Road Cycling - how to ride in a group

Just started going on rides with a local bike shop every sat morning. The rides are usually about 35 miles, and it is obvious that everyone else in the group has been doing it for a long time. (usually about 20-30 riders) I have picked up on the line basics, as far as passing, taking turns leading, pointing out obstacles, but I wanted to know if there was a book, or article or something that explained all the basic rules and techniques. The do's and don'ts if you will.

I have been commuting to work 26 miles round trip m-f on my mountain bike for about 5 months now, and for the group rides i use my new road bike (my first road bike) I asked one of the guys after a ride for pointers, and if i did anything wrong. He said i was "all over the place" meaning i didn't keep a straight line. On todays ride, i payed attention to this and was basicly unable to correct it. I kept my arms more bent as he suggested, but still was not able stop myself from having to make regular quick corrections. (Now keep in mind, I am not some ****** that just Jerks violently to the right or left at any given moment. I am talking about little tiny balance corections that will cause my bike to move to the right or left 3 or 4 inches. What can i do to stop this from happening?

My exact situation to help diagnose the problem:
1.) This is my first road bike
2.) The bike is a 2004 GIANT TCR2 (XL)
3.) LBS did a proper fitting when i picked up the bike
4.) I am 6'3" 255 pounds (and in good shape believe it or not!)
5.) Don't think I have this problem on Mountain Bike
6.) Have clipless pedals on both bikes
7.) Psi on road bike 115
8.) On these rides i average 20-21mph. on the flats we will cruise between 22-28mph
9.) I spend the majority of the time with my hands on the "hoods" (i think that is what they are called)

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated!!! If anyone knows the basic rules, please list them!!!

What can i do to stop this from happening?

Congratulations on finding a good group and your commuting!

You've already done what you need to to correct your technique - ask others how you're doing :) I would say you just need more experience on the road bike and think about being smooth. It will come with time.

Keep asking members of the group how you're doing. If they're not complete jerks, they will appreciate your attempts to improve.

FWIW, I believe I'm very smooth in a group and I have 10's of thousands of miles on my road bike, but after riding our new tandem for a week, my first 5 miles on the road bike today were extremely squirrly :eek: Perhaps switching between the road and mtn bikes is affecting your road bike handling. Can you commute on the road bike a couple times a week?

-murray

rollers

rollers
what are rollers, ive seen discussions about them but i still dont get it

Smoothie104 is exactly right and yup, there's no more to be said, but....

Between now and when you get on rollers, what can you do?

Given that at least one of your problems is that you are not perceiving balance errors until they are large enough to require a 4" lateral correction to get the bike back under your CG, only things I can think of that might help are:

1) to get down on the drops. Lowering your CG will reduce the size of the correction. If you have flexibility problems that are keeping you off the drops, you need to work on that. You need to be able to stay down there for hours. If you have to raise the bars a little to get down there, that's better than not getting down there. You have to be flexible, period. You can't have tendons that have run out of travel dragging the rest of your body around because you have run out of travel, and expect to stay balanced.

2) Work on your spin at higher rpms and start using that. Stay over 93 rpm in a pack. Keeping the rpms up means that your pedaling software balancing errors (if any) are of shorter duration and reduced power. Do some one-legged pedaling, and work on balanced spin all the way up to 125 rpm. There is a tendency on the part of big guys to mash at lower rpms because of the frontal area advantage they have on flat ground. Big guys have more meat behind each unit of frontal area than smaller guys, so on flat ground they have an aerodynamic advantage. On a hill it is a contest of power-to-weight ratio, and a fairer contest for the pixies.

3) Practice riding down the center of the white "fog line" stripe on the outside of the lane. When you can ride down the center of the stripe and never touch the sides, you're getting close (no we are not making this up).

I have no knowledge of the bike you are on, other than that if it is a Giant road bike I presume it is of compact design. The supposed advantage to dealers is that any given size can be adjusted to fit a wider range of buyers, so dealers can stock fewer sizes. I throw out only for consideration the question of whether or not your handlebars are high enough and far enough away. Elbows locked can be caused by one of two fit problems, either bars too far away, or bars too low and too close. You can tell the difference by looking at the angle of the arm with locked elbows from the shoulder to the bars, relative to the ground plane. If you are pointing more "down" compared to the average of other riders, then your bars are too close and also perhaps too low. If you are pointing more "level" there is a chance they are too far away, or maybe you need to work on flexibility. It is not possible to go directly from an observation that a rider's elbows are locked to the conclusion that the handlebars are too far away, though some people try to do that. They read something somewhere, and they think it is a rule.

Normal fit shape for a cyclist of 6'3" is somewhere around 180 lbs. Of course, you could be exceptional, so just ask yourself if you can see your hip bones, and your ribs, and your collarbones, and your abdominal muscles. Heart rate around 40 in the morning and in the 40's all day? Lower?

The fastest way to fix poor balance/pedaling software is rollers.

ok thanks for the replies!!! now, what are rollers? (hopefully we are not talking about training wheels here!! :) :) :)

Rollers are a training device which you ride your bike on. Front and rear wheels are spinning, you are balancing on them. Check colorado cyclist or some other online shop to see what they look like.

cheers

[/QUOTE]He said i was "all over the place" meaning i didn't keep a straight line. On todays ride, i payed attention to this and was basicly unable to correct it. I kept my arms more bent as he suggested, but still was not able stop myself from having to make regular quick corrections. (Now keep in mind, I am not some ****** that just Jerks violently to the right or left at any given moment. I am talking about little tiny balance corections that will cause my bike to move to the right or left 3 or 4 inches. What can i do to stop this from happening?
[/QUOTE]



Being a diminutive rider myself...NOT. I would suggest trying to spin a smaller gear at a higher cadence. Also try to relax your shoulders, arms and grip. If you're trying to push too big a gear, the torque on alternate sides as you motor has a tendency to find its way into your shoulders as you try to compensate. Naturally, this also finds its way to the bars and your line...

For example, unless you have a crit bike, you can ride without hands and you'll track pretty darn straight if you spin, but you'll crash and burn if you mash.

This might/might not be a factor, just something to consider.

Good luck.

I would suspect that your Mtn. bike experience has made you comfortable with letting the bike wander. I agree also that commuting on your road bike and riding the fog line would help you improve pretty quickly.

track bike and toe clips optional, as is the "Hair Helmet"

Riding them is like riding on ice at first, your back wheel steers all over the place if you hips are not still.

Once you learn to ride them, it will make you smoother and more effecient on the road.