therhodeo

Probably my least favorite type of rider is the ones who try to stay on the front for huge amounts of time, kill the pace, and force everyone to pass. I've seen them get mad about it too. "I did all that work, then you guys took off and left me". How do you politely tell them "no you got yourself dropped trying to be a hero on a group ride".

BoSoxYacht

Just tell him, "you got yourself dropped trying to be a hero on a group ride."

The truth is never mean.

therhodeo

Ha fair enough. Given the egos I've seen in the group though it should likely be approached more like "hey you're way strong than everyone else, you should give other guys a chance to ride on the front".

StanSeven

I would just tell them next time don't stay on the front so long to get that fatigued. It can be said in a helpful way.

therhodeo

Yeah I've done that before. I've ridden alot in the past but not so much since our son was born (lots of health issues) so when I do ride now I'm with alot of beginners so I try to help out with advice and normally they're receptive. I did have one though tell me that if we wanted around him to attack. I told him "attacking" isn't a thing on a tuesday night B ride.

merlinextraligh

There's this belief amongst many beginning riders that they need to do "their fair share" So they stay at the front trying to match the length of pulls of stronger riders, and often cause the pace to drop, and disrupt the paceline.

What they need to understand is that they need to match the pace of the other pulls, not the length of the pull, that its perfectly acceptable to come off the front as soon as you clear the previous rider's wheel, and that you pull off before dropping the pace.

All that seems pretty obvious to people that have experience in pacelines, but it isn't necessarilly obvious to new riders.

We just have to talk to them, and teach. As sport, we tend to do a pretty lousy job teaching new people.

rpenmanparker 

Yeah, I hate those guys, forcing me to go slower...NOT!

caloso

If you're new, not quite fit enough, or just not having the best day, there's no shame in staying out of the rotation.* I'd rather have people sit in than try to do too much and disrupt the flow.




*Note that it's considered poor form to contest the sprint if you haven't contributed to the workload at the front.

UmneyDurak

Except in a race.

Speaking of racing. I was in a small chase group and this guy would just get to the front and hammer, and not get off the front, messing up rotation. So we just let him hammer at the front, then sprinted around him for finish. He was quite annoyed at the end "Not fair, I did all this work!" Umm thanks?

PeregrineA1 

My first organized century ride I had very little (like almost none) experience pulling, or for that matter any type of group road ride. I was very fit and an experienced MTB rider.

I did a pull at around mile 50 for waaaay too long. Probably a couple of miles, didn't drop the pace, but one of the other's in the line said, as he passed (I had pulled off appropriately, eventually) "That was the strangest paceline I've ever been in. Nice pull". My buddy that brought to the ride later explained the technique....

eduardo76

I just moved to Poland from the US, and taking very long pulls seems to be de rigueur here. I've often watched the pace drop waiting for a flick of the elbow that would not come for an extra few kilometers. But here, coming around someone who's been sitting up front and won't drop back, doesn't seem to be a big deal and happens quite often too.

Mr IGH

Let 'em get dropped without any explanation, Darwin lives!

seymour1910

Oustanding post Merlin. This makes the most sense. I did this when I started three years ago. I thought I was "just doing the right thing" I never slowed the pace down, but I would get up there and literally burn myself out. When I was done with my pull I was so gassed, I would then get dropped. At 6'1" and 225lbs, people had no issues drafting me at 20+ mph. Live and learn leason, or should I say ride and learn.

I also agre that there is not enough teaching, yelling at a guy that doesn't know any better is a b1tch move IMO. I have never had anyone yell at me, and hope it doesn't happen. I have found that those tough guy's that do all the yelling on the bike are chumps when the ride is over and they get confronted.

therhodeo

Add to the list of "b1tch moves" intimidating people who weight 75lbs less than you because you're butthurt over their yelling.

seymour1910

You must be one of the yellers. If you read my post you would have noticed I wasn't talking about myself. I have never yelled at anyone, been yelled at, or confronted anyone about yelling. As I said before, from what I've SEEN, the guy's that are tough guy's on the bike tend not not be so tough when they get off the bike. And it wasn't Bruce Banner confronting them either.

therhodeo

My apologies for thinking it was you. Either way grown men getting in someones face because they yelled at them is silly. I tend to only yell in cases of other riders being a danger to me others like the kid who swerved on a 40+mph downhill and couldn't hear the other riders talking to him for his earbuds. He got yelled at. He apologized too. On group rides when you're riding in close quarters if you're doing something blatantly wrong you can be risking someones safety and property. Thats worthy of yelling.

seymour1910

Good point.That's completely different though, if someone is doing something completely dumb, something that could send you or one of your friends to the hospital, by all means yell. Guy's like that make us all look bad. On Saturday's ride I saw a guy blow through every stop sign and red in his path.

I'm talking about a guy that seriously just needed guidance. He wasn't doing anything to hurt anyone, he just looked out of place, so this other guy was yelling for no reason. Even a little name calling was involved. When the ride was over, the guy walked over and wanted to know what all the yelling and name calling was about, the yeller got real humble. I thougt it was funny.

Nachoman

It's super annoying. But if you yell "ROTATE" really loud, it usually solves the problem.

colnago62

I will start counting down the drop in mph. They usually get the hint.

Ice41000

Yelling seems to help.

roadwarrior

It's pretty simple.

Just tell everyone that about 30 seconds up front works, pull off and then tuck in the back.

Geez...I've seen little kids in Belgium ride pace lines to school, but then it's in their DNA.

Sobering story...a racing buddy's sixth grade son's gym class did the entire Liege-Bastogne-Liege course. That's about 165 miles...so doing pace lines is not an issue.

Seriously, just tell everyone to not take a pull longer than maybe a half minute and don't pretend to be Eddy Merckx and go off at 30mph for your 30 seconds of fame. You will all be a lot happier and the movement will keep your attention.

roadwarrior

No earbuds when you are riding in a group. That is gospel. IF you are a superstar professional with a team car and race radios, only one ear gets an earbud.

roadwarrior

Sounds like a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours...

Generally it is best to explain how the ride will work before you leave and assume everyone knows what they are doing.

This is why, personally, I never ride with people I don't know. It's just not worth the hassle. Especially when the least knowledgeable person, generally is the one making the most noise.

seymour1910

All valid points

therhodeo

I've tried and tried to get this point across but typically rides are shop sponsored and they absolutely avoid the subject to not offend anyone.