Thursday, September 18, 2008

Keeping the paceline






Great night for the teamFIRE Wednesday night ride. You all worked hard!
Caught this pic on our way to Roca ~ approx. 1.5 miles before the track right after crossing the Crete/Roca bridge on HW77.

11 comments:

Bob K said...

Can we see the uncropped version?

Adrian Olivera said...

"uncropped version"?

c-record said...

'keeping' the paceline is stretching it a bit, i mean just look at those gaps! lol
but seriously, i think better group riding skills (riding in a tighter double paceline, having smoother transitions, etc.) should be a goal on future rides and next season. not only will it help people improve their bike handling skills, it is also just safer.
people spread out on the road isn't the best way to ride, it's not efficient, and it's not good for sharing the road with traffic. so i suggest everyone work on that in the future. just my .02

Adrian Olivera said...

High maintenance - geez! Always has to be one in the group-Mr. I don't wear a helmet. Dang.

Bob K said...

I was referring to the top pic.

Adrian Olivera said...

Bob - I was too. The posted comment was referring to the shadows of the front 6-7 riders, not the other pics.

Ho fo sho said...

Yeah, and no blended drinks next year. CRIPES!

Bob K said...

Adrian, I was thinking that perhaps the top pic was cropped to just show the shadows, and that the uncropped version (if it in fact was cropped) might also show the riders.

Cool pics, either way. I like the elevated perspective you got on the third pic.

Blended drinks? Do those come with a little umbrella in them?

Adrian Olivera said...

You are asking for it!

c-record said...

lol... ok ok ok... i can be high maintenance!

but seriously, wearing a helmet doesn't give one an excuse for being unsafe or having sloppy group riding skills. if you think i'm being picky, then try riding with the more serious riders/racers sometime and you will get yelled at for sloppy riding.
that is what i see a lot of time out there on local group rides. people don't know how to ride in a group and that can lead to crashes or worse. most probably think a casual group ride shouldn't be structured at all. they just want a casual ride, which is fine, i enjoy a casual pace too. but a casual ride can also mean riding in a smooth paceline. there are little things you can work on on each ride. for those who want to do racing, well where else are they going to get that experience??? in a organized group ride, duh! and by organized i mean people make an effort to work on their skills and ride together in a group. if they wait until race day to work on their group riding skills it's just a recipe for disaster. so i'm just saying people need to work on some things.

oh, and speaking of bad group etiquette, some of you guys owe jen for taking off and leaving her with the bill on wednesday night!

Adrian Olivera said...

I agree with sloppy riding causing accidents. There have been times when I have suggested and posted about riding skills but some people take as "telling them what to do".
We also have to remember that even the Pros crash. Its not always because they aren't keeping the paceline tight. There are different causes/factors for ex. slick roads, crazy drivers, objects on the road or simply lack of experience (nerves). I am all for working with the newbies and developing their group riding skills.
FYI - did you guys know that it is illegal to ride in a double paceline on roads?
Maybe next ride we should do a quick 5 minute "how to" clinic?