The Etiquette of Cycling

There's a certain etiquette and decorum in every sport. These unwritten protocols and unofficial rules make up the very essence of the cultures within each sport. Learning how to navigate this stuff, to me, is a significant part of the challenge of cycling on deceptively simple looking group rides all the way to road races and criteriums.

It seems because the sport of road cycling is still so arcane and strange to most Americans, there doesn't appear to be much written about just what the norms are out there on the road, and not just between motor vehicle drivers and cyclists, but (and especially) among cyclists themselves. So much seems to depend upon who's in the group and their level of experience. Each sets its own unspoken parameters. Being only a Cat 5 racer myself (about to upgrade to Category 4) I often can't recognize the nuance all around me all the time especially on group rides where experience levels mix. Most of us will defer to what the more experienced riders/racers have to say about situations. That is, of course, unless one of them is out of line. Then you're left only with your own internal compass of what is fair to others.

So here's what happened. Yesterday on our group ride conflict occurred between experienced riders---an out-of-towner with fairly high level race credentials versus a few of our riders of the same caliber. Some in the group, like myself, were at least semi-oblivious to what occurred.

We were working in a paceline at a tempo of around 27 mph. Everyone working to the front, taking their pull in the wind, falling off to the rear and continuing to rotate forward as successive riders peeled off the front. I noticed one of our riders fall off the front and the out-of-towner, who was on his wheel, stayed on his wheel as they both drifted to the rear of the paceline. There were about eight of us so this put me and others on the front again sooner. I really didn't hardly notice what he had done, nor did I care. I like getting the work up front. That's the purpose of these rides to me.

I figured he was just trying to stay on with us as he might be racing the next day or wanted an easy workout and was going to "sit on". "Sitting on" or "sitting in" means riding in the pack (peloton) or back in the paceline protected and out of the wind where there is about 30 per cent less workload. If a rider is "sitting on", it means he apparently has no intention of coming to the front to work in the wind for the group. Most experienced riders will tolerate this, no problem. But what happened next, his attack, riding away from the group, demanded an answer from the group and an atonement from the offending out-of-town rider, or outright expulsion by the group by laying down a crushing speed. A single rider often cannot maintain the speed organized riders can lay down after the effort required to attack and then stay away from the group like he had. What I witnessed next was a sort of rare primal justice served.

I had just completed a fairly long second pull down Woods Road in Kitty Hawk. We approached Twiford Road, a righthand turn. As we started into the turn, the out-of towner came out of the paceline from behind and attacked the group. "Attacking", for those unfamiliar with the lexicon of bike racing, means sprinting out front and away from the main group. You'll hear this talk many times in the sports coverage of the Tour De France, for instance, and any races for that matter.

The rider took the speed up to 29 mph or so. Suddenly one of our stronger riders followed him out. I was trying to increase speed and stay on his wheel. We turned left onto Kitty Hawk Village Road and all hell broke out on the road.

The out-of-town guy and our guy were away from the group now about 30 yards. Another one of the guys in our re-forming paceline was second wheel and growling at the frontman to ride faster and faster. The frontman fell away. Our speed went up to 31 mph. We clawed back up to the two leaders and fell in on their wheels. The out-of towner cooled out and drifted to the rear. I never saw him again.

Our strong chaser said he had ridden with that rider and the group the previous day and he had done the same thing---not worked for the group, and then attacked the fatigued group by riding away showing off his strength so to speak. He exacerbated the situation beforehand by bragging about how, in this type of "down" economy, he doesn't have to work as he is a real estate investor. This is not the time or place to put that out to others who may not have the same fortunes. Verdict: our group does not like riders who avoid work and then later, make a display of their (rested) strength on group rides where all have put in their work except him. Those who transgress shall pay.

In a race however, everything changes. We'll talk about that later I'm sure. Thanks for reading. Keep riding (cause there's no surf here right now).