Group Ride for a Faster Bike Leg

For triathletes looking to get faster in the offseason, one strategy is a single-sport focus. If cycling is your weakness, consider including a group ride as one of your key weekly training sessions. If you spend, and have spent, the majority of your ride time going solo, a group ride might be exactly what you need to move to the next level.

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Why?

Triathletes who do all of their bike training solo tend to get comfortable. They settle into a time trial pace that is calibrated by heart rate, power, speed, rating of perceived exertion, or some combination of these. If these athletes ride with a group, where pace is not self-selected, triathletes often find they can ride faster, and longer, than they thought possible.

In short, other people give you a new benchmark for "fast". Where there's a wheel, there's a way. If you can catch the wheel ahead of you, riding gets easier. And, when riding in a group, you'll often find a way to catch that wheel, even when you thought you had no more speed to give.

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If you are not familiar with group rides, or have only joined a few, here are seven tips to help you get the most out of your experience.

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Ask How the Group Normally Works

If you are new to group riding or new to a particular group, ask someone (there is typically a group leader) how the ride normally works. What is proper etiquette for this group?

Some groups are no-drop rides. That means the entire group waits for the slowest person.

Other groups are no-drop, no-wait rides. This means everyone is free to ride as fast as they please, including launching attacks on hills, but at designated spots in the ride, fast riders turn around and go pick up any stragglers. Everyone gets a workout this way.

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Of course there are the "every-ride-is-a-race" groups. These groups are literally like road races where every rider is attempting to "win" the ride.

Knowing what you're trying to accomplish in a ride and matching those goals with the appropriate group is important.

Stay off of the Aerobars

In a group ride, you need to be ready to break or steer quickly. If you're in the aerobars, there's no way you can react to a sudden change of pace, a pothole or other issues that may cause the group to change speeds.

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Leave the Music at Home

If you have music blaring in your ears, there's no way you can hear warnings or instructions from other group riders. They might be telling you to avoid glass or a pothole when there is no time to use hand signals. If you're at the back of the group, you cannot hear cars approaching from the behind you. When you're at the back, it's your job to warn other riders about approaching vehicles by shouting "car back!"

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Keep the Pace Smooth

If the group is doing a rotating paceline or echelon, avoid ramping up the pace when it's your turn at the front. Yes, everyone knows you can time trial like a beast. Avoid trying to prove it.

Many roadies will put you in your place by attacking immediately after your long, fast pull. The next rider will launch an all-out attack for some three to five minutes. When you've popped off the back, they will continue rotating in order to show you what you already know – your high-end speed is lacking. Use the group to help you work on skills you don't have, you'll be a better rider for it.

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Minimize Time at the Front

If you're looking to improve your time trial speed, one tool to use is to ride well above lactate threshold, or time trial pace, for short periods of time. This means minimizing your time pulling the group around and saving your energy for high-end efforts up a hill or into the wind.

You Will Get to Time Trial

More than likely there will come a time when you are with a small group of people looking to close the gap on a breakaway. You can use your time trial skills to help your group catch the others. They will appreciate your willingness to help.

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Watch and Learn

After you've gone to a few group rides, you can easily identify the best riders. Watch what they do and when they make moves. Without being annoying, "mark" their wheel. That is, try to follow them to see how they ride and attempt to follow in their tracks.

Joining a group ride in the offseason can help make long rides more enjoyable. If used appropriately, you'll be a stronger triathlete thanks to the peloton.