Draft Animals

Last Thursday I put in a long turn riding in front of our 8 person group. I set the pace on Jackson Valley Road from the Camanche Road stop sign all the way to Highway 88. My friend Lyle paid me a very nice, completely unsolicited complement afterwards. He said that he really liked the way I pulled. Very steady and predictable with no surging or slowing. I try…

Cyclists all know this, but for my non-rider readers I need to point out that a cyclist in front is working harder than those trailing ‘on his wheel’. Something like 25% to 33%, depending on how fast we are going, how hard the wind is blowing, and from what direction. This is called ‘the peloton effect’ and it shapes every race or group ride, depending on how the riders use it.

Here is one way to use it. There is a Strava segment from Buena Vista to Highway 88 along Jackson Valley Road.

Usually this segment goes into the prevailing wind from the northwest, but back in January 2016 there was an approaching storm and the wind had shifted to the southeast. Perfect for trying to set a PR.

I heard my Garmin go ‘beep’, which meant the timer had started. I accelerated to a pace that I hoped I could hold for 3 miles.

My friend Fearless Frank is a noted drafter. He loves to find a good wheel and sit on it. On that day his strategy was perfect. He trailed behind me by about 2 or 3 seconds, letting me cross the start line first. His Garmin beeped a couple of seconds after mine, then he sprinted to catch me. Fearless can really sprint, so that was no problem for him. Then he sat on my wheel for the entire segment, letting me do about 30% more work. He didn’t stick his nose into the wind once. But since we finished together, he is 2 seconds faster than me on the leaderboard.

Just FYI, those power numbers are estimates since neither one of us was using a power meter. I’m pretty sure our actual power output was lower. Fearless and I joke about that day occasionally. Tim Krabbe called riders who sit on wheels and don’t take turns in front ‘sweat thieves’, and on that day Fearless robbed me blind.

Another way to use the peloton effect is to sit behind somebody for 3 miles, then get out of the saddle and go hard and create a gap a couple of hundred yards before the stop sign. That happened to me yesterday. I was in front of a group of 6 or 7, pulling on Acampo Road going west from the Liberty Winery all the way to Lower Sacramento Road. I was riding pretty hard but being careful not to drop anybody. Suddenly Rider X came up on my left, then got out of the saddle and sprinted hard and got a gap.

Now I consider this a pulling faux pas. If he had simply wanted to get in front and give me a bit of a respite, he should have eased ahead and given me a chance to catch his wheel. After all the time I had spent in front, that would have been the polite thing to do. But he decided to sprint.

So did I. I am not a great sprinter, and my legs were pretty tired from the long pull, but I put the hammer down as much as I can, which isn’t much. But it was enough. Rider X is no Fearless when it comes to sprinting.

I was doing 200 to 250 watts on the front when I got passed and gapped. 5 seconds at 525 watts, 20 seconds at 430 watts; an all out anerobic effort did the trick. When I got close to the stop sign I looked in my mirror and there was nobody close. The would be gapper had been gapped. Garmin paints the picture.

Remember a club ride is not a race. Until it is…