Racing hand signals?

snooks

Following my encounter with a shaved legged roadie on Friday, as I was following him he was giving me signals, I guessed they were polite ....Only problem was that I didn't have the foggiest what they meant!

In the end I got that a palm down meant that he was slowing, but there were also others, like a waving of fingers downwards (I think), and what seemed to be signaling right with his left had on his back. At first I didn't know whether he wanted me to pass on that side or what.

We had a brief chat at the lights but I didn't get a chance to ask him what he was on about...Shame really as I'm sure he was being helpful, and didn't seem too put off by a chunky wheezing bloke behind him!!

Anyone know what was going on??

gangsteruk

isnt thatthe internationally recognised sign for..


"your cute, wanna boogie in the bushes..."


jk

James_London

Ha ha... If you're getting signals that bodes well for points. Well, at least you're close enough to prey to see the signals! :-)

Palm down means slowing; hand up stopping (normally)

Pointing downwards means there's poor road surface - hole, gravel, glass etc

Hand across back means there's an obstacle ahead (eg parked car on an otherwise clear road. slower cyslist) - left hand across back=obstacle on left; right hand=obstacle on right

Flick of elbow with hands on the bars means it's your turn on the front!

Signals vary a little but these seem to be pretty consistent. I'm sure others can add.

If I get someone drafting me I normally signal holes and obstacles and it's nice when they return the favour.

boybiker

Prolly trying to warn you of potholes and other crap in the road
Thats the thing even if you are chasing someone down in a road race they will still warn you of potential dangerous things.Us roadies are like that

ChrisLS

...waving fingers down...warning of a pot hole, glass or debris in the road...
...left hand on his back...maybe a parked car, ped, or slower cyclist on the lefthand side of the road...

snooks

Cheers for that, at least I have some idea what they are about now....I'd never come across them before, then again I've never been able to stay with roadies before

Are there any more that might come up?

m0scs

If your going to get a road bike Snooks you will have to leant all the Embankment Peloton hand signals.

I use a few but these are mainly of the middle finger / shaking fist variety at motorist who cut me up.

downfader

James_London wrote:

Palm down means slowing; hand up stopping (normally)

Was doing this today. (The old cycle training I did at school told me to do this when stoppng and 20 years on I still find myself doing it) I was pulling over on the left hand lane on Cobden Bridge (southampton) to get off and stop, but despite being half a mile from the lights and slowing the woman in the people carrier behind very nearly didnt stop. :?

Good job I check behind me before doing such a manouvre. I knew I had time to jump out of the way if it went wrong.

Gavin Gilbert

m0scs wrote:

If your going to get a road bike Snooks you will have to leant all the Embankment Peloton hand signals.

I use a few but these are mainly of the middle finger / shaking fist variety at motorist who cut me up.

If it's th Embankment Peloton then there's every chance it was me giving the signals. As a strict rule, making a circle with a downwards finger is 'pothole' whereas just pointing is 'glass'. Any hazard needing a major adjustment in line (i.e. more than the width of a rider) requires a double sweep of the hand across the back from the left to the right.

Other signals I frequently use are sitting up and freewheeling (if you're going to draft me get off your bloody tri-bars) and jabbing furiously to the nearside (I want to change lane to the right and you're blocking my line of sight)

James_London

Gavin Gilbert wrote:

As a strict rule, making a circle with a downwards finger is 'pothole' whereas just pointing is 'glass'.

You need to go faster if you have time to identify the precise nature of the hazard, do a twirly little signal that can be identified and give the following line time to interpret and avoid the obstacle! :-)

I normally augment the generic 'crap on the road' hand signal with a shout of 'glass' or 'gravel' if it's not a hole

shmo

I often end up pointing straight down as I bounce through a pot hole that I only just noticed. Don't know if that helps the person behind at all. Need to learn to be faster with the bunnyhop.

discurio

ive raced motorcycles in the past and when you have a problem with your bike you put your hand up in the air like your asking a quaestion in school.

was cycling down shepherds bush road the other day and my front deraileur (sp?) decided to jam itself under my chain locking the pedals solid had to laugh at myself as my reaction was to put the hand up then realise no bastard behind me probably had any idea what i was doing let alone something was wrong. :oops:

Greg T

One of the joys of the embankment peloton is having a bunch of dudes you don't know tucked in behind you when you need to wash off some speed sharpish...

They should all be heads up looking down range and should by now be dropping away and anticipating your braking. However there's a better than evens chance that they are tucked in, breathing hard and wondering why you are flapping your hands like that and why is your arse suddenly much closer..

In cases of imminent peril I augment my flappy hands with Freewheeling, standing up and in cases of extreme drama shouting "Whoaaaaa there Neddy!"

victor ludorum

Greg T wrote:

One of the joys of the embankment peloton is having a bunch of dudes you don't know tucked in behind you when you need to wash off some speed sharpish...

That sound more like the pleasures of the Hampstead Heath peloton... or a few select clubs around Soho

SamWise72

I never got hand signals, but I used to get some astonished looks from some of the embankment peloton when I'd blast past them on my unmodified Raleigh 20. I couldn't keep up the pace all the way to my destination, but usually I could keep it up enough to dispirit them and see them give up! The few who are actually fast I would try in vain to chase down, but they would also give me surprised looks when I was still in sight after they'd pushed on hard. Somehow I'm not as fast on my modern, aluminium multi speed folders as I was on my old steel 3 speed. Makes me want to get my hot-rod 20 fin

snooks

SamWise72 wrote:

I never got hand signals, but I used to get some astonished looks from some of the embankment peloton when I'd blast past them on my unmodified Raleigh 20. I couldn't keep up the pace all the way to my destination, but usually I could keep it up enough to dispirit them and see them give up! The few who are actually fast I would try in vain to chase down, but they would also give me surprised looks when I was still in sight after they'd pushed on hard. Somehow I'm not as fast on my modern, aluminium multi speed folders as I was on my old steel 3 speed. Makes me want to get my hot-rod 20 fin

A player of The Game if ever there was one....

SamWise72

Absolutely! Love the thread - thankyou. What would I have scored riding this bike, in a suit and dress shoes? I guess I should post the question in the Silly Racing thread

xio

Don't do the embankment peloton much (only when heading to Richmond Park), but generally I find them a pretty rough and undisciplined bunch, eg diving into holes in the traffic to get past without comprehending that there might be a good reason why you've not done the same in front of them - resulting in frantic grabbing of the brakes all round. The other problem I often see is that I tend to ride quite slowly (preserving my energy for the 3 lap challenge) and you get a load of numpty's on nothing bikes going for the points win, thinking it's a 100 yard sprint. They come flying past and run out of oxygen almost immediately and cut in in front. My only solution to that one is to sit on their wheel for miles (and miles) watching them beat themselves to death, and not passing until they're at the point of total organ failure...