I should mention that technically I have never seen three abreast but what I am referring to is an odd phenomenon when a solo rider gets sandwiched between two sets of riders riding two abreast as they sort of spread out to semi-interlace the solo rider, from the rear it looks like three abreast but in reality it’s 2-1-2. Since some people are reluctant to re-pair and lose their riding bud this situation is semi-permanent but more to the point that this situation prevents others from taking this space when passing.

Safe riding in packs or in pace lines is highly dependent of riders communicating (stopping, slowing, turning or hazard) with one another and too often this is not stressed enough. Another problem is if the leader fails to anticipate that the pace line will be following his path +/- 5 inches so if he passes too close to a roadside hazard and fails to communicate that hazard it could catch an unsuspecting cyclists off guard. I can usually tell in short order if a pack is safe or not and when everyone is watching out for those behind. When everything is done right riding in a pace line can be a real blast. I remember running across something on the net about safe pace line instructions but I did not save the link. BBC riders are generally pretty good but we do have our occasional mess up (but not when I’m around. )

Anyway Charlie you are another person who I am looking forward to riding with one of these days.

It looks I have been spotted by Galen.