PACE LINE RIDING

      One of the key skills in road riding is the pace line. A group of riders can go much faster than a single rider, by working together and sharing the work. 

    The draft is everything. By following another rider one to two feet behind, one will use 10 to 20% less energy. Drafting a bigger rider is like having a tailwind. A rider that can draft can ride with much stronger riders.    One of the key skills in road riding is the pace line. A group of riders can go much faster than a single rider, by working together and sharing the work. 

    The draft is everything. By following another rider one to two feet behind, one will use 10 to 20% less energy. Drafting a bigger rider is like having a tailwind. A rider that can draft can ride with much stronger riders. You must learn to draft.

   Drafting behind one rider is the best way to start. Someone you have ridden with before is best, as you’ll already be familiar with his or her riding habits. Start by getting a steady speed going, just about as fast as you might ride once you’re warmed up and want to push a little. Get behind your leader, with a three to four foot gap between your front and his or her rear wheels. Try to look at the rider in front of you, not just the wheel. Look over his shoulder, move left a few inches to see past, watch the bike and rider ahead. Keep a high cadence, and maintaining the three feet will be easy. A three-foot gap will give you just a little drafting benefit.  Use the rear brake to keep from getting too close, and ease up, but keep pedaling, as you brake gently.

   Once you’re comfortable with three feet, close the gap to two feet. At this distance, you will get a real decrease in the effort needed to go at a certain speed. You can stick to a stronger rider for quite some time if you can ride two feet off the wheel ahead.

    When you get good at a two gap, work on closing the distance to as close as six inches. This takes a lot of attention and practice behind a very steady rider. You can stay with anybody if you can draft at six inches.

   Most important, don’t ever overlap the wheel in front of you. You will hit the pavement, either slowly or real quickly, if the rider in front moves to avoid a road hazard, and you get your front wheel clipped.

   A pace line is a group of riders who draft each other in a single or double file line. The lead rider takes the brunt of the wind, allowing the riders behind to rest. After a short time, the lead rider moves to the side (in the U.S.) and the line of riders advances past with a new rider on the front. The more riders, the shorter the time the lead rider pulls. 

  In such a pace line, the cyclists ride single file, with a sufficient gap between each rider. Experienced riders will keep a foot or so behind the rider ahead. New riders should try to keep one to three feet from the rider ahead. Watch his body and rear brake, not just his/her wheel. To keep a proper gap, the rider should ease the pedaling rather than use the brake to adjust the gap. If you need to brake, do it gently, with the rear brake, so the rider behind doesn’t have to slam his brakes on. If you keep pedaling while braking, it is very easy to maintain a gap.

    The rider currently on the front is responsible for the safety of the other riders: keeping a steady pace, avoiding potholes, and looking far enough ahead to see how the road, traffic, and stoplights will affect the immediate future of the line. The lead rider will gently drift to one side of small obstacles, and point down to the proper side to show a HOLE is coming up right away. Don't lead the pace line through potholes.

     A rider stays on the front for a short time; the more riders, the shorter the "pull".  Before the leader gets tired, he checks traffic behind, slowly moves to the left, and lets the next rider pull alongside. Then the former leader eases up and drifts toward the back. Never jerk to the left, and don't slow down and then move left. Don't stay on the front until you're tired, or you won't get on the back. As the rider drifting back nears the last rider in line, He begins to speed up, maybe standing to stretch the legs, and as the last rider passes, the former leader moves right, onto the back of the line.

     The second rider is now on the front, keeping the same speed.  He rides straight, points out road hazards, and after a minute or so, moves left, eases up, and drifts back. Do not feel tempted to increase the speed. You have nothing to prove, so keep the speed the same. Get ready to move left before you get tired, then move left without slowing. With two or three riders, take one minute pulls, with more riders, pull less. In a six rider pace line, the leader moves over almost as soon as the previous leader drifts out of his sight.

   When riding with stronger riders, take a shorter pull. Keep the rotation going, but don't feel the need to prove anything. If you're new to pacelines and drafting, stay at the back and let a gap open up as each former leader nears you, so he can pull into the line in front of you. When you feel comfortable with the pace, feel relaxed and steady, join the rotation, ride steady and find out how well you can go at this faster pace. 

    When you are on the front, you are driving and steering the riders behind. When you approach an intersection with a stop sign, you drop your left hand and signal a stop to the riders behind. Never run stop signs. If a stoplight is ahead, obey the light. If it is turning yellow, STOP! There might be enough time for you to get through the intersection, but if the last rider is forced to follow through a red light, then you’ve put him in danger. It’s always the last riders who get hit by cars at intersections. It’s not a race, and there is no reason to risk lives on a recreational ride.

    When learning to ride a pace line, you may be hanging on the back for dear life, doing all you can to stay with the group. If you are spent, and can’t hang, ask for an easier speed. “ Please slow down” will work. “Can we go slower?” is good. “  If the pace line pulls away from you, try a little begging.  If you are drifting off the back, make a huge effort to get back on a wheel. Then yell “attende moi!”

    When riding with faster riders, you may get dropped. They should wait somewhere up the road. I spent the first few weeks of racing hanging on the back, then got dropped.  Soon I was staying with the group, and finally, I was rotating through the pace line. It will happen, if you keep at it. You will become a faster and better cyclist by learning this skill.  

- Jeff Ogren