elros14

I'm still new to racing. I've been in two cat 5 circuits so far. This last weekend I was in a charity 30 mile ride (race). Early in the race I worked by way up to the lead group of five riders. We were all drafting in a line but I knew my bike fitness was not as good as the rest. I could have drafted the group the whole way I'm sure.

Well, the group started taking turns pulling and soon it was my turn. Even though I knew it was a bad idea I felt bad leaching, so I took my turn. After that though, I used up my short term energy and I got dropped. I caught the next group and stayed with them the rest of the race.

My question is in a long road race, am I expected to take a turn at pulling and if I won't should I be there?

bdcheung

1) Charity ride != race.
2) You're there to win, not help everyone out.
3) Given 2, only pull through if you can. If the other break riders are smart enough, they'll find a way to drop you.

botto 

what was it? a charity ride, or a race?

Bob Dopolina 

Doing a charity ride to benefit others is commendable and I hope you find time to continue in the future.

These kinds of events should not be confused with a competitive events. The etiquette surrounding both are quite different. As a charity event you are under no obligation what so ever to 'pull' or 'share the work'.

If you are interested in what would be expected during an actual race then I suggest you post an new thread in the racing forum to that end.

Don't expect a consensus on the topic, BTW.

WCroadie

That's pretty dead on, but there is some debate whether it's proper sportsmanship to sit in on a break then come around for the sprint.

And BTW, 30 miles is hardly considered a long road race.

gsteinb

Dear mother of god.

CastIron

To the above I'll just add:

We'll yell at you no matter what you decide.

You can always take a shorter pull.

merlinextraligh

For the sake of trying to make this productive, lets turn it in to one of those hypothetical racing threads, forget about the charity ride.

"I was in a circuit race, in the lead break of 5, I knew the other 4 were all stronger, and I would likely get dropped if I shared the work. Was I obligated to pull?"

Answer, you're not obligated to do squat, other than ride your bike safely. However, if you don't pull through in this situation, several bad things can happen.

1) the resulting in fighting in the break dooms the move to failure,

2) the other 4 take turns escorting you out the back of the break,

3) you get a reputation, and people won't work with you in breaks, etc.

Personally, I would pull through, but do as little work as possible.

If I got crap for it, I'd tell them I'm gassed, let me sit in just a bit, and recover, and I'll help as much as I can. If you're not a threat to take the sprint, they'll likely let you stay around if your any help at all.

If you are a threat to take the sprint, then they'll resort to 1 or 2 above.

elros14

Ok, I'm competitive so let's pretend it was a race. And let's assume that if it's not a 20 mile circuit then we can define it as "long". Under those circumstances, what is the etiquette regarding drafting and the breakout working together. Can I just leach off the group without breaking an unofficial rule?

Bobby Lex

Two points:

1. Drafting is not illegal.

2. Don't do anything in a race (including taking a pull) which is not intended to help you or a teammate achieve the best possible result.

Bob

MDcatV

no, just ride safely, but in a charity ride it is very fred to treat it like a race.

bdcheung

My two cents:

captnfantastic

Know your strengths.

If sprinting is your strong point, then strictly sit in... save yourself for the end

If you are a TT guy and can handle a few pulls then do it.

If you are going to get dropped after a pull then hell no don't pull... why would you purposely take yourself out of contention...

Cav sits in and wins a ton of races... he plays to his strengths.

gsteinb

merlinextraligh

I don't see Cav in a lot of breaks, or riders from other teams towing him to the line.

If sprinting is your strong suit, your breakaway companions are not just going to tow you. In this scenario, if you're a good sprinter, the other 4 are either going to fold the break, or drop your ass, before they tow you to the line well rested.

And if you're on the edge of getting dropped, not pulling through at all, is a pretty good way to guarantee that the other 4 will purposefully drop you.

gsteinb

Never mind that Cavendish has a team that's built to give him sprint opportunities and lead him out.

BobLoblaw

The short answer is no, you are not obligated to pull.

You might be EXPECTED to pull, but that's different. If you are EXPECTED to pull and don't, you might tick some people off; but it's a bicycle race, not a popularity contest.

Ask yourself two questions before you stick your nose into the wind during a race:
1. Is this helping me win?
2. Is this helping my friend or teammate win?

If the answer to both questions is no, then there's no reason for you to push the wind, even if you feel like Superman.

Look at this way: The guy who's yelling at you now to do more work might shortly be handing you your ass in the sprint or leaving you behind in a breakaway. And you can ride yourself right into the ground dragging the peloton along, imagining you're earning respect for doing all this work, but they won't even look at you as they sprint past you, leaving you to claim 47th place.

Save your jelly beans for the opportune moment. You only have so many, and there's no benefit to squandering them because someone else thinks you should.


BL

deadly downtube

yah, like milano san remo, 250km of sitting in twiddling his thumbs waiting to sprint.. it takes a great team to bring one guy to the finish area to contest a long race.. in a 30mi amateur race, if people pull a sprinter all the way to the finish line without trying to drop them, they are just newbs and you shouldn't feel bad about saving your strength for the end.. if they are smart they'll try to drop whoever isn't strong/working with them, so then you can earn your right to be there by fighting to stay on their wheels.. you might get yelled at though, if you are near the very front where the working people are, not doing any work, people will notice and call you a jerk.

CastIron

Let's not forget you're probably racing the same guys next week. And the week after.

wfrogge

There is no pretending here... It wasnt a race. Dont me one of those jackasses that "race" during charity rides.

gsteinb

I'll be honest, I don't like the sport enough to do a charity ride. Let me write a check and I'll stay in bed and eat pancakes.

elros14

If the event is being timed and if they are handing out medals at the end (I actually came in first for ages 20-29), then it's close enough to a "race". The rest is just details.

Dubbayoo

If pulling results in getting dropped you just did their work for them.

Red Rider

Grrrr...don't get me started on that particular brand of jackassery.

To the OP: Don't pull because you think you have to. Just know that if you don't and you continue to ride with these same people they'll remember your sandbagging ways and as merlinextraligh pointed out, they'll treat you accordingly.

Why not do some intervals in the meantime and get stronger?

DScott

Speaking as a non-racer, I hate wheel suckers. It's not that much more work to pull through on your turn. If we were in a small group and you didn't contribute to the work, even a little bit, I'd feel no obligation to help you hang on.

If you're going to be that competitive, then maybe you should work on getting in better shape.