Ludlow Cycling Club: Group riding guidance

Most Ludlow Club Rides will have leaders, either formal or informal, but each individual is also responsible for maintaining group riding discipline and for riding considerately and with all road users’ safety in mind.  By joining a Club ride you are accepting the ride leader’s leadership for the ride’s duration.

For self-evident reasons and for liability insurance for the club and its officers to be valid, ride leaders need to know who is on the ride and to have access to riders’ mobile phone and their ‘In Case of Emergency’ (ICE) contact details. So expect a group photo at the start of the ride and the leader taking the details of any non-member guest riders. Leaders will have access to a list of members’ contact details, which they will only use if needed on a ride.

One final important general point: all cyclists will encounter Highway Code ignorance and aggression towards cyclists from drivers. Confronting such drivers rarely helps, it can make situations dangerous. Even if provoked, cyclists should aim to remain calm and de-escalate conflict.

The under-pinning gold standard is a line of pairs of riders riding closely together. Some cycling clubs achieve this much of the time, although there are various occasions and reasons why it doesn’t always happen, and sometimes shouldn’t happen. 

However, this paired group riding is what LCC all riders should aspire to and help make happen as the norm on a Ludlow Club ride. When done properly, group riding in pairs works for both stronger and weaker riders, with stronger riders working harder by leading more from the front and weaker members ‘drafting’ more towards the rear. It also works best if riders limit their individual toilet, clothing change or bike-checking stops to the really essential, or to wait until there is a re-grouping stop. If a rider does need to stop, communicate this clearly to the group and the ride will normally stop, or slow down to enable quick catch-up. 

Group pair riding doesn’t work so well if there’s a wide disparity in riders’ comfortable speeds. Which why we try to have three, or at least two, groups on our Sunday rides. Or sometimes decide en-route to split one group into two. It is also quite normal, by leader decision and/or group consensus, for groups to separate into ones, twos, threes, etc in the final miles of a club ride when riders are often starting to make their own way directly back to their homes.

1.     Equipment and Clothing

• Your bike should be in good working order. Gears should change smoothly, brakes work effectively and the tyres be in good condition and inflated to the correct pressure
• You should fit mudguards during wet/winter riding, or ride at the rear of the group
• Your clothing should be appropriate for weather conditions. Bright/reflective clothing is better when light isn’t good. If rain’s forecast, particularly if cool, carry a rain jacket. Body cooling rapidly occurs in the wet 
• If very cold, wear tights, a windproof jersey, layers to provide body warmth, overshoes and warm gloves
• It is strongly recommended that you wear a suitable cycling helmet and have working lights, especially rear
• If your tyres have inner tubes, carry at least 1 spare tube (right size for your wheels!), a pump, tyre levers
• Take some back-up pocket food (i.e. bars, gels, banana etc) and plenty to drink
• We strongly advise taking a mobile phone and a means of payment

• Rider(s) at the rear should let riders ahead know when a vehicle is approaching from behind. “Car up!” or “Car back!” are the simplest and most common loud shouts to do this. If a 2-abreast group is holding up a car which could safely overtake a group in single file, it’s best and safest to revert to single file temporarily
• If the road is narrow and the group is holding up a vehicle(s) behind for more than about a minute, you should pull over at an appropriate safe place to allow the vehicle(s) past:  if other riders have pulled in, or the leader’s asked the group to pull in, you should also pull in even if you don’t wish to
• It’s the responsibility of rider(s) at the front to let those behind know –  shout “Car down!” -  if a vehicle’s approaching the group from ahead, especially when there’s no white line in the road
• Avoid overlapping the wheel in front. The front rider may be unaware of this and any sudden change of direction, (i.e. to avoid an obstacle) can cause an accident affecting many riders
• Avoid breaking the lines – i.e. sprinting ahead or leaving a big gap to the riders in front of you
• Riders at the front should drop off when ready and safe to do so: look behind to check it’s safe, hand-signal and move to the outside to let the next pair through; when the rest of the group’s gone past on the inside, drop back on at the rear, or into space in front of any riders not taking turns at the front. If slotting into a line of riders, indicate your intention and make sure the rider behind you has seen this and created a gap. You should mix the pairs up occasionally to vary the riding experience and so no rider is left on their own for long
• When you take the front, keep the effort steady. Don’t push the pace just because you feel strong. Sudden acceleration will cause the group to break. 2-5 minutes at the front is normal, but this will vary: stronger riders take longer turns, weaker riders take fewer/shorter turns or even skip turns at the front at all. Brisk group leaders may sometimes choose ‘Through-and-off’ rotation: riders peel off when reaching the front
• It is normal for the pace to increase on steady descents and to decrease on steady ascents, however the power output should remain roughly constant. Groups naturally split on longer/steeper climbs and it’s usually safer to split on longer/steeper descents. Re-group after splits
• If you feel the pace is so fast that you may soon drop off from those in front of you, shout “Easy” or “Steady” to them; they should pass this forward and slow a little so that the group remains intact
• Communicate any issues – i.e. a puncture, mechanical issue, out of food/drink to the leader. If you become aware of riders dropping off, send a message up to the front of the ride.
• Half-wheeling (when one of a pair of riders continually pushes their wheel ahead of their fellow rider to try and push them to go faster) is disruptive of the ride, inconsiderate and bad etiquette.