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Originally Posted by wheelnut
And another question. Is it easier to ride at the front of a pack or at the rear or even in the middle.
I know you can sucked into trying to follow my leader and come unstuck, but there were a couple of times on the way to the rideout I felt like I was overdoing it yet the others just followed me round with no complaint  |
It's a bit variable, but generally the very back is faster because of the yoyo effect and having to rush to catch up after all the little delays that affect such a large group. The front is very slow because they have to be, so the best place for a chilled ride is in the middle.
I started about a third of the way back and it wasn't quick at all. I then stopped at a certain marker point next to a big hedge and then rejoined a long way behind and had a slightly quicker ride till we caught up with the main crowd several miles later; still didn't go as quick as I would have liked, though.
The second part of the ride seemed to flow alot better than the first. The groups were more spread out and there was more opportunity to ride at exactly the pace you liked. I found myself latching onto groups for a while through twisty bits with no hope of overtaking safely or just because they were at a nice speed, then when I was ready I'd move on.
Following the leader didn't seem to be a problem. I use a group to help me guage what's going on up ahead, but I still make my own judgements on what's coming. Examples of this were when another rider and I broke away from one of the back groups and charged through a load of twistyish bits. Despite the fact that I've ridden with the other guy a bit and know what to expect from him, I still backed off more than he did, simply because I was getting near my own limits.