I had a great time helping out at our bike club's monthly 10 mi. TT. today.
That and my ride put me in a good frame of reference for today's terms of
enbicyclement.
Let's start with sitting tight. This is close to saddle tight.
But, in sitting tight I mean stuck to the wheel you're sitting on/behind
like glue. No gap, No dayight. Period. Exclamation Point, as Victor Borge
would say.
Two main ways to execute this: One: If I tell my team mate to sit tight then
I expect him to be RIGHT ON my wheel, almost touching. ALL antenni and
sensors on high alert! If I go through a hole he's got to be so close he
goes right through with me, no thinking, sheer reflex action! The third guy
usually doesn't get through because he's not expecting that intensity and
the hole closes up. TOO BAAD.
Another interpretation is to sit tight so that no one gets you off the
wheel. You protect your position and your team mate's like the wind up line
in the TDF coming to the sprint. If someone wants to get in you have to
sense and see it to angle yourself so that the impact drives you into the
ground like a wedge and the opposition bounces off. A great feeling indeed -
f'd 'em fair and square.
You have noted that sitting in, on, tight, and saddle tight are very closely
related. I hope I have been able to impart the subtleties to you so you will
be be able to put yourselves in the situation and feel the nuances.
Next time you are riding try to live the sensation WHILE
paying full attention to the riders around you. Don't get lost in dreaming
and do something below and under the call of duty.
Closing the gap is quite simply put staying on the wheel in front of you and
riding smooth and steady. Even pedal pressure responding to the pace, wind,
terrain, and road condition. The constant distance your front wheel to the
rider's back wheel in front of you is critical to your success in becoming
respected in the paceline or field.
It's a great feeling to be told you ride well. You will be able to go
anywhere in the world, go for a group ride and be accepted. Being a yo-yo in
the line is dangerous and may elicit unkind and rude invectives upon you,
your riding style, and heritage.
Daylight: We must be nearing the end of the tunnel. This happens when the
gap gets too big, so that other riders can cut in front and get in, putting
you and those behind you further back and perhaps in a worse strategic
position. It's similar to gap position but usually so far that the
slipstream effect is getting neutralised and ineffective. The old timers at
the turn of the century used to say," Once I get daylite between my back
wheel and your front wheel, you'll never see me again."
If you want to be naughty, you can let the gap open. Most of the time the
riders behind will go around and close the gap. You then have to increase
speed as they come by, catch the back end of the last rider and let them do
the work to catch up. If done properly it's a way to drop riders, when
several team mates change the chore while (wile) working the same guy(s)
over.
Manys the time I heard guys, myself included yelling to guys to "close the
gap." It's a good way to see if the guy is really corked or doggin' it.
You'll know soon enough when you jump by if he can hang on or gets shook
off. Sleigh riders do run the risk of being thrown a hook or run off the
road.
Next weeks challenge:
1) Wheel
2) Machine
3) Half-wheel
Ted Ernst
Palos Verdes Estates, CA
<classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Sent: Monday, August 22, 2005 7:47 PM Subject: Re: [CR]CR term of the week
> Sorry, everybody, I'm a day late so you'll get a bonus term.
> Last week's: Saddle tight, sleigh ride, sit in, and the bonus, sit on.
> Saddle tight as I learned it is when a rider can ride with the group,
> field, team and not get shook off. Does his share at the front, swings off
> and gets back in line and comes through again. Or it could be interpreted
> if he is alone that no matter how hard the opposition rides they can't get
> rid of him. You can come up with your own scenarios of the psyche here,
> and get the feeling of what it means to be jamming hard and be part of the
> action, or withstanding the enemies' attacks.
> Sleigh ride is when the group is racing along and a rider gets in the
> field and gets a ride along without coming to the front and pulling
> through. As if the horse is trotting along and the rider is sitting in the
> sleigh getting there without much effort.This needs a field of 30+ riders
> to be able to hide away.
> Sitting in really means in a field of riders where one can hide, never go
> to the front and let others pass and be nice and tucked in. Like sleigh
> riding or sitting in. Today's term is wheel sucking, very crude, no
> romance, no imagination. Unfortunately most of today's kids / riders are
> somewhat boring in their unrealistic expectations.
> Sorry, you know what I mean. This would be a great topic for extra-
> sportif discussion at a gathering.
> Bonus: Sitting on is the term used with small group where the riders are
> in a line changing off while setting the pace. The "sitter one" will be at
> the back of the line and as the previous pacesetter falls back to get into
> the line and rest in the slipstream as he goes through, the last rider
> will feign weakness and drop back a length to allow the rider coming back
> to swing in front of him. He's resting all the time, conserving,
> conniving, calculating.
> You can figure out the strategies going on as the other riders pick up on
> this. As the riders push themselves to get to the finish, nerves begin to
> fray, then the fun begins.
> Please remember that these terms are from the 1900's up through the '60's.
> They are originating from amateur riding where the strategy was different
> from what you see on TV about the TDF today. Some of the things are the
> same as you can readily identify.
> But, many new nuances exist today in our jargon that weren't in use years
> ago because of our non-participation in the international events other
> than on our tracks in the '30's and in the 6-day races.
> If any of you have any Q's you'd like to ask about any descriptions that
> use other old terms, don't hesitate to ask. I'll do my best to explain the
> explanation.
> For this week, how about:
> Sitting tight
> Close the gap
> Daylight.
>
> Ted Ernst
> Palos Verdes Estates, CA
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "ternst" <ternst1@cox.net>
> To: <j.mccoin@comcast.net>; <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Sunday, August 14, 2005 7:14 PM
> Subject: Re: [CR]CR term of the week
>
>
>> Enjoyed your memories, These are always great.
>> Here's the term(s) for this week. They are related.
>> Let's see how you do.
>> 1) Sit in.
>> 2) Sleigh ride.
>> 3) Saddle tight.
>> Ted Ernst
>> Palos Verdes Estates, CA
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: <j.mccoin@comcast.net>
>> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
>> Sent: Monday, August 08, 2005 8:21 AM
>> Subject: [CR]CR term of the week
>>
>>
>>> Ted brought back fond memories, for me it was from the early 60's. Our
>>> training rides would normally start somewhere in San Francisco and
>>> either go South to San Jose or North over the Golden Gate Bridge.
>>>
>>> The top of every hill was a sprint, every city limit sign was a sprint.
>>> I remember the nervousness in the pack the pace speeding up, the subtle
>>> gear changes, I tried to include my gear change with returning my bottle
>>> to its cage, it fooled some but not all. It was normal on the way back
>>> from San Jose to cross over the Coast Range to Highway 1, normally when
>>> you crested the hill you rode into the coast fog and as much as a 15
>>> degree drop in the weather. The sprint into Half Moon Bay was always
>>> well fought, I broke a chain in one of those.
>>>
>>> The rides to Marin were fantastic, we normally crossed Mt. Tamalpias and
>>> then up the coast on Highway 1.I remember the sprints in to Rancho
>>> Nicasio being especially long, imagine fifteen or twenty riders spinning
>>> 52/13 combinations before even beginning the sprint The major change has
>>> been the amount of traffic on the road, you don't dare have three riders
>>> abreast on El Camino sprinting flat out. In those days about half of El
>>> Camino Real had no sidewalks, the same with Marin County, it was mostly
>>> dairy ranches.
>>>
>>> And for those of you waiting for it most of the bikes were Italian,
>>> Bianchis, Cinellis and the small builders that nobody ever heard of,
>>> brought back by the guys who had raced in Europe. I remember those
>>> having especially nice fit and finish.
>>>
>>> Jim McCoin, yeah stuck in the Sixty's
>>> Fremont Ca