Cycling in a group/cluster gives you lots of advantages. Being on a roll reduces air resistance, so everyone can share the work in the group and it goes faster with less effort. Plus, it's fun!
Tips for safe group cycling
🚴🏼‍♀️ Take it easy - Sudden movements and unpredictable changes in speed put yourself and everyone else in the group at risk. Keep your line as steady as possible and try to avoid side-to-side movements. The best way to avoid sudden movements is to keep your eyes far ahead.
🚴🏼‍♀️ Communicate - Both through signs and verbally. For example, if you need to leave the group to stop, you show which direction by pointing and then when it is safe to do so, you turn to the side.
🚴🏼‍♀️ Think about how you brake - Of course you can brake, but many accidents are caused by braking. But whenever you brake, you should know that it's safe and that you don't surprise the cyclist behind you.
🚴🏼‍♀️ Follow traffic rules - When cycling in a group, especially when you are at the front, it is important to follow the traffic rules that apply.
🚴🏼‍♀️ Keep your hands on the handlebars. If you have to let go of the handlebars to take off a jacket, stretch, etc., do it when you are at the back. When you are in the centre of the group, it is best to hold the handlebars.
🚴🏼‍♀️ Relax. Cycling in a group can be a bit exciting and scary at first, but you will be safer if you are relaxed on the bike.
🚴🏼‍♀️ Keep your place - Stay close but don't half-wheel, half-wheeling is cycling a little next to the cyclist in front, but only so much that the front wheel just overlaps a few centimetres. This is enough for a quick sideways movement to push your front wheel and bring you down.
🚴🏼‍♀️ Point OUT hazards - Flat tires suck for everyone, especially when you’re in a group that stops to wait for the affected rider. Minimize flats by physically pointing to the holes, glass, and random car parts.Â
🚴🏼‍♀️ Shift as you stand up - To avoid the pace to slow down, shift up once or twice into a harder gear as you rise from the saddle. With your full bodyweight over the pedal you can push a bigger gear at lower cadence and maintain your speed without causing a kickback
Basic Road Etiquette
- Ride predictably: straight, without weaving.
- Alert others of a change in direction or speed.
- Look behind before changing line.
- Generally, ride single file.
- Ride no more than two abreast.
- Ride as close to the right as practical.
- Give room for others (vehicles or faster riders) to pass.
- Slow down on bike paths or in urban areas.
- Signal turns.
- Usually, pass on the left.
Last but not least. Don´t push to hard. Social group rides tend to wait for dropped riders, which is great. However, try not to make them wait for you because you were riding like an idiot. If you take monster pulls at the front and then get dropped, you’re not making any friends. Learn to gauge your efforts and keep something in the tank to make sure you can latch onto the back of the group and stay on a wheel. Everyone has a different fitness level and therefore achievable riding pace for the duration of the ride. The intentions of the ride should be laid out ahead of time to give people the option to plan accordingly.
Group riding is a collective experience and you are all in it together. So once you start you are part of the group ride and pull together. This means that if anyone comes into difficulty, gets a mechanical issue or anything else that might arise, you deal with it as a group and help where you can.
Enjoy!!
Source: welovecycling.com, https://trainright.com/, https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com/, https://www.roadbikerider.com/
