Drafting

[ERCougar]

How long do you take turns pulling? I occasionally with a friend who's a stronger cyclist, but also a nice guy (yes, the "but" is intentional.. ), so I never know if I'm doing things right or if he's just going with whatever I do. I usually go 1-1.5 miles, with the idea that that takes 3-5 minutes, which is your average running speed interval. What do you guys do?

Also, do you ride directly behind the guy in front of you or draw in closer and offset to the side? Obviously, offset in a crosswind, but otherwise?

[RC Vikings]

1 to 1 1/2 miles is a long ways to pull. If it's just the two of you I would cut it down to about half that, if you're in a larger group I would cut it down even farther. In a large group pull long enough that you can keep the speed up but not so long that when you drift back you get spit out the back. When it's just two of you try and get a feel for who's stronger and have them take a little longer pull. Ideally the way it should work is that at the end of the ride everybody feels like they got the same workout.

[Eddie]

I've never ridden with a group - OK, I've never ridden with a group that knew much about riding as a group. I went with a guy in my ward and drafted off of him, but when it was my turn to pull he just rode alongside me, and then couldn't keep up. So it didn't quite work out like I expected.

But I have a BiL who rides quite a bit with a group - and I was surprised to have him tell me that when they get going (there are 6-8 of them) they rotate through fairly quickly - like 15-20 seconds each is about all that they'll do.

Is that pretty normal for a group that size?

One day I'm going to find a group to ride with - for now I'm kind of on my own. But I feel like I want to do enough riding and in good enough condition that I can keep up for a while before trying it.

[creekster]

I've never ridden with a group - OK, I've never ridden with a group that knew much about riding as a group. I went with a guy in my ward and drafted off of him, but when it was my turn to pull he just rode alongside me, and then couldn't keep up. So it didn't quite work out like I expected.

But I have a BiL who rides quite a bit with a group - and I was surprised to have him tell me that when they get going (there are 6-8 of them) they rotate through fairly quickly - like 15-20 seconds each is about all that they'll do.

Is that pretty normal for a group that size?

One day I'm going to find a group to ride with - for now I'm kind of on my own. But I feel like I want to do enough riding and in good enough condition that I can keep up for a while before trying it.

Yes that is not unusual, and it is a lot of fun and I encourage it, but with a couple of caveats:

1. Only with room on the road, as doing so in a group that size requires side by side riding.

2. Only do it with people you know are good bike handlers (assuming you are one too) as there are a lot of overlapped wheels in that size of group that is rotating through that quickly and if one guy loses focus it can be a big problem for almost everyone.

[Parrot Head]

I need to find some new groups, I think. We're not out there burning up the roads, but the groups I usually ride in will vary in pulling from 1-2 miles. Though I did pull once for about 5 miles and I was completely spent on the second half of the ride. Maybe it's because we have such large groups (often 20-25 riders) that people don't actively step up to the front.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

What makes this complicated is that there are no real rules and most decisions are based on feel. Time at the front is mostly determined by effort. The greater the effort, the shorter the time on front should be. If you're riding into the wind or up grade, you'll obviously spend less time up there than under more favorable conditions.

I agree with everything Creekster said but would add one more rule about riding in a group. Make sure that everyone is trained on pointing and calling out road obstacles. Just because the guy in front avoids the pot hole doesn't mean every one is going to.