Winter Riding Etiquette

[Josh.E]

As this morning was the first really wet ride of the year, I thought this might be a good time to get a thread going on winter riding, particularly crap flaps. There was a whole lot of spraying rooster tails on the ride this morning. I copied this off another club's website, but it's all applicable to any winter group ride.

cheers
Josh

Group Riding in the Winter

Riding in the winter time requires attention to new details. The obvious one is generally less traction, but since many group rides fill up in the winter with people look to share the misery of long wet miles, group ride etiquette and skills become critical.

Lights
The mornings are dark now, so lights are a requirement; a solid white on the front, and a solid red on the back. 120 lumens or more on the front is encouraged so can see the road in front of you.


Rain Bikes & Winter Equipment
On the west coast we typically spend half of our riding year in wet conditions. Having a bike that you can ride, enjoy and rely on is important. You must spend time maintaining it properly if you want to avoid trouble out on the road. Here are some things to consider:

* Chain replaced every 2,000 miles
* Brake pads checked for wear
* Rims cleaned and glass picked out of tires from the last wet ride

Make certain you pack a spare tube, CO2 cartridge or bring a pump, have basic tools and anything else you might need. Don't rely on someone else's preparedness for help, though you'll often find it. And consider carrying a pair of the rubber mechanics gloves. They take up no space, but make changing a grimy wet flat a much more pleasant experience.

Fenders & mud flaps
A pain in the rear, but a requirement. The front fender is for you. If you don't care about getting your feet wet, don't bother. The rear fender is for your teammates. Get one that drops around the back (not a "back scratcher" that only keeps water off your own butt), and includes a mud flap THAT IS ABOUT 2-3" OFF THE GROUND. If your mud flap is more than 2-3" off the ground, then it is useless and will allow water and road grime to spray on the person behind you.

Tires
It is winter riding now, so that means slower speeds. Slower speeds necessitate that we ride further onto the shoulder and into the bike lanes over a lot of debris, often glass and worse. Riding light summer tires is asking for trouble. If you're out on your own, it doesn't matter. But if you're out with the group and get a lot of flats, you're making a bunch of people who took the time to be prepared wait for you, getting cold and often wet in the process. Invest in some heavier tires and add some liners.

Tuffys
Spin Skins are better than nothing. But instead of $30 and buying a light weight cloth type liner that gets wet and is hard to put back in while on the road, skip a couple Lattes and buy some Tuffys for $10 http://www.tirecarepros.com/catalog/mrtuffy.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false. Slime makes some that work well also. http://tirecarepros.com/catalog/slime.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false They are heavier, but an almost bullet proof liner that will save you from about 85% of the flats you would otherwise get. So long as you take time to clean your wheels and pull out all the glass each week, you can easily go all winter without a flat. No one likes to change a flat, particularly when it's raining and 5 degrees out and your bike is covered with grime. No one likes to stand around for 15 minutes while someone changes an unnecessary flat either.

Flats on the route
If you get a flat on the route, call out "Flat!" or "Mechanical!" If you disappear off the back and we later realize it, often someone has to abandon the group to go look for you or even the whole group will. We don't want to ditch any teammates and leave someone out on the road alone. If you don't mind going it alone, be sure and let someone know.


Group Riding
Drafting is important in racing and should be practiced in group rides. This means keeping a consistent gap, paying attention and taking a turn at the front. If you're new'ish to group rides, then feel free to ask me or someone for help. We're here to help everyone improve.

While riding with the group, especially at the slower paces this time of year, it is easy to get into the habit of "half wheeling." This is where you're riding with your front wheel overlapping the rear wheel of the person in front of you. Don't do this. It's fine to use it as the group slows suddenly, but generally you should be behind the person. otherwise we get all staggered on the road and people start catching pot holes, touch wheels and fall or cause traffic problems.

Road Hazards
If you're in the front, you must watch the road ahead, gently steer around larger problems in the road and point them out BEFORE you get there. Don't suddenly hop over or zip around a pot hole or drag your teammates behind you through the ruts and pot holes. You have a responsibility when you're in the lead.

Traffic
When you're riding 2 x 2 down the road, you should be riding 2 x 2. Tight formation riding is a skill we all need to develop. When the road narrows and there is traffic, we MUST work together to share the road as well as use available bike lanes. Using the bike lane does not mean riding on the white line and leaving 6 feet to the riders right. When you are in the back of the group , keep an eye out for cars approaching from behind and yell "car back!". If you hear someone yell "car back!" be sure to yell it to the people ahead of you.
When we're coming to a turn, the front needs to signal and the back needs to watch and take the lane when appropriate. The goal is to move as a coordinated unit, not a bunch of singles. Work together. Use your head. Be a team.


Taking a Pull
Since it is winter and the pace is generally slower, you should pay attention to the pace and/or perceived effort before you get to the front. When it's your turn at the front, you should maintain the same effort level that has been set. That means if the road meanders up or starts to climb, you should maintain the same relative perceived effort of the group.

After your pull, soft pedal or even brake and get to the back of the group and into the line. This helps keep our group tight and out of traffic. If you're not moving back, then people are shifting over into the road to give you more room.

[Rita]

Re: glass in your tires.

I thought Josh was exaggerating when talking about glass in your tires until I actually inspected my tires last night! I ended up getting a needle to carefully picking out lots of little pieces of glass and even a piece of wire from my tires. That was an interesting experience for a newbie!

Thanks Josh for all the good advice!

[Lister Farrar]

excellent post josh. What club did it come from?

[Josh.E]

i pulled most of it from dynamicsports.net, with a few edits.

There's a bunch of fairly good articles on training there too.
http://www.dynamicsports.net/articles_main.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false

[Greg Miller]

Josh posted this last fall. Note the part about picking out glass from tires. Last winter (my first with TS) there were way more flats than we had during the summer. We should all try to minimize flats by regularly picking out glass and replacing worn tires (ideally with flat resistant ones).

[Josh.E]

The 2"-3" max gap from your crap flap to the ground is worth stressing too.
If it is any higher than that, it won't stop the spray from hitting the person behind you in the upper body, which is pretty annoying.

[John D]

Re: picking glass out of tires - I carry a pair of fine-tipped forceps in my repair kit. If I flat during a ride, I use them to probe for glass shards before installing/inflating/exploding a new tube. I also inspect my tires for shards at least once a week. Gimme a break....I derive a certain Zen feeling from it.

If this sounds slightly obsessive, I would recall my very first TS Sunday ride, last winter, when a rider flatted three times in 10 minutes (i.e. having not removed the glass that caused the original flat). After flat #3, I recall us abandoning him with all of our spare CO2 cartridges and tubes before we began the Interurban sprint.

JD

[JohnT]

John,

Though I wasn't on that ride, I believe it was Mike Lawless. He gets the same Zen feeling from walking into bike stores to buy new tires. Cleaning old ones would spoil that.

Back-tracking a little: Mike lent me his bike a year and a half ago and it was immaculate when I picked it up.

John T.