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CCA Chaingang... Tues 16th May 2017, 7.30pm
Hi all
The usual start time: 7.30pm departure from The Three Tuns in Ashwell, for a 7.35pm approx start at the corner of the lap at The Waggon pub in Steeple Morden. All welcome. Sunset now close to 9pm, so three laps very doable. But bring lights all the same.
All great comments since last week. I thought it a good idea to try and pull together an agreement here. Hopefully the summary below makes good sense to everyone - but feel free to add thoughts. There is a fundamental issue to deal with... Everyone is pretty damn fast and - rightly - people want to be on a chaingang to reach their limits and get the best exercise they can. So it's never going to be easy to keep everyone happy.
1. If the group is bigger than 15, we simply have to split the group, that then ride a minute or so apart. I think the best idea is to sort it out in Ashwell if possible. Bearing in mind there's been 1-3 riders to pick up in Steeple and/or mid route so far this season. We should aim to create a Faster front group - to avoid potential overlapping somewhere on the course.
2. Whether one or two groups, there's no surging or breaking off the front.
3. Equally, if you get dropped, you can't expect too much mercy from the others and you might find yourself on your own. Try and work together with any others who drop off and form a new chain or TTT. Or go into your own TT mode and enjoy the evening solo, with the resolve to give it another go next week. Last week's surge probably only delayed a split when we approached the hill: breaks will happen.
To add to point 3.... If you really want to stick with your chain but are unsure of your ability, I think people could do more to simply stick at the back, keep the watts down and avoid rotating on the front early on. Double the returns: as the more confident riders will burn their matches quicker and exhaust themselves more, helping to keep the group together.
Hope this helps..... Looking forward to the next one. Weather forecast seems ok right now.
The usual start time: 7.30pm departure from The Three Tuns in Ashwell, for a 7.35pm approx start at the corner of the lap at The Waggon pub in Steeple Morden. All welcome. Sunset now close to 9pm, so three laps very doable. But bring lights all the same.
All great comments since last week. I thought it a good idea to try and pull together an agreement here. Hopefully the summary below makes good sense to everyone - but feel free to add thoughts. There is a fundamental issue to deal with... Everyone is pretty damn fast and - rightly - people want to be on a chaingang to reach their limits and get the best exercise they can. So it's never going to be easy to keep everyone happy.
1. If the group is bigger than 15, we simply have to split the group, that then ride a minute or so apart. I think the best idea is to sort it out in Ashwell if possible. Bearing in mind there's been 1-3 riders to pick up in Steeple and/or mid route so far this season. We should aim to create a Faster front group - to avoid potential overlapping somewhere on the course.
2. Whether one or two groups, there's no surging or breaking off the front.
3. Equally, if you get dropped, you can't expect too much mercy from the others and you might find yourself on your own. Try and work together with any others who drop off and form a new chain or TTT. Or go into your own TT mode and enjoy the evening solo, with the resolve to give it another go next week. Last week's surge probably only delayed a split when we approached the hill: breaks will happen.
To add to point 3.... If you really want to stick with your chain but are unsure of your ability, I think people could do more to simply stick at the back, keep the watts down and avoid rotating on the front early on. Double the returns: as the more confident riders will burn their matches quicker and exhaust themselves more, helping to keep the group together.
Hope this helps..... Looking forward to the next one. Weather forecast seems ok right now.
Comments
In search of something to improve on, I'd say we could get better in the slower line. If no one is coming around to the front too quickly, you're probably going too fast, or springing out of the corner. If you're out of your saddle in the slower line, giving it full welly, going up war memorial hill, that line is probably going to stop the chain.
Lap 1: 23.7mph
Lap 2: 24.2mph; and some of us picked up a Strava top 10 cup for getting up and over war memorial hill at 26.6mph I see.
Lap 3 had about 7-8 of us doing well, but our average speed was scuppered when a car driver insisted on having a word with us.
I hope everyone got the good workout they hoped for. I was worried about the rain, but it turned out nice again. Young Adam had another great ride.
We talked about splitting into 2 groups if the group is big, which didn't happen last night. But, had the car incident happened with the full group, then I think the chances of an accident would have been high. We should set a maximum and stick with it - remembering that we generally pick-up 5 or so more riders after leaving The Tuns.
I also had some questions on etiquette:
Some of us always say "last" when passing the back rider on the slow line, and similarly a little "yep" when the back wheel is clear at the front to tell the rider they can move across. I find this kind of constant communication really useful, but since not everyone does it, I am wondering if is the done thing?
When moving over to the inside line, should we be moving diagonally across (one move), or more "L" shaped (i.e. pass first, then move over - two moves)?
Where we know the road is rubbish (like on the inside between Littlington & Bassinbourg), the outside line should give the inside line more room to stay off the bad bit of road.
Everyone needs to spit or snot-rocket at some point... but please don't do it at the front!
Looking forward to next time.
Mat
It was definitely questionable when cars were behind, you can understand the difficulty in getting past a long line of riders when we aren't hanging around and taking up the road (rightly so) if its not in a great condition.
Definitely useful to keep the communications up and I try to be as vocal as possible, though understand it may be more difficult if trying very hard to keep on. In terms of moving over, that's fairly fluid and I definitely alternated between the 2 last night. See you all next week most likely!
Group size... I didn't count, but we were about 15 to start. And less than that before the end of the first lap. So OK in terms of what we think is maximum. And it seemed a fair way to decide on splitting. i.e. letting the wattage decide.
I think the original 3 points I summarised before still stand then;
1. In Ashwell, decide if there needs to be two groups before set-off if we are going to be over 15 people, assuming there could be 1-3 new riders joining afterwards. Ideally, split into two even-sized groups. Perhaps if intending to join somewhere after the Ashwell start; let the forum know, to help plan.
2. Set the Faster group off first. No surging. No two groups meeting each other on the road.
3. Accept the possibility of being dropped and only a limited amount of mercy from the bunch. Try and create a new chain, TTT or solo it.
Communication etiquette... I think setting down any specific guidelines on what to say will only lead to trouble. Best is to always think communication is a priority: whether that's about position, potholes, turning, cars etc. Let's be as vocal and as attentive as possible. Certainly 'Last!' and 'Yep!' are good things to do.
Moving over off the front... Predictability, observation and smoothness are key here. No sudden lurching. No not-checking it's safe. A flicked elbow is a good signal of intent. When working well, the faster-slower line combo will naturally create the space to allow a smooth drift into that line on the front, with the chain not making sudden changes in pace. Watching the pros on the tellybox always good for tips. They tend not to L-shape their position as they're so smooth.
And this is good from GCN - see link below. Though note: CCA chaingangs are quite exceptional in that they don't change rotation direction to accommodate wind direction. We've decided to always rotate anti-clockwise at all times;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1rXCcNG1GM
I thought the group was a little big last night, not a massive problem but it does mean we take up quite a bit of road and the time spent working on the front is reduced.
Totally agree about the point of communication, couple of observations from last night:
: if you call last man - ensure you are the last man!
: if you decide to hang on the back for a turn or two - shout it out (often)
: similiarly if you plan on rejoining the chain - shout it out