Tips for surviving first chaingang

andyeb

I've decided to join the local chaingang for the first time this evening. Looks like the average is likely to be 19-20mph over 33 miles. My normal rides average between 16 and 18 mph, so it's going to be taking it up a notch. Or three.

I'm joining in to try and improve my endurance at medium to high paces - historically I've been better at long/slow rides or short/fast sprints. There's somewhat of a gap in between.

I feel a strange mix of excitement and intimidation.

Any particular tips for surviving a first chaingang mission please?

slowbike

I take it they know you're new to this - so listen to what they say - ok, you might get a patronising git telling you all the wrong things, but just bite your tongue and remember why you're there!

Don't go all out to impress them - you should try and do some stints on the front, but don't red-line it - you'll just knacker yourself and won't be able to keep up the rest of the ride - better to sit in - the slipstream will carry you along nicely

Your only issue is where it comes to hills - they may just zip up them - leaving you to drag your sorry arse up ... you need a handful of excuses to throw at them when they've been waiting for you for 20 minutes ... like "there was a blond girl with a puncture I had to stop and help" ... or "work phoned with an issue with the quantum maginifier - I had to talk them through the reset before it blew up" .... or perhaps just a "thanks for waiting ... sorry!" ..

Don't forget some food - I've been doing club runs with nothing but flavoured water ... only to discover that some are doing it with energy drink ... I do carry a gel plus some other bits - only needed a gel once - at the top of a climb where I was last up ... I used up all my food and drink that day ...

imposter2.0

If you are riding solo between 16-18mph, then riding in a group at 19-20mph will not be an issue. Lots of chaingangs have their own way of working, so make sure you understand what is needed before you set off..

andyeb

Thanks Slowbike. I normally run on cereal bars and High5 Zero on club runs, with the odd gel to get me home if I'm flagging.

I have got some Energy Source powder for this one, as I'm concerned I might not even be able to down a gel while trying to hang on at the back.

The course looks like a lot of smallish short/sharp hills - 1,100ft total climbing over 33 miles.

slowbike

qq - do they have a mudguard rule?

Having at least a rear one will help prevent the guy on your wheel from getting splattered so much....

DeVlaeminck

I'd ask when you get there - as Imposter says most have their own way of working. 19-20mph sounds very steady for a chaingang so I expect that is either a slow group and there will be faster groups on the same night or it's quite a well organised evening training ride and you may be expected to come through and do all your turns - but the only way to know for sure is to ask. Most people will be understanding that you are new to it so long as you don't do anything dangerous, you may get some abuse if you don't keep it smooth but just accept that as part of the learning process, some people struggle to be diplomatic while riding a bike.

andyeb

Good point - not sure. But I do have full mudguards on atm.

andyeb

Just to clarify 19-20mph is the average for the whole ride. Looking at the data on Strava from previous sessions, cruising speed seems to be 22-24 on flat.

napoleond

If it's owt like the weds Macclesfield Wheelers chaingang it's a steady, disciplined affair, 22-24mph on the flat is pretty easy in the wheels. If you're struggling just don't stay on the front when it's your turn.
When they change from the Weds winter ride to Thurs when the clocks go forward it becomes harder than many road racs I've done!

You will love it!

tom3

I did my first one a few weeks back which was a 20.5mph ave over 20 miles.

One thing I did have to get the hang of. When I had done my turn and peeled off, I was then easing off too much as I was dropping to the back. I would then have to waste power getting back up to speed before getting on the last wheel.

A helpful chap told me to keep the speed up a bit more after my turn so i could move on to the back without adjusting my pace too much.

This may have been easier with more people as there were only 6 on the chain.

legendary27

* Familiarise yourself with the club's preferred hand signals.
* Always point out upcoming obstacles when on the front.
* Try not to accelerate off the front as you come through - maintain speed and let the person dropping off the front ease up slightly.
* Maintain a constant line through corners - don't swing across the other line.
* Force yourself to stay as close to the wheel in front as possible - makes your life considerably easier !

Enjoy it ! As has already been mentioned, given the speeds you are riding at on your own, 20mph in the wheels should be quite manageable for you.

Regards,
Gordon

okgo

You will likely be fine, I remember my first effort at our club chaingang, which typically is around 22-25mph avg over an hour with many sections pushing towards 30mph on the flats, I was on the limit after about 2 mins, and eventually had to pull off (I knew the way home, make sure you do too), but key things that make it easier, be on the wheel if its safe to do so, not 4 feet behind, 1 or 2 max, don't start doing turns if you can help it, unless you feel strong, and even then don't blow your nut when on the front, leave a bit in reserve, do not sprint out of corners if you are on the front, this will make the group have to work hard to keep it tight...

They're a great way to improve your fitness and skill in general at riding at speed in the wheels etc, but at the speeds mentioned I think you will be fine.

slowbike

legendary27 wrote:

* Familiarise yourself with the club's preferred hand signals.
* Always point out upcoming obstacles when on the front.
* Try not to accelerate off the front as you come through - maintain speed and let the person dropping off the front ease up slightly.
* Maintain a constant line through corners - don't swing across the other line.
* Force yourself to stay as close to the wheel in front as possible - makes your life considerably easier !

Enjoy it ! As has already been mentioned, given the speeds you are riding at on your own, 20mph in the wheels should be quite manageable for you.

Regards,
Gordon

Can I caveat the "point out upcoming obstacles" ...

if you're new to group riding you may not have the skill to ride in a straight line with one hand - so rather than try and point out the obstacle and cause a crash it may be better to keep your hands on the bars and shout instead. Calling an obstacle isn't as good as visual signals - but crashing is worse than both ...

imposter2.0

Slowbike wrote:

if you're new to group riding you may not have the skill to ride in a straight line with one hand -

Seriously - if you haven't developed the handling skills required in order to ride with one hand (which is pretty basic, tbh) then you should probably stay away from fast group rides for the time being...

slowbike

Imposter wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

if you're new to group riding you may not have the skill to ride in a straight line with one hand -

Seriously - if you haven't developed the handling skills required in order to ride with one hand (which is pretty basic, tbh) then you should probably stay away from fast group rides for the time being...

Seriously - riding in a straight line is one thing - doing it one handed whilst pointing out hazards in close proximity to other cyclists is another ...
You're not going to gain experience without trying it - it's difficult to gain experience of close proximity riding without riding in close proximity ...

legendary27

Imposter wrote:

Seriously - if you haven't developed the handling skills required in order to ride with one hand (which is pretty basic, tbh) then you should probably stay away from fast group rides for the time being...

+ 1

andyeb

Imposter wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

if you're new to group riding you may not have the skill to ride in a straight line with one hand -

Seriously - if you haven't developed the handling skills required in order to ride with one hand (which is pretty basic, tbh) then you should probably stay away from fast group rides for the time being...

Totally agree. I do have a fair number of club runs under my belt now. Some of which were run like a chaingang, in terms of two-abreast, continual rotation, but at a much lower pace. But there's still some room for improvement.

Obviously when you are riding at a higher pace, the consequences of less than stellar bike handling are more serious. Plus I know the risks are greater when you are riding on the edge of your fitness capability.

Thanks for all the great advice guys. Almost time to prepare a very early high-carb/low GI dinner in preparation.

macroadie

You should be fine, just keep you distance and avoid riding too close to the rider infront of you. Hands to the hoods and finger on brakes always.
I remember my first chain gang, I showed up with tennis shoes & walmart socks. I could see some of the looks i was getting but I was new and din't really care. The gang started at 20mphr on a rough road then we got a smooth road and two strong riders peeled off. I followed them and i stayed with them for a good 6 miles. We got to another section and we decided to wait for the other dropped riders. What i din't realize was that my computer got stuck at 18mphr all this time but we were actually doing 24 to 28mphr.

DeVlaeminck

legendary27 wrote:

Imposter wrote:

Seriously - if you haven't developed the handling skills required in order to ride with one hand (which is pretty basic, tbh) then you should probably stay away from fast group rides for the time being...

+ 1

No I think it's fair advice. Sometimes people can get so hung up on having to point out obstacles that they try and do it whilst trying to avoid the hole and not crash into the wheel in front.

tom3

and did you survive?

andyeb

tom3 wrote:

and did you survive?

Thanks for asking. The answer is "Just about" - there were only three of us and the wind/rain really picked up, so it was pretty hard work.

Highest ever average heart rate for the ride, by quite a margin. I was really flagging in the last 3rd and got dropped, but fortunately the others either slowed to let me catch up, or I caught up at the next set of lights (there weren't many on the route). The pace was perhaps higher than I anticipated on the hills - I went well into the red on every hill, and it was quite a lumpy route.

So - a kind bunch to ride with for a first chaingang, but I'm going to have to up my game for next time.

Here's the ride:

http://www.strava.com/activities/114648849

imposter2.0

Your game will 'up' itself automatically if you keep going back - just keep at it. The idea of chaingangs is that you suffer like a dog.

Those are my old training roads - I know them very well. I would call it 'flat to rolling'..

slowbike

Some of those strava segment names are laughable!

eg Popeswood Climb ... 0.4 miles and 1% ... Popeswood RISE maybe ...
It's like a "hill" on my commute - sure it's 4% ... but it's only 0.3 miles ... its more of a bump!


Glad you survived .. wind takes a hell of a lot out and with just the 3 riders you were still reasonably exposed ...

andyeb

Imposter wrote:

Your game will 'up' itself automatically if you keep going back - just keep at it. The idea of chaingangs is that you suffer like a dog.

Thanks for the encouragement to stick with it.

Last night, it felt like I was so far out of my comfort zone, I wondered if it was too much for a beneficial training effect? Isn't there an ideal window for training intensity, where it's enough to put your body under enough stress to make it re-build itself stronger, but not so much that it takes you a week to recover?

I'm wondering what training I could do on my own to make the next chaingang more within my reach. Maybe fast/flat rides for an hour, around threshold?

I do have somewhat of a gap in my riding capability - I can do long and slow all day (I rode 10 miles home as a cool down after the chaingang last night), and can do top-10 segment times on 30s sprints. But sustained high-intensity riding in the middle is definitely a weakness.

Those are my old training roads - I know them very well. I would call it 'flat to rolling'..

This was all-new territory for me - both in terms of area/territory and nature of the terrain. I'm used to "proper" Surrey Hills (Barhatch, Leith Hill, Box Hill etc.), but the way you pace yourselves for one of those is quite different to lots of small bumps on a chaingang.

One important thing I did learn last night, is to setup my Garmin to keep the screen on all the time, for training rides in the dark - so I can keep a closer eye on speed (to avoid surging when coming to the front), heart rate and to aid navigation. Bizarrely I ended up navigating last night, despite being unfamiliar with the territory and somewhat of a noob with an Edge 800. I ended up periodically tapping on the screen, to bring up the map in between navigation prompts, but that brought up extra on-screen buttons on the map screen, which obscured navigation prompts when they came up.

I also struggled with regular drinking/fuelling - I felt very "busy" riding within the group, swapping positions, riding at speed in the dark, on unfamiliar roads, with traffic, managing my lights, navigating etc. And when I got to the back of the group, when I would normally grab a gel, I was struggling to stay on the wheel in front.

imposter2.0

1hr rides at threshold would be good prep, as would 2x20s or tabatas on the turbo. You shouldn't need to be necking gels on a 30 mile chaingang, providing you are properly fuelled beforehand. Maybe an energy drink, but nothing more. Most of the issues you raise will disappear once your fitness levels increase.

DeVlaeminck

Keep at it and if more turn up next week with better weather don't be discouraged if you get dropped. I don't claim to be an expert but I wouldn't say it could be too hard - but obviously you have to limit how much high intensity you do so adjust the rest of your training around it. You might find you want to avoid anything too high intensity the day before and day or two after for instance. Play it by ear and see how your legs feel but once a week to put in a race effort for a relatively short ride will do you good imo.

sheffsimon

andyeb wrote:

Imposter wrote:

Your game will 'up' itself automatically if you keep going back - just keep at it. The idea of chaingangs is that you suffer like a dog.

Thanks for the encouragement to stick with it.

Last night, it felt like I was so far out of my comfort zone, I wondered if it was too much for a beneficial training effect? Isn't there an ideal window for training intensity, where it's enough to put your body under enough stress to make it re-build itself stronger, but not so much that it takes you a week to recover?

I'm wondering what training I could do on my own to make the next chaingang more within my reach. Maybe fast/flat rides for an hour, around threshold?

I do have somewhat of a gap in my riding capability - I can do long and slow all day (I rode 10 miles home as a cool down after the chaingang last night), and can do top-10 segment times on 30s sprints. But sustained high-intensity riding in the middle is definitely a weakness.

Those are my old training roads - I know them very well. I would call it 'flat to rolling'..

This was all-new territory for me - both in terms of area/territory and nature of the terrain. I'm used to "proper" Surrey Hills (Barhatch, Leith Hill, Box Hill etc.), but the way you pace yourselves for one of those is quite different to lots of small bumps on a chaingang.

One important thing I did learn last night, is to setup my Garmin to keep the screen on all the time, for training rides in the dark - so I can keep a closer eye on speed (to avoid surging when coming to the front), heart rate and to aid navigation. Bizarrely I ended up navigating last night, despite being unfamiliar with the territory and somewhat of a noob with an Edge 800. I ended up periodically tapping on the screen, to bring up the map in between navigation prompts, but that brought up extra on-screen buttons on the map screen, which obscured navigation prompts when they came up.

I also struggled with regular drinking/fuelling - I felt very "busy" riding within the group, swapping positions, riding at speed in the dark, on unfamiliar roads, with traffic, managing my lights, navigating etc. And when I got to the back of the group, when I would normally grab a gel, I was struggling to stay on the wheel in front.

Should be no need to eat anything on a chaingang ride, and what's the need to monitor your heart rate? Would you drop off the group if it went too high?

I would concentrate on riding smoothly, just back your speed off slightly when you swing from the line going forward to the line going backward. Dont over think it, keep at it and wait for the benefits in the spring/summer.

andyeb

I take your point about monitoring heart rate. But if you are on the front, and therefore setting the pace, a heart rate monitor can show you if you are consistently going so far into the red on a climb or when fighting a head wind, that you have just minutes before you will blow up.

For example, I know I can sustain 85% MHR for an hour, but there's a fine line between that and 90+% which I can sustain for just 5-10 minutes. I struggle to distinguish between these on Rated Perceived Exertion alone - they both just feel hard! 95% feels like really hard, but once my heart rate has gone that high (i.e. has had time to catch up with a sustained effort), I'm already totally cooked and would need to drop it back to base training pace to recover.

So to directly answer your original question - I might use my heart rate monitor to decide how long to stay on the front, at a given fixed pace. I setup alerts on my Garmin, so it beeps at me if I go above a set heart rate, which means I don't have to look down.

imposter2.0

andyeb wrote:

I take your point about monitoring heart rate. But if you are on the front, and therefore setting the pace, a heart rate monitor can show you if you are consistently going so far into the red on a climb or when fighting a head wind, that you have just minutes before you will blow up.

Not sure how your 'chaingang' works, but most chaingangs I've ever been involved with are 'through and off', so you don't spend any time on the front 'setting the pace', you just hit the front and pull over.

andyeb

Imposter wrote:

andyeb wrote:

I take your point about monitoring heart rate. But if you are on the front, and therefore setting the pace, a heart rate monitor can show you if you are consistently going so far into the red on a climb or when fighting a head wind, that you have just minutes before you will blow up.

Not sure how your 'chaingang' works, but most chaingangs I've ever been involved with are 'through and off', so you don't spend any time on the front 'setting the pace', you just hit the front and pull over.

Well - on this occasion there were only 3 of us and at times we had to wait for gaps in the traffic to rotate. So it wasn't all running like clockwork and the amount of time spent at the front was variable.

imposter2.0

Fair enough - but you shouldn't need a HRM to tell you that you can't maintain the pace you are riding at.