Try what I call "offset" drafting, which is sitting maybe 6-12" to one side. You're not too far over that you're giving the spot away, not unless it's really, really, really tight, but at the same time you can see so much more that you should be able to move up a bit.

Other things you can do - ride off road if you can, cyclocross or mtb or similar, even your road bike if you feel like getting it a bit dirty (and you know there are no big rocks or ditches or humps in the grass). You want to have opportunities to really push the front tire's traction limits safely and doing so on dirt/grass/etc is not bad. Better than pavement at any rate.

Touching wheel drills (where you touch your front wheel to another rider's rear wheel) work wonders too - it's what really firmed up my confidence in a pack - but it requires at least one other like-minded rider, some grass/dirt (100-300' of grass/dirt works, it needs to be smooth enough for your road bike). I can go more into it, I have a post somewhere around here that describes it. If you can do this then it would be the best thing. It will reduce your sphere to something ridiculous, maybe 3 inches in front.

To put things in perspective I only get the sort of fight-or-flight reaction when I have 2 or 3 sides very close in, so front is a few inches, side is 1-2 inches, and maybe the other side is 1-2 inches. If I'm in that kind of a position then it's probably inside the last 500 meters so I'm not backing down, I'm hyperaware of what's going on around me, and I'm definitely in an adrenaline rush mode. It's usually when someone is trying to get me off a wheel. A good example is in the last two laps of this race. One guy tries to take me off of Shovel's wheel (he's a BF member) from the left, before the bell. Then when I get back on Shovel's wheel a rider to my right gives it a shot. Remember that the wide angle lens makes everything look far away.

In this still from the same cam (but earlier this year) I'm actually looking past my teammate's armpit at a car that is about 100 yards away to the front left. If you use my teammate's jersey as reference the car is under the "O" in Expo, below my teammate's ear. I was struggling on this ride and the wind was from the front-left so I was drafting my teammate as best as I could draft him.


In most situations I'll approach 3-6" to the back tire but there's usually a foot or more to the sides due to other riders' Sphere limitations. I feel sort of exposed like that. 6 inches to a ride on one side, now I feel more sheltered, more comfortable. Riders to both sides, 6 inches away, while following someone at 6 inches, now I feel nice and cocooned in a drafting box.