Tues Feb 1

[sylvan]

A new month, everybody out this morning has a perfect February going - 1 day, 1 ride. 1 down, 27 to go.

The ride today was way more inclusive and civilized between Uplands and Beacon Hill than the two last week - that's gotta be the way to do it for now. We had a big group of about 12 all the way to the last lap of the circle.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/66192732

Beacon Hill lap speeds were 38.8, 40.8, 40.3, 38.1, 42.3. I think that 38.1 was because of the mass confusion when we were apparently shocked and horrified to see Roland riding happily in the ditch. Young Dylan got hung up on the outside and couldn't take his pull, and my dastardly plan of jacking it up on the hill with a lap to go was quashed when I had to pull through early. Nice to have Steve Bachop out contributing a great many watts to the effort.

[Roland]

I weep for those who derive no joy from breaking the ice on puddles.

[AlW]

It was painful. I need to be having a good day just to hang on. Today was not one of those days.

Managed to hang on until KGT, then the pace jumped and I was gone.

Alan: Apologies for dropping out and leaving you with a gap to close. Would have been a lot bigger if I tried to gut it out so I think that qualifies as a favour. You can thank me later.

[John D]

The B-group ride went well today. At one point we ended up strung out along Caddie Bay after the right turn from Cedar Hill X, but otherwise things were fairly cohesive. Pacelining along Dallas went pretty well, as did the Beacon Hill Park loops (although I peeled off after the 2nd of 3).

Two areas for improvement:

1. We need to be more responsive when someone yells "Car back!" This applies to both the two-up and the single-up situations. In general, I think we just need to listen up and move right faster. But in particular, we really need to work on what to do when a "Car back!" call comes after the leading rider(s) have just peeled off (i.e. leaving the pack either 4-wide or 2-wide, respectively). There's nothing scarier than watching a car barrel past us with a solo rider "exposed" out there on the right of the pack.

2. Paceline surging: I struggle with this whenever I make it to the front, so I'm as guilty as anyone. Is it kosher to yell "No surge!" akin to what we do when we yell "Steady up!"? I, for one, would appreciate it, rather than finding myself riding off the front and stringing the group out.

J.

[sylvan]

2. Paceline surging: I struggle with this whenever I make it to the front, so I'm as guilty as anyone. Is it kosher to yell "No surge!" akin to what we do when we yell "Steady up!"? I, for one, would appreciate it, rather than finding myself riding off the front and stringing the group out.

Second wheel can just yell "steady". Don't cover the gap. Just keep the pace steady and make the jackrabbit come back. The jackrabbit needs to be careful to not overcompensate when hearing "steady" and not slow down too much - unless they want to pull off and fall straight to the back. I kinda like "steady" to pare off 1 or 2 km/h from the speed of a paceline to "steady" things in the pack and then "easy" or something like that if the group actually needs to slow down as a whole to regroup.

[JohnT]

Good topic John. Everyone (it seems to me) does this initially. It takes time to resist that "OK, it's my turn" feeling, which leads to an acceleration. A speedometer helps. I haven't had one for a while, but when I first started riding in groups, its most important role was to tell me how fast I was going as second wheel. Then just match that speed when you're in front. It's also good because it reminds you when to peel off - as soon as it starts getting difficult to maintain that speed.

John

[Lister Farrar]

The B-group ride went well today. At one point we ended up strung out along Caddie Bay after the right turn from Cedar Hill X, but otherwise things were fairly cohesive. Pacelining along Dallas went pretty well, as did the Beacon Hill Park loops (although I peeled off after the 2nd of 3).

Two areas for improvement:

1. We need to be more responsive when someone yells "Car back!" This applies to both the two-up and the single-up situations. In general, I think we just need to listen up and move right faster. But in particular, we really need to work on what to do when a "Car back!" call comes after the leading rider(s) have just peeled off (i.e. leaving the pack either 4-wide or 2-wide, respectively). There's nothing scarier than watching a car barrel past us with a solo rider "exposed" out there on the right of the pack.

+1

2. Paceline surging: I struggle with this whenever I make it to the front, so I'm as guilty as anyone. Is it kosher to yell "No surge!" akin to what we do when we yell "Steady up!"? I, for one, would appreciate it, rather than finding myself riding off the front and stringing the group out.

"Steady" is what we're meant to call as second rider when we detect an overenthusiastic new front rider. Does anyone else think we need a different word for when riders are off the back after a hill, and we need to wait? They are two different things I guess. On the other hand, I'd really like people to get used to looking back more when they get to the top of hills, the obvious place for people getting dropped , and not wait to be told from behind. Especially those on the front; it's effectively a big squeeze between the slow responding front and the dropped riders chasing on.

"Second wheel can just yell "steady". Don't cover the gap. Just keep the pace steady and make the jackrabbit come back. The jackrabbit needs to be careful to not overcompensate when hearing "steady" and not slow down too much - unless they want to pull off and fall straight to the back. I kinda like "steady" to pare off 1 or 2 km/h from the speed of a paceline to "steady" things in the pack and then "easy" or something like that if the group actually needs to slow down as a whole to regroup."

+1

Good topic John. Everyone (it seems to me) does this initially. It takes time to resist that "OK, it's my turn" feeling, which leads to an acceleration. A speedometer helps. I haven't had one for a while, but when I first started riding in groups, its most important role was to tell me how fast I was going as second wheel. Then just match that speed when you're in front. It's also good because it reminds you when to peel off - as soon as it starts getting difficult to maintain that speed.

+1

[Lister Farrar]

One more thing; I think we in the B group should feel more comfortable reminding each other of these things. The A's have ridden more, but they aren't with us. And after Our Fearless Leader leaves with the A's, we should pipe up.

It's also better than one person doing it all the time. It's much more likely to be absorbed if the message comes from different sources, than if one voice is always saying the same things.

For eg. A polite way to say it is: "Just a reminder for all to squeeze right when someone yells car back, say 'steady' if the front rider is surging, and if you're on the front, look back after the hills to get rolling as the dropped riders get on." (just to pick 3; choose your own.)