Last Tuesday evening, four Venus members met Tracey Jacobs, UCI World Champ Gravel and 5-time US National & State Champion, for a hands-on clinic to learn the ins and outs of pacelining.
What’s pacelining? It’s a cycling technique where riders take turns leading and drafting in formation. The benefits are greater efficiency and energy savings by way of shared effort, which are especially helpful when riding into a headwind. The lead rider is doing most of the work while those drafting don’t have to work as hard. When the lead is ready to fall back, she’ll flick her left or right elbow to let the next rider know to take the lead while she starts falling to the end of the pack to recover. The direction of the rotation is dictated by the direction of the wind.
We learned the importance of:
- Reading and sensing the draft to know whether to be to the left or right of the rider in front of you
- Moving smoothly with no sudden movements
- Communicating, communicating, communicating
- Maintaining a speed (for the lead) such that the pack is able to follow and stay together
- Paying attention to cues from the lead and calling out obstructions on the road
- Watching out for each other but, ultimately, watching out for oneself
While we’re far from perfecting our pacelining, we did pedal away feeling confident that we can improve with plenty of practice!
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