EventServices

Is it a control thing?
Is it a competitive streak?

For you new riders who haven't ridden with another rider much, "half-wheeling" is when two riders ride side by side (or in the UK: side by each) but one rider always stays about a half a wheel in front of the other instead of just side by side.

It can be very annoying.

I ride with a guy who CONSTANTLY does it. Usually I let it go, but sometimes I'll pull even with him to see what he does. He speeds up. So I'll do it again. He'll speed up again. Before long, we're going too fast to talk. And he'll still pull ahead. And I'll do it again.

What's behind all that?

carpediemracing 

I think it's competitiveness. Maybe control, but for sure competitiveness. I recall an interview with Lemond where he claims him and Phil Anderson would halfwheel each other until they were going flat out on "easy" rides.

Ever since I became aware of half wheeling I try to sit about a quarter wheel back from whoever I'm next to at the time. It's harder to talk to them though.

I was just in the Tampa area and someone complained about hating halfwheeling when dealing with headwinds. I thought, "wtf, why would anyone want to ride faster into the wind?" Well, apparently in stiff headwinds everyone reverse half wheels - they slow a bit. Said rider described how everyone is slowing and suddenly, if you're not at the front, you're crawling along.

cdr

roccobike

That's what happened in a double pace line in a NC, MS 150 last year. While going into a stiff wind, the two leaders began cutting back on the speed, half wheeling, alternating between the two pace lines. The yo-yo effect back in the pack was terrible. I was hit in the rear by a less experienced rider. While neither of us went down, I decided it was safer to ride alone and deal with the wind myself rather than risk a crash.

pdedes

half-wheeling is nothing less than an attempt at domination. you can either submit, compete or ignore.

johnny99

I think there is a safety issue with riding side by side. Each person is blocking half of the other person's peripheral vision. If you can't ride single file for some reason, riding a few feet in front is still safer.

Homebrew01

I was thinking about half-wheeling just the other day. There are 2 guys in our group that do it. They're fine on group rides, but if it's just the 2 of us, they do it all the time. Once in a while I'll half wheel a little bit to see what happens, or I just drop back & draft ... F*** 'em.


Where are you riding ? In a mall parking lot with traffic coming from all sides ?

rat fink

Yeah, I get nervous when riding side-by-side. I usually ride in front and single file. I think I developed the habit due to the narrow roads in my area.

mollusk

Half wheeling is to group riding as faking to throw a stick is to playing with a dog: Doing it a little is in good fun, but doing it a lot is just cruel. And some riders (and dogs) never figure it out.

exRunner

I don't think I have ever come across anyone doing this. I must ride a sheltered life.

celticfrost

Sounds like someone isn't yelling loud enough.

I suppose half-wheeling is sometimes unavoidable at times and just kind of "happens" occasionally, but if it lasts for more than 3-5 secs, then it can get slightly unnerving. I concur w/ "competitiveness" being the main culprit --- I just hate it when that competitiveness leads the endangering of others, especially during a frikkin' group/training ride.

Seems to happen a lot more when people are gassed/fatigued and their mental focus goes kaput.

Nachoman

My wife is a half-walker. No matter how slow I walk, she's just a half step behind me. It's really annoying.

CrimsonKarter21

There's a guy around here who does that. I've picked up on it, I've always let it slide, except for the last time we rode.
We were with a group and were both on the front, I look over and pull ahead of him.

About 5 minutes later, we're riding at just under 30 mph and the rest of the group had fallen off.

spry

Staggered riding serves 2 purposes: To avoid spittle/saliva when the guy next to you is yelling.
Also to avoid temptation to kick over the rider along side of you who is yelling.

Nick29

My girlfriend does that and it bugs the heck out of me.

My two main riding buddies are my best friend and his dad. When it's just the three of us, we generally stay in a short paceline, but we'll do things to push each other that we wouldn't/don't do in a larger group. Sometimes we'll pick up the pace a little as each of us comes to the front, or if the guy on the front is taking it a little too easy, one of us will pull out of line and pass him, forcing the other two to pick up the pace. The end result is we get a better workout than we would alone, but I could definitely see it causing problems in a larger group where you don't know everyone and have to worry about the yo-yo effect.

ericm979

I think it's an unconscious thing with most riders. Some of us are aware of it, others are oblivious to it. Sometimes I will do it on purpose to someone who has been doing it to me or annoying me in some other way... most of the time they don't even notice.

urbanknight

I only ever did it while racing, but there were two reasons:

1) Mess with the mind of my competitor.
2) That's just enough room for my foot to be just ahead (or just behind) the other rider's in very close situations (most useful on the track)

youcoming

There is a guy in my club who does it all the time, well not so much to me anymore. Took me two years but when he tried to half wheel me in August I turned it back on him...hahahaha. I must admit it felt good to return the pain. Good fun every once in awhile just to see where your riding buddies fitness is at.

RacerOne

Maybe he just doesn't want to talk and wishes you rode faster. :-) I have been in this situation before though, pretty much the same result as everybody else here, you end up pulling forward, going way faster than the group wants and the ride gets blown apart. Just the way it should be.

Cleave

Hello EventServices,

I figured that you would know. I haven't finished reading your book but I would have expected to find the anatomy (including the psychology) of half-wheeling somewhere in there.

I think that most often it has to do with ego. The "half-wheeler" may not intentionally perform the act but they have a subconscious desire to always lead.

Does that sound reasonable enough?

umd

I think most people just don't realize they are doing it. I had one person do it to me in a rotating paceline once... he pulled off and then when I went to pull through he kept accelerating and I kept accelerating to try to get in front of him. I had to yell at him to stop it.

enjoi07

i can see it now....Roadie: The Road Continues

Shayne

I hate it when that happens. I've started to just let them sit out there a cook, sooner of later they learn....or not.

EventServices

Thanks for reading Roadie! I'm discovering a lot of things that I left out of that book.

And you're right, I think it's a latent desire to lead when there really is no need to. If I were to call him on it, he wouldn't get it.

wants185s

I know the feeling. And then when you get home she complains that you stay ahead of her on purpose because you don't want to walk with her.

oldbobcat

Fear of getting dropped, maybe?

It doesn't bother me. Actually makes it easier to decide who drops back when a car approaches.