Chain gang Rules | What did i do wrong?
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- Опубликовано: 1 май 2024
- After a message from someone on eBay i join a local group ride for their chain gang. Turns out meeting a bunch of men in lyrca round the back of a petrol station outside Slough can be a lot of fun.
Thanks to the Berkshire Gregario's for hosting.
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I used to do weekly chain gang nights which started me into the racing scene, the impact on my fitness was immense. The best way to get fast is to ride with faster riders.
My old course was on a loop which came in handy in the first few weeks/months because when I used to get dropped I could soft pedal and wait for them to come round again and then have another dig, week by week I got stronger and stronger until I started putting in little "attacks" of my own.
The anxiety bit is normal and still get it now, just the apprehension of the pain to come 😂
Loved this. Very relatable content for a lot of cyclists I imagine. It bought back memories of when I rocked up at a group ride knowing no one, and no experience of CG or pace line. It turned out to be a great group that got me into racing and trips to Spain. It is a great way of progressing your cycling journey. Well done Max
Well done. There definitely needs to be more of this type of content on RUclips
Thank you 🙏🏻
Nice video and it’s comforting to know that our club is similar in set up for these rides to others. A chainy for us is the 2 parallel rotating lines (counter clockwise) whereas we would call your ride a pace line. Good advice during the ride though. 42kph+ is a very good lick. We have 34, 37 and 42kph averages so again similar. Love our Wednesdays here in north Cambridge !
im 34 and still lay out my kit and spares the day before and get there half hour early for an group ride to quell the nerves
I’m heading back tonight. Kit is ready
Looks like great fun, Max. I too share your feelings about riding with new people, to the point I have never done it! I end up out very early on a Sunday and get it done before breakfast!
I do think I might see if I can do some Crit races at Bovingdon and get a little more social.
Keep the content coming 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Good vid, Max! I think this kind of content will go down well and you obviously enjoyed doing it yourself.
Loved it. Back again this evening
Great ride, good you found more local riders. I know group riding can be intimidating but normally bigger groups or clubs have different levels so something for everyone so people should check out the local clubs and meets.
Riding on the flat looks amazing, wish I had more of that!
Haha I’m thinking about building a 1x 😜
Great Video on a positive random meet up. Looking to do similar soon near Rochester as yet to do a road ride in the UK, this has given me more incentive. Cheers 👍
Perfect for a warm sunny evening
Nice to see group rides! 👍
3 groups and a name . Sounds like a club to me
Haha I mean if it looks like a duck…
Maybe just takes some of the responsibility out of road riding in a group
@@thewattlife it’s true . Saves on a lot in internal politics and meetings !! Just turn up and ride on the night . Simple
Good ways to meet people is join a club , and find a decent local shop and chat to the guys there …. Chain gangs are great way to get race fit as motivation to not get dropped means you push yourself much much more than a standard coub ride … great video
Nice vid (BGFN well known to me). "What did I do wrong?". Half-wheeled twice @7:16 and @7:25 on the Drift Road section, which is one of the fastest sections, where fatigue is setting in as it is in the last 5-10k of the course. Tbf, you are coasting mid paceline, and for sure you certainly want to avoid braking, but noticeable that no one ahead was overlapping despite the concertina. At Drift Road speeds, especially with the Thames Velo hot group pulling on the front, if the guy on your inside, turns even slightly right connecting with your wheel, it could get ugly real quick.
It is not wrong to briefly half wheel. This keeps from having to coast and causing the rubber band effect through the rest of the pace line which can be even more dangerous. It's only when you're constantly half wheeling that it becomes an issue. You have to be aware of what's going on around you when you do it though.
When rotating at the front it helps when the guy who is currently the head of the group yells out "Clear!" when you're safely ahead of him. If everyone does this it helps riders who are less aware of their immediate relation to the front rider's wheel and tire, so hopefully it cuts down on folks overlapping and causing an accident.
If there are guys in the group who are new or just less experienced it can give them confidence to rotate and give them the sense of purpose because they're helping everyone go faster, ride smoother and stay safe.
I’d love to hear people’s opinion on this- because I’m a bit clueless.
BUT- in a chain gang with 30-45 sec pulls you rotate clockwise so the front wheel moves out of the line and solo drifts to the back.
On “up & off” rides then you’ll have to let people know when they have cleared your wheel and you’ll typically rotate counter clockwise.
They seem like two different things to me. What do you think?
@@thewattlife”through and off”/ “up and off” is single line, lead rider holding for pre determined time and then moving off to the right and to the back of the line. Have to be careful when moving right for passing cars. There won’t be a signal but you should see him check his right shoulder before moving over.
Chain gang is two lines of riders, those slowing/going back on the left and those faster/moving up on the right. As the 1st fast rider passes the 1st slow rider on the front, the slow rider should shout “clear”when it is safe to pull in front of him. At the back of the chain the last slow rider will move over to the fast lane of riders on his right. He does this following the rider that passes him calling “last man”, this is sign that you need to be prepared to get up to speed and move into the fast lane.
This is exactly the explanation I needed. Thank you.
I’ve got a bit confused with my terminology
@@thewattlife That's one way to do it, but often with a skilled group the rotation should change depending on wind direction so that you are moving up sheltered by the guys dropping back.
So if wind is from the left then you move up on the right (rotate anticlockwise) if the wind is from the right then you move up on the left (rotate clockwise).
Somebody would often call the change of rotation when necessary.
Also in a big chain gang it can help to shout "last" or "last man" when you start moving up again, especially if some are missing turns.
@@ridley8340exactly. Wind dictates the rotation
These are my old training roads, been a while since i have been over yhem. Used to do a chain gang with a group of guys. Great fun. Hopefully i can get back into it soon.
I’ve come to really enjoy the Tues night group rides. Just need to weather to sort itself out
Good video, it is nerve wracking joining a new group. We, in the local clubs I ride with, tend to let the fast ride go first then the 2nd, followed by the 3rd. This for me works well as you don't get the faster group passing you, which inevitably ends up with a surge in the slower group holding onto the back of the fast group, which blows the 2nd group apart. As someone that spends a lot of time hanging on by the skin of my teeth, even a 1kph uplift can be enough to blow me off the back.
42kph Ave for a 40km ride seems very fast and quiet a jump from 27kph. I would be anchored in group 2.
Completely agree, fastest group goes first. Don't know the roads in this video but a line of 13 riders, when the two groups join up, is pretty long for cars to pass safely.
I used to ride these and loved them super fast ride way beyond your level - nothing like the experience of these, super super thrilling 😍😎 truly beautiful days - used to do the faster group as no one screwed around and just rode no pretty scrapping
Hey, nice vlog. I'd say stick the faster group off first, then you'd avoid getting tangled up, a big group is probably a bit unsafe on the road. Else, just keep it the same, but if the faster group catches you, let them go so you're out of their slipstream, then continue at your pace.
Happy to pass this comment on, I think as the group gets bigger it’s defintely the safer thing to do
this looks like so much fun
I can confirm on a nice evening it was a lot of fun
The more organized (and faster) pace lines I’ve been in will have the front rider start to pull off as soon as he gets to the front. In other words you aren’t really taking a pull as much as you are just pulling through. Be careful not to surge when you get to the front other wise that will start opening gaps. Also ….when you are at the end of the of the line and start moving forward, let the guy drifting back that you are last rider. You can simply say “I’m last” so he knows to start sliding over and get in the draft of the line moving forward. Also….dont necessarily pull off to the same side. Pull off into the side where the wind is so you shelter the line that is pulling through.
Yeah I think it can depend on the group size and the amount of time they’ve ridden together. Short hard pulls are definitely faster, hopefully get there a bit later in the summer
Great video, i definitely relate to the anxiety point about new group rides, well done for raising it! couple of minor things since you asked 😅 i would say that this is a group ride, riding as a pace line (great) and not to me a chain gang. Also i would consider using "they" or "rider." As opposed to "his" or "guys" to try and help encourage more inclusivity and participation in the sport?
I know it's not your group but having the faster groups go off first might be better because if people drop from the fast group they can join the mid group etc and you don't have this sketchy overtaking a big group stuff.
I’m quite new to this so I only found out the difference between a chain gang and a pace line as a consequence of making this video.
Always happy to try to be more inclusive and in fact working on some projects focusing on exactly this
@@thewattlife Nice one, keep up the great content!
0:46 so Taylor, Bernie, and Constance 😂
Took me a while to get this. 👏🏻 😜
How do you like the sunglasses for cycling? Looks like Sungod Airas? How do they deal with wind at high speeds?
I always ride with the SunGod Vulcans or the Airas.
Full disclosure I was their first ambassador but have always used them and stand by their quality. The Vulcans are my favourite as they sit up against my helmet and don’t leave a gap and you get absolutely no wind sneaking behind them at high speeds
Reminds me of going out to my first Local Group Ride, and I got yelled at 3 or 4 or 5 times, for a while 🤔😂… Well over the Years I became the Ride Leader, and the Boss of the Rides, and was the one doing the yelling (kinda) 🤔😳👍🚴♀️🚴♂️🚴🏻♀️🚴♂️
Im trying to avoid getting shouted out! haha next time ill try the fast crew and see how that turns out
Also, FYI last year Robbie McEwen (he of the TdF Maillot Vert) came out on the BGFN. Rumours of Adam Blythe possibly joining the Tuesday fun this season.
Will be trying my best to make as many Tuesday sessions as possible
Had the pleasure of riding with Robbie this evening
@@thewattlife excellent! Cheers for letting me know. Saw from the feed of some of the guys that he’d joined again. Large turnout it seems. Interestingly, Adam and Dan Lloyd cycled the FN loop early last weekend. Hmm 🤔. Unfortunately, I’ve not been out for a few seasons due to injuries from a near fatal cycling (car) accident catching up with me 😔. Maybe soon…
Nah, do the fast group next time. Good prep for your first A grade Zwift race. :)
Next time for sure, just have this 100 mile run on the wkend and wanted to look after my legs at least a little bit
Agreed! When you don’t have big events coming up a video of you attempting to keep up with the fast group would be entertaining
wind dictates direction you pull off. move up sheltered, drop back in the wind
Makes sense but on open roads and groups who don’t regularly ride together it’s best to keep things easy for everyone to understand. Or at least that’s the way I look at it 👌🏻
@@thewattlife it's not hard to understand and way harder to pull through if you've a cross wind on the wrong side - which in itself is more likely to create problems. Imo anyway
Thinking about the possibility of getting murdered when invited to a group ride, lol.
Where are the rim brakes?
Still a good few riders using rims.
These are being phased out in the west but I know Asia still has a huge rim brake market
@@thewattlife Ah, I'll have to look closer. All the ones I looked at on your ride seemed to be disks.
Mostly disc for sure- guy who beat me in the sprint was on a rim Boardman 👌🏻
Should really be 20 to 30secs, 1 minute is too long a turn
I think as the season goes on things will get more drilled
I gave up cycling club because of all the pettiness and jealousy from grown men just because I was a lot better than they were. Utterly sad.
I think there’s always a group/club that will suit your needs. Just have to find it I guess