V-CLUB TRAINING CORNER
We’ve teamed up with Marilyn Trout, certified USA Cycling Elite Coach to answer V-Club members’ training questions. You can view her coach profile at: http://www.trainingpeaks.com/coachdirectory/searchbydiscipline.asp#MarilynTrout
Send your cycling inquiries to Marilyn, and for a limited time, if yours is selected to be answered in our V-Club column, VeloWear will send you a $20 gift certificate that can be used towards any purchase on VeloWear.com. To submit your inquiry, e-mail her at marilyn@mountainpedals.net, and type “V-Club Training Question” in the subject line of the e-mail.
V-Club member Sarino Tropeano is our 37th winner of a $20 VeloWear gift certificate! His question that follows was answered by Peg Labiuk (nee Peggy Maass), a colleague of Marilyn Trout, and a certified NCCP level 3 coach with a career in international road and track racing. She is a World Championship medalist, World Record holder, U.S. Olympic Team member, former British national team coach and Kreb's Cycle co-founder (British Columbia, Canada).
Drafting Training Drills
Hello,
My girlfriend and I often ride together and we switch riding in front or back. I often ride behind her to let her set the pace. If I ride in front, she tends to fall back even though I ride at a pace that is at or slower than her "leading" pace. It seems I am constantly adjusting my speed to compensate for her position. She does not feel comfortable too close and chooses to stay far behind. As a result, she never gains any advantage by letting me "pull her" along.
1. How close do you really need to be to gain some advantage from the rider in front of you?
2. How can we work on getting better at riding closer together so I can do my fair share of leading?
3. Are there any ways that I am not even asking that make it more "equal" for two riders of varying abilities to ride together.
We live in a hilly area so the rides can be tough no matter which route we select. Our goals apart are different than when riding together. I often do a structured training when alone. Her goals are to ride stronger too, but she doesn't really enjoy the structure of training. I really enjoy our riding together so I am trying to find a way to do that without pushing her too hard, but helping her to feel satisfied that she is having a good, enjoyable ride. Can you help with a couple of suggestions?
Thank you,
Sarino
Dear Sarino,
Good of you to keep trying to make your duo ride work. It seems that your girlfriend is comfortable with her pace, keeping a safe distance back when you are in the lead. If she is willing to learn how to ride closer, there certainly are drills you two can practice. Learning more cycling skills could be enjoyable for both of you. Not only would you both go faster, but you'd get to experience the fabulous camaraderie of working together by drafting. You can begin learning with skill drills riding on a grassy field. The turf slows you down and is a safer place to practice than on tarmac or near traffic.
Drill #1: The first drill is to overcome the prevalent fear of hitting wheels. You practice actually trying to touch wheels. You'll see how difficult it really is to make contact, as you ride single file with the rear person's front wheel overlapping the rear wheel of the leader (on the non-freewheel side). The following rider then swings their front wheel to tap it on the side of their partner's rear wheel. It's somewhat difficult to make yourself do it, as your instinct is to avoid touching. You'll discover that not much happens either - the front rider continues to pedal along and the tapping cyclist's wheel bounces off and continues on as well. The tapper will learn that continuing to pedal is key - if they lean towards the contact or pull away too quickly, they risk losing balance. You two will prove to yourselves that it is very unlikely that you will touch wheels on the road and if you do, continuing to ride a straight line is the best response.
Drill #2: Once you have completed that drill, then you can move on to riding side-by-side, drafting more closely single file, and riding in a paceline with more people. I usually run these drills in pairs, then put pairs together in groups of 4, then keep adding until a whole clinic is riding a double paceline. I start these drills on the grass then progress to a running track - sweeping turns, no traffic. You may be able to find some videos of drills or join a local club clinic.
You are correct that drafting saves significant energy; estimates I found ranged from 18 % to 39% of oxygen uptake reduction, depending upon the speed and the number of cyclists drafting. So, the closer you draft, the better, and the faster you ride, the more energy saving. Ford Aerodynamics Engineers determined that the drafting benefit decreases rapidly as the drafting
distance increases up to 5.8 meters (2 bike lengths). The speeds they tested were 15 mph and faster.
Scientist Paul Doherty adds that drafting not only helps the bicyclist following the leader, but the lead cyclist gains an advantage as well. The interesting thing is by filling in eddies created by the lead rider (via following in her wake) you improve the front person's performance as well. Two people who are drafting can put out less energy than two individuals (who are not drafting) would cover in the same distance in the same time. In eco terms, you'll reduce your carbon footprint the closer you draft. By learning to draft each other, you and your partner could become a green team.
Peg