paceline pedaling
 

I keep a tight paceline, I don't yo yo. But my bike seems to glide better than most so my pedaling in not constant. It even happens when we are going fast like 20 to 21 mph. I try to soft pedal and keep my cadence up. I try to match the cadence of the bike in front of me. What do you guys do?

I ignore cadence in those situations and will usually ride one gear higher than I would normally do if I were riding by myself at that speed. I find having a little more pedal resistance makes it easier for me to micro-accelerate if needed in order to maintain a constant distance off my leader's wheel. Others may do differently, but that's what works best for me.

I feather my brakes and keep my cadence and gear selection as constant as possible. I tend to spin a little faster in a paceline than when I'm by myself (seems to be 90-100 in paceline, 85-95 solo).... don't really know why. But like I said, I find feathering the brakes works better for me than trying to micro-adjust pedal pressure (i.e. soft pedaling).

I shift up one gear and use soft pedaling, sitting up just a bit amd moving to one side for some wind resistance, to keep me from needing to feather brakes. But, will do so (feather the brakes) if need be, while continuing to pedal.

Using your brakes means that you are wasting effort.

You are yo-yoing because your attention is not far enough ahead of your bike. You need to react sooner to changes in speed at the front. Look farther up the line.

I use a slightly higher cadence in a pace line because that makes it easier to respond quickly to changes in speed.

Why would you try to match the cadence of the man in front? It's his pace you need to match, not his cadence. There's nothing wrong with coasting momentarily to micro-manage your speed.

I yoyo and admire you riders who keep it tight.

I trend to descend faster than the rest of the group but need to work harder while climbing. I'll reduce my cadence while descending and am ready to touch the brakes. While approaching a climb, I'll shift into a climbing gear before the rest of the group and spin at 100rpm or more and then allow my cadence to drop to about 90rpm. I try to avoid unnecessary shifts at the beginning of the climb.

I ride fixed gear in the pace line. The bike responds instantly to any speed changes in the group.

For our company MS150 team we did pacelined training rides, lead by one of our party who had been a collegiate competitive racer. His instructions were to pedal at low cadence in a higher gear than you'd use for solo riding, to limit the size of speed and gap variations. Also to keep a finger on the brake levers, and to use air resistance to make small gap increases when needed. Essentially pedal resistance is lower and the bike's response to added power is bigger while in a paceline (or peleton) that it would be for a lone rider. Considering the damage that may occur even to young racers in case of a paceline or peleton crash, I think these bits of technique are rather important for 50+ers.

This

And this.


Yes, touching brakes is wasted energy, but sometimes you have to react quickly - and not having your brakes cocked and ready is asking for trouble.

Not always possible. If you're following closely enough to draft properly, you cannot usually see further up the line - all you can see is the butt and back and the rear wheel of the rider in front of you.

Alternatively, if you can see further up the line, you're too far back or you're off center - and are not getting the full benefit of frafting.

Not true Duncan. You can look way in front of you and maintain proper position and spacing. The key is to not need to look at the wheel ahead to maintain proper spacing: you can get that from the bodies around you. Staring at the wheel ahead is bad technique. You really do need to be looking up ahead.

And at least for me, slow cadence in a pace-line sucks. You want a fast cadence so any slight change doesn't have as large an effect on speed. Feathering brakes, sitting up high, etc are all valid techniques for maintaining the right spacing.

Incorrect.

I don't disagree with the wasted effort thing, but since I'm not racing, but just riding in recreational pacelines, it really doesn't matter to me. But I do think it's an efficient way to micro-manage speed. Just barely feathering brakes, but mostly just keeping the fingers on the levers.

I hate riding pacelines unless it's with my cycling team. On non-team rides, I always manage to get behind someone that can't keep his bike in line with the rider in front of him. I'm always thinking that he is going to swerve right into my front wheel and down I go. But when I do ride in a paceline, I tend to ride at a much higher cadence to help control the speed changes.

Absolutely. Focusing entirely on the rider in front of you is a guarantee that you will end up braking unnecessarily. Looking ahead - which is perfectly possible even when drafting closely in the drops - allows you to anticipate what is coming and make tiny adjustments without braking. I'd hate to be behind someone who was only looking one rider ahead, it's dangerous.

I'm a bit confused by those of you who seem to be implying that you shift down and pedal at a cadence higher than the lead rider. If you assume that the lead rider is pedaling at an efficient cadence for the speed, shifting down usually see's me spinning like a squirrel against little to no resistance and finding it hard to maintain a smooth spin. Given the reduction in wind resistance and required power, I find it much easier to maintain the same gear or shift up one and maintain a 'slightly' lower cadence than the lead rider. That's not to say that I'm grinding. I'm probably still in the 80-90 range. But, this seems to feel far more efficient than spinning at high 90's to 100+ when I'm supposed to be recovering for my next turn.

Hello Mr AR58

Are you a strong, big guy, maybe riding with other good riders who might be a bit smaller? I ask because when on the tandem, we 'glide better than most', and pace line riding is tricky because of momentum.

(we get dropped at once on climbs when momentum works against us!)

I am 5'6" 180. My bike is a 2003 Klein q carbon with Mavic Ksyrium sl wheels. Oh 22% body fat

In which case - my question is answered. I trust it wasn't impertinent - I was thinking of a few strong friends, who have to brake in a line

All the best

As a general rule, you want to spin a bit faster when you are in a line recovering. It helps get rid of the lactic buildup. When you are pulling, you want to be in your 'power zone', which is typically a bit slower. My power sweet spot (for a variable effort ride like a paceline) is ~95, and I'll use that when pulling, then often spin up to between 100 and 105 when recovering in the line. I never try to match the cadence of those around me - it's too individualized.

Yeah, all of the above, but I think the easiest way to adjust is to sit up and catch more wind.

...unless you don't like getting yelled at, in which case you should avoid coasting in the paceline.

Why is the alternative of braking or overlapping wheels preferable?

This should explain how many things will get you yelled at in a Pace Line: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...to-yell-at-you Read as many of the 1865 pages as you can stand. Taken from the 41 Hall of Shame.

Bill