Drink lots of water. Always ride with some sort of identification. Bring food. GU, Power Bars, sport drink, etc. Bring Helmet, spare tube, pump, rear lights, protective eye ware Ride the day before so that you can fix any problems ahead of time. If you are on mountain bike consider something else that is better road equiped. Be prepared to ride at least 25 miles comfortably. If you have never changed a flat tire practice ahead of time using the tools that you will have with you on the road. For those of you that have not taken your tubes out all year. Take them out and put them back in. They get sticky. Not something you want to deal with on the road. Get there 30min early we need all time we can get. When riding in pace line don't make any sudden movements. Try to ride in a straight line. Don't overlap your tire with rider in front of you. If you are pulling try to limit your eating drinking and cell phone talking. Obey all traffic laws even if others are not. The car has the right of way. Don't ride in the middle of the road when cars are coming. Be aware of your surroundings at all times. If the road is wet the paint is slippery.
Since the crash I experienced on September 3, 2008, I decided to do a little research on bicycling accidents. This is a real good article I found.
General Background on Bicycle Risks
The CPSC's interest in bicycles is based on the fact that bicycles are associated with more consumer injuries than nearly any other consumer product. For example, in 1981, the only "product" associated with more injuries than bicycles was steps and stairs. In 1986, the CPSC Directorate for Economic Analysis estimated the cost of bicycle related injuries and deaths to be $7.2 billion. Each year over one-half million injuries associated with bicycles are estimated to have occurred based on the CPSC's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. Data is collected for NEISS through hospital emergency rooms. The CPSC further estimates that approximately 610,000 other bicycle related injuries were treated in other medical settings. Contrary to popular fears, most bicycle-associated injuries are not related to motor vehicle collisions. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were only 88,000 police-reported car-bicycle accidents in 1986. 1,000 of these were fatalities, 12,000 were hospitalized and 45,000 received some other medical treatment. The National Safety Council estimates from reports by city and state traffic authorities that in 1988 there were 58,000 non-fatal injuries and 1,100 deaths from "pedalcycle"-motor vehicle collisions. John Forester estimates that bicycle-motor vehicle and bicycle-bicycle collisions each count for another 18% and the remainder result from collisions with other objects including dogs (14%) or just plain falls (50%). Kenneth Cross attributes bicycle-motor vehicle accidents as causing only 5.5% of all bicycle-related injuries and Dan Burden suggests that such accidents cause only 1% of all bicycle related accidents. The differences in these estimates may result from the base number of accidents. If minor, unreported falls are included, bicycle-motor vehicle accidents account for a much smaller proportion of accidents than they do as a proportion of serious accidents. The primary cause of bicycle-associated injuries is operator error. Forester estimates that one-half of all bicycle accidents result from this. A recent survey, at the University of Kansas Medical Center, of 492 bicyclists involved in accidents reported that 59% considered themselves to be at fault. Even simple misjudgments can cause significant falling injuries because bicycles are inherently unstable and provide little protection to operators. Despite the relatively large number of annual bicycle-associated injuries, only about 1 in 500 emergency room-treated injuries is a fatality. The NHTSA counted 949 police-reported bicyclist fatalities in 1986 from bicycle-motor vehicle collisions. The National Safety Council estimated 1,100 pedal cyclist fatalities occurred from motor vehicle collisions in that year. The National Center for Health Statistics counts 92 pedal cyclist fatalities from non-motor vehicle accidents. In contrast to non-fatal injuries, about 90% of all bicycle-associated fatalities occur from automobile collisions. Moreover, head injuries appear to be the major cause of fatalities. In an early study, Dr. Daniel Fife et al. examined 173 fatally injured bicyclists in Dade County, Florida between 1956 and 1979. They found that the head and neck region was most seriously injured in 86% of the cases. Similarly, the Calgary study found that 67% of bicycle fatalities were caused by head injuries, and an Australian study estimates that 80-85% of all bicycle fatalities are caused by head injuries. Of course, not all head injuries are fatalities - or even serious. A recent study of 100 bicyclists with head injuries in Great Britain found that only 11 were admitted to a hospital for treatment and only one died. As Table 1 shows, annual bicycle injury and fatality rates per participant in the U.S. are comparatively low. Still, non-fatal injuries are quite frequent. Some estimate that one in every 20 bicyclists is injured annually. A bicyclist can expect a minor injury every three years and a more serious one every fifteen.
So what does that mean for us? It means that cycling is a relatively dangerous sport! I think we all know this already but, because most of us have not yet experienced a bicycle crash, whether serious or not, we probably take it for granted that we will go out for our rides and return home unscathed. Because we all know that head injuries are about the worst we can expect, we all wear our helmets out there, just like we should. But we probably don't have the opportunity to appreciate its benefits but once every fifteen years! I'm here to tell you that you really want to be wearing your helmet when you need it! Unfortunately, you never know when you're going to need it, so we all need to remain vigilant while we are riding and make sure that we wear our helmets every time we go for a ride!
Since some of us were doing some “pace-line” training earlier in the season, I thought I would share what little knowledge I have on the subject! Remember, I’m no pro, this is just what I know! (hhmmmm….maybe a poet?) Ha Ha ha……I kill me! Anyhooo…..
If you’ve ever watched the pros race, you’ve seen them line up, one just behind the other, and wondered why, well, there is a really good reason for this! I read an article somewhere that wind tunnel studies that showed that when riders are lined up like that, the rider directly behind the leader gets a 20 percent break in his effort and everyone else behind him gets a 30 percent break in their effort! With a break like that, drafting is a very desirable skill to master and become very comfortable with. I think all Sunset Cyclists understand that the tight “groups” go faster and, with few exceptions, the peloton always catches the breakaway. This is the beauty of “drafting!” Drafting the rider in front offers a rider an opportunity to “rest” while still moving faster than he might otherwise be going by himself. This is due to reduced wind resistance when you’re riding behind another. And, depending on your size and the guy in front of you, you can actually be “pulled” a little bit because of the slipstream created by the lead rider(s)!
In my humble opinion, being comfortable riding in a fast moving paceline can make you a better rider for a number of reasons. When you’re going fast, there is a lot going on and you have to constantly monitor road conditions, traffic, the leaders rear wheel, and you must learn to react quickly to any changes that may occur. This makes you sharp! So, don’t let those that call you a “wheel-sucker” bother you. Remember, drafting is the great equalizer!!
While different groups or clubs around may have their own little dynamics, there is an etiquette that is shared by all pacelines:
1) the leader warns those behind him of holes, debris, or on-coming traffic 2) those following the leader pass this information down the line to everyone behind 3) when approaching an intersection or merging traffic, the group moves in single file with the leader guiding the group as a single unit 4) when approaching a stop sign, the leader shouts and/or signals for the group to slow or stop 5) at stop lights, the leader shouts out whether the group will continue through or stop 6) If traffic at the intersection is heavy, the group may break into smaller units that get back together down the road, however, if the road is clear, the leader may shout “clear!” and the group will move through the intersection together 7) On descents the leader keeps pedaling hard to keep the others from having to brake as much
Again, I really believe that group riding makes you a better rider as it demands that you sharpen your riding skills. Paceline riding requires that you ride smoothly and predictably and if you don’t, well, remember what happened to me back in September 2008! Yeah, it’s not pretty and you can be seriously injured!
Here are a few things to remember when pacelining or group riding in general.
Riding in groups is can be much safer than riding alone! When you’re riding in a group you are more visible to traffic and hence safer than riding alone! And, sometimes, groups get more respect from traffic than a single cyclist.
This is one I had to learn the hard way – never overlap another rider’s wheel. Let me tell you right now, if you swerve while overlapping wheels and touch the other riders wheel, the trailing rider (you!) is going down! I did this one time and the lead rider never knew I touch him, but I was debris on the side of the road and everyone else was left wondering what had happened!
Always follow the expected line around corners, starting wide and narrowing the apex and the going wide again.
Now this one happens a lot on Sunset Cyclist rides…….on hills, when you’re leading, before you stand to climb, move to the next higher gear to compensate for the slower cadence and ensure your bike doesn’t move backward relative to the rider behind you! Often times I’ve been behind someone starting a good climb and I slam into his rear wheel when he stands to continue the climb!
Remember, the time the leader spends pulling is determined by the speed of the group. The higher the speed the shorter the pull. While those of us who were doing some paceline training were pulling for about 45 seconds, in general however, at speeds of 15 to 20 mph, a 15 second pull is great! From there you would want to cut back on your pull time by a few seconds for every mph over 25. This allows everyone to pull good and hard for a duration that won’t destroy them and then quickly move back into the pack to recover. Remember, if you flame out on your pull, you hurt the entire group! Don’t flame out! Rather than looking at a stopwatch, a good way to time yourself on your pull is by counting the downstroke on one foot to 20 or 30. This is “in the ballpark” and plenty close enough for what we do!
If you can’t go for another pull, don’t! Staying at the front taxes you more than necessary and defeats the purpose of riding in a paceline. Let the riders coming back off the front know that you are still resting and give them space to move into the line in front of you!
As the leader, you want to stay focused on holding a straight line. Avoid looking down because you may make little corrections that become exaggerated in the other riders down the line. Pick a point in front of you, such as a tree or a sign, and concentrate on keeping a straight line to it.
When you are done with your pull, briefly look over your shoulder to make sure the traffic is clear. Remember to keep your over the shoulder look as brief as possible because of the tendency to move in that direction! If the road is clear, move only about a shoulder’s width to the left of the paceline and slow just enough that the following rider comes up on your right. If you swing too far too the left, you lose the benefit of being protected from the wind and you will have to work harder to get back on the end of the line. Worse yet, you could get dropped if your last pull left you with too little energy to catch up with the group.
Always pay attention to what the leader is doing. As I said before, there is a lot going on and you must pay attention to a lot of things, not just the to the wheel of the rider in front of you! Paying attention to what the leader is doing enables you to plan your upcoming actions. For instance, if the leader moves to the left to avoid an obstacle, you know that shortly you must do the same!
Because the terrain changes or the wind speed changes, so does the speed of the paceline. When you find yourself coming up quickly on the rider in front of you, move outside the draft and sit up to allow the wind resistance to slow you and then move back in as your speed is reduced.
Crosswinds pose a challenge that is sometimes difficult to deal with. If you’ve seen the “Tour” riders in a line that move diagonally across the road, the wind is the reason. This is known as echelon riding. What they are doing is moving to the opposite side of the oncoming wind so as to still take advantage of the front riders slipstream, such that it might be! The Tour riders might have as many as eight riders in an echelon, but for our purposes out on Lexington County’s country roads, we need to limit our echelons to about 3 so as to stay out of the traffic. When you’re pulling into the wind, generally limit your pulls to about 10 seconds.
3 comments:
Drink lots of water.
Always ride with some sort of identification.
Bring food. GU, Power Bars, sport drink, etc.
Bring Helmet, spare tube, pump, rear lights, protective eye ware
Ride the day before so that you can fix any problems ahead of time.
If you are on mountain bike consider something else that is better road equiped.
Be prepared to ride at least 25 miles comfortably.
If you have never changed a flat tire practice ahead of time using the tools that you will have with you on the road.
For those of you that have not taken your tubes out all year. Take them out and put them back in. They get sticky. Not something you want to deal with on the road.
Get there 30min early we need all time we can get.
When riding in pace line don't make any sudden movements.
Try to ride in a straight line.
Don't overlap your tire with rider in front of you.
If you are pulling try to limit your eating drinking and cell phone talking.
Obey all traffic laws even if others are not.
The car has the right of way.
Don't ride in the middle of the road when cars are coming.
Be aware of your surroundings at all times.
If the road is wet the paint is slippery.
Since the crash I experienced on September 3, 2008, I decided to do a little research on bicycling accidents. This is a real good article I found.
General Background on Bicycle Risks
The CPSC's interest in bicycles is based on the fact that bicycles are associated with more consumer injuries than nearly any other consumer product. For example, in 1981, the only "product" associated with more injuries than bicycles was steps and stairs. In 1986, the CPSC Directorate for Economic Analysis estimated the cost of bicycle related injuries and deaths to be $7.2 billion.
Each year over one-half million injuries associated with bicycles are estimated to have occurred based on the CPSC's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. Data is collected for NEISS through hospital emergency rooms. The CPSC further estimates that approximately 610,000 other bicycle related injuries were treated in other medical settings.
Contrary to popular fears, most bicycle-associated injuries are not related to motor vehicle collisions. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were only 88,000 police-reported car-bicycle accidents in 1986. 1,000 of these were fatalities, 12,000 were hospitalized and 45,000 received some other medical treatment. The National Safety Council estimates from reports by city and state traffic authorities that in 1988 there were 58,000 non-fatal injuries and 1,100 deaths from "pedalcycle"-motor vehicle collisions. John Forester estimates that bicycle-motor vehicle and bicycle-bicycle collisions each count for another 18% and the remainder result from collisions with other objects including dogs (14%) or just plain falls (50%). Kenneth Cross attributes bicycle-motor vehicle accidents as causing only 5.5% of all bicycle-related injuries and Dan Burden suggests that such accidents cause only 1% of all bicycle related accidents. The differences in these estimates may result from the base number of accidents. If minor, unreported falls are included, bicycle-motor vehicle accidents account for a much smaller proportion of accidents than they do as a proportion of serious accidents.
The primary cause of bicycle-associated injuries is operator error. Forester estimates that one-half of all bicycle accidents result from this. A recent survey, at the University of Kansas Medical Center, of 492 bicyclists involved in accidents reported that 59% considered themselves to be at fault. Even simple misjudgments can cause significant falling injuries because bicycles are inherently unstable and provide little protection to operators.
Despite the relatively large number of annual bicycle-associated injuries, only about 1 in 500 emergency room-treated injuries is a fatality. The NHTSA counted 949 police-reported bicyclist fatalities in 1986 from bicycle-motor vehicle collisions. The National Safety Council estimated 1,100 pedal cyclist fatalities occurred from motor vehicle collisions in that year. The National Center for Health Statistics counts 92 pedal cyclist fatalities from non-motor vehicle accidents. In contrast to non-fatal injuries, about 90% of all bicycle-associated fatalities occur from automobile collisions.
Moreover, head injuries appear to be the major cause of fatalities. In an early study, Dr. Daniel Fife et al. examined 173 fatally injured bicyclists in Dade County, Florida between 1956 and 1979. They found that the head and neck region was most seriously injured in 86% of the cases. Similarly, the Calgary study found that 67% of bicycle fatalities were caused by head injuries, and an Australian study estimates that 80-85% of all bicycle fatalities are caused by head injuries. Of course, not all head injuries are fatalities - or even serious. A recent study of 100 bicyclists with head injuries in Great Britain found that only 11 were admitted to a hospital for treatment and only one died.
As Table 1 shows, annual bicycle injury and fatality rates per participant in the U.S. are comparatively low. Still, non-fatal injuries are quite frequent. Some estimate that one in every 20 bicyclists is injured annually. A bicyclist can expect a minor injury every three years and a more serious one every fifteen.
So what does that mean for us? It means that cycling is a relatively dangerous sport! I think we all know this already but, because most of us have not yet experienced a bicycle crash, whether serious or not, we probably take it for granted that we will go out for our rides and return home unscathed. Because we all know that head injuries are about the worst we can expect, we all wear our helmets out there, just like we should. But we probably don't have the opportunity to appreciate its benefits but once every fifteen years! I'm here to tell you that you really want to be wearing your helmet when you need it! Unfortunately, you never know when you're going to need it, so we all need to remain vigilant while we are riding and make sure that we wear our helmets every time we go for a ride!
Be safe out there!
Since some of us were doing some “pace-line” training earlier in the season, I thought I would share what little knowledge I have on the subject! Remember, I’m no pro, this is just what I know! (hhmmmm….maybe a poet?) Ha Ha ha……I kill me! Anyhooo…..
If you’ve ever watched the pros race, you’ve seen them line up, one just behind the other, and wondered why, well, there is a really good reason for this! I read an article somewhere that wind tunnel studies that showed that when riders are lined up like that, the rider directly behind the leader gets a 20 percent break in his effort and everyone else behind him gets a 30 percent break in their effort! With a break like that, drafting is a very desirable skill to master and become very comfortable with. I think all Sunset Cyclists understand that the tight “groups” go faster and, with few exceptions, the peloton always catches the breakaway. This is the beauty of “drafting!” Drafting the rider in front offers a rider an opportunity to “rest” while still moving faster than he might otherwise be going by himself. This is due to reduced wind resistance when you’re riding behind another. And, depending on your size and the guy in front of you, you can actually be “pulled” a little bit because of the slipstream created by the lead rider(s)!
In my humble opinion, being comfortable riding in a fast moving paceline can make you a better rider for a number of reasons. When you’re going fast, there is a lot going on and you have to constantly monitor road conditions, traffic, the leaders rear wheel, and you must learn to react quickly to any changes that may occur. This makes you sharp! So, don’t let those that call you a “wheel-sucker” bother you. Remember, drafting is the great equalizer!!
While different groups or clubs around may have their own little dynamics, there is an etiquette that is shared by all pacelines:
1) the leader warns those behind him of holes, debris, or on-coming traffic
2) those following the leader pass this information down the line to everyone behind
3) when approaching an intersection or merging traffic, the group moves in single file with the leader guiding the group as a single unit
4) when approaching a stop sign, the leader shouts and/or signals for the group to slow or stop
5) at stop lights, the leader shouts out whether the group will continue through or stop
6) If traffic at the intersection is heavy, the group may break into smaller units that get back together down the road, however, if the road is clear, the leader may shout “clear!” and the group will move through the intersection together
7) On descents the leader keeps pedaling hard to keep the others from having to brake as much
Again, I really believe that group riding makes you a better rider as it demands that you sharpen your riding skills. Paceline riding requires that you ride smoothly and predictably and if you don’t, well, remember what happened to me back in September 2008! Yeah, it’s not pretty and you can be seriously injured!
Here are a few things to remember when pacelining or group riding in general.
Riding in groups is can be much safer than riding alone! When you’re riding in a group you are more visible to traffic and hence safer than riding alone! And, sometimes, groups get more respect from traffic than a single cyclist.
This is one I had to learn the hard way – never overlap another rider’s wheel. Let me tell you right now, if you swerve while overlapping wheels and touch the other riders wheel, the trailing rider (you!) is going down! I did this one time and the lead rider never knew I touch him, but I was debris on the side of the road and everyone else was left wondering what had happened!
Always follow the expected line around corners, starting wide and narrowing the apex and the going wide again.
Now this one happens a lot on Sunset Cyclist rides…….on hills, when you’re leading, before you stand to climb, move to the next higher gear to compensate for the slower cadence and ensure your bike doesn’t move backward relative to the rider behind you! Often times I’ve been behind someone starting a good climb and I slam into his rear wheel when he stands to continue the climb!
Remember, the time the leader spends pulling is determined by the speed of the group. The higher the speed the shorter the pull. While those of us who were doing some paceline training were pulling for about 45 seconds, in general however, at speeds of 15 to 20 mph, a 15 second pull is great! From there you would want to cut back on your pull time by a few seconds for every mph over 25. This allows everyone to pull good and hard for a duration that won’t destroy them and then quickly move back into the pack to recover. Remember, if you flame out on your pull, you hurt the entire group! Don’t flame out! Rather than looking at a stopwatch, a good way to time yourself on your pull is by counting the downstroke on one foot to 20 or 30. This is “in the ballpark” and plenty close enough for what we do!
If you can’t go for another pull, don’t! Staying at the front taxes you more than necessary and defeats the purpose of riding in a paceline. Let the riders coming back off the front know that you are still resting and give them space to move into the line in front of you!
As the leader, you want to stay focused on holding a straight line. Avoid looking down because you may make little corrections that become exaggerated in the other riders down the line. Pick a point in front of you, such as a tree or a sign, and concentrate on keeping a straight line to it.
When you are done with your pull, briefly look over your shoulder to make sure the traffic is clear. Remember to keep your over the shoulder look as brief as possible because of the tendency to move in that direction! If the road is clear, move only about a shoulder’s width to the left of the paceline and slow just enough that the following rider comes up on your right. If you swing too far too the left, you lose the benefit of being protected from the wind and you will have to work harder to get back on the end of the line. Worse yet, you could get dropped if your last pull left you with too little energy to catch up with the group.
Always pay attention to what the leader is doing. As I said before, there is a lot going on and you must pay attention to a lot of things, not just the to the wheel of the rider in front of you! Paying attention to what the leader is doing enables you to plan your upcoming actions. For instance, if the leader moves to the left to avoid an obstacle, you know that shortly you must do the same!
Because the terrain changes or the wind speed changes, so does the speed of the paceline. When you find yourself coming up quickly on the rider in front of you, move outside the draft and sit up to allow the wind resistance to slow you and then move back in as your speed is reduced.
Crosswinds pose a challenge that is sometimes difficult to deal with. If you’ve seen the “Tour” riders in a line that move diagonally across the road, the wind is the reason. This is known as echelon riding. What they are doing is moving to the opposite side of the oncoming wind so as to still take advantage of the front riders slipstream, such that it might be! The Tour riders might have as many as eight riders in an echelon, but for our purposes out on Lexington County’s country roads, we need to limit our echelons to about 3 so as to stay out of the traffic. When you’re pulling into the wind, generally limit your pulls to about 10 seconds.
Well, that’s about all I have to say about that.
Until next time, BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!
Post a Comment