Team Time Trial Paceline Road Atlanta
Pacelines take maximum advantage of the “drag” effect of the cyclists to the front.
The cyclist in the front travels at the group pace, when no longer able to do so, pulls off to the left and drifts back to the end of the paceline.
The draft envelope behind a single bicycle is about six feet long. The closer your front wheel is to the rear wheel of the rider ahead of you, the stronger the draft.
Riding in a pace line draft can save 20 to 30% of your energy output. allows the group to travel at higher speeds. Concentration is essential. smoothness. trust. All the riders have to be confident that the others in the group will communicate well and ride safely. Not slowly, safely.
If you re not as strong as other cyclists, your turn may be much shorter than the norm.
Two mistakes to avoid are:
1. Staying in front so long you slowly decrease the group speed
2. Staying at the front so long you re cooked by the time you pull over and as a result can’t keep up when you get to the back of the group.
The Golden Rules of Pace Line Riding
1. Be predictable
Follow a straight line or the obvious racing line. Maintain a consistent direction of motion and avoid weaving.
2. Don’t look back
The only time you should need to look back is when you are the lead rider and you are planning to fall back; in this case, you should look back briefly to ensure that there are is not another team behind you; as you look back, keep your speed steady.
Once you have cleared the front of the pace line, decrease your speed and get to the back quickly for a deserved rest.
3. Keep your head up
Don’t become fixated on the wheel of the cyclist in front of you. Look at the arms and shoulders of the rider in front of you. Regularly glance 3 to 5 riders ahead to see what lies ahead.
4. Go easy on your brakes
Most crashes are caused by someone braking sharply and the rider behind touching wheels with them. If you are getting too close to the rider immediately in front of you, try “soft pedaling” instead of braking to adjust the gap.
If you need to brake, do it gently. Never suddenly slow or attempt a quick stop without a hand or voice signal first – it results in pile ups! You can also reduce your speed without braking by raising your body to create more air resistance or moving over slightly out of the draft of the person ahead of you, but don’t raise up off the saddle!
5. Stay close to the wheel in front
With practice you will want to ride about 1 foot behind the wheel of the cyclist in front of you in order to keep the group tight and to take full advantage of the “draft”.
If you are brand new to riding in a pace line, you should begin by maintaining a longer distance (e.g., 3 to 4 feet) and gradually decrease the distance as your pace line skills improve. Stagger your front wheel about 6 inches to the left or to the right of the rear wheel of the cyclist in front of you; this wheel placement should provide extra reaction time in case the cyclist in front of you does something unpredictable (e.g., brakes suddenly or swerves). Being slightly off to one side should allow you to see what is ahead.
6. Signal to others
Sometimes, voice signals are better and faster. Voice signals are also safer at high speeds since they allow you to keep both hands on the handlebars. The last riders should advise the group of approaching teams. Around curves it is also helpful for the leader to warn of traffic approaching from the front with “team up”.
7. Warn others of your intentions
If you need to stop or pull over indicate or shout your intentions and do it slowly. Move to the left or right and yell “slowing” or “stopping” before you brake.
8. Don’t overlap wheels
Formula for disaster if he/she decides to suddenly pull out to the left or to the right in the direction of your wheel. The advantage gained is not worth the risk of crashing.
9. Maintain a steady speed
Focus on maintaining a steady cadence and let your gears do the work. That is, no surging fast and then suddenly slowing.
10. Pass on the right.
Make sure the rider in front absolutely knows you are coming around because you yelled “coming by on your right” and you saw a visible reaction.
11. Be considerate of the riders behind you
When possible wait until you are at the back of the group before drinking from your water bottle or spitting.
12. Gear Changing
Try and stay in a gear that you can spin around at 80-100 RPM.
13. Unintended Acceleration
You get to the front and subconsciously you feel that you are not moving fast enough so you pick up the pace without realizing it. Rider 2 should yell to rider 1 if they are doing this.
14. Multiple Riders
If you find the pace too fast, take a shorter pull at the front, or better yet “pull through and off which means when you get to the front just pull off without taking a pull at the front. When pulling off the front of the pace line ease up on your pedaling but don’t stop, the idea is to get to the back of the pace line as fast as possible in order to get a break from the wind. As you get toward the back of the pace line, gradually increase your pedaling speed to match the pace line speed and pull in behind the last rider.
Be careful to make sure that the rider you pull in behind is the last rider, More than one crash has been caused by someone pulling into another rider thinking they were at the end.
15. Echelons
Echelons are used extensively in team time trials. Usually the wind is not head on to the riders in the pace line and may come from one side or the other to the direction of the pace line. In this case you will see the riders following to the side of the rider in front of them. If you notice you are still feeling a headwind when following another rider pull off slightly to one side (away from the wind) and see if this helps block the wind. Remember to stay out of traffic and don’t overlap the wheel in front of you, even if you are off to the side the front rider can still swerve over and take you out.
Courtesy of Renee Donelson
Simple Training Concepts