Do you go faster in a bunch ride

I was riding today, and I was going at a good pace of say 30 to 35 k's an
hour, when suddenly a big group of riders, must have been about 60 of them
passed me like I was standing still, and in no time disappeared into the
distance.

I don't think they were all pro's, but my question is, do you go faster when
you are part of a bunch ride ?

Is it a psychological thing ?

I have heard this before, am I right ?

Timmy_wilson Wrote:
I was riding today, and I was going at a good pace of say 30 to 35 k'
a
hour, when suddenly a big group of riders, must have been about 60 o
the
passed me like I was standing still, and in no time disappeared int
th
distance

I don't think they were all pro's, but my question is, do you go faste
whe
you are part of a bunch ride

Is it a psychological thing

I have heard this before, am I right ?
Yes you can go faster because of the reduced drag by being in th
bunch (vernouli effect I think). Anyway, you can save about 30% o
your energy when you are riding "on the wheel" of a rider in front. I
you are in a big bunch you can find that you can get along at quite
quick pace without hardly peddaling. Of course the people at the fron
of the bunch are working quite hard. That is why they will drop off th
front quite regularly to let others do the work. Once off the fron
they will drop back to the rear oor the middle of the bunch to get
"rest".

There are plenty of good articles about bunch riding if you are new t
cycling. Do a search of previous threads on this site or buy a goo
book about road cycling. There is no greater thrill than travellin
along with a large bunch at speed

--
Spider1977

"Timmy_wilson" wrote in message
...
I was riding today, and I was going at a good pace of say 30 to 35 k's an
hour, when suddenly a big group of riders, must have been about 60 of them
passed me like I was standing still, and in no time disappeared into the
distance.

A bunch traveling at 45 to 60km/h is probably not that uncommon


I don't think they were all pro's, but my question is, do you go faster
when
you are part of a bunch ride ?

You go as fast as the rider(s) on the front of the bunch goes. But because
you are rolling turns the rider(s) on the front of the bunch are "doing a
turn" of riding harder than the rest of the bunch. When those riders roll
off the front they rejoin the bunch at the rear and "sit in" the draft of
the others. Whilst in the draft of the others the body gets a chance to
recover as it takes a lot less energy to ride in sliptream of another rider.
Eventually as the other riders complete their turn and roll to the back the
original rider(s) is returned to the front of the pack to do another turn.
There are variations as to how turns are rolled but this is usually dictated
by the number of riders and the prevailing conditions.

Is it a psychological thing ?

I suppose you would call this a mental and physical challenge. But there
again so is riding solo.

Geoff

Spider1977 wrote:
snip
quick pace without hardly peddaling. Of course the people at the front
of the bunch are working quite hard. That is why they will drop off the
front quite regularly to let others do the work. Once off the front
they will drop back to the rear oor the middle of the bunch to get a
"rest".


shhh ... we don't want Gags and Blah to read this, at the moment they
just sit up the front all ride and drag the rest of us along.

DaveB "the BR caboose"

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 13:47:56 +1000, Timmy_wilson wrote:

I don't think they were all pro's, but my question is, do you go faster when
you are part of a bunch ride ?

Yes, much. Either stronger riders stay at the front and shelter the rest,
or you rotate, getting a good rest between brief turns at the front.
Drafting makes a /huge/ difference to wind resistance - if you can
hold 30-35km/h by yourself, you should be able to hold 40-45km/h
under the same conditions in a group, even more in a large one,
which virtually pulls you along in the air mass it moves.

Is it a psychological thing ?

Maintaining the speed can be - where you might ease off for a while
alone, say up a rise, you keep pushing to avoid being dropped.
There's also a bit of an adrenaline rush which makes towing the
group when you get to the front in rotation a lot more fun than
doing mini intervals alone would be.

--
bpo gallery at http://www4.tpgi.com.au/users/mvw1/bpo

Just look at the difference in times between the mens 4k individual pursuit
and the 4k team pursuit. At the Athens Olmypics it was something like 20
seconds difference - ie if the individual pursuit gold medallist had ridden
against the gold medal pursuit team he would have been well and truly lapped
before the end of the race.

Nick

"Timmy_wilson" wrote in message
...

[snip]
my question is, do you go faster when
you are part of a bunch ride ?