Cycling is great exercise and can be a lot of fun especially when you add in the social aspect of a group ride. When you are riding with a group, or even with one other cyclist, you have a responsibility to not compromise the safety or sense of safety of other riders.
If you want to support other riders and have them support you, group riding with TNRG will be great for you!
A few tips for riding safely in a group:
- BE PREDICTABLE: This is fundamental (even for solo riding) and involves every aspect of riding from changing positions in the group to following the traffic rules. You might say that all the other rules
support this one. Smooth, predictable riding isn’t just a matter of style it is a matter of survival for you and the other riders. If you have an unpredictable style of riding you are a hazard to yourself and everyone else who is riding with you. When approaching intersections avoid scattering all over the lane. It’s confusing and irritating to drivers of vehicles as they approach a situation where cyclists are going in all different directions or just blowing through stops! Part of being a predictable cyclist is to abide the same rules of the road as a driver. Groups should maintain integrity when approaching intersections. That means staying in the correct lane, stopping together, and starting together as traffic allows. If we demand the right to ride on the road, then we must be willing to ride responsibly...especially as a group. - SIGNAL YOUR INTENTIONS: Further to the point above, signaling alerts both riders and drivers. It’s also a good idea to make eye contact with oncoming drivers at intersections. One note here, use your right arm straight out to signal a right turn. The left bent arm to signal a right turn is difficult to see in a big group and can be ambiguous to motorists. Combine signaling with a loud vocal warning of your intentions. Call out slowing” or “stopping” in advance when changing speed so other riders aren’t taken by surprise or create a chain reaction behind.
- ANNOUNCE HAZARDS: Whether you are in the lead or following in the pack it is vital to communicate. The lead rider is responsible for the safety of everyone behind, and will become very unpopular very quickly if people in the pack bounce off potholes, run over rocks, or are surprised by unsafe traffic situations. Sudden, unannounced actions will throw terror into any group of riders. The leading rider must be very vocal when communicating upcoming actions when approaching intersections, slowing, stopping, or turning, and all actions should be smooth and deliberate. Riders in the pack should relay these announcements or warnings to the rear. When you are following, announce traffic approaching from the rear by calling “car back”...in this case others should relay this information forward to the front.
- BE STEADY: This refers to speed and line. If the person behind you has lapped a wheel briefly, you will contribute to a crash if you wallow around all over the road. When everyone is working for the group, maintain a steady speed as you go to the front. Ever notice how easy it is to ride behind some folks? If you take note of their riding style you’ll probably notice they don’t yo-yo around in the pack. They are rock steady. When they take the lead, they don't accelerate. If they are strong enough to accelerate the group, they wait until the previous pull has rejoined the rear of the group and then accelerate only gradually so as to not string out the pack. When they are leading, they ride a straight line and their speed will be constant with the conditions. What a joy to ride with someone like this. Sometimes steady doesn’t just mean speed. It means steady pressure on the pedals...uphill or downhill, headwind or tailwind. When you are following someone like this, life is good! When they are following, they don’t make sudden moves and they know how to control their spacing by using their body position instead of using the brakes. If you are too close to another rider you can sit up or slowly move a few inches out of line to catch more wind. Sudden braking will, at a minimum, set off general alarms from everyone in the rear or cause the riders behind you to crash. Either way you will be very unpopular. If you do use the brakes, feather the front brake only and keep pedaling against the resistance. This allows you to moderate your speed without disturbing trailing riders. And never change lateral positions without looking first.
- DON’T OVERLAP WHEELS: The habit of running your front wheel alongside someone’s rear wheel will get you into real trouble – this can be an effective way to practice cartwheels. Some people overlap wheels due to a lack of concentration, others may just not know any better, but sooner or later they'll crash. There is no recovery from a front wheel deflection. All it takes is for the person in front to move sideways a few inches...if someone is overlapping his wheel, that someone will go down along with practically everyone who is behind him. Many times the person in front can recover, but not the people behind. Ride in a straight line, 1 – 4 feet behind the wheel in front.
- CHANGE POSITIONS CORRECTLY WHEN LEAVING THE PULL: The first step is to do a shoulder check to determine there are no vehicles approaching from the rear and there is room to slowly move left into the lane of traffic. Then, indicate with a couple of elbow flicks or a wave that you are leaving the front. A common beginner faux pas is to stop pedaling just before pulling off the front; this creates an accordion compression effect toward the rear. Maintain steady pressure on your pedals until you have cleared the front. After pulling off, soft pedal and let the group pull through. As the last couple riders are passing through, begin to apply more pressure to smoothly take your position at the rear. The last rider can announce “last wheel” so you know it is time to merge back in.
- KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS: Don’t pull at the front longer and faster than you have the energy for because you will still need some strength to rejoin the group at the rear when you drop back. It is better to take a short pull than to exhaust yourself and get dropped off the back or stretch out the back of the peloton. If you’re not strong enough or too tired to take a turn at the front you can stay at the back and invite the stronger cyclists to pull in front of you instead of making them go to the back of the line. They will appreciate that more than having to get past you to get back to the front.
- RESPECT YOUR PLACE IN LINE: You move to the front by rotation, NOT by passing others on the left to move up the queue. The left side is for falling back after a leading the group (a pull) or alternatively, if you are losing significant speed on an ascent, you can wave through following riders on your right and drop back on the left. DO NOT pass others on the left when climbing or descending as these sudden moves are unpredictable. It is easy to imagine with multiple passing riders, one may swerve into the path of another rider and cause a crash. When you come to a stop sign or turn a corner, keep respecting your place in line. DO NOT cut a corner to jump up further in the queue. Be aware of who was ahead of you and behind you so that you can keep your proper place in the queue.
- DON’T SURGE WHEN CLIMBING: Have you ever been behind someone when they stood up going uphill and all of a sudden they surge backwards and you were all over them? It takes practice, but it is possible to maintain even pressure on the pedals throughout the pedal stroke when transitioning from sitting to standing and to not allow your bike to surge backwards. Another method to transition to standing is shift up a gear to compensate for the slower cadence and stand up smoothly keeping a steady pressure on the pedals. This will keep you from moving backward relative to the rider behind you. Apply the opposite technique when changing to a sitting position. Downshift and maintain steady pressure on the pedals to avoid abrupt changes in speed. It takes a little practice, but your riding buddies will be glad you spent the time learning how to do it right.
- CONTROL SPEED WHEN DESCENDING: The leader must overcome much greater wind resistance than followers as speed increases during a descent. If you are leading, keep pedaling. Riders to the rear will accelerate faster downhill as drafting becomes more effective at higher speeds. If you are following, back off a couple of bike lengths to compensate for the greater effects of drafting. If you are closing on the rider in front, sit up and let the wind slow you or use light braking to maintain spacing, but in both cases you should keep pedaling against the resistance. Keeping your legs moving during the descent not only makes it easier to maintain safe spacing, but also helps get rid of lactic acid that built up during the climb.
- DON’T FIXATE: It’s likely that if you keep staring at something (for example, the wheel in front of you), eventually you’ll hit it! Learn to be comfortable looking around or through the riders ahead of you. This will allow you to see things that are developing in front of the group. With a little practice you will be able to sense how far you are off the wheel in front of you without having your eyes fixed on it.
- STAY OFF AERO BARS: They are much too unstable to be used in a group ride. Forget you have them on your bike and save them for what they were designed for, fast solo riding.
- RELAX: In order to be smooth and responsive on your bike, you must be relaxed. You can bet that if you see someone who is riding a straight line and is very steady, that rider is relaxed on the bike. It not only saves energy, but it makes bike handling much more effective. Any time you are riding in close proximity to other riders there's always the chance that you may come into contact. If you have tense arms and get bumped from the side, the shock will go directly to the front wheel and you will swerve, possibly lose control, and possibly cause a massive pile up. If you are relaxed it's much easier to absorb the bump without losing control; it may save you from road rash someday. You don’t need to panic and rapidly accelerate if the person in front of you pulls ahead slightly and leaves a gap. You won’t lose the draft that quickly so relax and slowly accelerate until you are back in the 1-4 foot range behind the rider. Rapid accelerations usually mean rapidly decelerations once back behind the rider and you will cause an unpopular accordion effect.
- DON’T ABANDON STRAGGLERS: If the group gets separated at an intersection, as a matter of courtesy the lead group should soft pedal until the rest have rejoined. Another note here is that if you are the one who will be caught by the light, don't run the red light to maintain contact. If the group doesn’t wait for you to catch up, you may not want to be riding with them anyway. Also, as a courtesy to those who may not be able to stay with the group, the pack should periodically wait for stragglers to catch up – especially at turn points and if the stragglers aren’t familiar with the route. No one should be left alone on a group ride unless they have told the group to go ahead.
- TNRG ETIQUETTE: Respect each other’s time and show up for a group ride on time. When stopping for any reason get totally off the road; it is safer for you, and drivers will appreciate it. TNRG respects the legal rules of the road. Ride single file on any narrow roadway. Doubling up should only be done in a dedicated bike lane or defined shoulder. If you need to clear your nose, wait until you are at the rear of the group or plan to safely drop back to the rear so that you don’t share your fluids with other riders – it is super disgusting and inconsiderate to blow out your nose mid-pack. And if you aren’t familiar with a signal or command, seek clarification.
It is important to remember that you have an obligation to bring good personal biking skills to TNRG; it’s about minimal risk and maximum enjoyment. Agree on the rules, practice the rules, enforce the rules, and create trust. You won’t be perfect, and don’t expect perfection from the other riders. But if you understand and use these basic rules of the road, your cycling days will be much safer and a whole lot more fun.