Bunch Riding
Bunch riding
This is for road cyclists, since mountain bikers ride on tracks, kick up dust, and generally don’t ride in bunches.
If you have any aspirations of becoming a cyclist i.e. more than a week-end warrior, you need to learn to ride in a bunch. You cannot call yourself a cyclist until you can ride competently in a bunch. It is simply the most efficient way to get to the end of the ride, using the least amount of energy possible. For best results, always try to ride near the front of the bunch, in the first three or four wheels. It is safer there, and there are less chances of crashing. Also, you may just be able to see the road ahead of the bunch.
Bunch riding is a skill acquired by…riding in bunches. When you are in a bunch or riding behind somebody, you are in the slipstream. This is called drafting. The best example of bunch riding is to watch how the pros do it. Tune in to any international cycling race and you will see cyclists bunched tightly together. This is not for warmth; it’s for efficiency. Most of the effort during a ride, besides the climbing, comes from wind resistance. And how do you minimise that? By sheltering in a bunch; by hiding behind somebody; by letting someone else break the wind in front.
There are many rules involved when riding in a bunch, of which the four most important are:
- Ride at exactly the same speed as the people around you.
- The closer you are to the cyclist in front of you, the more benefit you derive.
- You are expected to take a turn in front. This is not only fair play, but you cannot sprint for the finish line if you have been sheltering all the way.
- Do not take your eyes off the road, and never turn around.
The main concern about being in a bunch is to stay safe. You have to concentrate all the time, be aware of the dynamics of the bunch, of who is around you, and the general behaviour. Be ready to brake or to take evasive action at any instant. Ride at exactly the same speed as those around you.
Many pros have spent time on the track where bunch riding is totally regulated. Track cyclists use single speed bikes with no free-wheeling option (fixies), as well as no brakes. The reason for this is that any deviation from the speed of the bunch is bound to cause chaos and a crash. Imagine for a moment, you’re in the middle of a bunch at 40kmh or more, and you suddenly decide to stop pedalling, you sit up and start to freewheel . The change of speed is so sudden that those behind you will crash into you and each other, and there will be pandemonium, and much unhappiness.
What’s the secret?
- Riding predictably, and
- Looking ahead, through the bunch, so that you can anticipate what’s coming your way.
This sums up everything you need to know about bunch riding. To get this right takes practice. The more you ride in a bunch, the more comfortable you will feel. Of course, you should never get so comfy that you lose concentration, or start taking risks.
In my experience, it is easier riding in a bunch with people who know the rules, like when enjoying a club ride. Things become more complicated when you are in a public bunch, like in a race. There are many people who can ride fast, but who do not know how to behave in a bunch. In these conditions, one has to be extra cautious. More on that later. For now let’s concentrate on riding in a bunch with predictable, experienced cyclists, on public roads which you are sharing with motorised traffic, and it’s not a race. Now is a good time to remind you about the benefits of cycling in a bunch:
- You can go faster
- You are more visible, and therefore safer
- There is safety in numbers
- There is a social element
Because this is not a race, the pace is steady. It may be fast, but it is in everyone’s interest to stay in the bunch. Rule number one is riding no more than two abreast. Second is no ‘half wheeling’. This means that the front riders are exactly next to each other, wheel to wheel, handle bar to handle bar. The rule here is not to ride faster than your neighbour when you are on the front. Keep your front wheel exactly in line with your neighbour. This means the riders behind you are also able to ride wheel to wheel in an orderly fashion. This minimises all sorts of risks if the gaps remain tight.
Thirdly, don’t surge on the climbs. Keep it steady. It’s not a race; it’s a training ride. If you want to do hill training, and you are on a club ride in a bunch, advise the group leader of your intentions, position yourself in front at the bottom of the climb, and launch yourself from there. Ride slowly at the top and rejoin the group as it comes past. You do it like that, so that other riders will not be tempted to follow you and therefore break up the bunch. It’s part of cycling etiquette.
Another trick of the bunch is to stay behind the rider ahead without ‘crossing wheels’. You must be able to move slightly left or right without touching the wheel of the rider ahead. If your front wheel moves to the side of the rear wheel ahead, you run the risk of touching wheels. This could have the inevitable result of a crash, which is what you spend your life trying to avoid as a cyclist. All this is fine when you know and trust the riders in your bunch. You still must look ahead and anticipate potential problems, or see a problem before it is right in front of you. Reaction time is very short when you are in a bunch. There is no time to think, which is why you develop good habits, and spend your time concentrating.
In my experience, crashes occur either when riders become fatigued and lose concentration, or when sprinting for the finish and all safety rules are being disregarded. Crashes happen when cyclists are not mindful of those around.
If you are in a race in an open group (as opposed to a licensed group), you are exposed to many cyclists who do not have your good habits. You have to be extra vigilant, especially in the beginning stages, until the bunch has settled down, or after a couple of climbs, when the ‘rif-raf’ has been dropped and the more serious cyclists are left in the bunch. Then you can begin to concentrate on your heart rate, your potential finishing time, who is looking strong, whose wheel you need to follow, who are the potentially dangerous people, and who are likely allies.
By now you have established where the wind is coming from, and you are taking the appropriate action.
Riding in the wind
This is what bunch riding is all about. When you ride behind somebody, it is called drafting. This is why you ride in a bunch, and this is when bunch riding is most efficient. If the wind is coming from the front, straight ahead, it’s easy enough to find shelter; just stay directly behind the rider in front of you. When you are ‘hidden’ in the middle of the bunch you can save as much as 40% of your energy, and it feels like the bunch is moving too slowly. The cyclists in front are making their FTP (see above for meaning) effort, but you, tucked away in the bunch, are cruising with minimal effort, well able to chat with your neighbour. This is a good time to inspect more closely those around you; their riding style and behaviour. When there is wind, is also the time when it is ethical to take turns at the front, however short. Be willing to do some of the work. Encourage everyone to take a turn. It is unreasonable to expect just a few in the bunch to do all the work in front.
If you have not taken turns in front during the ride, you have no right to sprint for the finish line at the end of the ride.
When you have a tail wind during a social, non competitive ride, life is good and the bunch travels fast. Turns in front can last longer, and everyone has fun. A tail wind during a race, however, can cause distress. The front riders are giving horns, and there is little or no gain by sheltering in the bunch. You simply have to ride almost as hard just to stay in the bunch. So tail winds are cool during social rides when the unwritten code is to keep the bunch together, but can be a hindrance during a race if your intention is to hide all the way just to finish in the bunch.
The real business and skill of bunch riding is when the wind is coming from the side. This is when you see pro bunches really stretched out, and teams working together and offering no assistance to other teams, unless by mutual consent. A wind from the side is also called a cross wind.
So, you are not in a pro bunch, right? With luck you are riding with cyclists who are friendly, and who have an understanding of riding with a side wind. If the wind is coming from the left, everyone on that side is exposed. The place to find some shelter will be somewhere to the right and rear of the rider in front of you. Unless the wind is really howling, there is a small pocket of less turbulent air to be found there. A good place to try to find that spot is about 45 degrees behind the cyclist in front of you, left or right, depending which side the wind is coming from. If the front rider is riding on the left of the road, which is normal for us in South Africa, then stay on the right hand side for whatever shelter there is. Here is where etiquette, or cycling ethic, comes in. Take a turn at the front of the bunch. Go and feel how hard it is. After that, go back to the bunch for some rest, and be prepared for more. It is unfair and unreasonable to expect others to do all the work, while you get a free ride. Encourage those around to help out, so that the lead is rotated. This is when best results are obtained. The rules are the same on race day; find shelter where you can, but don’t expect everyone to be willing to take turns in front.
When the wind is coming from the right, obviously stay on the left of the bunch.
What happens if the left is very crowded? You have two choices, go to the back and try to hide there, or stay where you are, even if it’s not the best position. Bunches are dynamic, and a gap will open for you in the right place soon enough. A long ride with cross winds will always be testing.
I can well remember being in a 14-strong bunch on an 80 kilometre flattish stretch, with the wind coming from the ’five minutes to the hour’ position. We were two abreast, so the two in front were in the wind, and so were all those on the left. Out of fourteen cyclists, only six could get any sort of shelter for nearly three hours. It became very important to rotate the front, with weaker riders taking shorter turns. We had already done 100kms before this stretch, so we were very happy to get to the finish. Because of the wind, this ride took us one hour more than normal. Without the bunch, it would have taken longer still.
Formation riding
Ever heard of a paceline? Or an echelon? These are the most efficient ways to ride in a cross wind.
A paceline is a group with riders taking turns at the front then falling back in the slipstream of those ahead. The time in front can vary from a few seconds before retreating, or several minutes. This time is usually discussed between the riders in the group. The bunch rotates in either a clockwise or anti-clockwise rotation when there is little or no wind, and the group is in two neat lines. These groups are often seen during ‘breakaways’ in major races, while the escapees are trying to get away or stay away from the chasing bunch.
However, to accommodate a crosswind, the rotation will no longer be two lines. Rather it will file back from the leading rider diagonally; swinging to the left if the wind is coming from the right and vice-versa as each rider maximizes his draft. This is called an echelon, and this group rides diagonally across the road. It is very important to concentrate, and to keep your place in the bunch, in order to keep the shape and movement of the formation.
The pocket of calm air behind a rider changes position with the wind, so you have to pay attention as you follow the wheel ahead. The aim is to remain in that sweet spot as accurately as possible while following the rider ahead, keeping the pace constant and a fluid cadence. This way each cyclist spends the least time in the wind, but each one takes a turn, and the bunch is able to maintain its optimum speed.
