Tips for Riding in a Group

I often find myself training on my own. But, I was introduced to cycling largely through the traditional British club run. It was interesting to pick up on a few tips and cycling ‘etiquette’. If you are relatively new to cycling, you might appreciate some of these ‘rules’ for group riding.

Ride Together.

If you do decide to ride with a group, don’t go sprinting off for road signs. Either do interval training on your own or ride as a group. Don’t try to combine both, you will just break the spirit of the group. (Unless your particular group encourages people to sprint for road signs.

Avoid Swerving

The first thing to remember when riding in a group is that your riding, will affect other group riders. Therefore, avoid making sudden movements to right or left. Try to anticipate objects and don’t leave it to the last minute. If you do make a sudden swerve it will ripple through the group and could be dangerous.

Keep Your Line.

If you ever do a road race, you will inevitably hear people shouting – ‘hold your line’. When your riding on your own, you can take the best line. However, when riding in a group, you have to bear in mind the people to the side of you. Make sure you don’t force them over the other side of the road by moving away from the inside.

Be Careful standing on your pedals on a hill. 

A common irritation is for newbies (and some experienced cyclists) to ‘dropkick’ the person behind them. If you stand on your pedals, your cadence drops and you suddenly slow down forcing the person behind you to also slow down. You can avoid this by dropping down a gear and making an effort to maintain constant pace when standing on the pedals.

Avoid Half Wheeling

This is when you are constantly trying to force the pace. Know the desired speed of the group and keep to it.

Point out dangers in the road. This may sound quite obvious but if you see potholes in the road it is important to point them out to people behind you. There vision is obscured.

Other Things to Avoid when riding in a group.

1. Using tribars. – Unless you’re a triathelete, tribars do not go down well in road racing groups.
2. The winter racer. On winter training rides, the winter racer comes out on his carbon fibre bike and beats everyone to every road sign. When the real racing comes in summer, they are nowhere to be seen.
3. Don’t ride with people either much slower or much faster. You will feel frustrated
4. Don’t use abusive and aggressive language to drivers, it can get the whole group in trouble.
5. Do come prepared for punctures and riding back on your own if necessary

For riding on a chain gang there are more things to consider