riding in mixed ability groups (i.e., most winter groups)
Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 10:04 am
With rough weather, group sizes get small and the spread of ability/strength/speed within any group tends to widen.
Ditch the rotating paceline when you have a group with a wide spread of abilities. It makes *zero* sense to ask for equal pulls from everyone when strength varies widely. Instead, ride two-up paired roughly by ability, have the strongest pairs do long steady pulls on the front, and have the weakest pairs skip their pulls. This will make for the fastest, smoothest possible ride. The rotating paceline is a spectacularly dumb formation for riding with a wide mix of abilities.
Everyone has a role to play in keeping the group together and keeping the ride smooth. And everyone will play each of these roles at some point, so understand and practice each of the roles.
1) Slower riders (relative to the group you’re in): *Don’t burn yourself out*; call steady before it’s too late (while you still have enough breath to yell); rest on the back as needed (if the group is silly enough to be rotating, then take breaks from the rotation by playing “doorman” on the back—call out “UP UP {name}!” to the riders continuing to rotate to let them know when it’s their turn to pull from the slow line into the fast line.).
2) Faster riders (relative to the group you’re in): Ride to the pace of the slowest rider. Don’t ride to the pace you personally feel like riding at in the moment, unless it happens to match the pace of the slowest rider. It’s called a “group ride” and “no drop” for a reason. If you want an extra workout, ride up a group, announce your departure from the group and go for a TT ride, or help tow riders off the back to reconnect them to the group. Look back to make sure the whole group is there--regularly. If someone’s missing, ride back, pick them up, and tow them back. You’ll get a huge workout this way and extra citizenship kudos. Put a foot down at the top of hills and let the last rider catch their breath before forging on. If you ride your own ride without riding to the pace of others, you’re screwing the slower riders and the group as a whole. Ask yourself if that’s really how you want to start your day and everyone else’s.
3) Riders in the middle: You all are the critical link and the potential heroes of the ride. You have enough breath to yell “steady” at riders pushing the pace, repeatedly if necessary. You should be checking up on the slower riders to see how the pace is for them (look back regularly, talk to them, look for blood coming from their eyeballs, etc.). You also have enough oxygen reaching your brain to make decisions and take command of a group that’s at risk of falling apart. If faster riders refuse to slow down, make a deliberate decision to *let them go*. Let them sit out in the wind and tire themselves out or ride off on their own. Communicate clearly to the rest of the group that *no one is to chase them*. If you find yourself chasing fast wheels in the front, you’re guaranteed to be gapping or gassing the slower riders in the group and this will—sooner or later—cause the group to fracture. So your job is to recognize when you’re working hard enough that the pace must be hurting someone else, and then do what it takes to bring that pace down to something sustainable for the whole group. Some faster riders will never learn, so it will often be up to you to hold the group together by clearly communicating to let the faster riders go.
It’s a good idea to keep a head count in mind and periodically check that the group size matches the headcount. Everyone should be in the habit of doing this on rides.
Contributing to a smooth ride is everyone’s job. It shouldn’t be the responsibility of a small handful of people in the club to have to yell constantly about this stuff. Do your part to hold mixed groups together. Thanks.
Martin
Ditch the rotating paceline when you have a group with a wide spread of abilities. It makes *zero* sense to ask for equal pulls from everyone when strength varies widely. Instead, ride two-up paired roughly by ability, have the strongest pairs do long steady pulls on the front, and have the weakest pairs skip their pulls. This will make for the fastest, smoothest possible ride. The rotating paceline is a spectacularly dumb formation for riding with a wide mix of abilities.
Everyone has a role to play in keeping the group together and keeping the ride smooth. And everyone will play each of these roles at some point, so understand and practice each of the roles.
1) Slower riders (relative to the group you’re in): *Don’t burn yourself out*; call steady before it’s too late (while you still have enough breath to yell); rest on the back as needed (if the group is silly enough to be rotating, then take breaks from the rotation by playing “doorman” on the back—call out “UP UP {name}!” to the riders continuing to rotate to let them know when it’s their turn to pull from the slow line into the fast line.).
2) Faster riders (relative to the group you’re in): Ride to the pace of the slowest rider. Don’t ride to the pace you personally feel like riding at in the moment, unless it happens to match the pace of the slowest rider. It’s called a “group ride” and “no drop” for a reason. If you want an extra workout, ride up a group, announce your departure from the group and go for a TT ride, or help tow riders off the back to reconnect them to the group. Look back to make sure the whole group is there--regularly. If someone’s missing, ride back, pick them up, and tow them back. You’ll get a huge workout this way and extra citizenship kudos. Put a foot down at the top of hills and let the last rider catch their breath before forging on. If you ride your own ride without riding to the pace of others, you’re screwing the slower riders and the group as a whole. Ask yourself if that’s really how you want to start your day and everyone else’s.
3) Riders in the middle: You all are the critical link and the potential heroes of the ride. You have enough breath to yell “steady” at riders pushing the pace, repeatedly if necessary. You should be checking up on the slower riders to see how the pace is for them (look back regularly, talk to them, look for blood coming from their eyeballs, etc.). You also have enough oxygen reaching your brain to make decisions and take command of a group that’s at risk of falling apart. If faster riders refuse to slow down, make a deliberate decision to *let them go*. Let them sit out in the wind and tire themselves out or ride off on their own. Communicate clearly to the rest of the group that *no one is to chase them*. If you find yourself chasing fast wheels in the front, you’re guaranteed to be gapping or gassing the slower riders in the group and this will—sooner or later—cause the group to fracture. So your job is to recognize when you’re working hard enough that the pace must be hurting someone else, and then do what it takes to bring that pace down to something sustainable for the whole group. Some faster riders will never learn, so it will often be up to you to hold the group together by clearly communicating to let the faster riders go.
It’s a good idea to keep a head count in mind and periodically check that the group size matches the headcount. Everyone should be in the habit of doing this on rides.
Contributing to a smooth ride is everyone’s job. It shouldn’t be the responsibility of a small handful of people in the club to have to yell constantly about this stuff. Do your part to hold mixed groups together. Thanks.
Martin
