How to Ride in a
Paceline
By Fred Matheny for
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.
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