Bike Noob

Because I'm Always Learning Something New

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

Archives for July 2009

Riding in pacelines

07.23.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 8 Comments

PaceA paceline in nice, cool weather

A couple of weeks ago, the B ride from my club started 45 minutes ahead of the A group. Since we rode the same route, we had a chance to watch them pass by us while they were heading out to the turnaround.

The first six riders had formed a paceline, and what a sight they were! Really moving fast along a country road, and visibly putting distance between them and the less organized group following.

Paceline riding is something I haven’t done much. In the MS ride, I latched onto a couple of small lines, and found that I could keep up with them, but I only got to pull once. They quickly fell apart.

Apparently, most of the riders I encounter haven’t done a lot of paceline riding either. We tend to bunch up in clusters, rather than lines. Even in a bunch, there’s some wind blocking, but it’s nothing like it could be if we were in an organized line.

But then again, one thing I do know about pacelines is that you must be confident in your co-riders. If you don’t know how they’ll behave when you’re wheel-to-wheel, it’s probably not a good idea to form a line with them.

Watching the Tour has inspired me to try to get into some pacelines again. There’s plenty of info online about how to do it, such as this item from Examiner.com, a site featuring articles by experienced freelancers.

I’ll also bet a lot of Bike Noob readers know something about pacelines. How about sharing your insights on it? Let’s all get better together.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // Technique Tags // Technique

I don’t think I could handle this

07.21.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 14 Comments

If you’re an addicted Tour de France watcher, as I am, you’ve probably seen Jens Voigt eat the pavement on the downhill run from Petit St. Bernard during Stage 16 in the 2009 Tour de France.

If not, here it is.

He broke a cheekbone and had a concussion, but his injuries are not life-threatening. How would you handle a crash like that? Would it mean the end of biking for you?

I know he gets paid to do this, and he is among the elite of the elite in cycling. But a crash like this would send me to the swimming pool, or the badminton net, and I’d put my bike up for sale.

I was playing around this morning in the “downhill tuck” position, where I scrunched down over the top tube with my hands in the drops. It really works. Even on a gentle downhill, I pulled away from my wife, and she was concerned about my ability  to hold my balance. But that was at a blistering speed of about 17 mph. At 40+ mph, no thanks.

It’s like watching baseball. I’ve played a lot of ball in my life, but when you face a 95 mph fastball, and the best you can throw is 55 mph, you know you’re in a different league. I’ll continue to watch and marvel at these guys, but I’ll never entertain fantasies that I can ever approach what they do.

Addendum  July 31, 2009: Here’s a YouTube clip of Jens speaking from his hospital bed. Recorded July 26.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // Racing Tags // Racing

Le Burrito ride

07.19.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 6 Comments

Our usual Sunday morning club ride had a twist today. Instead of meeting at our neighborhood Starbucks and heading out from there, we went into Austin just south of downtown to Bicycle Sport Shop, one of the bigger bike shops in town. BSS has a club of its own called the Austin Flyers, and their Sunday ride today was the annual “Le Burrito” ride.

Yes, I know the correct article before “burrito” is “el,” but what big bike race is going on across the pond? They’re using the French article “le,” to add a little je ne sais quoi to the proceeding. Chipotle was a title sponsor of the Garmin-Slipstream team last year, and they’ve kept up their interest in bike racing. Everyone who came out for the day’s ride would get a free Chipotle burrito at the end, and could wash it down with free beer from an area microbrewery, Real Ale.

The parking lot at BSS is generous, but I figured the places would be gone soon, so I got there early. The first person I saw was Mike Weiland, he of Mike’s Bike Blog, which I read regularly. He was doing the 60-mile ride today, while I would do the 35. We caught up for awhile, then went about our ride preps.

By this time some of my club pals were showing up. It looked like we would have a good showing at the ride. I looked out over the crowd of bikers as they gathered in the staging area at the end of the parking lot, and my friend David mentioned that the BSS web site had said 324 riders had signed up. There looked to be some walk-ons, too. What we won’t do for free food and beer!

The ride itself went into the countryside southeast of the city, an area where we sometimes do our Sunday club rides. But getting out of town from BSS required a trip down South 1st Street. Not a big deal, except the street was a lot hillier than I’d remembered, and the hills came right away, before we were warmed up. That stretched out the peloton quickly. By the time we reached the gas station/convenience store rest stop at the 18-mile halfway point, I was ready for the break.

The day was quite humid, but not as hot as it’s been around here lately. Still, I felt drained, and managed to drop off the back of my group on the return leg, which would involve a route through the city I’d never taken before. I got caught by some Austin Flyers riders, and followed them back to the shop, where the burrito feed was well underway.

BSSLining up for burritos and beer at the end of the ride.

PairFellow club members Penny and Bob with their post-ride sustenance.

The Flyers assured us all that they’d bring back the ride again next year. I think we’ll be in the field for that one, too.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // Rides Tags // ride

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • Next Page »

Get Email Updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 259 other subscribers

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

Recent Posts

  • Getting Back on the Bike: Road Cycling Tips for Older Cyclists
  • Are BCAAs and EAAs Good for Cycling?
  • How to Fix Numb Toes When Cycling
  • How to Find and Vet a Bike Club
  • Celebrate Pearl Izumi with Big Savings in the Memorial Day Sale

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Archives

  • May 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • March 2022
  • October 2020
  • November 2018
  • May 2018
  • September 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • January 2016
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008

Copyright © 2026 · Modern Studio Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Go to mobile version
%d