Thanks for the rotation direction in cross-winds tip. I might add: don't fixate on the wheel in front, keep looking up the road. Smooth on power and side to side movements. Don't overlap wheels. When pulling off a single, look over the shoulder where you're going to go and flick the elbow to tell the next rider to pull through.

Two things I'd add. When pulling through on your turn inexperienced riders almost always surge. I like to tell them to keep their cadence the same as the rider in front of them pulls off and to pull through with as little effort as possible. Second, in a single paceline, always save something as you pull off to drop back as the effort to get back on is often really hard for a few seconds and you've also got some reserve power should an attack happen.

Awesome Jeff. Now do the next level. Single pace lines - Allow each rider to take a different amount of time on the front (unlike the double pace line.) This is good and bad. I’ve found counting pedal strokes (one side) a good way to set and vary time on front. Feeling strong? 40-50. Just hanging on? 5 pedal strokes. IMHO…one of the the most painful things in all of racing is catching the back onto the pace line that going full gas. Double pace line - Keep tight. (1) As the lead rider starts to slide over, start sliding up along side. Don’t do what your overhead shots are showing and leave a big gap that you have to get up to and in front of the person pulling off. (2) the person pulling off sets the speed of the entire group. If they hold speed, the forward moving line needs to speed up to overtake. (3) Biggest pace line killer is one you showed well… lead rider pulls through too hard (usually thinking they are helping.) As the rider pull onto slow side, the second slow side rider may need to catch back up their wheel to (a) get into a good draft and (b) keep the slow side gaps closed. - Tip: in a double pace line, when on the front, you are picking the line for both sides. If you see a road hazard that the other line will need to miss, give them room! Expect them to push over into you. - Tip: in a crosswind, you will often be very overlapped (on both sides of the pace line, which is now called an echelon.) There is no way other than rotating off on the up-wind side, as the downwind rider is overlapping you. - Tip: Get an actual speed sensor. Especially on single pace lines - as the lead rider can easily feel like they are working hard as they fatigue and start dropping speed. Watts are good, especially for rolling roads (steady effort, not stead speed). On flat roads, speed is real. - Tip: Timing when and where you move off the front is everything! Rotating off as you hit a rise in the road can end your race. The group WILL surge up the hill. You’ve just spend time pulling AND you have to catch the last wheel AND the group is surging. Pain cave. Staying on the front a little longer during a rise can let you set a pace of the group… till they figure it out and go around you. Just be ready for it. - TIP: Only pro teams with riders to burn can take 1, 2, or 3 minute pulls. Pulling on the front isn’t making you a hero - it is making you vulnerable to attacks. Unless you’re bridging a teammate up or something, then doing equal work and getting off is your highest priority. - Tip: If you DON’T want to get in the pace line and pull through, that’s okay too. Do not block the rider coming backwards who needs to side over to the LAST wheel. Best to ride slightly on the outside edge so as they look back they can easily see the last wheel coming forward. As soon as they start to slide over, move up to the new wheel coming back at you. A good team will protect this spot with a strong and assertive teammate assuring competing teams don’t get into to disrupt, or let FRED get in who doesn’t know what to do and freaks out when they realize they’re about to hit the front.

Jeff this was great, don’t be afraid to take your time and explain in detail, you don’t have to rush through these. You seemed out of breath at the end there. Extra view time is great for the channel algorithm.

I did a double paceline on a group ride before. It was magical! We worked well and no one really surged or gapped.

Do a collab with Jesse Coyle here in Australia. Like a race analysis or something.

The time you spend on the front depends on the size of the group. You want to ensure everyone gets a couple of minutes in the draft. So for groups of 10 or more you can just use the momentum of the faster line to roll across immediately whereas in a group of 4 you need to spend about 30 seconds on the front. If you are struggling, let everyone know and stay on the wheel of the last rider in the slow file (do not move across to the fast file). This way you don’t effect the flow of the paceline.

Love the length of the video. Concise and to the point. Can’t wait for more. We’ll done

Yeah man, I didn't get it until I showed up to my first quicker group ride and we set up a long single pace line. Suddenly, I was holding a 22 mph pace in the draft and felt like a god. Then I hit the front...according to others, I barely give a draft either so it seems that I'm born to surf wheels, kill breaks and get towed to the line

An excellent treatment of an essential group-ride (and race) skill. So many little things need to be done to make it work well, but with practice, it becomes second nature, and a well-oiled double paceline is sublime. Adding just the right amount of power when you reach the front so you don't surge, softpedaling just the right amount when pulling off so the next rider can pass you without surging, calling "clear" when the next rider is almost (but not quite) past you so he can slide over without gapping, reading the wind... It's art. Experienced riders on group rides need to be willing to teach these tricks to the newer riders. Everybody benefits.

awesome video. one the best explanation i´ve seen so far

Very nice video and explanation, one of the big advantage of a club ride/group ride is to practice the paceline during the winter.

Once again your video production is top notch. Great drone work, great commentary, and a perfect explanation of how to ride in pace lines. For the beginners out there, if you ride with a group and you practice the double pace line, you'll find that you can ride much faster for a lower investment of power and the time goes by quickly because you're always paying attention to what's happening. Also, with single pace lines in big groups, you'll tend to find that some people want to pull at 20mph, and others want to pull at 25mph (it's a testosterone thing). It's important that everyone abides by the given pace and you all work together, with the veterans helping the new riders learn what to do. Thanks again Jeff, great job.

Thanks for the video, very informative!

It seems that I need to pick up some more riders when I go out on the bike next. Great tutorial Jeff. When making a break from the paceline I would imagine that the best time would be just as you slip from the slow lane across to the fast 1.

Double pacelines are pretty commonplace on large group rides with experience. I recently did The Coast Ride and it just made for a faster day overall. Can easily cover 130mi with an avg speed of 20-22mph effortlessly. Just be aware of what direction the wind is coming from and communicate it.

From the perspective of one who's ridden many team pursuits on the track, the riders in your video have too much distance side-to-side & front-to-back. But I realize this was a demo video and overall quite good. Thanks.

Hi Jeff. I think it would be great for us newer racers to have some racing etiquette spelled out for us. (i.e. what are the things that new bike racers do that drive the more experienced racers next to us crazy?)

Hi Jeff, have you considered comparing power data between single and double pacelines to actually validate that the latter is more efficient for bigger groups in a real world scenario? This experiment would obviously be difficult to run. I only ask because in my experience, I always feel like I am doing less work overall in a single paceline, even in bigger groups. It could just be the lack of experience among those I ride with that makes rotating and keeping a tight draft more difficult in a double paceline, but even if you watch big breakaways in the world tour races, it seems like they always prefer single pacelines. I feel like an organized double paceline is hard to get right (especially in a race) and a disorganized double paceline feels so taxing, almost like you're never out of the wind. Thanks and I hope you're healing up okay!

Awesome video. Here are two more points. You can literally hear when you are in the draft well due to less air noise. But this may be more for an echelon video. When moving from the second to first position in the fast side, keep your cadence the same. Effort will drastically change, but if you stay in the same gear, you will prevent surging. Also let off a couple rpm after you move into the slow line to gently give the person behind you your draft.

Great topic

Random observation, but I love the fact that we are on separate coasts, but both have the same company clothing swag! I worked for ERT for 8 years here in DC (getting several rounds of shirts and winter coats) before leaving and opting for a shorter commute! Having just gotten into bike racing over the last year (in my mid-30s), I am loving the content and the motivation is provides! Good luck on a speedy recovery!

For UK viewers (and maybe other countries) double paceline = chaingang..... :)

WORD. Great video!!

I've been part of some exceptional well drill chaingangs, and some of the worst where everyone's acting like it's a race huge surges at the front, pull over and keep the power way to high, chain breaks and.its all over. My club generally has about 30riders out on the Saturday morn chaingang. Brutal sessions

Azo!! Great vid.

Awesome! How to road cycling 101! And yet you can breakdown each micro aspect into other videos. Like how to balance your effort within the breakaway so you don’t have problems down the road from over cooking it as it pertains to arriving at the final with a clear and lucid mindset. It’s easy to be sharp until it isn’t, then it’s impossible. Love the real time comparison of your watts when you’re rotating through at the front compared to when you’re drifting back in line. There’s a ridiculous amount of info here squeezed into an absurd time frame. My experience is, the magic number is at least five for a single file and six for actual rotation. I’ve seen how and single file works best for even 8 riders with varying abilities, this way you have strong ones pulling longer not harder and then the less powerful riders maintaining the speed with a much shorter 10 second minimum, this way you strictly have only one person taking on the wind at a time. In racing what is the best way to be the coach, cheerleader or organizer of the breakaway? I ask because you don’t wanna come across as being too overbearing upon everyone it’s annoying and yet there’s zero time to waste in the early stages of a breakaway.

This is excellent! Can you explain the communication process of pace lines more? How can you get others to be organized? When you have a change in direction of wind on a double pace line, what are the steps to take to change the rotation? How do you best communicate this change?

these drone shots are money

The worst part about being between the "b" and "a" groups, fitness-wise is that the B groups around here frequently are terrible at drafting and have no idea how to actually pull off a pace-line.

Very interesting. Greetings from Greece...

Awesome content. Please keep the tactics/strategy sessions coming! Masterclass?

Don't we wish group ride leaders enforced this (most don't know about it). Pure magic when it happens

Sweet

good video

I can see how this would be tough for everyone to be aware of implement. In my area, it’s almost intentionally instructed to new riders that you always rotate clockwise as the group rides take place in live traffic and we don’t want the slowing riders rotating back on the traffic side of the pace line. Then, people who’ve done this forever jump into a race and they were never taught to act accordingly with the wind and you get people all over the place. I was in a big group ride once with tons of racers and experienced people that was taking up a whole car lane as we rode down the coast, with a really strong left to right wind that would normal cause an echelon, but everyone was still rotating clockwise. There’s definitely merit to this because that was severe wasted energy.

hey jeff, im really struggling in cornering, I always get very inefficient in comes to corners, im not really confident, can you make a video about what to do in entering a corner, and types of corners we encounter in a race specially uturns,

Great video! I would love to see a video on the different types of riders. I heard rouleur or puncheur a lot but have no idea what that means. What differenciates theese riders in their physiology and what is their task in a team?

What go pro mounts do you prefer when racing?

One issue I see in a casual group ride while pace lining is even is the same strength, not everyone has a power meter or bike computer.

I was the guy doing the common mistake of surging, ha. I went a little hard to overtake before a 90 degree turn as I didn't want to swing wide to make room for the person on my right and possibly go into the oncoming traffic. Any tips you have for keeping a paceline tight going into a 90 degree turn like that? It's a problem I've noticed on races and group rides with tight turns on narrow roads. Thanks again for the video and hope your recovery is going well!

I once did a solo high frequency pace of line. Others may claim I spun my bike and crashed ;)

For cross winds, when should you start echelons instead of just reversing the pace line rotation?

Where’d you get your vest?! I want one

that looks great but not easy. how long do you normally rotate? 10 minutes? 1 hour?

How long do you take pulls for and you didn't mention if you empty your leg batteries taking the pool in the front when you fall to the back you're going to have trouble latching on when they increase the speed

What would you suggest if I’m the stronger rider in the group? I see some of the guys in the group can’t stay on the wheel, I always slow down to let them catch on. What can I do to help them increase there speed, power and endurance?

Had a quick question, how tall are you and what is your frame size of choice?

During a crit you may have crosswind from both sides. You then switch to the other side? Wouldn't this break the "break" someone gets from the slow line?

Jeff, what's your take on closing the inevitable gaps in a paceline when they appear due to a surge? I've always preferred to just let the gap open and keep riding steadily until I smoothly close it because it prevents me, and everyone behind me, from having to accelerate hard to surge with it and then brake when the surge ends. On the other hand, it sometimes confuses riders as to why there is a hole in the group and that confusion can also be disruptive. Thoughts?

Is double pacelining considered riding 2 abreast? I know youre technically passing but i know my local group rides dont allow 2 abreast. Or does it only count as 2 abreast if you stay side by side.

I would assume during a cross wind, and correct me if I am wrong, the passing riders stay close to the riders in the slower lane, correct. What if there is no cross wind? Does one still stay close as they past by or it doesn't matter?

perhaps talk about smaller groups of say 2-3 riders. Esp "off the front". How is the drafting strategy different than a full-up paceline.

So Jeff, when are you building up a new Race Bike?

I'm curious about two things Jeff 1. Is there a certain amount of time that the front rider should stay at the front-like an etiquette thing? 2. When you're dealing with a crosswind, does someone just call out that the rotation will be different or do you all just know?

👋 Hello!

its just the Belgian tourniquet right

Did I see both hands moving freely??!!! How is your rehab progressing?

Any recommendations for my knee cap pain . . . I stop my biking since first year of 2022. Then i started biking i reach about 80km on my first ride. The first 40 its good im pacing good then my last 40my knee cap starting to hurt . . . .and recommendation on exercise?

Know what? With all that knowledge and passion, why not giving your impression on pro bike races? 2 are coming pretty soon : Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. That’s the opening of the pro season (yeah I know UAE tour and others happened already). But there are plenty of experience and knowledge to explain and take out of those races that will benefit all cat’s riders!

I assume it also means that it's not that worthy to hammer the corners since that could be a recipe for dropping the riders at the back, is it correct?

a noob question here, how long do you stay in the front before you get back into the draft?

what wld u say abt youth racing which im going to say breakaway-wise is an absolute shambles sprinting all over the place

Teaching pacelining to older (e.g. Masters) racers, or patently stupid young guys can be very difficult. Some guys simply never get it. They can't feel the draft pocket, they can't sense their relative location to other riders (and the gaps that are forming) , and how they must vary their positioning as they turn and the relative position of the wind changes. It's extremely rare to be doing a paceline with a group where everyone is competent at what they should be doing. Instead of yelling at guys who are clueless, it's better to work on your own skills as to how to deal with gapping, surging, bad positioning, etc., and turn it into a competitive advantage for yourself.

No sling? 8-)

POV: Your a velodrome rider lol

I don't get the psychology of helping non teammates. Or mire specifically, *when*. At what point do you stop helping each other and go back up trying to beat each other and vice versa

how about always hiding behind someone 😀