Pros and cons of bunch riding

This Saturday morning I had a bunch of ideas about bunch riding. As usual we went out at 6a.m. This time in another direction than usual, down to the coast road. I went out with Amanda, standing at a corner waiting for the group to come. I saw them coming, and then this significant sound came up, the beehive like sizzling sound of fast turning bike wheels, coming closer, the train passed by so we locked in our pedals and were absorbed by the group.

Down the road with beautiful sea views and some tricky hills, short ones but good enough to get me and my weak legs into trouble. Hard to keep up with the group and working hard mentally by thinking: this is good for you, not bad. Don’t think negative; this will get you so much stronger on the bike! Usually I don’t ride in this kind of groups; I don’t like myself in between lots of wheels as I’m a scary girl. And I was convinced that if you’re training for a 180k ride without drafting, it doesn’t make much sense to sit on the wheel of other people during the training. I have to say: I was wrong.

Of course I have been riding behind other people, but not the way I did the last two days I went with this training group here. The fact that you have to follow them because you don’t know where you are and you have to keep up with the group compared with the fact that you have no excuse to be tired or something makes you go harder. I really want to get all the benefits for my big race this year (Ironman Austria) out of this fancy holiday. I think I’m very lucky to have the chance to train with amazing professional triathletes.

A group of cyclists sometimes reminds me of a fish swarm, the difference is that the fishes are acting like domino, they’re remaining on the side of their neighbors, if this one’s changing direction, the other one does the same. Cyclists do the same, but they’re not acting out of instinct like fishes do. A swarm seems to be a collective behavior, but it’s only the imitation of the guy next to you. The cycling group is working similar to that, but there’s stuff far away from instinct, so the cycling swarm’s not working anymore.

So on the way out I rode into some positive thoughts about bunch riding. Plenty of them. After the turn I talked a bit to Duncan – the physiotherapist who helped cure my rip – said suddenly: from now on we’ll ride fast to the airport. And there it was again, the group fading away, Ki trying to keep up, but no way… fortunately.

Because of that I was not in the bunch that crashed. I saw it from about 400m, getting closer I figured out that there was more than one affected. And getting there I saw my friend lying on the ground, scared, with the pain engraved in her face. I swapped off my bike and went over to her, the whole group acting perfectly, one calling ambulance, the other one holding her neck, others getting the cars to slow down… So: there’s another positive: if there happens something during a ride, you’re not alone riding in a bunch. But also if you’re riding with some friends, not too close, so that’s not a valid argument.

Anyway, after some organization and a 30k lonely ride home, a shower and being picked up by a friend of Amanda and Luke’s – Dan - we went to Nambour Hospital, had coffee, went to a park to see some funny lizards and having a session of Nerf Vortex (pretty funny actually!, get one of them)

Finally we got Amanda back from the emergency unit, no damage on her hip, just broken painful rips and scratched all over her body, bruised and kind of stoned by all the pain killers.

I’m impressed how amazingly she’s dealing with that incident, I’m sure I would handle it worse than she does. Only one week from your Ironman, with all the time inverted in training and focusing on one date. But I’m learning from her. Every minute. See the positive: it could have been worse. We’re lucky that it’s “only” broken rips and a smashed handlebar (the rest of the bike needs a proper review) and helmet.

So most of the time we’re joking, we’re looking after her and trying to make the best out of what happened. Next training this Sunday afternoon: swim and run.

On monday I’ll ride my bike: alone ; )