TdF (POSSIBLE SPOILER) - Sharing the work

"Richard Bates" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

A few questions about slipstreaming each other:

Yesterday when 6 men broke away the commentator made a point of
briefly describing how the "team" worked to share the workload. He
said it was known as "bit and bit" or "two off".

I couldn't quite figure out how it worked though, since it seems that
only 3 riders ever reach the front.

If the train starts off in this formation:

123456

Then two riders peel off the front it becomes:

345612, and so on through 561234 then back to 123456.

So when a pair of riders peel off the front do they also swap
positions so that 123456 becomes 345621?

What is the point in peeling off two at a time? Why not just peel off
one by one?

Do the riders really swap positions as frequently as it seemed? Two
riders appeared to peel off every few seconds. I was expecting them to
do some work for at least a couple of minutes each.

In effect, bit & bit involves the group "rotating". Using your notation, if
1 & 2 are on the front then 1 will already be "going backwards" within the
group, whilst 2 is moving forwards past him. Once 2 is on the front, he will
slowly move over allowing 3 to move past as he drops back. Meanwhile, 1 will
be moving back down the line on 2's wheel, before moving across onto 6's
wheel when he reaches the end of the line. As I say, in effect the group
rotates; if the wind is from the right, they'll rotate in a clockwise
direction (so 2 will pass 1 to his left, using him to shelter from the
wind); if the wind is from the left, they'll rotate in an anti-clockwise
direction.

If the wind is strong, then the group may well form an echelon across the
road, in which case the leader drops off the front after his turn and slides
straight across the line to return to the back (or, more likely, simply the
opposite gutter - he won't be keen to return to the very back, because this
involves bouncing along in the gutter with no real shelter from the wind.
This is how races split up in windy conditions.)

The actual amount of time riders spend on the front varies a lot; in a long
break they'll stay on the front for longer, because going through and off
like this tends to whip the pace up beyond what is desirable. However, in a
late break the riders will be riding exactly as I've described, barely
staying on the front for any time at all.

Obviously, what I've described is the theory - it doesn't take into account
missed turns from team mates, hangers-on or the simply stuffed!

"Richard Bates" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

A few questions about slipstreaming each other:

Yesterday when 6 men broke away the commentator made a point of
briefly describing how the "team" worked to share the workload. He
said it was known as "bit and bit" or "two off".

I couldn't quite figure out how it worked though, since it seems that
only 3 riders ever reach the front.

If the train starts off in this formation:

123456

Then two riders peel off the front it becomes:

345612, and so on through 561234 then back to 123456.

So when a pair of riders peel off the front do they also swap
positions so that 123456 becomes 345621?

What is the point in peeling off two at a time? Why not just peel off
one by one?

Do the riders really swap positions as frequently as it seemed? Two
riders appeared to peel off every few seconds. I was expecting them to
do some work for at least a couple of minutes each.

Love and lead-outs from Rich x

Nah, watch again closely, they peel off as individuals and if every rider is
doing a turn the whole thing goes round in circles if viewed from above. No
different from the ideal team time trial without a cross-wind (cos of the
echelons)

Yesterday the six men were working in two columns of three. Starting with
six in a long line, the first three (1,2,3) will move to one side slowing
slightly allowing 4,5,6 to come past. As 4 gets in front of 1 he will move
across and man 3 will join the end of the front column so we now have 4,1,2
and 5,6,3 with the second trio moving slightly faster. As 5 gets ahead of 4
he moves across and 2 joins behind 3 so we now have 5,4,1 and 6,3,2. The
roatations are constant so each man spends very little time on the front of
the faster column, most of the time he is behind someone else. BTW it was
referred to as 2 and off.

Martin 'MSeries' Newstead said:

Yesterday the six men were working in two columns of three. Starting
with six in a long line, the first three (1,2,3) will move to one
side slowing slightly allowing 4,5,6 to come past. As 4 gets in front
of 1 he will move across and man 3 will join the end of the front
column so we now have 4,1,2 and 5,6,3 with the second trio moving
slightly faster. As 5 gets ahead of 4 he moves across and 2 joins
behind 3 so we now have 5,4,1 and 6,3,2. The roatations are constant
so each man spends very little time on the front of the faster
column, most of the time he is behind someone else. BTW it was
referred to as 2 and off.

Its through and off not 2 and off.

Martin 'MSeries' Newstead said:

Its through and off not 2 and off.

Or bit and bit.

John B