Close Encounters

From my experience racing professionally and being part of training camps with Team Sky, Dimension Data as well as training camps with High Performance NZ as a junior. The number one thing with riding in a bunch is being comfortable in close proximity situations. Being relaxed is an essential part of keeping yourself and others safe. Most of the time when at speed, it’s inevitable you will bump into another rider and when this happens you want to be relaxed.

Tension = No control  = Crashing.

The key part of this session is to get comfortable being close with another rider and to highlight how much control you really have on the bike when you’re relaxed!

The importance of starting with this session is to build confidence being around riders because most of the time when you are cornering or descending there is a high likelihood you’ll be in a group. So, think of this as the foundation of your group riding ability, without it, your ability to corner, ride a paceline and ride in the wind will crumble.

Cornering/Descending

The next best thing is to be in control of your bike. Being comfortable with how the bike moves and knowing/seeing how important being relaxed is for you to maneuver your bike. I’ll run through the key principles (body positioning, cornering line/apex of the corner and braking efficiently) to teach you how to best be in control of yourself as well as correcting errors. Sometimes when cornering, descending or riding in a bunch, you’ll have to make a split second decision to correct an error you’ve made or to avoid the error of another.

Tension = No control = Crashing (These are words to live by). RELAXATION IS KEY!

The key part of this session is to teach you about body positioning when cornering and descending, and to get you confident with your limitations on the bike. I’ll teach you about braking efficiently into corners and how to be smooth - braking efficiently means being smooth. Smoothness when cornering means more control, ability to adjust and reduces the chances of sliding out. We’ll also go through what to do when you make an error into a corner and how to adjust accordingly using the key principles of relaxation, body position and braking effectively.

Bunch Riding, Paceline and Echelons (Riding in the wind)

THE NUMBER ONE RULE of riding in a bunch is to be predictable! If you know what someone is doing, you know how to move around them or how to avoid causing and or being caught up in a crash. Once you know how to comfortably ride next to others and how to be in control of your bike the next thing is to understand the nature of the peloton.

The peloton is a living organism that is constantly moving. Wind, potholes, road debris, road furniture and other riders are all factors that contribute to riders in a bunch moving in unpredictable ways. The secret I’ve learned through years of racing is to predict how the bunch will move before it happens, so you can position yourself in the right places to be as safe as possible. (And in racing situations how to read the bunch to move up places and navigate the bunch efficiently to save energy).

We will discuss the DO’s and DON’TS of riding in a bunch and bunch etiquette to help you be as predictable as possible and putting into practice everything we’ve learned in the first two sessions with the information you’ve learned in this session. On top of all of this I’ll take everyone through the correct way professionals train in bunch rides to be as smooth as possible and to not allow a simple roll through to turn into an uncontrollable chop fest. (There’s a time and place for that).

We will also discuss the importance of being aware of wind directions, how to form a proper echelon and what not to do when the wind picks up.