[C4 Rides] Weekday Rides, a City of Kannapolis meeting on Tuesday Night, and some ride FAQ's

[Earnhardt, Sean]

Happy Daylight Savings Time to all of you!  Let me start by saying that this will be long, but I don't think it'll be a waste of your time to read.



As you all know, with the time change, we will be resuming the Tuesday and Thursday night rides beginning this week, weather permitting.  Also, this week, regardless of the weather, we have Irene Sacks with the City of Kannapolis that will be meeting us at 7:30 on Tuesday night at Touchdown Pizza in Kannapolis.  Here is what she sent if you would like to join us to provide feedback:

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Hi C4 folks, I’d like to meet with a small group to get some feedback on the cycle track concept. It’s not something I’m ready to broadcast widely because it very well may not happen – our Police and Fire Depts are hesitant.  The target audience would be families and recreational riders.

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If you can join us for the meeting, we'd love to have you.  So, with that, here are a few more ride details:



The Tuesday and Thursday rides are rarely called due to weather.  As evening thunderstorms and showers are frequent in the springtime, we'll typically meet in the parking lot and try to wait out a storm as it passes.  If the weather just looks unsafe, we will "officially" cancel the ride, generally via Facebook and Twitter, but we'll try to send an email as well.  We know that there are several folks that will go ahead and ride in the foul weather.  If you do so, just know that you are "on your own" if we've cancelled the club ride.  And, we understand wanting to ride, but BE SAFE.



--The Tuesday and Thursday rides will PULL OUT OF THE PARKING LOT at 6:00 so be on time!  If you are running late, you may be playing catch up!

--The Tuesday ride starts and ends at Touchdown Pizza on the corner of Rogers Lake rd. and South Main St. in Kannapolis.

--The Thursday ride starts and ends at The Right Gear on Church St. in Concord.

--Both of these rides will have shortened routes for the first 3 or 4 weeks until we get a long enough sunset window to do the full routes.

--These routes will almost always split into at least an A and B group and the Tuesday Night ride sometimes has some riders that will take a C route.

--We have several folks that like to "hang on" to the A group and, if you are reasonably close, the A's will usually wait.  However, if you've lost sight of the A's, please consider backing up to (and leading) the B group.  You can actually get a better workout by helping to pull the B group rather than pace line in the A group.



A few pace lining comments that come to mind from some recent rides:

--The general practice in a true rotating pace line is to take about a 30 second pull when you get to the front of the line.  If you pull longer, you are probably slowing the line down OR you are pulling so hard that you won't be able to hang on to the group when they do pass.

--When your 30 seconds are up, give a flick of your right elbow (watch others to see what I'm talking about) to let the rider behind you to know that you are pulling off to the left and they should pull through and take the lead.

--Pull off gradually at a 45 degree angle making sure to slow your pace only AFTER you have pulled off the front.

--If you are the second place guy, do not drastically increase the speed.  Give the rider that was leading a chance to get on the end of the line.

--If you hear folks behind you yelling "30 seconds" or "pull off" that's a good indicator that you are holding up the line and you should definitely pull off and let the others pull through.



--What if you don't feel strong enough to lead or just aren't comfortable being in the front?  You have two options.  Go ahead and go to the front but pull off just after the previous leader has started dropping back.  The other riders would rather have you drop back than to slow the line down.  The other option is to gracefully bow out of the pace line before you get to 2nd place.  Basically, make sure there is no one beside you and pull out at the same 45 degree angle as if you were leading and let the riders behind you pull through.  When you get back to the end of the line, feel free to jump back on at the end.  We have many riders at many fitness levels depending on the day.  Some days I can take a strong pull at the front and on others it's all I can do to hang on to the tail end.  Pace lining takes practice and it's also important to watch (and listen to) the more experienced riders to improve your skills.



--The major causes of collisions and wrecks in a pace line are almost always due to two common issues.  1) "Half-Wheeling" and 2) "Accordion-ing" of the paceline.  Half-Wheeling is when a rider overlaps their front wheel with the rear wheel of the rider in front of them and then the person in front moves unexpectedly left or right.  Almost always the rider in back goes down and will take anyone behind them down with them.  DON'T HALF-WHEEL!   Accordion-ing in the pace line is when there are surges and slowness in the line that gets amplified the farther back you go in the line.  The goal at the front of the line is to keep the POWER constant; not necessarily the speed.  This means that you may be going 20 on the flats but may slow to 19 or 18 if you have a hill.  If you keep the power output the same, then folks in the back of the line should be able to keep a steady power output with little to no surging or braking.  (This will come with practice if you are new to pace lining)  As a minor caveat to the "no half-wheeling" rule, you will see the more experienced riders sometimes pull out of the pace line rather than hit their brakes.  This is because it is generally safer to pull out than to hit the brakes.  Anything more than barely touching the brakes at 20 to 25 miles an hour, even while still pedaling, will surely cause the back of the line to jam up and become dangerous.  IF you are behind one of these riders that has pulled out of line to maintain the safety of the group, just call out to them "you're clear to jump back in" when they are able.



o.k folks, I think that's enough for you to chew on for today.  Let's hope the rain holds off on Tuesday night because it looks like the temperature will be PERFECT!  If you have any questions or comments about what I've conveyed in this email, please let me know and I'll be happy to discuss or go into more detail on any of the items.



If you haven't turned in money or membership forms, please keep that in mind.  (If I drive to the ride on Tuesday, I'll bring forms with me).  If you are interested in a KIT order, let us know ASAP as we are getting ready to open the store for business!



We have a GREAT group of folks on our membership roster this year and I'm looking forward to a great and SAFE season of riding and training.  As always, this is YOUR club; be proud to be a part of the best club in the area!  If you have any input or suggestions, let us know.



Sincerely,

Sean Earnhardt

VP - Central Carolina Cycling Club


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