Safety and Etiquette
The Chain Gang
During the summer months our regular Tuesday Bash is ridden as a chaingang. A chaingang or riding through and off uses everyone in the group working together to maximise the average speed of the whole group. The principle is that each rider takes a short turn on the front before rotating to be replaced by the next rider in line. Fluidity is the trick to getting the most from the group and practice is required to measure individual effort to suit the group.
How does it work?
There are two lines of riders with one being the (fast) pace line moving forward relative to the (slower) recovery line to create a constant rotation of riders on the front. As each rider finds themselves at the front of the pace line they should take a gradual shallow line from the faster pace line over to the slower recovery line maintaining a constant speed. Don’t increase your speed or accelerate, just ride through maintaining the pace of the line and when you have fully moved across to the recovery line just easing on the pedals will slow you down enough. The next rider coming through in front of you should not need to increase their speed in order to come past or look behind them. Taking a shallow line, and moving across gradually will ensure each rider has space. Increasing the pace, or surging through at the front will disrupt the group, create gaps, make it less efficient and reduce the average speed.
When you reach the back of the recovery line start edging over so that you can move smoothly onto the wheel of the the last rider in the pace line. It can be helpful to call “last man” as you come past the last rider in the recovery line. This prepares the rider for accelerating slightly to latch onto the wheel. This should be the only time you are accelerating as you rejoin the pace line from the rear.
We generally rotate in an anticlockwise direction; this helps riders develop the skills required for the chain gang without having to consider changes in wind direction. It is the case however that more experienced groups may change the direction of rotation to clockwise in response to the wind.
Wind and rotation
When training in the UK it is customary to rotate in an anti-clockwise direction keeping the faster pace line on the outside (right) as this works best in traffic. The most efficient way to ride a chain gang however is for the recovery line (left) to shelter the pace line from the wind so you may find that in windy conditions some of our more experienced groups will swap the direction of rotation. This will happen twice a lap at points on the course dictated by the wind direction.
Tips for success
- Don’t surge off the front!
- Don’t try to maintain speed up a hill; just maintain the effort.
- Be smooth and predictable!
- Don’t allow a gap to open up in front of you.
- Don't stare at the wheel ahead.
- Don't brake. Try moving into the wind (off the wheel) slightly to reduce your speed.
- Start slowly and build up speed as a group.
- Smooth riding is the key for a successful chain gang.
- Communicate! Give clear warning of potholes etc just as you usually would.
- Tell other riders if you feel unable to come through and need to recover.
- Warn the other riders before you rejoin the chain after sitting off
- Call out hazards as you would in any group ride.
- It can be helpful to call “Last man” as you join the back of the fast line.
- It can be helpful to call “Clear” to let a rider moving from fast to slow line that they are no longer overlapping your wheel.
- If you feel unable to safely and smoothly maintain your position in the rotation then sit just off the back of the slow (left hand) line leaving half a bike's length.