Are you planning to cycle a Granfondo or a tour this year? Or do you want to join a cycling club? If so, you will definitely find yourself riding in a group. The tips below will make sure you know where to start one. Not only instructive for newbies, but definitely useful tips for experienced cyclists too!
1. Hold your line
A group can make quite a few strange moves because someone can't keep their handlebars straight. So try to keep your line as much as possible, so this also means that sometimes it is better to go full over that pit rather than swerve from it at the very last moment.
2. Unloading is part of it
Every group has its weak and strong links. So if you join or ride along in a group with strangers, they may ride you off. Nothing to be ashamed of, everyone cycles at their own level. In a group ride with acquaintances, it is best to follow the SUST principle. The group then rides as fast as the weakest link can handle.
3. Be alert to the accordion effect
In a group, it can happen quite often that after a bend, a gap opens up and an accordion effect begins. This means that everyone sprints to catch up, once the last wheel is reached they have to brake hard, with a high risk of falling. At every corner following corner, it starts all over again. Be alert to this and try to keep your predecessor's wheel as much as possible during a corner.
4. Stay in front
This is not just the reason Lance Armstrong won the Tour seven times. If you are at the front, as an amateur you will not suffer (or at least less) from the accordion effect, saving energy and making it easier to finish the ride. This often does mean that you take regular turns in the lead, so make sure you are and stay strong enough to take turns in the lead.
5. Drive up holes yourself
As mentioned, it is important to leave as few gaps as possible, and if that does happen, it is decent to make the effort through the wind to close it yourself and not look around to see who can do the job for you. It is better to close the gap gradually, sprinting towards the last wheel will only create the accordion defect.
6. Close gaps left by others
If there is a weaker rider who cannot manage to close the gap he left, jump in as soon as possible. Ride the gap closed gradually, not in one rush, so that the cyclist who didn't get the gap closed feels dickish, as said, everyone is doing their best and everyone has their own level.
7. Define your position in the group
If you are cycling in a large group for the first time, it will take some time to find what you find relaxing. You are probably not yet at ease in the middle of the group. Therefore, try to find a place where you can ride quietly and relaxed, for example on the outside or at the back of the group.
8. Stay relaxed
Make sure you are comfortable on your bike and also radiate that you have everything under control. The moment you are stressed on the bike, the chances of falling are higher, others sense this and that is why no one likes to sit in the wheel of a nervous rider.
9. Look in front of you!
A group can sometimes swing weirdly, so always pay attention to what is happening. If a weird move is made three rows in front of you, it can cause you to go under. Even if you are tired, always look in front of you!
10. Don't be a wheelsucker
Nobody is waiting for free riders. No matter how short your lead is, just rotate into the system. If you can't run with it, just let the group run.
11. Wear a helmet
Cyclingreview.co.uk may seem like a one-issue website, but this really is hugely important. Especially in a group where a crash is always lurking. There are many groups that don't accept riders without helmets, kudos!
12. Keep speed in the bend
As mentioned, corners are the biggest contributors to the accordion effect. It takes some practice and quite a bit of guts, but maintaining your speed in the corner ensures that you don't lose your predecessor's wheel and therefore don't have to close any gaps. You also maintain speed, making your driving more efficient.
13. Keep your hands on the wheel!
If you want to straighten your back, just drop down to the back of the group. If your hands are not on the handlebars you can fall badly and in a group you never fall alone. You feel pretty silly if your stupidity causes someone to break their collarbone.
14. Use hand gestures
Cyclists have universal hand gestures to indicate dangers, such as a bad road surface or an oncoming cyclist. Make sure you know the hand signals and use them yourself. The nine most commonly used signals are depicted below.
15. Divide your forces
If you are riding on public roads in a group that has a nice speed, you don't need to prove that you are strong. There is no point in pulling through an enormously strong turn in the lead only to run out of strength five kilometres down the road and have to let go.
16. Be on time
If you have an appointment to leave at a certain time, make sure you are absolutely on time. Getting dressed and prepared can easily take three quarters of an hour, so make sure you don't do everything at the last minute.
17. Cycle two-by-two
On public roads, it can feel just like a kindergarten class, you just barely have to hold hands. Still, it is not wise to cycle with more than two in a row. Motorists certainly can't appreciate it and will definitely push you off the road; it can also create awkward situations when facing oncoming traffic.
18. Stay civilised
Whether it is because of the adrenaline or whether it has to do with some people letting their true selves come out on the bike, I don't know, but in a group there is a noticeable amount of shouting at each other. Let's act like normal people and just leave that out from now on, ok?
19. Comply with traffic rules
As a group, you will sometimes come across traffic lights. If it turns red, just wait nicely and don't do any last-minute breakneck manoeuvres.
20. Pay attention to where your phlegm ends up
Ruffling, tuffing and spitting seem to be the favourite hobby of cyclists. Somehow that snot has to get out of the airways. Fine, but don't deposit your snot on my shoes. If you need to empty your nose or throat so much, just drop down to the back and or cycle at the side of the group to do your business. Thank you.
21. Hands on the brakes
As mentioned several times, you have to be prepared for anything. Therefore, do not keep your hands loose on the handlebars, but on the brake levers or in the stirrups. In that position, you can reach your brakes fastest and react to the situations to come.
22. No time trial handlebars
Although it sounds attractive, it is definitely not relaxing for the rest of the group if someone briefly turns on their turbo and picks up the pace in the stance. Besides, with a time trial handlebar, you are a lot less manoeuvrable and therefore a risk to the group.
23. Maintain a steady pace up front
If you see that your predecessor is going 32 km/h, try to maintain that pace during your/your lead. Constantly increasing and decreasing the speed is only annoying. If you know the people you cycle with, you can agree on what speed to maintain. This is often referred to as a cruising speed, which is the speed you can maintain for a longer period of time and not your maximum speed.
24. Be predictable
Actually, the ideal rider in a group is just dead boring. Just do the things that are expected of you and don't whine about it. No wonder the best cyclists like to cycle ahead of the group to avoid having to follow the group's rules!
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