I have to admit, I have developed a sudden interest in bike riding by watching the tour the last few days. One thing that I can't understand fully is why the pelaton always seems to catch up with riders who breakaway. Sometimes it seems riders jump out to "insurmountable" leads only to be reeled back in by the entire group. Does it have to do with drafting and the fact that there is "strength in numbers"? When you watch road racing (on foot...10Ks marathons...etc) you rarely see the same type of race dynamcis....if a couple of people get a large lead over the field they are usually gone and will not be caught; totally unlike bike racing. Could someone please elaborate more on this phenomenon for me?
riding in the peloton is like riding in a vacuum....but when you are out there alone...you have to fight the elements alone. The best way to experience this is to get out and do some group rides. Then you will completely understand this dynamic. The dynamics of the vacuum begin to deteriorate as the speed slows and the road turns up..as in the mountains. Everbody suffers in the mountains!...there's no hiding....so expect a different kind of race in the coming days.
I support my bike riding habit as a biologist, and one often sees this kind of dynamic in birds. They fly in formation -- sometimes a big V and sometimes a swarm that looks like a tornado. When one bird breaks away, the formation appears to absorb it. The birds flying in Vs rotate in and out of the leading positions just like track racers.
