Going up In the mountains you are climbing on the bike up much slower than other traffic. You will be easily overtaken. The question is how much space you take on the road. Are you going to ride along the side of the road, you will be seen as nothing more than an object to pass. Car drivers will not cut their speed, or little at best, and do not make a wide berth while passing. You notice that they are not ‘in touch’ with you. If you take up a little more space, a motorist will usually react by reducing speed somewhat, and pass you with more distance. Thus, there is contact. He considers you. And that is safer and more agreeable.
If there is also an vehicle oncoming while another is waiting behind you, that motorist behind you sometimes passes you tightly. You can anticipate on that because as a cyclist, you see or hear the oncoming vehicle earlier.
Signals to traffic from behind Nothing is more annoying for a driver, for example a slow truck, than having to wait behind two chattering cyclists riding side by side until he can see if he can overtake the two. All the time there will be no oncoming traffic, and when he can oversee the road, there is an oncoming vehicle. So he needs to drive through some curves behind the cyclists until he has clear view on a clear road. If you are a cyclist you can see earlier that there is room for the driver to pass, so you can give him a signal. He will be grateful for you. You look behind you to let him know “I’ve seen you.” You make contact. One finger, or a hand signal: “Attention, please wait.” And then you gesture “You can now pass.” Weave when you are riding as a group. Link See also: Dealing with other roadusers
Going down In the descent, you often go on the road bike about as fast as motorists.
take up space You ride downhill not on the side of the road, but as a motorcyclist, you ride more to the middle. Then you have the necessary room to maneuver. It is obvious to a driver that you will use as much space as he. He will keep that in mind. If you keep too much to the side of the road, then he can even pass in a place where it is not convenient for you. For example, just before the bend. See also: room to move
Riding more to the middle in a downhill also prevents you from ending up in the often poorer conditions at the side of the road.
Corners: differences between cars and bikes When cornering, there is a difference between cars (and bikers) and cyclists. Cars can drive on the straights much faster and also brake later, but take the turn much slower. As a cyclist you need less space and if you make the turn somewhat wider by going “outside-inside-outside”, you can ride through the curve faster than a motorist. See also: taking sharp turns
It’s pretty difficult for you as a cyclist when a motorist overtakes you just before the curve and then go hard on the brakes. Keep him behind you if possible by riding wide on the road and, if necessary, to give a signal: “Please wait.” Then of course a friendly signal after the turn the call “You can go past”. And a ‘thank you’ thumb-up.
If the road is less steep and your speed goes down you can move to the side the road somewhat more. Possibly you give the traffic behind the call: “Go just past.”
For example, cyclists and cars tractor
Cyclists are overtaken. Nice to see that the cyclists keep tightly to the right and other traffic keep to the left where there’s good forward vision. The second part of the road is steep and has more curves. Cyclists are actuallyfaster than the tractor, but it is not safe to overtake. The rider has to brake all the time. In fact, this is a wasted descent! Why not stop and then restart? Then you have a clear way and you can go down pretty hard.
Example: oncoming traffic
Overtaking with (in the distance) another slight turn. As there is no clear view all the way through, but (somewhat) unexpected oncoming traffic when overtaking. Risky? Definitely a bit. The ones who were overtaken help out by driving on the side of the road. At the end of the bend there’s another oncoming vehicle, but then there’s plenty of room at the right side to get out of the way right away. You must know this or have arranged this!
As for the risk, thewide angle (fisheye) distorts the distances a bit, making it look somewhat riskier than it is. Hearing the mutualsignals, you can conclude ther is no panic.
Kleine wegen naar boven – Grote wegen naar beneden
Als je in de bergen fietst, maakt het voor verkeersdrukte, veiligheid, lekker kunnen dalen enzovoorts nogal wat uit hoe je de route kiest. Bij de planning van je rondje kan je rekening houden met de kenmerken van de weg. foto kaart met stijgingspijlen (nog te maken)
De kwaliteit van de weg
Er is een grotere kans dat een kleine weg minder goed is. Naar boven doet de kwaliteit van een weg er minder toe dan als je naar beneden gaat. Klimmend heb je weinig last van gaten en hobbels. Een afdaling wordt er een stuk minder leuk door.
Bovendien zal een kleine weg in het algemeen minder autoverkeer hebben. En dat is dan weer leuk voor het klimmen.
Breedte en overzicht van de weg
Een smalle weg met weinig zicht kan prachtig zijn om te klimmen, maar in de afdaling moet je voortdurend remmen. Niet lekker rijden en zonde van de hoogtemeters. En van je remblokken:). foto (nog te maken)
Een brede weg met mooi asfalt is ook met relatief veel autoverkeer heerlijk om te dalen, maar een crime om te klimmen. foto (nog te maken) Zie ook: ‘Lezen’ van de weg
Bij dat afdalen gedraag je je ten opzichte van het autoverkeer anders dan in de beklimming. Je probeert met andere weggebruikers tot een samenspel te komen om veilig snel te kunnen dalen met mooie lijnen. Als dat lukt is het genieten, voor sommigen meer dan naar boven:) Zie ook: Andere weggebruikers
Het maakt ook nogal wat uit hoelang je op ene stuk drukke weg rijdt. Klimmend doe je er soms 5 tot 10 keer langer over dan dalend. Hetzelfde stuk weg is wel te pruimen in een afdaling, maar als klim een uur hijgend in de uitlaatgassen en herrie is het heel wat anders.
Kortom: een slimme routeplanning kan je veel plezier geven.
Going downhill on a racing bike is perhaps even more fun than going uphill. Obviously, first and foremost should descending be safe, but also fast. And the two go well together.
You can and should learn to descend. Of course it is also a matter of natural talent. But unlike playing violin, almost every cyclist can reach a pretty decent level in descending. In the mountains you make a lot of hours going uphill and very little going downhill. It’s not easy to put in the necessary hours to learn to improve your descending skills. You should be alert to seize any opportunity to learn to descend. Getting stuck behind a few cars can just ruin a good descent. Best wait a while, and let the cars get far enough ahead and give it all you got in the descent.
Keeping measure You will notice that if you have not descended in a long time, you just have to get your rhythm back when you’re back in the mountains. For example, how far before a turn you have to brake, and how hard to break. The same applies for a new bike, wheels or tires. While practicing you take it to your limit, but you should not exceed that limit. If you feel it’s scary while others say that this is not necessary, make sure that you do take your time, do not rush it. Descending with sweaty palms is not a good idea. A few hours exercising in a more relaxed fashion does do the trick.
Cornering technique on the flat The cornering technique that you practiced on the flat can also be used when descending on the road bike. The big difference is that in a descent acceleration can continue even if you do not peddle. If a curve continues for longer than you expected, it can get tricky. So, do anticipate. See also: Practise cornering? See also: Taking sharp turns
wet roads On dry roads, you will learn quickly how hard and how much you can bank your bike, wheels and tires. On wet roads, it is more difficult to master this skill. How wet is it, is the surface oily, how it differs per meter? The situation is often so different that you learn much less how hard and banked it can get. On wet roads you will have to build a lot more security than on dry pavement.
Considerations
Attitude on the straights Everyone knows: the deeper you are, the less air resistance, the faster you go.
When you sit on the top tube, the air resistance is even less.
You can also hang behind the saddle, with your stomach on the saddle, much like a bike throw in a sprint.
That gives easily a few kilometers per hour speed advantage.
The drawings below show the aerodynamic differences between different postures, based on a wind tunnel research with scale models.
Take care of control and safety with these ‘off saddle’ positions.Be aware that as a recreational cyclist you descend on smaller and worse roads more often than the pros and can also have to deal with oncoming traffic.How do you get stability if you are not on the saddle? Knees against the slanting tubes? Can you handle a blow through a hole in the road in such a position?How quickly can you respond to something unexpected?Do not stick with your shirt or pants on a point of the saddle if you want to come back on the saddle.You will not be the first one to come across that just before a turn.Practice it and know when and how you can apply an ‘off saddle’ attitude.
Attitude during cornering
In fact, you use the same techniques as when cornering on the flat.
A recap: press the outside pedal down, body / bike c.o.g. in the contact area bike – road. Use the classic turn or ski turn? See also: Taking sharp turns
Looking forward
As with a curve on the flat, look ahead in a curve during a descent. Only when the road is very bad also look at shorter distances in front of you to avoid pot holes and the like. You look throughthe turnaroundin the direction you want to go. With a hairpin look if possible one level lower.
This is done to see how far the corner curves backand and whether there is oncoming traffic. If you can not see through a corner, it’s a blind corner, and you have to be more careful. If you go to the outside of the road you may see the road beyond if you look at the inside of the road.
With blind corners to the right, you can, space permitting, ride as much as you can on the left side of the road, even over the center line of the road. The further to the left you ride, the more early you can see if anything is oncoming. If there is something oncoming, you have return to your side of the road as fast as you can! See also: taking sharp turns
Braking
Braking in a descent is done ahead of the curve, as you’re still riding in a straight line. Especially with the front brake. The front brake has about twice the stopping power as the rear brake. Furthermore, the front wheel hardly locks when braking, because that’s where the most of the pressure is on. The rear wheel locks more easily, but when this happens while riding in a straight line, it’s scary, but fairly easy to recover from. Sometimes you do a little additional braking in a bend. Beware that you can brake but do it very gently. In a turn locking the front wheel and getting it into a slip is almost a guarantee to fall. The rear brake can slip easily, but the effect is usually not so bad. If you immediately release the rear brake, the bike pulls itself right again, and you are sometimes even positioned more favorable in the corner :). The first time is scary. The tenth time too. But somewhat less. In a downhill, you can try by late braking to get some kind of stored energy after the turn.
Be careful that you do not brake continuously in a descent. Thus, the wheels can become too hot, possibly resulting in a burst tire. Carbon rims can also deform by heat. Make no mistake that we normal cyclists have to brake more often and harder than the professionals. We are dealing with other traffic, ride more often on smaller roads with worse tarmac.
Correcting In the mountains we do not know most of the corners very well. Not as good as a bend in a criterion that you take many times. That is, how well you enter such a curve, you almost always need to correct a bit. You do that by stabbing a knee to the corner to get some extra weight inside. Youcan also do this through the ski-turn position by veering in slightly and therefore veering back out afterwards. For example, if the last part of the curve is continuing on longer than you thought. If you enter the curve a bit too sharply, you can correct it by veering out from the ski-turn position a bit to make the turn less sharp.
These adjustments are done unconsciously, just because it’s going too fast. Such reactions should be an automatic reflex. That requires a lot of practice at higher speed and (simulated) stress.
In groups If you ride in a group ride that gradually transitions from a false flat to, for example, 5% descend, it can be tricky. You drive on the false flat often in a compact group. When the road slightly goes down, the speed imperceptibly increases. You forget sometimes to increase the space between eachother.
You need more distance to absorb eventualities at a higher speed. Moreover, it is likely that if the road goes steeply down, it gets narrower with sharper twists and turns. So, allow for larger spaces in time. Several riders sometimes have a different cornering or braking styles. You always should keep that in mind.
Usually the lesser performers are found in the back of a group. A long descent is useful if there is a good descender at the back of the group. Otherwise, if the last man hits the deck, or has a mechanical, it’s no fun to discover this down the mountain, and you have to ride back uphill.
The surprising attack by Chris Fromm in the descent.The man who was been seen as a bad descenter the year before.The commentators on the Belgian and Dutch TV spoke of ‘dangerous’, and ‘do not do this at home’.The English commentators, including Sean Kelly, spoke about their own fear and also and especially about their admiration.
Chris Fromm had probably explored the descent very well.He knows that the asphalt is super.He knows the curves.And he has greatly improved his downhill skills.See how each bend line fits, now and then with some extra ’emphases’.See how he shifted his body / bicycle center of gravity inward, but with his upper body slightly outward. How he works with the knee. How he has a difficult but aerodynamic position on the seat tube (‘what’s in a name? :)) and even paddles in this position.
Cancellara Classic with beautiful music. Smooth not so difficult descent. Subtle use of the ski-technique. Note the minor corrections through the knee or by veering in with the ski-bend technique. Also note the time when he moves behind his saddle.
Technical descent, with much ‘help’ of the organization by having closed roads, straw bales and especially by signs with information about the course of the curves.
Nibali
Wonderful technical descent. With knowledge of the track and with a strong descending technique Nibali wins the stage in the descent and not the ascent. Watch the video also once without sound. The commotion of the commentators is understandable, but it distracts from the great technique. Typically a course that you as a cycling tourist cannot descend this fast. The descent will have other traffic, people between the houses, on the roads etc.. Maybe you even might want to avoid this road as decent, loosing a lot of height meter for nothing.
Bardet Lovely controlled descent. Knowledge of the road is visible: he knows where to go wide on the exit. He uses the whole road. Nice to see small changes in his position. For example, on 2′.10 ” how he somewhat veers up to make the bend wider, moving more to the stones on the exit and enters the next bend exactly right. On 10:10 he has a slight rear wheel skid, which he recovered nicely. It is important at such a relatively long descent to keep concentrated, 100% stay in the game on the road / curves / technique. A descent of a few minutes is in terms of retaining your attention much easier than a long one. In a long descent, there are times where your focus slips slightly. You’ll lose time.
Remember, there’s no other traffic, so he can go all out in the blind corners. The road is more or less checked for potholes, or gravel on the sides. For us normal cyclists, such a descent is a lot less fun, especially since you often have to be on the right for a blind curve, and thus cannot ride a nice line.
Gilbert
A nice example of a good decent under wet conditions is that of Gilbert in the tour of Lombardia of 2010, section 2.
How hard you can descent depends on a number of issues.
The width of the road and restricted view due to vegetation or rocks
If a road is a car or a car and a half wide, a smooth descent is questionable at best. When vegetationor rocks obstruct the view, you can not really descent really fast. Something can always turn up onyourside of the road, so you have to be very close to the side or even on the edge.
If a road is two cars wide without center line, it gets better. The pros can ride their racing lines there, for us that is not the case if we have no or restricted visibility. The finale of Milano – San Remo or de decent of Coll du Chat (in the Tour de France, stage 9) are good examples.
A way of two cars wide with center line is also good for us. We can also ride the racing lines. You can also use the other half of the road when you are careful.
If the road is wide, but without a center line, or where the center line stops – count on it: a little further down it becomes narrow with the sight being restricted by high rocks or something!
Surface of the road The speed with which you can descend depends on the quality of the road surface. Is the tarmac smooth, or is it bumpy, or even patched up? There are pot holes in the road? Especially bumpy tarmac is tricky. That is tarmac of secondary quality. Cheaply made, but not so smoothly laid. It looks right, but it is not. You can also feel it in a car. On the bike, you don’t have good control. The bicycle drifts away. You cannot brake hard. You wonder whether you’ve forgotten how to descent. When you get a beautiful stretch of tarmac, then you feel the difference more than that you see it. OK, I can still do it:).
Wet The road is wet? Or only wet in patches? From rain, or mountain streams. This is a complicated matter. On dry tarmac, you learn in the course of time what you and your bike can do. Wetness comes in degrees, possibly combined with dirt, oil, and the like. In addition, it can be different every few meters. So you learn much less about what you can or cannot do on a wet surface. If the road is wet, you never really know as well as with dry tarmac what you can do and what you cannot do. You should also have much more built-in safety. Good luck! 🙂
Dew and frost In autumn, winter and spring you may unexpectedly have to deal with dew or frost. At lower night temperatures, the road cools off so much that moisture from the relatively warm air condenses on the road surface. Then, there is dew or frost on the road. Possible slippery. On stretches that lay in the sun, the wetness disappears in the course of the day, and the road becomes dry. Where the road is shaded for a long time, it may stays moist all day. Has it not rained for days, and you ride, enjoying the sun, a descend in an open landscape, one curve later, you’re in a forest. Oops! Surprise! Anticipation is certainly good for your blood pressure 🙂
The bend indication of the road authority For motorists, the road authority has sometimes put down warning signs. This can be beneficiary to us cyclists. It varies from area to area. Sometimes there’s nothing, sometimes, four grades are used to denote how sharp a turn is. It is as if you were given a road book, as rally drivers have. Here are some pictures with such signs.
Triangle Signs (beware of dangerous bend) with direction indication of the curve are a nice extra service because they are placed well ahead of the curve.
A brain teaser is a sign that, for example, indicates a right turn, but the turn actually goes to the left. You may think ‘mistake’ of the road authority. Forget it. The bend to the left, that’s not the point. The right turn comes afterwards, and is to be taken seriously.
You always have to get adjusted in a region to what the signals are and what they mean. At one point you know, based on that knowledge, where you can ride through, where to keep your legs still, and where to brake (hard).
And, yes, at some point, the appearance of those signs simply stop. You’re in another municipality, or it’s still under construction,or whatever. If you’re then tuned in nicely to the signs, and because there are no signs you are going all out – that might be a mistake. Actually, you can say, if they are there, you know what to look for. If they are not there, you do not know that (for sure) 🙂.
Many of us ride in the mountains or hills. It is different from cycling on the flat. Not only goingup, but mostly going down.
To climb
Know which gears you need. It’s remarkable that in hills with the short but steep slopes you need smaller gears than in real mountains with much longer but less steep slopes.
Sometimes the steep hills are short enough to do them with power. But there is a point you have to surrender and change to smaller gears and do the climing on rhythm.
To sit or to stand in a climb? There are entire articles published about this issue. Do what works for you, but make sure that you can do both easily.
Descend
Because descending a mountain goes so fast, you will have less opportunity to learn the technique. While descending is one of the fun things to do, if you did a little practice. Incomprehensible how some are panting and groaning for an hour with climbing, and then carelessly throw the gained altitude away.
Difference professionals and cyclists
When we see the pros in action on TV, it looks beautiful, but realize that the circumstances in which they ride are very different from us cyclists. In the pro races like the Tour de France, the riders ride on controlled roads. There are no large pot holes in the road. There isnooncoming traffic. That means they can go blindly through blind corners, and therefore have amuch broader road at their disposal. In addition, the pro riders get much information about the curves by the behavior of their predecessors and the brake lights of motorcycles and cars.
We cyclists on average have much poorer roads to ride on, with bumps, patched asphalt, and pot holes. That means a lot more bouncing and you have to not only look forward for the ideal line, but also look at the road directly in front of you. Moreover, you have to consider oncoming traffic.
Overall, descents are far more difficult for us cyclists than for the professionals. Think of the finale of Milano- San Remo or the Coll du Chat, for example in the Tour de France of2017.
Cycling is both cooperation and competition.
In a team time trial there should be full cooperation.
In a race, it is all about winning, so you are in competition with the others. But sometimes you are working together for some time, for example in a break-away, after which all will pursue their own wins. How much energy you want to spend in the joint venture depends on yourobjectives and temperament.
A single echelon is the most appropriate to be able to make big differences in work. The riders all ride at the same speed all the time, but take shorter or longer turns. In a double echelon anyone does about the same amount of work. That means that the weaker riders must put in relatively more effort than the stronger.
For some, the fun of a double echelon is larger than a single echelon: everything runs like clockwork. Beautiful!
Team time trial For a team time trial, a double echelon is sometimes used in the first part of a long time trial. Optionally, if the road is too narrow for the whole group. But the best result you achieve with a single echelon. You’ll make sure that everyone is completely empty when (s)he stops. A few are expended on the way. If done properly, the rider that is about to be expended will take his (or her) final lead, and give it all, making sure the pace doesn’t drop. Once that pace becomes unsustainable, the lead is handed off, and this rider lets go of the echelon. The rider should never be dropped because he fails to join the echelon because there is an acceleration. That means that this rider has not expended all his/her energy, which would be a waste of resources. The remaining riders divide the work so that everyone in the team is completely empty at the finish line.
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.
Escape In an escape, a double echelon is very suitable. You want to do as much work as the others, but certainly no more, and the others won’t allow you to do less.
During an escape, you will often see both single and double echelons. When cross winds are expected in a race, you often see multiple echelons.
There may also be a number of echelons in succession. They are independent, and (usually) ride at short distances from one other. They may be single or double echelons, with or without riders stranded in between.
For shelter and support You can also create them when you are in a (very) large group that wants to ride together. Of course, you then keep the distance between the echelons much smaller to make optimal use of the wind. The stronger and weaker riders are divided over the various echelons in order to keep all the weaker riders sheltered.
For getting rid off the competition In so-called echelon-stages in for example the Tour de France, they are deliberatly created to put opponents at a distance. A beautifull example is the echelon-coup of Quick Step (Giro 2017, stage 3) Http://nos.nl/video/2171992-quickstep-rijdt-current-to-gort-gaviria-maakt-het-af.html A beautiful stage, with a demonstration of echelon riding in full hectics. Interesting points:
1. At the right time, only the QS men are in the front positions. That while everyone knew it was going to happen on that section of road and there was a continuous battle for those front positions. Only 3 others including Greipel are up there, too, all others are not. It needs to happen not too early, nor not too late, and it’s within a few seconds that all has to happen. And by all involved. 2. Determining how much space there should be so that your own men can shelter from the wind while the competitors are stuck on the side of the road and so are fully exposed to the wind. 3. Slowing down just enough by the QS men at the front so that their sprinter Gaviria can join (piloted by a team mate). 4. Those skilled proffesionals in encheloning can execute a perfect enchelon at less than full force. At full power they do make small mistakes, but they can correct them easily. For example, Jungels drives a bit too hard. He holds a bit back. Others fill the gap slowly so that the rest can flow smoothly. They have to ride closer to the windward side of the road. So, at full force there are constantly corrections. 5. They communicate in all the mayham. You see them talking through the radio and you can bet there is a lot of screaming and shouting. 6. Dealing with frustration. At full force, things always go wrong in all the mayham. The other one does not do what you tell him to do. There are deviations from the race line. It’s not going fast enough. X is not included. Etcetera, etcetera. That creates frustration. The natural reaction is what is mentioned in psychology: flight, flight or freeze. You get angry, you shut down (mentally), you cramp up, do not listen well, etc. Not giving in to these emotions, but staying functional, correcting mistakes of yourself and others, that’s the great art of encheloning at full force. Compare the World Championship Team Time Trials in Valkenburg (“I yelled, but he didn’t listen.” So what? Then you yell your louder, pull him by his shirt, whatever is needed.) Knowing how it should be done is one thing. Doing it at submaximal levels is a skill that is quite easy to practice. Performing on full force and in all the mayham (like taking a penalty at soccer) is mentally much more difficult and requires much more attention and practice.
For the technique of enchelon and pinning the competitors on the side of the road, see a beautiful animation of a stage from the Tour de France: https://www.facebook.com/Fietssport/videos/1805709502974180/
The double echelon is also called the chain or the carousel. It’s like a chain of riders who are constantly rotating..
Once you take the lead you move over and you are overtaken by the rider behind you. That way, two rows arise: on the windward side a row of riders that move to the rear, allowing the other row of riders to move forward in their draft.
On head As with the single echelon, you should not accelerate when you take the lead. That is not always easy. Look at your speedometer. Or keep the same cadence. Rather than remaining on the front for some time as you would do in a single echelon, you now move over into the windward side right away, while maintaining your speed. The rider that was riding in front of you and moved over for you to take the lead is now fading to the rear. The two echelons are only a short distance apart, 10-15 cm (4-6 inches) should suffice.
To cross
As you’re taking the lead, your predecessor is fading backwards. As soon as your wheels don’t overlap anymore, you yourself move over to the windward side. If you’re unsure whether your wheels don’t overlap, check by looking down underneath your arm. See also: Keeping your Line
Your predecessor may signal that you can move over. A simple “Yes” is sufficient. The crossing should be done (very) gradually. Then you do not run the risk of surprising your predecessor. The closer the two echelons ride beside one another (elbow to elbow), the less distance you have to cover to move over to the other echelon, and the easier it is.
Fading Once you have moved over to the windward echelon, depending on the strength of the wind, you may have to decrease the pressure on your pedals a bit. By doing that, the next rider automatically, i.e. without acceleration, tales the lead.
Check your speed and your psychology It’s hard not to accelerate when taking the lead. Because you catch more wind you have to put more pressure on the pedals to not ride slower. But how much more? Look at your speedometer. If you ride in the second position, check your cadence and keep that if you take the lead. Learn also to know by feel and not just by looking on the meter. Let the riders behind you coach you. It is not only technically difficult just to maintain the correct speed, but also psychologically. You do not want to be any less than your buddies, and you might even be tempted to show off. Or if it’s just a temporary collaboration, you want to hurt the others a little, thereby weakening them a bit. See also: Mindset and group dynamics
As the next rider moves over into the wind, you need to take his wheel right away, and don’t leave a gap. You need to fiddle around a bit with your speed to do so. The more gradually he moves over, the easier it is.
The two echelons should ride as short as possible next to one another (elbow to elbow). That way, the group is as compact and aerodynamic as it can possibly be.
Joining, that hurts….
When you’ve reached the rear, you move over to the leeward side, and start to accelerate again. This is the most difficult point! It may be that at that moment, the group starts to accelerate, and you will then suffer.Signal in time: “Easy!” or “Hold!”. If you’ve taken the wheel, your “Yes” signals that you’ve joined and only now can the group start to accelerate.
Again you can pass turns by calling “In between”.
Back to the front You’ve now joined in the echelon that moves forward. The chance to catch your breath. Still, you and the others in your echelon have to peddle. If there is no acceleration when taking the lead, that is possible. If there is an acceleration, gaps may open up, and they have to be bridged. Do this gently by increasing the pace ever so slightly. That way, you dampen any speed differences and the whole group moves more smoothly. It feels like a well-oiled chain.
1.5 echelon As a group runs a double echelon and someone stays in the lead, then the double echelon turns into a single echelon. The windward echelon moves to the rear of the leeward echelon, and joins, leaving a single echelon.
Once a number of riders move over right away, then a double echelon is formed again.
Alternating between a double and a single echelon (running a 1.5 echelon, so to speak) you can much better deal with the differences in strength within a group compared to just use a single or double echelon exclusively.
In a single echelon, the riders ride in a staggered formation. The exact form depends on the direction and the strength of the wind. The more it is a headwind, the more you are going to ride in a straight single file. The more the wind comes from the side, the more you will be riding side by side.
The front rider
As the front rider, you do a lot more work than those who are riding behind you. Once you think you’ve done enough on the front, you give the familiarsignwith your elbow, signalling you pass the front position to the next rider. You let your speed drop a little so that the rest can pass you without having to accelerate.
If you ride in a fairly large group, the lead rider needs to ride on the far-most left or right hand side of the road so that there is room for everyone in the echelon.
To cross If the new leader takes the lead, and has passed the previous leader, (s)he moves up diagonally into the wind to the side of the road. Before doing so, (s)he looks down across underneath the arm to make sure the leader has been passed. Looking down underneath your arm without leaving your line has to be learned. See also: Keeping your Line It also helps if (s)he hears the old leader call it’s safe to pass, for instance by: “Yes”.
Moving to the rear If you are moving to the rear of the group, make sure that you ride close to the echelon. This will give you and the group an advantage, and you can join the echelon again without much or any extra effort.
Joining the echelon, be aware! Joining the echelon again is a critical moment: you are tired from being on the front. In addition, as you’re moving to the rear, your speed is decreasing. You have to speed up in time to hold the rear wheel. So you need to know exactly where to join, and preferably know who is riding in front of the last rider. In this way you do’nt get surprised when you’re about to join the echelon, and leave no gap that you have to close. This saves a lot of energy. You can be helped by the rider after whom you should join the echelon by him calling “After me!”.
Not accelerating means riding faster
The crux of a good echelon is the person who takes the lead. He or she passes the current lead rider, and (s)he should not accelerate. If (s)he does accelerate, the whole echelon needs to accelerate, and everyone expends extra energy. That’s largely wasted energy. That energy is better used at the front. Moreover, accelerating may send the one who needs to join again at the end of the group over the edge.
It’s hard It’s hard not to accelerate when taking the lead. Because you catch more wind you have to put more pressure on the pedals to not ride slower. But how much more pressure? Look at your speedometer. If you ride in the second position, check your cadence and keep that if you take the lead. Learn also to know by feel and not just by looking on the meter. Let the riders behind you coach you. It is not only technically difficult just to maintain the correct speed, but also psychologically. You do not want to be any less than your buddies, and you might even be tempted to show off. Or if it’s just a temporary collaboration, you want everyone behind you to hurt a little, thereby debilitating them a bit. See also: Mindset and group dynamics
Double work Sometimes it is agreed that the new rider in front rides a fraction slower until he got a call back that his predecessor has joined again. This costs a bit of time, but this saves the group a lot of (expensive) energy, which can then be spent more effectively. Nothing’s as stupid as someone on the front working hard and someone who is a few meters back working just as hard. That’s one, so 100%, too many. Echeloning is one rider working really hard and the rest ‘resting’.
Check and coaching Those who ride at the rear of the echelon check if the previous leader can join the echelon. If not, they pass a signal to the front: “Easy” or “Hold”. “Hold” do not mean that others should stop pedaling. It only means there must be less pressure on the pedals. They must not look back. You do not have to look, you just need to listen and trust the signals from behind. If the rear passes the signal: “Yes”, it means that the rider has joined the echelon, so that the lead rider can increase the pace.
Differences in power In a single echelon, the strongest riders do the most work. Not by riding faster, but by staying on the front longer. The weakest does not do any work on the front. He or she remains at the rear, and signals to the others they have to join before him or her by shouting: “In between”.
The trick is to pass your turn on the front in time. You’re still strong enough to follow at the rear. That’s a matter of assessing your reserves and above all not having a big ego. See also: mindset and group dynamics
If the last rider cannot follow the pace anymore, one of the stronger rider may start to ride in the last position and push the weaker. These two remain at the rear and let the others join in before them. See also: Dealing with power differences
Sometimes someone cannot take the lead easily. There too a helpful push is in place. Number two is pushing the person to the lead, and this person then moves straight to the windward side, leaving number two to take the lead.
Echeloning: practical and magical at the same time
Echeloning is one of the most beautiful parts of a group ride. There, you will discover how much faster and easier it is when you work well together. You, as a group of riders, become a single organism, a machine that can be far more powerfull than the separate individuals. If that machine also happens to run smoothly, you feel a special kind of magic.
Smart use of the wind Ona bike, you almost always experience a headwind. If it’s not the real wind, it’s the airflow you create yourself by moving forward.
Everyone knows just how tough it can be to ride on your own. As a group you can cleverly deal with the wind. By riding in an echelon, you are now riding on the lee side or even in the wake of another rider.
Not only the man or woman behind the rider in front benefit, but also the person in front has advantage when someone is riding (closely) behindhim.
Resistance consists of: 1. Pressure wave at the front (yellow) 2. Lack of aerodynamics (brown) 3. Zog, swirls on the back (blue)
That the rear riders have an advantage is right with our feeling.But the front rider also has an advantage because the whirls behind him partly disappear by the man behind him. The green resistance part is divided by both riders and is smaller than the blue and yellow together of both individual riders
But how do you, as a group of racing cyclists, deal as efficiently as possible, with headwinds? By riding in an echelon.
Getting out of the wind
The front rider rides as much as possible on the windward side of the road and the others ride on the other, the leeward, side, away from the wind.
With low winds, those who ride on the second row can better determine where the wind comes from than the front rider: you seek that position behind the front rider where you feel the least amount of wind.
If the wind comes right against the head, it is difficult to find that favorable position.The shielding surface is much smaller than with wind against at an angle.So feel which position is the most favorable. It may be that for number three that is a bit different than for number two. And so on.
The leader must be coached Because the leader cannot always determine where the wind comes from, those on the second row coach the front rider: “bit left”, or “bit right”. See also: Signals
Elbows: anticipating change of wind direction On a long straight road you only need to determine once where the wind comes from and how to form your group. But if the course twists and turns that can become difficult. Suppose the wind blows from right, so the front rider rides on the far right side of the road. Now suppose there is a sharp right turn coming up. What does the front rider do? He or she makes the right turn, but less sharply as he or she would do if alone. As a matter of fact, he or she swerves to the other side of the road. After all after the turn the wind will no longer come from the right, but from the left. The rest will tuck in, now on the right hand side from the lead rider. It is useful to determine before the turn where the wind will be coming from after the turn. Then you, as lead rider, can move over to the correct side of the road after the turn right away, and your group will follow smoothly behind you without any problem. It is important to mention that shortly before taking the turn, all riders should stop riding with overlapping wheels.
Communication
When riding in an echelon, especially when you’re riding on your limits, communication and cooperation is crucial in order to always be in the ideal position relative to each other. See also: Driving Range and communication and collaboration See also: Driving in groups / communication and cooperation
Going 
