FLCC> tues ayes

[Joseph Bailey]

View from the front...
 
Being the guy that actually led the acceleration up the hill, I feel compelled to recount my experience.  I went through the corner on Glenn's wheel.  When the call for "car back" came up, I yelled it forward and we fell into single file up the initial kicker of the hill.  I actually applied the brakes.  After the car had passed I made my way up to the front and led up the hill at what I felt was a pretty normal pace for the A's.  People were not left behind because of a lack of effort at the front or any type of disregard.  I felt the pack actually handled the situation better than I've seen in awhile.  Maybe its just my youth, but I've always thought the rule with traffic was to neutralize until the danger has vacated the area.  In regards to those that had to stop, its a shame.  I think the one thing that needs to be focused on is communication from back to front in the pack.  Those on the front will have no idea about those who were held up without proper communication.  We are all friends (or at least friendly) so I think some assistance would gladly be given if we could communicate in the same manner as our "car back" warnings.
 
Joe> Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:02:23 -0400> To: mr89 at cornell.edu; flcc at icycle.org> From: gs37 at cornell.edu> Subject: Re: FLCC> tues ayes> > Hmmmmmm.....I know I was one of the guys near the front when we went around > that corner. I felt as though I coasted smoothly around the corner in sync > with the other leaders, keeping close to the right edge of the road, and we > did not exactly accelerate until we were 50-75m up the hill, but I can see > that from the perspective of the rear of the peloton we didn't exactly > neutralize everything either. I think I was not inclined to slow down any > further than I did for fear that it would cause bunching up and potentially > have riders running into my back end or each other, making it even more > likely to have a bad interaction with the car - this is a common train of > thought; that one doesn't want to slow up suddenly in front of others, but > instead one must maintain a smooth speed to minimize differentials of speed > among riders.> I was pleased that there was a good communication of the danger (car) and > I was pleased that the people around me seemed to ride accordingly, but I > can't say that I know how all the riders behind me did, or whether it was > particularly dangerous back there. Interesting to me that it was Ano, > somewhat further up the hill who went flying off the front while some of us > were still either holding back, or just being lazy....was he fueled by > adrenaline after the car-interaction ?> I'm not sure there is a particular prescription for exactly how to deal > with the situation other than for us to explain that safety matters to all > of us, we are each ultimately responsible for our own safety, and that any > situation should be dealt with in a manner which should not cause advantage > (or disadvantage) because of a safety issue.> I'm really curious also, to hear perspectives of others who were in the A > pack last night.> > Glenn> > > _______________________________________________> FLCC mailing list> FLCC at icycle.org> http://icycle.org/mailman/listinfo/flcc_icycle.org
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