Road Bike Racing - Race Questions

New to the sport but... here are some stupid questions.... I was watching a race today and since I have only been riding single so far this year I dont know the benefits or how well these work.... but

1: When they Draft does it really help much? how close do you need to ride to the wheel to make this work.

2: How does it work to get on someones wheel and pull them back?

Thanks
Chaz

helps alot... some estimates put it at 20% energy savings - and the drafting benefit can usually be felt from as far back as 1 bike length, but gets better as you get closer.

When you suck someone's wheel, you're not really "pulling them back" per se - you're really just making them do all the work of breaking the wind, so they get tired, while you recover in their draft and stay fresh

I'm starting to get the idea that, at higher speeds, drafting also has a slight benefit (physically speaking) for the rider in front (rather than a slight disadvantage, aerodynamically). So I don't know if the 'sitting on his wheel' is really true (after reading about domestiques following a rival's attack by sitting on their wheel.)

Originally posted by brent_dube
I'm starting to get the idea that, at higher speeds, drafting also has a slight benefit (physically speaking) for the rider in front (rather than a slight disadvantage, aerodynamically).

Elementary fluid dynamics... by decreasing the amount of three-dimensional vortices at the back of the rider, you also decrease parasitic drag. Additionally, the rider doing the drafting is "sucked" forward into the low pressure region created by the same vortices.

brent_dube: yes you're correct.... but like you said it's a SLIGHT aero advantage, not enough for a racer to be able to justify staying at the front the whole race!!! LOL. Even with that small push, he is still working alot harder than the guy in the back.

Originally posted by khuon
...parasitic drag...

I hate it when that happens.:eek: :)

Depending on the number of riders around you and the wind conditions, the benefits of drafting can be huge. A 20% energy savings would be conservative under ideal conditions. I've ridden in road races where I hardly needed to pedal to maintain 26-27 mph on the flats. You literally get sucked along in the draft.

I've ridden my Power Tap on the occasional Wednesday night fast group ride and the difference in power needed at the front vrs in the group is huge. One example was a single file paceline on a fairly flat country road. I sat on the front and took a real long pull (close to 3 miles) at between 290 and 310 watts. We were maintaining around 27-28 MPH and conditions were very good. When I pulled off and back into the line, my power dropped to less than 220 watts to maintain the same speed while sitting in around 15 riders back. On a different group ride, same Wednesday night guys on a different route, there is one really fast stretch of roadway where the pace always jumps. On this particular day, I lead the jump and held around 410-430 watts (35-36 mph) before pulling off. After pulling off I only needed 300 watts to sit in 5 riders back.

Pulling someone back is IMO more mental than physical. Having someone sit on your wheel and not pull through is very discouraging. You know that when it comes down to crunch time, that guy will eat you alive as he's totally fresh and you're totally fried. The act of actually slowing someone’s progress by pulling through then soft pedaling also happens on occasion.

Originally posted by chaztrip
1: When they Draft does it really help much? how close do you need to ride to the wheel to make this work.

2: How does it work to get on someones wheel and pull them back?
1: I've heard it said that at 20mph on a road bike, 80% of your effort is beating wind resistance. Following at 6"-12" (distance between wheels), the difference is huge.

2: I think you sort of misunderstood the scenario. Typically, someone (a domestique) will drop back back to pull another team member (typically the team leader) forward. The leaders strength is conserved by riding forward in the domestiques draft.


The "wheelsucker," described above, doesn't have a noticable effect on the person in front, however they are considered a liability in a paceline since they aren't contributing to the effort, and typically are saving all their strength for the final sprint, at the expense of those who did the work.