Riding in a Paceline

Everyone has experienced how difficult it can be to ride into a strong headwind. Because of the effects of drafting, a group riding in a paceline can travel approximately 20-30% faster than any one cyclist could go alone.

Exactly how much effect is the 25-30% advantage that has paceline has? Well, suppose that your average speed, riding solo, is 16 mph. By riding in a paceline you can increase your speed to about 20 mph, without increasing your perceived effort. That means that instead of taking 7 hours, a century will only take you 5 hours and 40 minutes. That means 1 hour and 20 minutes less suffering!!

To achieve a benefit from a paceline, riders must become comfortable with riding within 1 to 2 feet of the rider in front of them (note: racers and other very experienced riders often ride less than 6 inches from the rider in front of them). Becoming comfortable riding this close to other riders takes time and practice. Don't worry, we've got plenty of time and we're here to practice! As with everything we'll take it easy until everyone settles into the groove.

**Racers getting "close" to one another**
Photograph © Graham Watson

The easist way I know of to visualize how a paceline works, I learned from reading Smart Cycling: Successful Training and Racing for Riders of All Levels by Arnie Baker, the National TNT Coach and coach for the San Diego Chapter TNT. Arnie describes the basics of pacelines like this:

Imagine six riders riding together left to right across the page:

Rider A, finishing a turn at the front, swings to the left, slows down, and rider B takes the lead. Rider A drops in behind rider F.

**?????**
Photograph © Graham Watson

Shortly thereafter rider B pulls off the front, floats to the back, and the whole things repeats itself.

The above illustrates what is known as a single paceline. There are three other forms of paclines, known as a a rotating pacceline, a double paceline and an echelon. Because double and rotating pacelines require more concentration, communication and comfort with riding in close quarters, for the time being, we'll concentrate on getting comfortable with single pacelines and cover double and rotating pacelines in a subsequent clinic. Echelons usually require the use of the entire width of the roadway (i.e., when the road is closed, as in a race), so we won't be covering them at all.

Trust and Communication

Communication among riders in a paceline is even more important than we've talked about among riders in a group, in general. Why? Because in a paceline riders are even closer together than usual, and hence, the amount of time you have to react is even less. Please re-read the clinic on Communication as part of reviewing this clinic.

In addition to the things mentioned in the Communication clinic, 2 other items need to be communicated while riding in a paceline:

lead rider pulling off

while most necessary for double or rotating pacelines, but still helpful in single pacelines, the lead rider should indicate that they are about to pull off the front. Usually, this is indicated with a "flick" of the left elbow.

end of the paceline

if you're the last rider in the paceline, as the rider who has just pulled off the front drifts back to you it is helpful if you call out to him/her that you are last, that way he/she will know that it is OK to pull in behind you. For example, in the second illustration above, rider E would call last to rider A in the third "frame". This way, rider A can keep his/her attention focused forward, where it should be.

How long?

How long should the lead rider stay at the front, or how long should they pull? That depends on many factors: how strong or tired they are; how fast the paceline is going; how strong the headwind is; etc. Generally, we'll take pulls of from 30 seconds to 2 minutes.

Constant Speed

One of the hardest aspects of riding is a paceline is to keep a constant pace at the front of the group. When it is your turn to pull, as you first encounter the headwind that you've been shielded from its common to over-compensate and begin riding faster than the previous lead rider was going. Try very hard to avoid this; it causes havoc in the remainder of the group. If the lead rider speeds up, a gap will form between that rider and the rider behind; as the rider behind speeds up to close the gap, a gap will form between that rider and the next one back; by the time the gap works its way to the back of the paceline it can easily be more than a bike length, which means the rider at the back is all alone in the wind, and hence, has to work much harder to close the gap and can often left behind or dropped.

Where to ride

As mentioned above, you should ride as close to the rider in front of you as you feel comfortable with; the closer you are the more the wind is blocked, and hence, the easier it will be to ride at a faster pace. With a little bit of practice (and a lot of trust), you should be able to follow within 1 foot. However, you shouldn't follow directly behind the rider in front of you; rather, you should position you front wheel about 3 inches to the left of the rear wheel in front of you. The reason for this offset is that it will reduce the chances of distaster should the rider in front of you has to hit their breaks or swerve suddenly.

**"Kids, don't try this at home!" These are professional cyclists and they should no better than to overlap wheels with the rider in front**
Photograph © Graham Watson

Look forward

When riding in close quarters it is important not to become entranced with the wheel in front of you. Looking down is never a good idea while riding: you should always look forward. Many people describe this as looking through the rider in front of you. You should be aware of where your front wheel is in relation to the rear wheel of the rider in front, but you should have this awareness because your front wheel is in the bottom of your peripheral vision, not because it is the center of your attention. This will take a great deal of practice, so don't feel bad if it is difficult at first.

Don't brake!

One of the hardest things to resist while riding in a paceline is braking. Try very hard!! First of all, the lead rider should not touch his/her brakes after pulling off the front: simply pedaling more slowly (called soft pedaling ) will allow him/her to drift to the back.

If any rider in the main paceline touches their brakes, the rider behind him/her will have to touch their brakes, and so on. This braking will work its way all the way to the back of the group, just as with a gap caused by a new lead rider accelerating: the result, the same accordian effect will happen because a gap will have opened up between the rider who first braked and the rider in front of him/her.

So, you're getting too close to the rider in front of you, how do you slow down if not by hitting the brakes? Its easy. Simply soft pedal. In most cases that will slow you enough. If that doesn't do the trick, then take advantage of the wind which the paceline is designed to avoid; in other words, gently pull slightly to the left of the pacline. Getting out into the wind will slow you down very quickly. When you've reached a comfortable speed again, gently pull back into the paceline.