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PACELINE SAFETY
Jonathan Tomassetti
5/20/2014 7:15 PM
For the June 2014 issue of Wheelspeak, Jack Houghton has written an article on Paceline Safety.  This is actually a two-part article that will be continued in the following issue.  Please read the article and if have any tips or comments on the topic of Paceline Safety, you can add them to this thread.
 
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Jonathan Tomassetti
5/20/2014 7:21 PM
On Pez Cycling News, John Howard wrote an article on safe riding titled: Love Your Skin and Keep It
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
 
This is an excerpt from that article:
 
Steering vs. Braking
 Often a quick steering maneuver is the safest means of escaping a dangerous situation which might mean a rider or group of riders falling in your direct path or a driver in an SUV talking on a cell phone pulls out of a side street absorbed in a world that you–on your bike–are not part of. When time dictates, an immediate response of accelerating and steering out of something is preferable to braking and oftentimes in the closing milliseconds before a crash you will only have time for one action. When you choose the traditional braking response you may effectively give up control of your bike. Steering out of a situation offers you more margins for success and speed is often your best ally. This is especially true for off-road riding and graphically reinforced from training and racing on the velodrome where bikes are reduced to the bare essentials of accelerating and steering.
Jonathan Tomassetti
5/24/2014 9:00 PM
Saturday May 24, 2014 on one of the NFBC rides we had another paceline crash due to overlapping wheels.
 
We should be thinking of the gap between wheels in terms of feet and not in inches.  
Wallace McRoy
5/24/2014 11:38 PM
June/July 2013 issue of WHEELSPEAK:

"...A tight pace line should probably allow at least two feet between the leading rider’s back wheel and the following rider’s front wheel. I would prefer that the person behind me leave a three-foot gap. Beginning riders should consider allowing a full bicycle length between each other..."


Wallace McRoy
770-653-0104 c
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