Originally Posted by erdim87

Well I did it and boy have I learned a lot. First off, all you really need is common sense. I picked up on all the signals, vocal and hands, and even got thanked by a pace line for saving them from a water bottle that nobody had called out. I was in a group doing about 25mph for the first 25 miles, but then I went down hard after hitting a turn that had loose gravel. I think I pulled my left hamstring and I wasn't able to keep pace after that. I ended at 7:00:02. Not the best, but not the worst, and I'm just happy I finished strong. That time should be easy to beat next year.

So now I get to offer my own opinion in retrospect.

First off, I think valygrl was 100% correct on all counts. Thank you for the response. As for everyone else, I have to disagree with the "avoid it at all costs" attitude. As long as you pay close attention to everyone else and mimic what they do, then you're fine. In the early cluster, I had a guy yell for me to hold the line. I realized I was still behind the rider in front of me (taking valygrl's advice on not being half-way behind them), but not directly behind him. I fixed it, realized that it was much better, and never made the mistake again. I also rode where I was comfortable, but if others weren't comfortable, they dropped me plain and simple. I rode with some groups for several miles rotating the whole way, others dropped me after about 2 minutes, and others I ended up dropping to join a faster group. The only time where I was uncomfortable was when the line was taking a pace slower than what I wanted, but had no room on the left to pass (the lines during the tour were about 10-50 riders long, so if you were getting passed by a line and wanted to join, you had to wait quite a long time for the end). The brakes advice helped a lot as well. I was able remain 12" back from the rider in front of me easy without using the brakes and by paying attention to the rpms of the riders in front of me. The only time I used them was when everyone signaled for slowing, or slowing rapidly. I'd also like to add the importance of saying "on your left/right" when passing. There was one time when I was passing someone, said "on your left," and then nearly took out somebody who was silently passing me on my own left. The pace line behind him scolded him and apologized to me. That alone reinforced the importance, and I never passed anyone without calling it out first. Overall, I think small mistakes help you learn, and big mistakes are only made by those who are not paying attention, lack common sense, or are trying to show off.

Keith99: The mess at the front was just as messy as the middle. I was nervous the first couple minutes, but not even 5 miles in I was very relaxed and copying what others were doing. If I had started in the back, I would have been worse off as there would have been less people who know enough for me to copy their actions. There were many more accidents at the back than the front.

CBadRider: You were correct. There were more people there than I had expected who were newcomers. Turns out, if a couple n00bs start talking about their n00bness, veterans will almost hunt down these groups to spread their wise advice. I never came across a rider who was pissed at our inexperience, always the contrary.

So thanks again everyone for the advice, and if anyone reads this thread because they're in a similar boat, I hope it helps. See you at EL Tour de Tucson 2010!