I joined my second ever group ride yesterday, and had the unfortunate experience of cutting off the rider behind me. I received conflicting feedback from some of the riders in the group who witnessed, so am seeking feedback from this community.
I’m the center rider in the diagram. We are approaching a hill and traveling around 15mph, nothing crazy. The group spreads out a bit – there is actually another rider way to my left on the other side of the road. I’m a bit confused by this format already, because the club rules explicitly state to remain in single file, and avoid riding side by side at all times, except when pulling off of the front and returning to the rear. The red hexagon is a massive pothole, which the rider in front of me, leading the group, is able to see and doesn’t signal. He chooses his line and is able to drift gracefully to the right, leaving me exposed the hazard. In a split second decision, I choose to follow the line and avoid the hazard, but swerving rapidly in the process. What I don’t realize is the proximity of the rider behind me, which is to my right and some of the other riders witnessed him overlapping me moments before. When I swerved, I didn’t hit the wheel of the rider behind me, but was told I came close. There was some shouting, I apologized and we amicably resolved the conflict.
What I am stuck on is if I am truly at fault. Yes, I understand that sudden movements are not ideal and should be avoided, but I also think the rider behind me shouldn’t have been overlapping wheels per the club rules. I also am a former competitive skier from a family of ski instructors, and have always followed the philosophy of responsibility lying in the hands of the uphill skier, as the downhill skier cannot fully be aware of those behind them. I would think that somewhat applies to cycling as well.
After the ride, the individual feedback varied – I was told by one person that I should have just eaten the pothole, and another agreed that the rider behind should have maintained a safer distance.
What do you think? should I have eaten the pothole ? Am I fully at fault here?
by lordcanonsnowily
15 Comments
It’s the leader’s fault in my view. He is supposed to look out for upcoming hazards and signal quite early if there is a hazard on the street and he is going to change the pacing line as a result.
It’s a split second decision on your part but either way you were being squeezed out of the pace line even if you did go over the pothole, so the guy behind overlapping wheel is still an “unfriendly” move.
We always assume risks by following someone’s wheel so closely, and sometimes, shit happens that are beyond anyone’s control and even by mistakes caused by others. But those who go in to group rides and start blaming others often don’t have the grasp of risks they are taking.
And if the leader is not taking any responsibilities and not having your back, and just letting others to shift the blame on to you, you should definitely reconsider being in that group.
Nah I don’t eat potholes and potentially ruin my tire and / or wheel.
The person behind you followed you too closely, that’s his fault.
The person Infront of you avoided the pot hole and decided to screw everyone behind him and say nothing.
Sounds like a bad group.
It is indeed the responsibility of the lead rider to point out hazards. At the same time, an echelon always rotates into the wind, so the obstacle should have been avoided by moving left, not right (if the crosswind was from the left.) The situation sucks all around, best just to acknowledge that shit happens. The leader could have missed it until the last second if they were inattentive when deep into lactic debt, for example.
Leave that group. The leading rider is a dangerous, unpredictable person. So is the one behind you. As of the rest, I would question their sanity.
Especially the one telling you to eat a pothole. By the way, if you didn’t swerve, you could have crashed and brought down the majority of the group with you.
Never overlap wheels unless you’re a paid cyclist and it’s worth the risk. The leader was at fault for not calling out the hazard but sometimes you don’t have the time to signal. Then you should use your voice.
But overlapping wheels is the fault of the cyclist behind you.
Never, ever overlap wheels with the guy in front of you specifically because if they need to make a sudden movement you are going to be the one eating asphalt when their rear wheel pushes your front wheel.
The leader should signal hazards, but I can’t say for sure it was his fault. Sometimes things can’t be avoided.
Was he paying proper attention?
Did he see it and not know to signal?
Or, was it not visible until he was too close?
We don’t know.
However, the rider behind you is totally in the wrong. You never half wheel for precisely this reason. Hopefully, they won’t be too egotistical to learn from this mistake.
100% NOT your fault. Rule number one in group riding is not to overlap wheels for cases like this when you need sudden change of direction. The only time this would be your fault is when the person behind you will be right next to you and you will take him down. I used to race and yes, in races overlap is normal but the danger of holes is pretty low. However, crashes do happen pretty often in races and overlapping is one of the reasons.
Why does everyone in this sub take their group rides way too seriously? Shit happens, move on.
thank you for all of your feedback! I am feeling vindicated and a lot more confident for the next ride. this specific club ride has a large attendance, and splits into small pods of 6, so I should be able to avoid these riders moving forward.
Some groups allow wheel overlap but most don’t. Discuss with your group. Nobody wants anyone to crash.
Lead rider should have been paying better attention.
The second rider could look past the lead rider if the geometry allows.
The tricky part is sometimes the middle rider will slide over while unconsciously slowing down a bit. the back rider wasn’t overlapping before but comes close now. A smooth slide over is slightly better than a swerve.
Of all the people involved, it sounds like you were least at fault.
I’ve never group ridden before, but based on what I believe to be common sense and my understanding of group riding, both the leader and the person behind you would be at fault way more than you would be.
“but I also think the rider behind me shouldn’t have been overlapping wheels per the club rules”
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Protect your front wheel, that goes for everyone including the guy behind you!