Getting Rekt
Yesterday I decided to ride with the local "Chain Gang" here in Aberystwyth. The idea of this kind of riding is that the person at the front of the bunch rides at absolute full gas taking the wind resistance. After a minute or so, they then peel off and tuck in at the back escaping the wind in the draft of the bunch, while the next person then hammers it for a minute or two.
I was massively out of my comfort zone as I was riding my road bike for the first time in months, which has a totally different position and set up to my time trial bike that I normally ride. We set off in one big bunch to then divide off in groups at a petrol station which is were this video begins as I set off in the second group and held on for all of a few minutes. I should have got closer to the guy in front to get a better drafting benefit. But as I said I wasn't feeling confident so I figured it best to only hang back a little. But before long hanging back a little ended up in a huge gap opening up, and that was that.
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Drafting is tricky work. It takes a bunch of practice. Would they let you into a slightly slower group first until you are confident?
The only other option would be to get a bungy lasso and hook it up to the guy in front so he doesn't get away ;-)
It's been a least a year since I've ridden in a fast bunch. My ego wouldn't let me ride in the slowest group (which soon backfired). I'd be better off intercepting them on my TT bike like a freaking Tomahawk cruise missile. I'm much happier on the trusty aero bars :D