I concur. Furthermore, you have to understand that the riders behind you can't really see what's in front (the drain), until they passed you. By then, the line is established and following riders won't know this from that. By riding your own (safe) line, you would have assured that the peloton went around you to your left; by choosing a line to the drain, you unknowingly and unfortunately contributed to the situation. It's all about knowing the predictable behaviors of group riders and how to behave in that context. Don't worry about them crashing into you. No competent peloton does that.
I further believe that the hostility shown here towards riders in a group to be undeserved. Sure, there are idiot riders (just as there are idiot drivers), but the peloton as described was merely doing its predictable thing. Although it may appear otherwise, no one in the peloton was looking to crash that day and intimidating some other cyclists was probably non-existent on their To-Do list. It's also my experience that riders not accustomed to group rides tend to be surprised by what experienced group riders will consider ample space, and 2 feet of space can feel like 6 inches. If you really want to establish space in context of a peloton, ride unpredictably (e.g., not in a straight line). Lead riders will see that before passing you and should give you plenty of space then. :) (Am I really typing this in a Unracer group?) On Sunday, May 22, 2016 at 5:10:10 PM UTC-7, Michael Hechmer wrote: > > I'm sorry about your experience. I wish we lived in a world where basic > civility could reliably produce a like response. In general I am willing > to deal with the negatives without giving up my choice to be civil.... but > > From my long past racing brain. It's not a lane, it's a line. In racing > a rider takes a line and those behind him are expected to respect that > line. They can pass on the left or the right but trying to force a rider > off his line is foul play. Having gone past a rider, it is acceptable to > cut in front, even if it forces someone else to slow down. It is analogous > to taking a lane in traffic. From the racers point of view, you took a > line to the right and you became responsible for whatever might be in that > line -sewer grates, potholes, debris, whatever. So... the expected > strategy is that the rider in front will take and hold the line he > considers most advantages to himself. Unfortunately you chose kindness & > civility, which have no space in a racers brain. When riding on the local > roads in Vt., I typically take a line just to the left of the fog line. > This forces cars and racers to move to the left to pass me and if they > don't give me enough space, I have room to my right to find safety. > > blessings, > michael > > On Sunday, May 22, 2016 at 9:26:15 AM UTC-4, Jay LePree wrote: >> >> Hi group, >> I am writing to ask how you would have handled this and to get a bad >> action off my chest. Today, I was coming home with some baked goods after >> my ride in Nyack, NY on my Rambouillet, set up with a big saddle >> bag..Clearly not a race type looking bicycle. I was on a road with a >> narrow shoulder and riding near the white line. I saw a pack of cyclists >> bearing down on me, maybe at least 20 strong. My first mistake was to ride >> inside the white line instead of taking the lane, but then again, I was not >> sure how they would react and did not want to cause a pile up. They passed >> me without any warning and were perhaps 6 inches away from me. There was a >> sewer drain in front of me. Rather than move toward the center of the road >> to allow me to avoid it, they ran me right into it. I was able to slow >> enough to get over it. (One of those sunken-in type drains with oval >> holes, not bicycle friendly.) As all this was proceeding, the combination >> of surprise, fear of dumping the bike, and just consternation that a group >> of cyclists would treat a fellow cyclist like this, I said, quite >> clearly...A**h*les. (How hard would it have been to move to the center of >> the road? How hard would it have been to alert me to their presence.) It >> was dumb move on my part. Not taking the lane and then allowing my >> emotions to get the best of me. (Nothing happened after >> that....fortunately, they were too much into their ride and keeping pace >> that no one stopped or challenged me back.) I confession is in order for >> today I guess. >> >> It is an unfair question as this group was not there, but would you have >> taken the lane? Would you have trusted them to react accordingly? If I >> had more warning, I would have stopped and dismounted an went onto the >> sidewalk until they passed; however they really were moving. I saw them >> in the distance in my rearview mirror, and the then they were on top of me. >> >> Jay, >> Demarest, NJ >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
