Leah: Thanks for more enthralling narrative about the paceline Platypus. Max: Thanks for the interesting "apercus" on paceline etiquette.
While reading Max's description of paceline concerns, urgent niggling images of Rivendell Hillbikes in pacelines kept afflicting my imagination, with 75 cm-wide Rivendell handlebars and Titanic-length wheelbases preventing close paceline formations, etc. OTOH, the very precise handling of every Rivendell model I've ever ridden ought to take care of that problem. Leah, if you were a man, I'd call you a "mensch." Post scriptum: a plea: Peoples: can we attach High Volume jpegs to the message using the paperclip, instead of copying them into the body of the email? I have a 42" $1K (2015) gaming-quality screen (for work) and some files stretch the capacity of even this screen. Also, can we bottom-trim our messages so that we're not including multi-TBs of images and text from far earlier in the thread? Thanks. On Wed, May 18, 2022 at 10:21 AM Leah Peterson <jonasandle...@gmail.com> wrote: > I see your point, Max. And I think you’re right. If I don’t fall into line > visually, then I might not be wise in their ways and therefore put the > group at risk. And that’s a fair concern because I don’t have paceline > experience (yet). We do not ride super tight or at 25 mph, and I hope we > never do. (Are we a pretend paceline?) The ride leader mentions some things > at the huddle and they say “don’t cross wheels” so I make sure never to do > that. But there have been times when things go wrong and I wonder what I > was *supposed* to have done. For instance, on the Monday Night Ride the > woman in front of me slammed on her brakes suddenly (twice, actually, and I > don’t know why). Before I even thought to do the same, I already was. This > caused the man behind me to growl. Literally growl. I still don’t know what > I should have done. Hit her? > > It’s all very new and interesting and I would love to ride with you one > day soon in A2. > > Staying humble but staying on my Platypus regardless of what they think, > Leah > > On May 18, 2022, at 11:50 AM, Max S <msht...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Roadies are snobby, but potentially with good reason. Let me explain... > While there CAN be plenty of groupthink and cultishness / exclusivity in > road biking and club cycling that I don't care for, there are some good > reasons to enforce a certain amount of conformity when riding fast on paved > roads in a tight formation (e.g., a paceline). > Going fast in a long, rotating paceline, on a narrow shoulder of a road > with cars zooming by, with potential for potholes causing pinch flats with > skinny tires, you have to be very disciplined as a group, and you have to > have a lot of trust in those in your paceline. Any failure to point out a > pothole, approaching car, or joggers, any jitters or unsteadiness in speed > can wreak havoc on the group. In a good, properly rotating paceline, you > are going >20 mph, your tire is inches away from the next rider's tire, and > your bars are also inches from another person's bars as you rotate back or > forward. Riding in echelons in a side-wind can be even trickier. > I've ridden plenty when training and racing on the road, and riding with > people who can maintain a straight line, steady speed without any > speedometers or inclines / declines in the road is simply more enjoyable. > You learn to stay the heck away from riders who are yoyo-ing back and > forth, riders who "leave their wheel behind" when they stand up to climb, > riders whose shorts and bikes are a little bit too torn up (potential for > frequent crashes), and *riders who for whatever other stupid reason may > appear like they're different enough from you that you can't 110% rely on > them to keep their line and predictability in a tight bunch*. I'm not > saying that you exhibit any of those functional foibles, but when you don't > know the other riders all that well, as seems to be the occasional > situation you're running into on these club rides, people tend to pay more > attention to various secondary indicators / cues. > If you think about the risks and people's nature when riding in tight > groups on the road, it's literally life-and-death (or > life-and-serious-injury) type considerations that drive these behaviors. > In a well-run club ride, a leader will gently guide new riders in these > unspoken rules and behaviors, and a welcoming approach can result in more > trust and discipline than these gruff attitudes... It's unfortunate that > there didn't seem to be a sufficiently experienced and authoritative > "patron" on the ride to keep the skittish / insecure newbies in line and > ensure there's a nurturing approach. But at the same time, do try to see it > from another perspective. There are very good reasons to encourage > diversity in cycling, but there are also instances / situations, where > uniformity and conformity is the safest (and most enjoyable) way to go. If > you ever get to ride with experienced and strong riders that can maintain a > proper rotating paceline going at 20-25 mph, with very little work, > relatively speaking, it's an exhilirating experience! > > - Max "mostly reformed roadie racer who still likes to make an effort, > even if mostly on dirt roads" in A2 > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfguUV3aM%3DaCpiWmHJM0%2B8%3DOc2SaBRN9O_uazqiPO02U7qg%40mail.gmail.com.
