Struggling to keep up on your group rides? Getting dropped doesn’t have to be your reality! In this video, we give you 10 essential tips and one bonus secret to help you ride faster for longer, all without needing to spend a single watt of extra energy.
From mastering the art of drafting and timing your turns on the front, to expert cornering hacks and finding the secret sweet spot in a crosswind, these are the skills that separate savvy riders from the pack. We’ll cover everything from body position and gear selection to fueling and using your head unit to your advantage. Learn to ride smarter, not harder!
Training sessions to help you:
How To Turbo Charge Zone 2 Training https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyMUWBUt3WY
Don’t Make These Zone 2 Training Mistakes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx4-dVG10-k
Know Your Zones: Your Ultimate (Tech-Free) Guide To Zone Training https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcPeiyQihlQ
How To Improve Your VO2 Max https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpWV4MwYaSk
Chapters ⏱️
00:00 – Intro: Ride Faster With No Extra Effort
00:17 – Tip 1: Master The Draft (Ride On The Wheel!)
00:55 – Tip 2: Spend Less Time On The Front
01:13 – Tip 3: Time Your Turns Perfectly
01:36 – Tip 4: Know The Route (Use Your Head Unit!)
02:00 – Tip 5: Fuel Correctly To Avoid Fading
02:20 – Tip 6: Use Your Gears & Maintain Cadence
02:38 – Tip 7: The Expert Cornering Hack
03:07 – Tip 8: Don’t Be Afraid To Ask The Group To Slow Down
03:23 – Tip 9: Get Aero For Free (Body Position)
04:00 – Tip 10: The Ultimate Tip – Improve Your Fitness
04:22 – The Most Overlooked Skill: The Crosswind Sweet Spot
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Which of these tips will you be trying on your next ride?
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Coming up, 10 tips that are going to help you ride faster for longer without any extra effort so you don’t get dropped from your group on a ride. Oh, and also the most overlooked one comes at the end of this video, so make sure you stick around. First up, make sure you know how to ride on the wheel. Most of what prevents you going fast on a bike on a flat road is air resistance. But if you ride behind someone else, they’ll be moving that air out of the way for you, so you don’t have to. Riding behind just one rider will save you about 30% in terms of the power you need to produce for the same speed. The closer you are to that rider, the more advantage you will gain. It’s a skill that takes some practice, but it is well worth the effort to learn. Now, since air resistance is the biggest factor when it comes to how much power you need to go a certain speed, it makes a lot of sense to do less turns and less time on the front of your group. That means more time in the wheels drafting out of the wind where you’ll be saving energy. Energy that you’ll then be able to use later on when the going gets really tough. [Applause] On a similar note, the timing of your turn on the front can make a difference as well. If you know where the climbs are, try not to do your turn just before it. You’ll be riding at a higher power and you may pay for that once you hit the climb itself. However, if it is a large group, it is advisable to start the climb near the front. That way, you can drift back a little on the climb without losing contact with the group. How do you know where the climbs are if you aren’t familiar with the area? Well, plug the route into your head unit before you start. I’ve done that on my Wahoo and so I can see where the climbs start. roughly how long it is and most importantly when I’m near the top. That way I can judge my effort knowing that I can afford to go into the red as I approach the top of the climb where it will then flatten out or start descending. Fueling is a massive thing in cycling right now for pros and amateurs alike. Teaching your body to use carbohydrates is a shorefire way to be able to ride far longer without fading. It does take some time. It does take some practice, but with the correct nutrition, you’ll find yourself feeling much more powerful later in the ride. Gear selection should be another consideration if you’re expecting any accelerations in a group, particularly on a climb. So, if you’re grinding a big gear, it is very difficult to respond to an upping of the speed. So, try to keep your cadence a little higher around 90 RPM. You’ll then be able to respond much quicker. Here’s an expert tip for those of you who are very confident bike handlers, which is particularly useful when you’re doing longer road races or even criteriums. What you do is as you approach a corner, you stop pedaling a little bit before those in front of you and open up a gap where you can take a brief bit of rest bite and save some energy in the knowledge that with your expert cornering, you’re going to be able to catch back up through the corner. Doesn’t sound like much, but over the course of a long race, it really can add up. If you’re still struggling to keep up, try this simple tip. Just ask the group to slow down a bit. Most cyclists will be fairly accommodating to riders that are just getting into the sport. And if they’re not, maybe just need to choose a different group to ride with. Next up, get more arrow. For those of you new to the sport of cycling, getting more arrow means getting into a position where you’re pushing less air out of the way in order to move yourself forward on the bike. You can improve aerodynamics through your equipment and clothing, but the simplest and cheapest and most effective way to get more arrow is to change the position you adopt on your bike. Riding with your elbows at 90° and your back fairly flat will drastically reduce how much power you need to maintain to do the same speed or allow you to go faster for the same power. Give it a go when you’re next out riding. Now, despite all the tips we’ve just given you, the thing that will make the biggest difference as to whether you can stay with your group or not is your own power and fitness. If you do some focus specific training, you’ll see some big improvements within weeks. We have a heap of videos on the channel to get you started. We’ll put a link to some of them in the description down below. The final very important tip that most riders don’t know, finding the drafting sweet spot when the wind is coming from the side will save you a huge amount of energy. So, if the wind is in front or behind or there’s no wind at all, sitting on the wheel, as we showed you earlier, is the most efficient place to be. However, if this wind is blowing from the side, that changes. So, right now, the wind is coming from my right hand side. In order to get the most advantage from Giorgio in front of me here, I need to sit slightly to his left with my front wheel overlapping his back wheel. There, I’m going to save a lot more power and energy. Over the course of a group ride, this saving will really add up and can make the difference between being dropped or not. Well, I hope that you find at least some of those tips helpful next time you’re out on a group ride. Let us know how you get on. Also, if you’re a bit more experienced on the bike and you’ve got some tips of your own that you’d like to leave in the comments section for others, please feel free. One last thing, if you’re yet to subscribe to the Global Cycling Network, make sure you do so by clicking on the icon down below because we are going to have plenty of videos to help you become a better cyclist.
41 Comments
I don't like to get that close because I don't trust the others. I always go to the back and leave a gap of a bike. I am able to keep up no problem. Mostly though I ride alone
2:08 this!!!! I realised all those years of suffering we unnecessary! Sorting out my nutrition transformed my cycling life – I no longer get dropped and often find myself waiting for friends to catch up.
I am stuck at the 0th step, finding a group, LOL
So nice seeing Dan riding in the videos! Keep it up.
That last tip should not have been given in my opinion.
As long as you're not racing, you shouldn't do that in a group bigger than two, because it will either cause an echelon (waaier) which takes way too much of the road space and is unsafe, or you're putting the person behind you fully in the wind (if he/she chooses not to risk cycling on the wrong side of the road), which is not very social…
Never do a pull in downhill sections 😉 Also which backlight is Dan using here?
Great tips
So Vingegaard should have just asked Pogacar to slow down!!!
Ride with less fit people
I cycle alone and still get dropped.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
Dan the man! So great to see him on the bike again! Love it!
Good to see a roadie look over his shoulder to check for traffic, and still pull out in front of a passing motorbike. Keep up the good work.
If I notice that I may get dropped, I simply ride faster.
You got dropped? You rode with the wrong group. Simple as that
first tip get an expensive bike 0:18 😅
Any tips for the best time/position to eat or drink in a group? I've been dropped during a race when the pace changed while eating 😬
Advice for use on closed roads with no traffic – otherwise you're pretending you're a pro on open roads amongst traffic, which isn't clever.
3:50 bending my elbows like that puts my beer gut on my thighs and pumps me like a bellows
Tip 11 – be 20 years younger…!
Gute Tipps, um in sportlichen Gruppen, Amateuren und Semi-Profis zu trainieren. Eben, Traunieren für Radwettkämpfe. Für Gruppen, die gemeinsam eine Tour fahren gibt es auch gute Tipps. Aber da gelten andere Bedingungen, da man zusammen am Ziel ankommen will. Z.B. das stärkere Fahrer länger im Wind fahren. Dass die schwächeren nah hinten an den Stärkeren fahren und Kommando wie "Hüü" (schneller) oder "Hooh" (langsamer) geben. Bei solchen Fahrten profitieren alle Radrennfahren. Auch die starken Fahrer und es macht Spass in der Gruppe, die ja eh meistens Hobby-Rennradfahrer sind😊
All the drafting tips require to have a good and knowledgeable driver in front. Not so often the case in amateur groups.
The best way I found to get dropped is to make too long an effort at the front and slowing down too much when going to the back. The train will pass you amd drop you.
Another point to consider. It helps to be in a group you trust as you can’t trust some to choose a safe line and they end up leading you into hitting a pothole if you’re following the wheel.
Guy at the front: The windshield
Got it.
If your are a big size cyclist, choose to stay behind someone close to your size
Just ask the others to allow you to hang in the back and skip the rotation. Or join the rotation but once you are in front, rotate immediately further. Those with strong legs will be happy to do the work in front for you. We just did this on today's group ride and it became fun for all, even those with slightly weaker legs. And the stronger ones got a higher intensity. Win-win.
Good advice but are you sure about the wind direction in the graphic?😂 I think the bike positioning shown would be more suitable if the wind was blowing from upper right hand corner – not from behind! 🤔Perhaps this is where I have been going wrong all these years! 😅
half wheel the cyclist in front and get all twitchy, its a canon event.
Please switch off the auto translation, it is so annoying! Thanks
Getting Dropped?
If you have a pure lifestyle of preparing your own meals from organic ingredients and intelligent training designed by you for you. If you live a training life of complete recovery and readiness to race…..
Then you're being dropped because you chose the wrong parents.
I seem to lose ground at corners compared with the group. I think my acceleration is poor (I'm much older than the rest of them).
Dont accelerate when you get on the front! Keep the effort steady
Too bad si and them can drop you
My mistake is getting in a group with one or two guys who were (or could be) Pros and who are 20-25 years younger than me.
Another mistake is braking around curves on the downhills while everyone else is pedaling like mad, because I don't want to die.
Take drugs maaaaan
Thank you for not having Ollie do this segment.
can you stop me from eating peanut butter sandwiches at midnight?
Well looking this gay’s I’m thinking to change my sport.. I weight 100kg and this boys are under 80kg..🚴♂️🤌
When I ride solo, I slow when I’m tired then once I feel a bit rested I pick up the pace. This gives me a better average speed as I’m listening to my body. When in a group, if they pick up the pace when I tire, the energy needed to keep pace may prevent me from resting/recovering and I may end up even more energy depleted. That is why I prefer solo riding. Solo riding also forces you to improve as there is no one to draft so you are “pulling” 100% of the ride.
I'm getting dropped because I always leave with the groups that are too fast for me. Normally, at 61, I can hang much better than you'd expect. The end usually occurs when I'm at the front at around 28mph and the rider behind me kicks it up to 31mph. I find it impossible to catch the group as it goes by and I'm caught to the left. I'm always finishing with all the others that got dropped too.
No mistake, other than I’m too fat. Oh that’s a mistake too😂