aware of cars, of dogs, of people…it’s easy to just put your head down and forget the world exists, but you can’t do that, no matter how tired you are. People die on their bikes; one of my club members was killed on a club ride last year by an idiot driver. If you play it safe, use your hand signals, and stay aware, you have a better chance of staying safe.
This is a great introduction to riding in a pack, thanks!