Author: SmartCyclist

Crashes

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Improving the speed, limiting the risk

Crashes do happen, unfortunately, when you ride in a group, in a race, or just anywhere at any time. Very annoying, especially when recovery takes a long time.

Bad luck, or someone else’s fault? Of course there are situations you can not do anything about yourself. But it’s good to see what you can do in order to reduce the chance of a crash. Under room to move, blind curves, cornering technique, downhill runs, you will find points of interest.
Below you will find some crashes, with analysis what the rider could have done better.
Of course, bad luck or fault by some other often plays a role. But focussing on those external things prevents you from learning what you can do yourself to minimize the risks.
As ‘though cyclists’ we often say as someone falls that he is a real cyclist now, with his skin rubbed off. All understandable types of responses, but they do not help to prevent as much as possible the chance of falling. You need to learn from those situations.
See also learning

Crash Kruiswijk (Giro 2016, May 27)



Besides all the emotions and the fact that an accident or a mistake is in a small corner there is of course the question: what could de rider do better?
– Quick switch of attention. If you’re on your limit and happy to be up front and need to eat, on a coll where the descent starts quickly, you can have a high speed before you notice it.
-On the TV images, it seems the curveline of the rider is not correct. Too little outside and too little inside. See: Taking sharp turns. As if doesn’t pay enough attention to the curve. If the turn turns more than you can see beforehand, you have a problem.
– Perhaps the most interesting is the position on the bike. Man and bicycle are vertically in one line (the classical position), with the center of gravity  opf man and bicycle short within the contact line of tires and road. This produces a very slight radius of the curve. Too little to get the right amount of turning.
Possibly, the ‘skiing technique’ could provide better correction posibilities.
It’s a bit more dynamic than the classic technique. You can correct more if your cornering is not perfect. You can push your saddle more a bit more to the inside. The upper body goes out with a lot of pressure on the front wheel, partly inward facing. The center of gravity of body and bike will be slightly lower. The result is a sharper turn. Especially at the end of a curve you can “emphasize” more and thus remain in the curve.
Managing that technique some do automatically, from their talent or from mountain biking experience. If you are not such a lucky bird you will have to train this technique. You have to make hours before it becomes an automatic reflex. It is a technique that is difficult under stress. If you’re upset, you keep your breath, bringing up your position. The center of gravity of body and bike will be higher and closer to the contact line. As a result, you are curving less. The natural reflex if you are started is not the functional reflex. In skating and skiing you have the same phenomenon. Therefore, you need to train the ski technique under (simulated) stress.
Also, knee insertion can provide faster corrections than the classic technique. However, the center of gravity of the body and the bike must be sufficiently within the contact line. It will however deliver less weight removal and thus correction. Descending can be improved by exercising it a lot. That doen’t come by itself. Because you spend a lot more time riding uphill, Not every curve in the mountains is easy to enter. There is always one that goes wrong. Much more than, for example, in a criterion where you encounter the same turn agaain and again and unconsciously learns how to do it. In the mountains it is important to have a well-trained automatic reflex for the situation when it goes wrong. The skiing technique provides more opportunity for correction than the classic technique.
See also: cornering
See also: descending

Crash Rojas (Vuelta 2016, stage 20)


A fall apparently out of nowhere.
The fact that others go through the same curve without difficulty indicates that the cause is problably himself.
Possibly braking too much the front wheel? Then the slip and fall away.
Perhaps the upper body a little too much hanging to the inside of the curve? Because of this, there is too little pressure down and especially inward on the front wheel.
See: http://slimmerfietsen.nl/klassieke-bochten-en- ski tours

At the rear wheel you get more signals before it’s possible to slip away, not at the front wheel. Additionally, a rear-wheel slip is usually corrected, a front-wheel slip is almost always a fall.
It seems that there is a critical area where the pressure on the front wheel becomes too small with only a little difference in position of the upper body. This risk is bigger with the classical turn technique than with the skiing technique.
If you look at Louis Leon Sanchez in the same stage, you’ll see he has a little V-bend.
It looks like we can not easily feel how close we are to this pressure loss. As for example in aquaplaning when driving a car.
If you can repeat the same curve in a parking space or someplace like that, you can try it out. From classical turning technique to skiing turning technique. The difference in pressure is to feel. Especially when you make it extreme: the classic technique with the shoulders focused inwards and the skiing technique with a V and extreme hanging outwards of the upper body and so more pressure on the outside of the front wheel. You can even feel the difference in pressure when laying your hands on the brake levers or down in the handlebars. But be careful to build up that exercise. 🙂

Crash van Vleuten (Olympic Road Race, Rio August 8, 2016)

Incredibly what a shit. The best in the course, on the way to the gold. And then the fall.
Why? Slippery road? To thee side falling bend? Too much risk? Who will say it?
There is a steering error to be seen on the TV. It was a turn to the right. Before the turn, she ride at the right of the road, in stead of the left site. As a result, she made the curve much harder than if she before the turn had been riding at the left side. Then the turn woud have been much broader. You make an outside-inside-outside line to make the curve as wide as possible. Then you can turn that turn faster, with less chance of getting lost.
Incredible: technical a simple mistake. Too simple for such a good driver? Why? Attention distracted? The cause behind the cause, no idea.

It’s all right that she makes a simple steering error, but this fall is very special. She has to deal with what is called in the (motor) road racing a ‘high-sider’. The rear wheel loses grip and slides to recover grip after about a second. That gives a a hard swerve. You see on the images on her rear wheel sliding, she corrects with steering, then suddenly you do not see the rear wheel sliding, Van Vleuten dives over the wheel and pulls the bike with her. She is already flying over the bicycle before the wall, after the swerve.
You see how useful knowledge is from another discipline to recognize it.

Crash of Piere Rouland (Tour de France 2016, stage 19)
Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ANgf9I3_f8
The main reason seems to be that Rouland starts peddeling again too early. His inner pedal hits the ground. This causes the rear wheel to go up (see picture) and therefore loses grip.

Crash of Darwin Atapuma (Vuelta 2016, stage 12)
Http://video.eurosport.com/cycling/vuelta-a-espana/2016/stage-12-key-moments_vid889220/video.shtml  At the beginning of the video.
A fall that also seems to come from nothing. Others have no problems at the same place with the same curve. It happens more often, such a fall out of nowhere. You can then look at all kinds of circumstances, pebbles and the like that may be the cause. Perhaps it’s more interesting to look at what you can do to reduce the risk of slipping. I think that another position on the bike in the bend might help.
Darwin Atapuma seems to have got his center of gravity a little too much inside, which makes it easier for the front wheel to slip away from injuries.
Perhaps we are not aware of how fast you don’t have enough pressure on the front wheel. A few centimeters of your upper body more inward and the pressure on the front wheel (to the inside) is already a lot less. With a little disturbance of a pebble or so, it has happens before you know it.
With the skiturn technique – the hip pushing the saddle more inward and upper body slightly more outside – there is more pressure is on the front wheel, also sideways in the direction of the inside of the curve. Therefore, the chance of sliding the front wheel is smaller and you have more opportunity to correct.
(By the way, for the rear wheel it is different. And if the rear wheel is going wrong, you usually have a lot more chance to fix it.)
Crash of Richie Port (Tour de France 2017, stage 9)

What did the rider not do well? Concentration loss? Derivation? Fatigue? Wrong line chosen, far too far left, too tight on the inside bend? Rear wheel in slip pulled inward? Trying to rescue by putting out his, where the center of gravity remained on the wrong side? No ‘unfolding’ the V to make the curve more widespread? More an error of fear than an applied correction reflex.
What a crashes in the descent! Especially the Col du Chat. Was this road not suitable for descending at high speed at the cutting edge for the professional?
For cycling tourists it’s a road where you can not go downhill fast. Steep. New asphalt, which is sometimes more slippery than old asphalt. A little damp here and there. Bumpy asphalt which makes correcting more difficult. Very often, no good view of what can be in the way. If the road is narrow then it becomes tricky. The pros can assume that they can use the whole way. Cycling tourists can not. We have to take into account that we may have to walk after the corner or even go to the side. If you can not see through a bend on such a narrow road, you need to brake well in advance. Very different from a 2 cars or more wide road, where you can count that your road half is available. There you can look much more wide through the bend.
Such a Col du Chat is very suitable for going up a mountain. Downhill, your throw away teh height meters that you gaind with hard work.
See further: ‘Reading the road’
Near Fall of FUGLSANG, Liège – Bastogne – Liège, 2019
Jacob Fuglsang almost crashed while he was well ahead. What went wrong? And why did it still work out?
fILMPJE fUGLSANG
In addition to all the emotion of the shock, it is good to ask those questions more rationally. You can learn from that, so that in the same kind of situations the chance that you can manage is greater. Usually there is not much attention for that. Calling that it is bad luck that he is slipping and that it is lucky that he will not really fall down will deprive you of that learning opportunity. Fuglsang comes in a rear wheel slip. Ten to one he brakes a little too hard with his rear wheel for the surface on that stretch of road. The wheel does not turn for a moment, the lateral force causes the wheel to break out. His reaction, I guess, is to release the rear brake immediately. The rear wheel starts turning again and gets a grip again. If he continued to hold the rear brake, that would not happen and the rear wheel slid further away. You can practice that release mentally and factually so that it becomes a reflex. Maybe it is only 10% of influence (and the rest is bad luck or lucky), but you can control that 10% yourself and you can practice.
Wet timetrial (Tour de France 2017, stage 1)
This time trial was with wet road and lots of crashes. Timetrial bikes are made for straight riding, not for bends. The fastest tires have slightly less grip (and leakage protection). Even those cyclists who train a lot on the time trial bicycles train much less on that bike than on the regular road bike.
Those who go for the day win must ride at the cutting edge. Those who go for the general ranking may take a lesser risk. The others are allowed to ride on safe. Even they did not succeed fully.
After a long period of dry weather, asphalt can be much more slippery when wet by the gathered junk than when it is often raining.
See the endless sliding of Dylon Groenewegen. https: //actueeltv.nl/v/848344  At 1′.30.
How do we drive as a recreation on wet road?
Keep your brakes dry. By regularly braking a little bit. Wet rim brakes need some time to get a grip.
The difference between riding straights and turning is much bigger on wet roads than then on dry the roads. On straight pieces you can ride on wet road almost as fast as when it is dry. It’s scary to some, but it is possible. For the turn you need to calculate a much longer brake path. In a descent this is even more the case.
The bends you ride much slower than in dry weather. You keep your outer leg longer down, start peddeling again later and get out of the saddle later.
You will usually ride a curve not in one nice round line, but divide teh curve into pieces that go more or less straight (where it’s wet) and rounder (where it’s drier). Look at the white lines on the roads, especialy where it’s that stuffed stuff, pillow covers, train rails and the like. Cross there as far as possible at angle of 90 degrees of and do not brake there.
Especially: Take a greater safety margin than you take in dry conditions. On a wet road you can dapt yourself much less than on a dry road. In dry conditions, one asphalt is more or less the same as the other. With a lot of hours riding and slowly looking for the boundary of posibilities, you can learn to get close to the maximum possible turning speed. Under wet conditions, gliding risk can vary greatly. Certainly if it’s a little bit wet here, and dry there. If you ride the same course more often as in a criterion then you can adjust to the corners better. If you get a turn only once, that will not work. That’s the case with competitions like the Tour de France almost always. In wet conditions, you have to ride further under the maximum possible than under dry conditions.

Winter-and-bicycle-skills

We zitten in de winter minder op de racefiets. Te vroeg donker, te nat/glad/koud. Maar we lopen hard of schaatsen. We gaan het bos in met MTB of crossfiets. Of we gaan naar binnen, de sportschool in.

Die andere trainingsvormen zijn goed om de conditie bij te houden en om andere spieren te trainen. Ook mentaal is het goed om wat anders te doen.

Het is ook een goede tijd om aan je ‘voertuigvaardigheid’ te werken. Met een fiets in bos of duin kan je goed slippen en corrigeren oefenen, met minder kans dat een val schade geeft dan op asfalt. Ook op de stadsfiets kan dat. Als je over een pad met natte bladeren of andere mogelijke gladdigheid rijdt bijvoorbeeld. Je zit wat rechterop, heb makkelijk een voet aan de vloer. Dus veel schade kan het niet.
Je leert dan ook kijken/anticiperen. Je ziet een stuk dat mogelijk glad is en je ziet ook dat dat maar een meter lang is en je er recht overheen kan. Dan hoef je minder te remmen dan als je op dat stuk een bocht moet maken. Of je verdeelt de bocht in twee rechte stukken. Wie heeft je ooit verteld dat een bocht in een mooie kromme moet.
Er zijn voldoende mogelijkheden om te oefenen. Door de berm rijden, achterom kijken en toch rechtuit blijven rijden. Je moet ze wel even zien en er bewust mee bezig zijn.
Zie bijvoorbeeld ‘basistechnieken’ en ‘bochten’.

Crash Annemiek van Vleuten

Val Annemiek van de Vleuten (Olympische wegrace, Rio 8 augustus 2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP6NtOpAYag
Ongelooflijk wat een shit. De beste in de koers, op weg naar het goud. En dan die val.
Waardoor? Glad wegdek? Afvallende bocht? Te veel risico genomen? Wie zal het zeggen?
Op TV is wel een stuurfout te zien. Het ging om een de bocht naar rechts. Vóór de bocht reed ze aan de rechterkant van de weg. Daardoor maakte ze de bocht veel krapper dan als ze vóór de bocht aan de linkerkant had gereden. Dan was de bocht veel ruimer geweest. Je snijdt een bocht buiten-binnen-buiten aan om hem zo ruim mogelijk te maken. Dan kan je met meer snelheid die bocht door, met minder kans op wegslippen.
Ongelooflijk: technische gezien een simpele fout. Te simpel voor zo’n goede rijdster? Waardoor? Aandacht afgeleid? De oorzaak achter de oorzaak, geen idee?

Froome proofs, desceding can be learned

Mooi en verrassend van Froome! (Tour de France, 9 juli) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK6zf1otyFU
Degene met een zeer matige bocht/daaltechniek ging fantastisch naar beneden.
Ben heel benieuwd hoe hij dat onder de knie heeft gekregen.
In ieder geval een prachtig voorbeeld van bezig zijn met leren. In plaats van met denkstoppers als ‘dat heb je in je of niet’, of ‘is een gelukszaak’. Net als het nemen van penalty’s, het is te leren als je er maar tijd en aandacht aan besteed en heel specifiek traint.

Zijn nieuwe dalen was niet alleen beter dan zijn oude dalen, het was technisch zelfs heel goed. Met een herkenbare Froome-houding maar de essenties prima voor elkaar:
Lichaams-fietszwaartepunt goed de bocht ingedrukt.
Kleine correcties met de knie.
Zelfs met meetrappend op de horizontale buis zittend.
En wat natuurlijk ook helpt om zonder (veel) risico’s op de limiet te kunnen rijden: weten dat het wegdek perfect is en dat er geen tegenverkeer kan komen en het kennen of gecoacht worden wat betreft hoe de bochten lopen.
8e etappe afdaling van de Peyresourde door Chris Froome

Het leverde nogal wat commentaar op van kamikaze, onverantwoord tot episch.
Interessante, meer analytische links zijn:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJvV03hqKBE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z59bvf_0Hc

Bumps and pot holes, jumping and dampening

When you’re cycling on the open road you occasionally come across a pot hole. If you’re riding in a group and cannot look ahead, you might not see them or see them too late. Therefore, we signal each other.
Sometimes you can ride around it, sometimes not. You don’t ride around a hole because you don’t want to endanger the folks behind you, so you ride through the pot hole.
If you ride through a pot hole, you may get a hit. If things go wrong, you get a ‘snake bite, or worse.
If you do ride through a pot hole, you shouldn’t stiffen up, but you should use your arms and legs to absorb the shock. There are two ways to do that: you jump, or you dampen.

To jump
 If you see a pot hole if front of you that is not too big or too long, you can jump over it. You tuck in, and release just before you would hit the pot hole. In skiing, the German term ‘Hochentlastung’ is sometimes used. You would also use this technique to jump on a sidewalk. With a bit of training you can even pull up your rear wheel. But be careful! If you don’t make it across the pot hole, you’ll hit the hole, or worse, the (sharp) edge of that hole, twice as hard!

To dampen
The other way to make it across a pot hole is to lower your arms when you ride through it. You dampen the brunt of the blow. In skiing, the German term ‘Tiefentlastung’ is coined to this technique.

Sometimes you cannot see the pot hole. It is to your advantage if you can use the dampening technique as a reflex. By practicing the dampening reflex, it will become an automatic response. You can be amazed by the ways your body resolves issues in a smart way, and well before you can even think about solving them. But practice and exercise gave you that upper hand. Those who engage in mountain biking or cyclo crossing learn this technique almost automatically. If you only ride on tarmac, you need to consciously practice this technique.

 

 

Val Darwin Atapuma (Vuelta 2016, 12 etappe)

Aan het begin van het filmpje.
Een val die uit het niets lijkt te komen. Luister naar het commentaar op Eurosport. Anderen hebben op dezelfde plek met dezelfde bochtlijn geen problemen. Het gebeurt vaker, zo’n val uit het niets. Je kan dan kijken naar allerlei toevallige omstandigheden, steentjes en dergelijke, die de oorzaak kunnen zijn. Misschien is het interessanter te kijken naar wat je kan doen om de KANS op wegglijden te verminderen. Ik denk dat een andere houding op de fiets in de bocht zou kunnen schelen.
Zoals Rouland in de Tour de France (zie reactie terug) lijkt Darwin Atapuma zijn gewicht iets te veel naar binnen te hebben waardoor het voorwiel makkelijker kan wegglijden bij een ongerechtigheid.
Misschien zijn we ons niet genoeg bewust van hoe snel je geen tegendruk op het voorwiel meer hebt. Een paar centimeter je bovenlijf meer naar binnen en de tegendruk op het voorwiel is al een heel stuk minder. Met een steentje oid is het dan gebeurd voordat je het in de gaten hebt.
Met de skitechniek – gewicht heup zadel meer naar binnen en bovenlijf iets meer buiten – komt er meer druk op het voorwiel, ook zijwaarts in de richting van de de binnenkant van de bocht. Daardoor is de kans op wegglijden van het voorwiel kleiner en heb je meer gelegenheid te corrigeren.
(Overigens: voor het achterwiel is het weer net even anders. En als het met het achterwiel fout gaat, heb je meestal veel meer kans om te herstellen))

Mindset and groupdynamics

Rage in your belly, cool in your head and compassion in your heart


Mindset
Cycling is a game of alternating cooperation and competition. In addition, to ride fast you need tap into yourself for the right amount of agression. And aggression does not always go along with being wise and emphatic. So racing in groups gives conflicting demands on your mental attitude.

Before you often think differently than you do during the ride
You’re going to ride a quiet round. But there is a nice group passes. And you hook on. And suddenly you ride a lot harder than you planned to do.
Everyone in the group has heavy legs and wants to take it easy. You know actually: Slowly but surely it will go faster. With the exception of very disciplined racers doing a specific training, most riders in a group will eventually speed up. I too, you too. Under the influence of adrenaline we think differently than at rest. Put on your bike shoes and feel the saddle, then the body says: “Go, go!”
How it works it works, sometimes you do not what you have planned or what is sensible. Your actions are determined not only by your logic brains. The nice thing is that there is a predictability in it. Because of this predictability you can be aware and play with it.

How to deal?
If you know how your mindset changes while riding you can intervene in this action, for example by looking to another, positive way to driving slowly. The picture of slow driving you change from negative: ‘loser’, ‘poor’ or ‘weak’ to positive: ‘recovery’, ‘building up’, ‘a day off’.

Making agreements is wise and tough
In informal groups you can try to make agreements. Where do we ride fast? Are we going to sprint or not? So that we can have a nice competition among us, but in a good place and not a full and busy cycling path for example.
Very wise certainly. But also awfully difficult. You’re not sure whether you yourself want a agreement. Others say that we “just ride a quiet round” and don’t want to talkabout it. You don’t want them to think you are afraid. Moreover, you know that others will respond. While you say you want agree on where you as a group will ride fast, they say: “So, you’re in shape for sure”.
Without an agreement or with an agreement that wil be broken it means that you as a group will ride full throttle on the wrong places.

Notion of other road users
If you ride with your group a particular route each week in all weathers then you find it annoying when ‘your’ trail on summer days is ‘overtaken’ by ‘good weather’ cyclists.

smalle weg

The trick is to link that to a different positive image c.q. feeling. A word like ‘ fellow road users’ for example has a different effect on your mindset than the word’ other traffic.
A smart mindset is to create even more difficult if it went wrong or allmost wrong. You, for example, are being cut by a car or an E-bike. The adrenaline was already high on the bike and now this. You are frightened and furious.
Quite understandably, emotionally very satisfying :), but usually not so smart.
See also: Dealing with the other road users

Switching your mindset
During a trip you have to be able to switch in mindset. Between rage in your belly, coolness in your head and compassion in your heart.
Try yourself to program for different situations. Where do you need a racing mode, where a touring mode or even a  stroling mode (along the terraces :)). How do you feel the different mindsets? How fast can you change in mindset? How do you do that switching of mindset?
If you’re at full speed on a a cycle path and a parent with a small child is coming from the opposite direction you have to switch back to compassion and touring mode. It helps if you don’t about them as hindrances but you say in yourself things as: “Nice to see such a child sitting on the bike.”
If you threaten to come almost in a shouting match or worse, do de-escalate. Have a quick note ready: “Are you ok?” Phew, here I have to recover from.”
In urban areas, change to “interval rest” and enjoy the other people.
You switch not only your derailleur but also your mindset. As athletes shortly before a match while beiing in race preparation give an interview in a laid back way. And then, chak, switch to the game mode. It is nice to see. Or a sprint train in full final. This is not only blind rage in the legs. The lead out-men and the sprinters keep looking and communicating.
It is nice also to be able to turn the mindset yourselves. A sunny Sunday is a good time to practice it 🙂

Group Dynamics
Controlling your mindset is not only an individual matter. The group dynamics ensures a smooth or hectic, safe or unsafe, social or ot social  behaviour on the road.

Status and influence
The wisest people do not always have the most influence. The status of the riders in a group is different. Usually the strongest ‘legs’ have the greatest impact. They can also apply that influence for a smart ride as a group. Or are you just doing your own thing?
If you are the weakest you usually have less status and you are busy enough to keep yourself on track. To influence the group behavior you have to be strong in your head.

There is a particular culture in the group. Just ask the nickname given to the group by others 🙂

These are exampoles of things that sometimes are in nteh way of riding smart. How can you change or improve that?
It’s hard to influence your own mental attitude, to change the attitude of a group is even more difficult. Giving feedback, leading by example or not following bad behaviour, it’s a start. About feedback see: cooperation and communication / coaching each other
See also: cooperation and communication

Helmet as mind game
giro synthe

You start with a different idea on the bike than you later on.
Your mindset before is: a quiet round on my own. And so (???) no helmet. There is a group rider overtaking you and suddenly you are riding fast. Without a helmet and in a group, you are not familiar with.
It is winter. You have a winter cap instead of a helmet, because you’re going to do a quiet endurance training. And you as a true cyclist have more than enough skills for such a smooth ride, right? In fact, the cap put your mindset on ‘quiet 🙂 the way it turns out to be a bit wet and slippery…
The day before the big trip in the mountains you do a quiet ride uphill in your own. Knee pads and arm warmers. So no helmet, why? Oh, there’s also a descent. Oh yes, there’s other traffic.
In bike to a bikerace you have your helmet on / in the backpack and not on your head, because really hard it will go the race. Here you can see the real pro, or perhaps not? A helmet is for touring riders or only when it is required in the race. A pizza delivery scooter in a hurry and going to the wrong side of the road and ….
Recognizable situations?
You think different than it eventually turns out. We tend to have all kinds of thought for not doing the right thing.
A helmet is sweaty uphill! Yes, and without a helmet you do not sweat? In recent years the helmets are even more closed again because of aerodynamics, so with more sweat. Because of the aerodynamics we do ride with them now.
And under cold conditions covers under or over helmet are working against the cold as well as only a thick cap on your head.
Do you understand it or yourself? 🙂
No objection, but still … a brainteaser
In short: Technically, there is no objection to a helmet, there are only advantages. Yet sometimes we do not do the right thing. This is not a moral judgment, a “may not” or “Stupid”. You make your own choices, right? It is a statement with a question to think further. The helmet is essentially not only to protect your brain, but also to use them :). The helmet is basically a mind game.
You train your mindset for the race or cyclo sportive, but not for a mind game as the helmet? Find a way to have a positive mindset for you on the helmet issue. It looks ‘tough’. It is a ‘good’ example, and you have the most impact on the behaviour of others, It is a ‘good sunscreen’, ‘I do’nt want always to think about whether it will be dangerous enough that I need a helmet. Look how your mind works and try to give it a functional twist. Playing with your mindset is a wonderful game and brings you also benifists for  other (game) situations.
PS. In certain non-bicycle-minded countries such as the USA, the emphasis is put on wearing a helmet by people who want to deduce from the way the roads are designed for the benefit of the cars and the behavior of the motorists.
See for example: https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/02/14/how-americas-bike-helmet-fixation-upholds-a-culture-of-unfettered-automobility/
This is an important view/discussion, but don’t let it be a reason not to put your helmet on.

See also: The bell as mind game in ‘dealing with the other road users’

Echeloning: communication and collaboration

Echeloning is not just a matter of the legs. The group is working effectively and efficiently only by communicating intensively. For example:
communicatieCoaching the lead riders (“Bit left”, “Bit right”).
Joining in front of you (“In between”).
Riding more compact ( “Closer”).
Keeping your line ( “Line”).
Dropping any gaps ( “Bridge”)
Ensuring that there is no acceleration in taking or handing off the lead. ( “Keep the pace”).
Signaling that a rider should join behind you. (“After me”)
Seeing that a rider has problems taking the lead and pushing him/her into the lead (which (s)he hands off right away).
Indicating that someone has to pass a turn, because otherwise that rider will be dropped too soon.
Indicating that you’re taking a final, long turn, and then drop from the group.
Signaling that a rider should take his/her last long turn at the front, and then drop from the group.
Pushing a weaker rider at the rear of the echelon to keep that rider aboard.
It’s all communication and collaboration.

Planning and implementing
In communication and cooperation there is a big difference between theory and practice. Before the start, good plans and agreements are made in a civilized manner. But when the hammer is being put down, with lots of wind, noise and other distractions going on, communication and cooperation is not all that easy. Rather, it is getting out of control :).
It is an art and a skill that must be learned to communicate clearly and efficiently with a burning pain in your lungs and legs.

Psychology
What happens to you if are gapped by a meter when trying to join? Do you get in the fighting mode, “That bastard in front takes the lead way too hard.” Or are you being humbled, “Shit, I can’t do it”. Learn from those emotional reactions to respond functionally correct and coach your fellow riders. Call: “Easy!!” or “Hold!!”

The art for the weaker rider in a group is to still use their mouths in time, under the motto “Weak legs, big mouth!” That is not easy to do for many, but that’s what you can do and should do. If you do it well, it delivers you much and can make a group of weaker riders ride faster than a group of strong riders who cooperate and communicate less well.

For the strong, there is another challenge: being ego-less by putting yourself in service of the group. Riding next to a group and encouraging or yelling at the others who are already spent might give the impression that you yourself are a very strong rider. Good for your ego. Sometimes for your public relations. But in fact it is of course a disqualification of yourself as a rider as you had to take much longer leads in the group.

TTT Vuelta 2016 Team Sky

Preparation

Performance

Last few hundred meters, Froome at a gap.

In the last few hunbdred meters, a gap develops in front of Froome.

Why did that gap develop:

  • Was Froome too weak?
  • Did Froome take too long a turn?
  • Had others not done enough?
  • Not considering that last hill?
  • Not considering the differences in anaerobic capacity of the various riders (used in the final sprint)?
  • Anything else???

As an outsider, it’s hard to judge why that gap developed.

In any case, it’s clear that communication broke down, both among the riders as well as from the team car.

See also: Communication and cooperation / coaching each other
See also: Mindset and group dynamics

 

 

Dashboard: speed, pressure, and effort

waaierrondjesIn addition to the technical side (how do you take a wheel, how to take the lead, and so on) we can also look at the speed, pressure on the pedals and effort (breathing / heart rate / leg pain). When we zoom in on one rider in his or her round through the echelon, we will see these three variables that change in different ways.

1. The speed in kilometers per hour varies in the echelon: for example, when moving to the front, our rider rides at 40 km / h. When moving to the rear, it’s 38 km / h.

2. The pressure on the pedals can be measured in Watts.

3. You can feel the effort, for example through your heart rate, your respitory depth, and the burning in your thighs. You can measure your heart rate with a heart rate monitor or by the way your body feels. You can also view it in colors. Yellow = moderate, easy to do. Orange = Sub-maximal, just a few minutes full, for example while riding in the lead of a single echelon. Red = Maximum, only sustainable for a few seconds.

In a single echelon, for example, the three criteria will be as follows during a full round of a rider.

zones-in-de-waaier

 

Observing and estimating
It’s an art to always observe this data. From your goal, cooperation or competition, you will know if you can or should be able to do longer or shorter turns, or possibly skip a turn.
In a team time trial, for instance. If you are already recovered halfway through the echelon, you are not putting in enough effort, and you should take longer turns.
If you are in the second position (just before you take the lead) and you are still in the red, you should skip a turn or take shorter turns.

Equipment

Mountains make different demands on the bike material
On a bike that you ride along on the flat without any problems, you can not necessarily ride perfect in the mountains. Of course you should have enough light gears to kick the slopes upwards. But in addition: a bike that on the flat appears to be technically perfect, appears in the mountains sometimes not quite right. The impact is different in the mountains, something creaks slightly, the chain or wheels touches something and the derailleur does not work accurate. And so forth.
A few points you do wise to pay attention. Briefly mentioned because on material is on the internet unendlessly much to find.

Gears and resistance

 

cassetteDo you have to put before you go into the hills or mountains on your backwheel a different (mountain) set with a 27, 28 or even 32 instead of 23 as the smallest sprocket? And for the crankset? Do you need to assemble a compact crankset (34-50) where you have on the flat just a double crankset (39-52)? Or do you already have a triple.
Incidentally: In the flat you would like to switch per time one tooth. Then you can peddle with the right frequency and the right power. If you ride on the flat with a mountain gearing set with large steps between the teeth, you therefore cannot find the right frequently and the ideal resistance. Maybe on the plane as the smallest opposition to take a 23?

Brakes, wheels and tires

There are different types of brakes and brake pads in combination with different rims. In addition, there is the difference between the rim brakes and disc brakes.
What is good in the flat is not per se good enough for long and steep descents.

velg-en-bandIn addition, different types of brakes, the brakes and blocks brake differently.

Customization
It is important that you can easily keep the bite levers (by 2 to 3 fingers). In case of need you don’t want to reach out to the brakeslevers. Do you have small hands, that is sometimes difficult. For some levers are auxiliary pieces that bring the lever a little closer to the steering wheel. Otherwise make the slack in the cable a bit more so you can keep the lever a little attracted without the brake already touching the rim.
A ‘scare’centimeter space in the cable is anyway handy if you’re in unexpected situations tend to react too fast rather than too slow. Before you attract the brake unnecessary and sometimes dangerous too quickly, that extra space in the cable gives you the chance to recover from the initial shock and not (hard) braking where it is not wanted.

Road tire contact: slipping
The most critical at braking is the tire-road contact. There is a big difference between tires in how much they can be braked without slipping. The most durable tires have the hardest rubber. They wear the least, go the least leak, but slip the fastest (in turns). On a wet road that is worse than on a dry road.
If you are with a group you need to know whether these differences are mutually so big that you have to take that into account.

Dosing and overreact

Remblokjes taps monteren

Remblokjes taps monteren

You try to avoid that the brakes ‘snap’, blocking the wheel. That’s a bit trickier with rim brakes than disc brakes. The right rubbers and the right space in the cable help much. Possibly you mount the brake pads slightly tapered at the rim. As a result, the brake shoes get hold of the rim not directly over the entire length of the blocks, but gradually from front to back (and especially not vice versa, then they snap even more :)).

In wet roads, you will have to brake dry the rims of rim brakes regularly in order to prevent them from taking a while before they do their job properly.

The fact that disc brakes engage harder and slow down more than rim brakes is not an advantage as long as the limiting factor is the contact between the tire and the road surface. The main advantage of disc brakes is the (easier) dispensability.

NB do not trust blindly that the material will do the job. Disc brakes are not necessarily better. It is important that your material is perfectly mounted and adjusted. And that you yourself know how to use it.

Continuous braking, heat
If you brake continuously on a descent to keep the speed that can make the wheels  very warm. Because of the heat the (inner) tube expand and may even explode. If you ride with tubes, the adhesive can be too hot and the tubes come loose. If you drive with carbon rims the carbon material can become slack and not well to stop the pressure of the tire.
Feel now and again the rim, especially of the front wheel. In frontwheel the brake brakes the hardest and therefore is the warmest. Can you hardly grasp, it is not good. Let it cool, maybe with some water from your water bottle on it.
By not continuously braking but shorter braking (and more severe) the rims are more likely to cool off during the descent. And riding, you also have beautiful the wind and cooling than standing alongside the road.

The pros ride almost always on carbon rims. But they  brake less often and long. For cyclists, it is probably wiser to ride with aluminum rims (or disc wheels).
See also: Cycling in the mountains or hills / Professionals and cyclists

Reserve Material
In the mountains the bicycle shop is often not around the corner and you do’nt want to spend your time looking for one. It is wise to take at least: repairset, reserve inner tires and outer tires,brake pad11speed links (A wet weekend in the mountains can wear a set of blocks). A chain or, in any case, a connecting link, for example a quick link. And tools, among others, inbuss keys, screwdriver, chain tool. Are you with a group, it is also useful to carry a spare wheel.
Please be aware that the components from various suppliers such as Campagnolo, Shimano and SRAM usually do not fit together. Also note whether your group is 9, 10 or 11 speed.

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