Topic Title

Following on from Rob's post and as more of us are riding the Saturday training ride here are some tips on riding in a chain gang (courtesy of the Edinburgh Road Club):

A Chain Gang is an efficient way to share time at the front. As its name suggests it is a dynamic ‘chain’ of riders made up of a faster and a slower line. Depending on the wind direction the chain goes in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction to give shelter to the faster line.
Since a chaingang is made up of a faster and a slower line, you will change speed as you move from one to the other – you slow down as you change lines at the front and speed up as you change at the back. With this in mind, some Do’s and Don’ts about riding in a chain gang :

• Do ease off at the front when you change from the faster to the slower line – take the pressure off the pedals slightly, but don’t brake.
• Do avoid leaving a gap as you move across – a gap forces the rider behind to accelerate to regain your wheel – not appreciated !
• Do let riders nearby know if you are unable to go through and intend to sit at the back of the group to recover.
• Do warn riders if you intend to rejoin the chain after sitting in.
• Do stay alert, not just for the usual safety reasons, but to ensure that gaps don’t occur.
• Don’t switch lines unnecessarily.
• Don’t speed up when you reach the front.
• Don’t ride erratically, keep it steady.

Remember the only time you should be accelerating is when you change lines at the back. Failure to observe this simple fact is the main reason why many chaingangs fall apart.

The question usually asked is ; how can the stronger riders work harder than the weaker ones?

Suggestions?

Separate groups. Otherwise use just one line, but that doesn't work with more than a few riders.

Why is there all this focus on riding a chaingang on a Saturday morning??? There are other group riding techniques that can be taught that are of far more use! Most people out are barely able to ride in group. Surley the focus should be on getting a tidy group(s?) sorted for the entire ride than trying to get them to tap through when they are generally stuffed at the end of the ride (accident waiting to happen?)? A large proportion of them are never likely to need to know how to ride a chain gang anyway, but riding in a tidy, safe group is valuable to everyone. The times I have been to the back (yes I stay at the front becuase it is safer there) or ridden back on to the group after stopping, we just look like a careless mess of colour all over the road. We will be giving ourselves a bad name if this isn't sorted. Sod chainganging...

Because people want to learn, and this is a safe way to do it. It'll never get better if it's not practised, and practised at a slow(ish) speed.

It was looking reasonable tidy by the time we got back to York last week. Not perfect, but definately getting better. Give it a few more weeks and it'll be good.

PS Hasn't Arthur been banned from the VC chaingang for dangerous riding? Perhaps this explains his interest in arranging a saturday chaingang?!

Have I? News to me.

Come on guys.

At a recent club meeting a couple of the new starters pointed out that they needed tips and advise more than coaching. Steve's put up a perfectly reasonable thread so that we can discuss some riding technique. Can we please do that in an adult fashion, particularly as this is a public discussion board!

Arthur if you really have been "banned" by VC York then all credit to you mate! Do you get a medal for that sort of thing?

Charlie, there's another thread which you can use to discuss "normal" group riding - anything to add there?

Okay, as one of the people trying to bring some structure to the Saturday training ride...

First off, let's clarify who it's for. It's almost entirely for people who either race or intend to. They may not be first or second cats (and nor am I) but they are at least planning on having a crack at some TLI, BC or vets races in the coming year. So as well as acting as a workout, the ride can usefully cover some basic skills. Close riding yes, climbing and descending safely in a group yes, through and off - yes.

The idea of doing some through-and-off on the tail-end of the Saturday ride is two-fold. Firstly if people who are new to racing get used to it at a slower speed, and gradually work up to Tuesday night chaingang pace when the race season approaches, they're much more likely to be safe than if pitched straight into maximum speed and having to learn the ropes at the same time. Secondly, the run in from Terrington Bank's as flat as a pancake so it's a chance to do something useful with it rather than just spinning along with the strongest riders sat on the front.

Now, I'm no coach - though I've done plenty of teaching outside of cycling - but that seems to me to be sensible stuff to do with the ride. I agree that general group riding can be worked on, but that needn't be an either/or thing for the ride as a whole. There are no plans to turn Saturday into a chaingang - just to make the ride as useful as possible for as many riders as possible. We've talked about two groups to cope with different levels of ability; maybe we need to instigate that too.

Lastly - for the attention of anyone sniping at Arthur or indeed any other individual on here - as Rob says, let's use this to discuss positive ideas in a vaguely sensible way. There are a number of people who, following on from the "where do we go from here" discussions, have kicked around ideas about how to support club members in moving to more challenging rides, including racing. The structure which is emerging for the Saturday ride is part of that process of developing ideas, not any one person's pet idea. So, now, can we all agree to try to work together to make it better?

Good post Phil.

Now can we get back to discussing some technique?

And meanwhile I'll try to think of a discussion topic that will be less inflammatory!

Thanks for posting this topic Steve, all good advice. I shall attempt to get back on topic!

I think the last point, about not accelerating unless joining the back of the faster line is key. Also easing off a bit when moving to the slower line, which not everyone seems to like to do. If we could all remember these two simple points it would all run as smooth as a well oiled chain.

The fact it is not quite as smooth as it could be is equally due to some stronger riders feeling the need to show they feel good and turning up the speed when they hit the front as it is to those who may be leaving larger than ideal gaps due to a lack of confidence, experience or speed.

It is all about riding as one unit, looking out for each other and not being selfish isn't it, just as in normal group riding. I'm sure we can all improve in different ways with a bit more work over the coming weeks.

I have to say I'm really enjoying the rides, and thanks to those making the effort to get things organised!

As I keep saying Compromise, stick to the same route & just keep turning up!
Charlie - you get your C words mixed up - cut out the Critisism try Constructive advice or Coaching - its worth a try!
For F%*k sake its a two and a half hour blast on a Saturday morning lets not get carried away. Keep it like it is through January & pick up the speed in February. If you are relying on this as your only hard ride of the week you're doing something wrong.
However you may not want to listen to me I'm not a qualified coach!

My biggest gripe with this through and off business is that it is being done when riders are fatigued and concentration is less than optimum. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is not the best time to try and learn a new skill.

Fair point. That's why we are trying to slowly though.

Where else do you suggest doing it? Needs a nice flat bit of road without too many turns etc. On the way out from the end of Stockton Lane to Buttercrambe?

Although I'm fairly new to working in a pace line, my sense was that it worked quite well on Saturday. No one seemed obviously fatigued (or was struggling) and the gaps between wheels were close. People were going through at around 21 mph, which is not that much faster than the normal training ride speed on the flat anyway. As Mike says, some people occasionally did'nt deaccelerate on the slower line, but at that speed everything hanged together. Like Mike, I welcome the opportunity to practice / refine this technique at a slowish pace.