I'm fairly new to the sport of road biking and was just wondering if the below message descibes an echelon?
Went out today for a ride with the guys that my local LBS support. I only went on the 54km route as renovations ongoing in house. Anyway for the last 20km of the trip we did something I've never done before. I've rode in packs but nothing like this. There was 10 of us and we where real close side by side and rotating to the front, sorta like a rotation but real fast and quick out front, would only be out front for about 45-60 seconds and you'd be over taken and rotate back and forth. I'm sure a lot of guys on here have done this before but what a rush. We burnt that last 20 km. The first 30k was into the wind or crosswind with plenty of hills. WE did this with a tailwind and a slight downhill at the start and then nothing but flats. We where moving about 40-50km/h at all times for the last 20k. Ended up with an average speed of 27.5km/h. I was just happy to keep up when going up hills. Is this an echelon or is there another term for it?
Cycling Training · Public discussion
Echelon?
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It sounds like you were riding in a double paceline. An eschelon describes a paceline that is angled to protect the riders who are behind from a cross wind. In a standard paceline you ride directly behind the person in front of you. In an echelon you want to be hip to shoulder fanned out to the side away from the wind of the rider in front of you - like one side of a formation of flying geese.
FYI - in a well oiled paceline you always pull off the front and go to the back, never the opposite way around (having someone pull around you to go to the front). Short pulls are common.
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Thanks for the reply yes it was a double paceline and it was a lot of fun.
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BigUgly said:
Thanks for the reply yes it was a double paceline and it was a lot of fun.
Hi,
You'll realize you are on an echelon also because it is NOT fun... The strong guys can close the echelon by riding close to the edge of the road ( opposite to the wind direction ) so you can end up riding on the dirt at maximun effort and eventually losing contact with them !
Regards
P.S. If you are riding in front of the pack before the crosswinds you have a better chance of surviving -
youhaditcoming said:
P.S. If you are riding in front of the pack before the crosswinds you have a better chance of surviving
Yes, and therein lies a good race tip, know the course and where it changes direction, if prevailing winds suggest you're about to get cross winds when race changes direction, then anticipate and get yourself up near the front just before the change of direction. Especially helpful on loop type courses.
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