Paceline Safety and Etiquette

Nomatter where you are in a paceline, you are responsible to the people behind you. Everything you do affects them. If you brake, they have to brake. if you accelerate, they have to accelerate. Small disturbances in the front of the paceline are exaggerated as they ripple back. You are responsible for letting the riders behind you know what is going on in front of you (slowing, road hazards, etc.) and how you are responding to it.

The key to being a safe paceline rider is predictability and communication.

Paceline Safety Do’s and Don’ts

Do

• Stay about 12” – 18” behind the wheel in front of you. If you’re more than 24” away, you won’t get any draft from the rider in front of you.

• Look through the knees of the rider in front of you — not at their rear wheel. Too many accidents are caused by riders watching the wheel in front of them.

• Maintain a consistent distance between you and the rider in front of you. Get into a gear that allows you a comfortable cadence while providing the power to maintain the speed of the group.

• Stay directly behind the wheel in front of you — not to the left and or right.

• Signal and/or call out all road hazards (holes, gravel, palm fronds, sand, road kill, parked cars, runners/walkers ahead).

• Signal and/or call out that the group is slowing, stopping or turning.

• Keep pedaling. Many beginners “pedal-pause” because they are not accustomed to pedaling continuously. When you stop pedaling it sends a signal to the rider behind you that the group is slowing, though it may not be, and then that rider may cause a gap by reacting. If you think you are gaining on the rider in front of you, “soft pedal;” rotating the pedals without applying power. This also allows you to resume pressure more quickly and avoid having a gap form in front of you.

• Close gaps in the paceline by accelerating smoothly and easily. Sprinting to close the gap will leave the riders behind you in the dust (or gasping for air when they finally catch up).

Don’t

• Don’t make any sudden movements. Change gears smoothly. Anticipate what’s happening with the group and/or road conditions and react calmly and purposefully.

• Slam on your brakes. Ever.

• Overlap the wheel in front of you.

• Exit and rejoin the paceline. If you “ride out” into what would be the “outside line”, the rider behind you naturally advances a little to get into the draft of the line again. When you merge back in, it forces that rider to slow down, in turn forcing the entire line behind him to suddenly brake.

Call It!

• Stopping/slowing: hand open and to side, down or back.

• Left turn: left hand pointed out; also appropriate to say “left turn.”

• Right turn: Right hand pointed out; also appropriate to say “right turn.”

• Car parked in your lane: wave right arm from right to left behind your back while saying “car right.”

• Road hazard: point down to left or right, depending on where the hazard is located. Also indicate the side that the hazard is located, i.e. “hole right” or “stick right.” If the hazard is significant enough to cause damage or an accident, move well away from it and wave the riders behind you to follow. Flat tires, bent rims and serious accidents have been caused by riders pointing to a significant hazard and riding close to it - somewhere back the line someone fails to point and call and someone behind her hits the hazard.

• Car approaching in front: Say “car up.”

• Car approaching/passing from the rear: Say “car back.”

• Runners/walkers approaching in front: Say “runners (or walkers) up.”

• Road is clear for riders to move into another lane in order to turn: Say “clear back” and/or “take the lane.” This is best done by the last rider, and that rider can initiate taking the lane while calling.

• Passing another rider and/or paceline: “On your left.”

Call back and point out everything that is called in front of you, but also call what you see even if it has not been called in front of you. If you see the rider in front of you slowing, and this causes you to slow, call it! Same if you see a road hazard. Even if no one in front of you called it.

Paceline Etiquette

No matter where you’re located in the paceline — at the front, in the middle or bringing up the rear — you have a responsibility to maintain the integrity and safety of the group.

Pulling

• Start a group ride at a slow enough pace so everyone has a chance to warm up. Increase the pace gradually during the first few miles until you reach the advertised pace. Many times the ride speed and distance will be posted. If not, be sure to ask what they are before heading out with the group. And by all means, don’t overestimate your capabilities. You’ll end up frustrating the group and yourself.

• Gradually pick up speed coming out of stop and corners. After you come around the corner, look over your left shoulder to ensure the paceline is intact. If you’re not sure, yell back, “is everyone on?” Once the group is together, slowly get up to speed.

• Maintain a constant effort level when pulling on uphill and downhill grades. Don’t accelerate to maintain the same speed when you encounter an uphill grade (gear down). And don’t relax when you reach a downhill, keep pedalling at the same effort (gear up) and increase speed (or the riders behind you will have to brake). We will cover this in depth in a later session.

• As you move into the lead position of the paceline, look at your computer and check the pace of the group. Maintain that speed and cadence as you take the lead. Do not accelerate. Doing so will open a gap that is not only difficult for those behind you to close, but creates a yo-yo effect that will aggravate everyone behind you.

• If you wish to increase the speed of the paceline (and an increase is acceptable to the group), do so gradually. Allow the rider who just came off the front to get on the back and catch her breath before making any increase in effort.

• Try not to overexert yourself at the front. Stronger riders generally take longer pulls than weaker riders. But everyone should have an opportunity to take a pull. And it’s customary for every rider to take her turn pulling — even if for only 30 seconds. Don’t worry if you’re not as strong as the other riders. Most will congratulate you when you come off the front for making the effort.

• Don't hog the pull. There are other riders behind you who want their turn on the front.

• Don’t come back into the middle of the paceline just because you want to stay close to the front or get more pulls. Go to the back when your pull is finished. If a rider wants to stay on the back, she will invite you to rotate in front of her.

• When you’re ready to get off the front, look over your left shoulder and down the paceline to see if there’s any oncoming traffic. Let the other riders know you’re done pulling by slapping your butt and moving to the left of the paceline. Do not slow before you move off the front. Once off the lead, slowing move to the back of the line and keep pedaling. Stay close to the group as you drift back. When you are beside the last rider in the line, start picking up your speed and move over behind her wheel. (If you slow down at this point, you may end up sprinting to rejoin the group).

Maintain the speed of the group and don’t stop pedaling. Random speed changes have an “accordion effect” that’s disruptive to the paceline. [soft pedal]

• If you’re getting impatient in the paceline (maybe the pace is slower than you’d like), don’t dart out of the paceline and charge to the front. If the rider in front of you is struggling and gapping, you can move around her and offer a wheel to bring her slowly back to the group. If she is clearly not going to be able to keep the pace of the group, let the riders on the front know someone is being dropped. Depending on the nature of the ride, the group can decide to reduce the speed or not, but it is good to know if someone is struggling in the paceline.

• Are you the last wheel? Let the rider who just came off the front know by saying, “last wheel.” This is her cue to pick up her speed in order to rejoin the paceline.

• The last wheel is responsible for letting the riders ahead know if a car is approaching or passing and if it’s clear to move into another lane in order to make a turn. The voice commands are as follows: Car approaching (say “car back”); car passing (say “car passing”); clear to move into another lane (say “take the lane). The rear rider is also responsible for signaling intentions to cars that may be following the paceline. For instance, you might signal to the driver that it’s OK to pass the paceline by waving him ahead and telling the group “car passing.”

• Eat, drink and be merry at the middle to back of the paceline. The leader should be focused on the pull and should not eat or drink at the front. In the paceline, drinking from the water bottle is necessary to stay hydrated. Learn to do so without disrupting the paceline. But if you need to unwrap a power bar, stretch, stand up or blow snot rockets wait til you’re at the back of the line.

• Be courteous — to other riders and to motorists. This refers not only to a positive and supportive attitude on the group ride, but common courtesy to those around you. For instance, if you’re coming off the pull and traffic behind you is forcing you to cut into the paceline, don’t assume there’s a spot. Point your right finger to paceline, indicating to the riders that you need to be let in. Wait until you get the “clear” signal or some other voice indication that it’s OK to slide into the line. By the same token, if another rider indicates to you that she needs to get into the line, tell those behind you that you’re slowing and soft pedal to create a space. When there’s enough room for the rider to slide into the line, indicate by saying, “clear to come over.”

• If you are not comfortable drafting, stay on the back and allow the line to rotate in front of you. Do not “ride out” to one side in the middle of the paceline. In addition to being a safety issue, it robs the rider behind you of the draft.