Interesting ideas on group rides, formations, pulls

[Lister Farrar]

Not that TTT is a major goal, but Allan LIm from Garmin, now Radio Shack makes some interesting points I haven't seen described as well elsewhere:

I think one thing that distinguishes us in the TTT is that we're always rotating. When we go training, it's not just two by two, double paceline with guys taking five, ten minute pulls at a time. We're constantly breaking up into smaller groups, constantly doing paceline drills and rotation, constantly doing TTT scenarios, not just on time trial bikes on time trial workouts, but on road bikes when we're going on training rides as a group. In my opinion, if you have a training ride, you've got ten or fifteen guys and they're just riding in a pack all day, that's completely useless, they get no skills outta that. But if I can have all those guys lined up in a single paceline, running different scenarios, drills, talking about the wind, getting that kind of solid practice in, then it makes a difference on race day.

AS: Do you have a preference for a rotating double paceline or having riders taking longer pulls in a single line?

AL: There are very very few situations where the double paceline is faster. Almost always the single line pull is faster. The one caveat is if you have a very very homogenous team, where everybody's of equal strength, and you're going really fast. If speeds are very very high, and the team is completely equal, then the rotating might be faster. But it usually isn't because when you rotate you end up riding down to your weakest link. When you ride in a single line you're able to have the stronger riders take longer pulls and bring up the speed, and have the weaker guys take shorter pulls and maintain the speed.

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http://velocitynation.com/content/inter ... rmins-guru

[JohnT]

Great to bring this up Lister. We've incorporated such things in our rides before (e.g., the cat and mouse from Uplands Gates plan). I think it would be fun to do this again, though it's less attractive when we also have to deal with leaf piles and/or ice. Maybe we could plug a TTT/cat-&-mouse-event into the Friday am ride while we're doing Fridays on the square. Or, perhaps we could do TTT/cat-&-mouse-event on alternate Tuesdays. Putting this on the square means that regardless of success or failure in making the catch, we all end up riding to coffee as a group.

JT

[Lister Farrar]

I like the tuesday idea John. Maybe a handicap format, with teams sent off in reverse order of strength, 15-30 second intervals, first do four laps wins?