Last weeks game of spotting a break a few seconds, then organising the break and chase groups, had tons of challenge, but the groups were getting it by the end. So seems like a good challenge.
About the game:
Breaks and Chases is a bit artificial, but it's on purpose to focus on the challenge of organizing a group to work together at speed, over what you'd do in regular pace line ride. In a race you could just jump across the gap to the attackers as fast as you can, but that's called bridging. Chasing is about organizing the group to chase. Sometimes it's not even to catch the break right away. It could be to hold them at a gap until they get tired, then catch them and send a counter attack.
So if a lead chaser goes a little too hard, and gaps #2 rider, what does that do to the chase? Well, it means that #2 is getting tired from pushing wind also, instead of resting in the leaders draft so they can pull when the leader is done. So what to do? First, dont surge and let the #2 tell you if it's too fast or too slow. If you're #2, ignore the surging rider, let him pull away, pull past the relief line (previous leader), and swing over. Surging guy will either come back, or if he gets across, will have done it in a very expensive way, energy-wise.
It happens all the time in real races. So rather than get annoyed at the mistake, contribute to the cooperating chase mates and chances are you'll be ahead of the solo bridger/surger by the end. In more advanced races, teams do allocate a team mate to tail contenders when they try to bridge. But i'm talking here about someone that just overcooks leading the chase by mistake.
We also found short fast pulls worked better, not so much to share the work, but because some chasers get antsy waiting for their turn on the front. Typically a constantly rotating paceline requires people to be at a similar level, but it also works well in the early stages to establish the chase effort. Then if the pace is too much, sit on, and swear you'll buy coffee and not sprint if they don't drop you.
L
