Back of the Pack tips

It is always recommended to stay on the front to get out of trouble and avoid the dreaded yo-yo effect while riding in a peloton.
Staying on front makes you ready for any tactical moves the pack will make.

But sometimes it is fun at the back of the pack.
One good reason is there is no responsibility to pull or chase.
If played right, you will surely expend less energy than usual.

I hope these tips can help you.

1. Most of the time, stay closely inside the draft. Do find a big riders to draft on. You can switch from big rider to another from time to time to reduce monotony and help pass time. You can also look for those ones who are not riding on the drops for riding on the hoods produces a good draft behind.

2. Most of the time, ride in the drops to be more aerodynamic. It is sensible that you can reduce the energy expenditure when you are caught in a peloton yo-yo effect. Sometimes you need to sit up and stretch those back muscles. Good practice is to do this when drafting a rider riding on the hoods.

3. Go in front when the speed lulls. Pedal easy to the front when the peloton is resting. You can get space to move up front from the side of the peloton assuming that they didn't cover the whole road. This can give you a buffer to fall back and not respond in case the peloton surges again. After the surge, you will be at the back of the pack traveling at the same speed w/o spending much energy due to the surge. You can use this maneuver to break monotony and help pass time.

4. Use the resonant effect. The speed/effort of each rider down a moving peloton can be modeled into the phase angle of a sinusoidal waveform. If you know how to find the resonance then you can ride inside a few particular places (depends how long) in the peloton where where speed and effort is constant. That position is constantly changing due to the pack dynamics, one way to find that position is to apply a constant comfortable effort and you will automatically be in it. With this technique, you will probably lose a few positions on one time and gain position on one time too. Just make sure you gain that position if possible and if you fall at the back then enjoy the race from behind. When the speed lulls then go in front again easily.

5. Use the resonant effect two. When the terrain rolls, then the dreaded yo-yo effect greater comes into play. If the peloton is long enough then you can find the resonant position when the front is on the crest of one bump and you are on the crest of the previous bump. If the front is going downslope then you should be in the position of the peloton where it is going downslope too. Get the pattern?

6. The anti yo-yo is the best to kill the yo-yo effect when the terrain rolls. If a section of the peloton is short to cover two bumps in a rolling road, you can let go of few positions behind to make sure that you are going downhill from the previous bump while the peloton is going uphill. It might give you a free hill to roll over effortlessly then latching back to the pack. This is quite dangerous, just make sure you are not approaching any decisive slopes.

7. Crashes is very high probability occurence when at the back of the pack. Crashes usually happens when there is compression happening in peloton. Compression sometimes happens on the start of the upslope or the end of the downslope. Give away some position maybe a bike length or two and cover it later.

8. Your mentality at the back of the pack is just to watch how the race unfold. This can greatly help pass time effortlessly. Another thing is that some riders might notice your errant riding style and you might receive some flak. Just act ignorant and let it pass your ears. The exact same way you do when you get scolding from your parents. If you paid for everything to get into that race, then you should be selfish. All your energy must be used to survive and/or attack even though how pathetic it can be.


WAIVER: These tips can only help you survive if you use correctly. These will probably not help you win any races. If you get dropped because of these then it is your fault for you might have misjudged the condition and/or lacking fitness. If you want to win and/or get a good placing then stay on front.

very useful tips.... kaya sa mga mahilig mgdraft huwag na kayong mgdraft al d way kung ayaw nyong mg drawing ng kalabaw na wlang sungay like wat happen last sunday..

Buti na lang nag absent ako classmeyt ko pa naman yun

yup, i heard some negative remarks of a philipino causing a crash last sunday. more info

ha anong nangyare?

sabi ko na sa inyo sigbin sumama na lang kayo sa amin last sun. te train ka ni coach Ryan

GIANT wrote:ha anong nangyare?

sabi ko na sa inyo sigbin sumama na lang kayo sa amin last sun. te train ka ni coach Ryan

may bag.ong coach kana pala ha..cge e sumbong kita ni mang ambo....!

Original_Sigbin wrote:

GIANT wrote:ha anong nangyare?

sabi ko na sa inyo sigbin sumama na lang kayo sa amin last sun. te train ka ni coach Ryan

may bag.ong coach kana pala ha..cge e sumbong kita ni mang ambo....!

kumagako wrote:yup, i heard some negative remarks of a philipino causing a crash last sunday. more info

nyay patawad...