bdcheung

the only rides that we ever double paceline are the all-club rides on Sunday where the point isn't really to "train" but to be social and chat it up with teammates you might not see during the regular season.

IOW, a chance for the lower-category riders to pick the brains of the 1s and 2s.

Creakyknees

I've done club rides that are true double pacelines, at least that's the intention at the start... but they tend to devolve into the 4 strongest riders hammering along and everybody else sitting in.

San Rensho 

In beautiful Miami Florida. The group I ride with is usually 50+ so we just kinda take up a whole lane of traffic.

Brian Ratliff

We ride double pace lines all the time - it's my race team's standard training ride formation. We don't typically peel off to both sides though... usually the front two just sweep off to the left and drift back in tandem after taking their pull.

As far as car traffic goes, as long as you can keep it tight, for 30 riders, the 15 row double pace line seems easier to pass than a 30 person single paceline on low traffic country roads. Probably because most of the roads are narrow and require the cars to basically change lanes anyway, and sight lines are short; so pulling out to pass a short paceline is easier than pulling out to pass a long, single paceline.

brianappleby

Brian, are your 2 guys in the wind alone until they hit the back of the line? If so, it seems better to run a rotating paceline. Otherwise your 30 rider group should only be (30/4) or 7-ish riders from front to back. You're essentially riding 4 abreast with the right two lines advancing, and the left 2 receding.

I was always under the impression that a single paceline is one where the leader pulls off the front and is alone in the wind until he hits the back. Seen from above it looks like a single file line plus one rider on the outside drifting back. A double paceline is where the leader pulls off, and the new leader immediately pulls off as soon as there is room, so there is one advancing line and one receding line. According to the vocab in this thread, the first doesn't have a name and the second is a single (rotating?) paceline?

bwunger

Found this graphic, might clarify things brianappleby. Single, Double, Rotating and Echelon from left to right.

bdcheung

brianappleby: the second example in your post is called a "rotating paceline", not a "double paceline".

brianappleby

word. thanks for the clarification.

Enthalpic

Don't believe everything you read.

rbart4506

That's how we do it in my parts...Double paceline where riders drop back from both sides...When the road is particularly busy or narrow we'll drop down to single...

The plan for this coming year is to get more rotating pace lines going since they take up less real estate on the road and you get a better tempo ride going...

botto 

i may not get many chances to ride hills over here, but i definitely get my fair share of echelons and pacelines of all varieties.

EventServices

The double paceline in which the front two riders pull off on either side is for chatty group rides.



I like it that my spellcheck tries to tell me that 'paceline' isn't a word.

epenthetic

Let me try some thread necromancy:

So, I'm in an area that can have sudden, hard shifts in wind direction- lots of farmland and retaining walls that can alternately shield you or turn the wind against you. If I'm in a rotating paceline and getting ready to pull through right when we hit a complete change in wind direction (assuming I'm with a group that pulls off into the wind, i.e. the right way to do it), what do I do? Just pull off to the other side and hope the person behind me reads my wiggling elbow correctly?

caloso

I think the most effective way to change the rotation direction is to do it from the back. That is, when you're "last" pull up the line on the other side. And make sure to let everyone know that you're going the other way as you work your way up the line. It'll be a little tougher, as you won't have anyon to follow up that side, but if it's a true crosswind, you'll still be mostly shielded.

botto 

nothing more irritating than pulling off and the guy behind you shouting that it's time to pull off in the other direction.

waterrockets 

I just pull off into the wind. If I'm doubting my assessment of the wind direction, I'll look for my drafter's front wheel, and pull to the side opposite of where it is. If there's no significant cross wind, then I'll just pull the way everyone else is, so the previous guy doesn't have more wind on his way back. If I'm changing direction, then the guy who pulled off before me will be on the other side, with no draft for his way back, but since he's on the down-wind side, he's covered anyway.

botto 

unless it's a narrow road, and everyone shifts suddenly, which may force that rider into the grass/gravel.

epenthetic

^ That's my concern- I ride a lot on twisting little farm roads, barely even 2 lanes wide.

waterrockets 

We only have big roads here. You know.

Creakyknees

that's why we have elbows.

epenthetic

I hear even the elbows are bigger in Texas.

botto 

elbowing someone on a training ride is dickish behavior.

kensuf

I had to hip check someone on Saturday's training ride. There were about 20-30 of us screaming down an oak covered chip seal road when one of them started drifting over into my line. But a hip check is a far cry from elbowing him.

YMCA

Elbows are useless.
Use your shoulder, or hip.
It's not always aggressive, it's for safety.
Last resort is your head, only for experienced riders.

shovelhd

We'll do a true double paceline for a bit on our group rides but inevitably will fall back into a single paceline due to pace variance and/or winds. They are hard to keep going on rural roads with traffic and the factors previously mentioned.

Nice vid.