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Mick

IP: 89.19.90.144

Jul 22, 08 - 3:23 AM

Cycling Terms & Techniques

Hi folks,

having only been in my second season in cycling and in swords, I,m still learning about cycling. For all new persons starting is there anyone out there that could put a glossary of cycling terms together so that new riders, like myself know what they are about...

for example DMS, CP, TT, Handicap, Steady, Up and Over, Car Up/Down, Surface etc. I would have a go at it but I think someone with the proper biking background could define these better in cycling terms.

Also a quick Guide would be great on how to race for beginners especially in a CP where we have to work as a group. Maybe something on where certain techniques are used, about cycling into the wind, cornering, surfaces, overtaking...

Only a suggestion but from a newbie I think it would be good. I,ve loads to learn... like not chasing after a team mate in a vets race and bringing the bunch up to him... sorry Martin :-)

regards Mick

Hugh

IP: 86.42.91.198

Jul 24th, 2008 - 12:08 PM

Re: Cycling Terms & Techniques

Theres a book in there..........

But we'll make a start

DMS - Divided Mass Start - where like in the IVCA the riders are split into e.g. 3 group based on ability and each race is then run as a seperate race. Obviously in this case the faster group is se off first so as to keep the races from merging.

CP - Controlled Pace - with the emphasis on control!!
This is where as is the case in our League where riders of similar ability are grouped together with the slower groups off first nad this is where the controlled pace comes in, they all work together in order to catch the groups ahead. The group should work to the pace of the weakest (not strongest rider). This way everyone does their bit and ye should eat into the deficit. If you get one rider that pushes harder each tinme then the pace yo-yos and other riders become tired and discouraged from helping. There is nothing worse than being behind a rider who accelearates everytime they hit the front, you end up doing intervals instead of bit and bit. The pace line (line heading for the front) should be moving up in a steady manner with the lead rider only moving across when he is sure that there is a rider on his wheel. Failing to do this will leave our hero longer on the front as the following rider battles to get up. A group effort will get you a lot further.

Cornering : one tip is to come out wide so as to cut accross the corner rather thank turning at a right angle. So if turning left, brake if needed as you move out to the right, cut accross the apex of the bend using the full with of your leagal side of the road on both entry and exit from the corner. At all times you should be mindful of holes and gravel as if you lean over on gravel you most likely will come down. Also as you corner, your inside leg is up and the outside is pushing down on the other pedal.

Group riding - its not good to brake when riding in a bunch as the accordian effect can have serious results further back in the bunch. Better to ease your way around a hole and if you call it, best to should hole left, right or middle so as following riders know which way to ease their way around it.

Steady : = means you are going through too strong and its not helping! If you are the strongest, get everyone working and save that extra strenght for when the faster riders catch you or for the closing stages. You and your group will benifit from 'steady' ridng.

more later................

Paul Deans

IP: 86.42.113.231

Jul 24th, 2008 - 12:50 PM

Re: Cycling Terms & Techniques

Mick,
I wouldn’t worry about chasing down a club mate it’s a Swords CC tradition for as long as I can remember, so congratulations your now officially a true member of Swords CC

On a more serious note I’ve tried list as many terms as possible hopefully it is of some use I’m sure there are many many more I’ve missed but here goes to start……

Abandon: To quit a race. See also Broom Wagon

Attack: Generally a sudden acceleration in an attempt to break free of the peloton. On flat roads it is usually done by riding up along the side of the pack so that by the time the attacker passes the peloton's front rider he is travelling too fast for the pack to easily react. In the mountains it is usually enough to accelerate from the front.

Autobus: French. In the mountains the riders with poor climbing skills ride together hoping to finish in time to beat the time limit cut-off. By staying together in a group they hope that if they don't finish in time they can persuade the officials to let them stay in the race because so many riders would otherwise be eliminated. It doesn't always work. Often the group lets a particular experienced racer who knows how to pace the Autobus lead them in order to just get in under the wire. This risky strategy minimizes the energy the riders have to expend. Synonyms include Grupetto (Italian) and Laughing Group. See Time Limit.

Bidon: Water bottle. Now made of plastic, early ones were metal with cork stoppers. Until 1950 they were carried on the handlebars, sometimes in pairs. Around 1950 riders started mounting bottle cages on the downtube. The trend to dispensing with the bar-mount cages started in the early 1960's and by 1970 they were a thing of the past. In the early 1980's, as a result of the sport of Triathlon, builders started brazing bosses on the seat tube allowing mechanics to attach a second cage so that riders could again carry 2 bottles.

Bonification: Time bonus (actually time subtracted) awarded to a rider. Stage races vary and the Tour is always tinkering with its rules. Bonifications can be earned several ways: winning or placing in a stage, winning or placing in an intermediate sprint, being among the first riders over a rated climb. The rules have changed over the years. At one time in the early 1930's the Tour awarded a 4-minute time bonus for winning a stage. In 2005 the bonification was 20 seconds.

Bonk: To completely run out of energy. Sometimes a rider will forget to eat or think he has enough food to make it to the finish without stopping to get food. The result can be catastrophic as the rider's body runs out of glycogen, the stored chemical the muscles burn for energy.

Break: Short for breakaway.
Breakaway: One or more riders escaping from the front of peloton, usually as the result of a sudden acceleration called an "attack". Riders will work together sharing the effort of breaking the wind hoping to improve their chances of winning by arriving at the finish in a smaller group. This can also be called a "break". Some riders do not possess the necessary speed to contest mass sprints and therefore try very hard to escape the clutches of the peloton well before the end of the race.

Bridge: Short for bridge a gap. To go from one group of cyclists to a break up the road.

Broom Wagon: When Desgrange added high Pyrenean climbs to his 1910 Tour he thought it would be necessary to have a rescue wagon follow the riders in case the mountain roads were beyond their ability to ascend, hence the Broom Wagon to sweep up the exhausted racers. It is still in use, following the last rider in a stage. Today when a rider abandons he usually prefers to get into one of his team cars. Years ago the Broom Wagon had an actual broom bolted to it but today this wonderful bit of symbolism is gone. In the 1910 Tour if a rider could not finish a mountain stage he could restart the next day and compete for stage wins but he was out of the General Classification competition. Today an abandonment sticks. The rider is out of the Tour for that year. Before a rider enters the broom wagon an official removes the dossard or back number on the rider's jersey. In French the Broom Wagon is called the Voiture Balai.

Bunch: When preceded by "the", usually the peloton. Far less often a group of riders can be "a bunch"

Cadence: The speed at which the rider turns the pedals.

Caravan: The long line of vehicles that precede and follow the racers.

Classic: One of 7 one-day races whose history and prestige will make the career of its winner. They are: Milan–San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Gent–Wevelgem, Paris–Roubaix, Flèche Wallone, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the Tour of Lombardy. Gent-Wevelgem is traditionally held mid-week between Flanders and Paris–Roubaix. Only Rik Van Looy has won them all. Some writers include a few other races in their list of Classics: Omloop Het Volk, Amstel Gold Race, Rund um den Hernniger Turm, San Sebastian Classic,

Paul Deans

IP: 86.42.113.231

Jul 24th, 2008 - 12:52 PM

Re: Cycling Terms & Techniques

Part 2

Col: French for mountain pass.
.
Commissaire: A race official with the authority to impose penalties on the riders for infractions of the rules. A common problem is dangerous or irregular sprinting. The commissaire will usually relegate the offending rider to a lower placing.

Criterium: A bike race around and around a short road road course, often a city block. Good criterium riders have excellent bike handling skills and usually possess lots of power to enable them to constantly accelerate out of the corners. The Dutch and the Belgians are the masters of the event.

Directeur Sportif: The 0n-the-road manager of a bike team. Although French, it is the term used in English as well.

DNF: Did not finish. Used in results to denote that the racer started but did not complete the race.

DNS: Did not start. Used in results to denote a racer who was entered in a race but failed to start. Often seen in results in stage races where the rider abandons after the completion of a stage.

Domestique: French. Because bicycle racing is a sport contested by teams and won by individuals a man designated to be the team leader has his teammates work for him. These men have been called domestiques. They are sometimes called "water carriers" because they are the ones designated to go back to the team car and pick up water bottles and bring them back up to the leader. In Italian the term is "gregario".

Drafting: At racing speed a rider who is only a few inches behind another bike does about 30 percent less work. Riding behind another rider in his aerodynamic slipstream is called drafting. A rider who drafts others and refuses to go to the front and do his share of the work is said to be "sitting on." There are a number of pejorative terms for a rider who does this, the best known is "wheelsucker".

Drop: When a rider cannot keep up with his fellow riders and comes out of their aerodynamic slipsteam, whether in a break or in the peloton, he is said to be dropped.

Échappée: French for breakaway

Echelon: When the riders are hit with a side wind they must ride slightly to the right or left of the rider in front in order to remain in that rider's slipstream, instead of riding nose to tail in a straight line. This staggered line puts those riders further back in the pace line in the gutter. Because they can't edge further to the side, they have to take more of the brunt of both the wind and the wind drag of their forward motion. Good riders then form a series of echelons so that all the racers can contribute and receive shelter. The Dutch and the Belgians are the masters of this type of cycling.

Escape: When used as a noun it is a breakaway. When used as a verb it is the act of breaking away.

Ètape: French for stage.

Feed zone: The specific point along a race route where the riders pick up food and drink. Racing etiquette generally keeps racers from attacking at this point, but there have been some famous initiatives that have started while the riders were having musettes (bags) of food handed up.

Field: See Peloton

Fixed gear: A direct drive between the rear wheel and the cranks. The rear cog is locked onto the rear hub so that the rider cannot coast. When the rear wheel turns, the crank turns.

Flamme Rouge: French. A red banner placed at the beginning of the final kilometer of a race.

GC: General Classification
General Classification: The ranking of the accumulated time or placings, whichever basis the race uses to determine its winner

Honk: To ride out of the saddle, standing up on the pedals

Hook: To extend an elbow or thigh in the way of another rider, usually during a sprint, to impede his progress while he is attempting to pass. Often it is said that a rider "threw a hook". Means the same thing.

Jump: A rider with the ability to quickly accelerate his bike is said to have a good "jump".

Kermesse: A lap road race much like a criterium but the course is longer, as long as 10 kilometers.

KOM: King of the Mountains

Lanterne Rouge: French for the last man in the General Classification. Some years riders will actually compete to be the Lanterne Rouge because of the fame it brings and therefore better appearance fees at races.

Laughing Group: See Autobus

Minute Man: In a time trial the rider who starts a minute ahead. It's always a goal in a time trial to try to catch one's minute-man.

Musette: A cloth bag containing food and drinks handed up to the rider in the feed zone. It has a long strap so the rider can slip his arm through it easily on the fly, then put the strap over his shoulder to carry it while he transfers the food to his jersey pockets.

Natural or nature break: Because races can take over 7 hours the riders must occasionally dismount to the call of nature.

Off the back: To be dropped.

Paceline: Riders riding nose to tail saving energy by riding in each others slipstream. Usually the front rider does the hard work for a short w

Paul Deans

IP: 86.42.113.231

Jul 24th, 2008 - 12:53 PM

Re: Cycling Terms & Techniques

Part 3

Paceline: Riders riding nose to tail saving energy by riding in each others slipstream. Usually the front rider does the hard work for a short while, breaking the wind for the others, and then peels off to go to the back so that another rider can take a short stint at the front. The faster the riders go the greater the energy saving gained by riding in the slipstream of the rider in front. When the action is hot and the group wants to move fast the front man will take a short, high-speed "pull" at the front before dropping off. At lower speeds the time at the front is usually longer. See echelon

Palmarès: French for an athlete's list of accomplishments.

Pavé: French for a cobblestone road. Riding the pavé requires skill and power.

Peloton: The main group of riders traveling together in a race. Breaks leave the front of it, dropped riders exit its rear. Synonyms: bunch, group, field, pack.

Piano: Italian for soft. It can mean slow or easy when riding. The Giro often has "piano" stages where the riders intentionally take it easy until the final kilometers leading up to the sprint.

Pull: A stint at the front of a paceline.

Rouleur: French for a rider who can turn a big gear with ease over flat roads. Rouleurs are usually bigger riders who suffer in the mountains.

Soigneur: Today a job with many duties involving the care of the riders: massage, preparing food, handing up musettes in the feed zone and sadly, doping. Usually when a doping scandal erupts the soigneurs are deeply involved.
.
Tempo: Usually means riding at a fast but not all-out pace. Teams defending a leader in a stage race will often go to the front of the peloton and ride tempo for days on end in order to discourage breakaways.

Tifosi: Italian sports fans, sometimes fanatical in their devotion to an athlete or team. The term is said to be derived from the delirium of Typhus patients.

Time Bonus: see Bonification

Time Limit: To encourage vigorous riding the Tour imposes a cutoff time limit. If a racer does not finish a stage by that time limit, he is eliminated from the race. This prevents a racer's resting by riding leisurely one day and winning the next. The time limit is a percentage of the stage winner's time. Because it is the intention of the Tour to be fair, the rules are complex. On flat stages where the riders have less trouble staying with the peloton and the time gaps are smaller, the percentage added to the winners' time is smaller. On a flat stage it can be as little as 5% of the winner's time if the speed is less than 34 kilometers an hour. In the mountain stages it can be as high as 17% of the winner's time. The faster the race is run, the higher the percentage of the winner's time allowed the slower riders. The Tour has 6 sets of percentage time limits, each a sliding scale according to the type of stage (flat, rolling, mountain, time trial, etc.) and the stage's speed. If 20 percent of the peloton fails to finish within the time limit the rule can be suspended. Also riders who have unusual trouble can appeal to the commissaires for clemency.

Big Fred

IP: 87.232.59.129

Jul 24th, 2008 - 5:38 PM

Re: Cycling Terms & Techniques

One that should also be noted is,

Savage: Paul Deans (aka - the Lion of Fingal, the Skerries Screamer, Paul the Power merchant, Vino Deano, The Beast of the East and many more...........)

Mick

IP: 89.19.83.247

Jul 25th, 2008 - 1:59 AM

Re: Cycling Terms & Techniques

Paul, Hugh,

these are excellent. I thought CP was a Chase Pursuit... so thats why I keep going to fast :-) .. Can we get these off the board and into the main website some where...even as a link to a doc. Theres loads in there that I havnt even heard of and I think it would be great for any new comers.

If we could then just get a bit of riding technique for riding against the wind, over taking styles, sprinting... when and when not to :-( and get that on the main site... it would be great.

Oh on the IVCA there are races SL2, SL3 etc what are these.

Thanks for a detailed reply.. Mick Mc

Mick

IP: 89.19.83.247

Jul 25th, 2008 - 2:11 AM

Re: Cycling Terms & Techniques

oh sorry lads... is there a few slang terms that are usefully like...
'dropped' to lose another rider from the pack

'off the back' where someone is dropped of the back

'man over board' dont hear this much but was told its where a lad powers up a hill and dies :-)

'off my wheel' *&$%££^%&* followed by colourful language. Used to tell some lad to get off yer wheel especially in a TT

'TT' Time Trial

'Hole Right/Left/Center' used to indicate where a hole in the road is followed by the rider pointing to it, if he they have time

'Car up/Down' where a car is approaching from the front or rear

'Clear' where riders are crossing a road and indicate that the road is clear for other riders to cross

'last man' used when working as a group to inform the last rider in the group that you are the last man and he should follow and work hard behind you

'Left/Right' indicate that there is an object on the left or right hand side of the road that you should avoid

cant think of anymore but it would be good to get these in on doc on the main site... thanks lads.. Mick

Hugh

IP: 82.141.225.169

Jul 25th, 2008 - 5:44 AM

Re: Cycling Terms & Techniques

Then theres 'Sandbagging' - 'Fred' - 'Bunch Engine' and last but not least 'Glass Cranker'

Mick

IP: 89.19.83.174

Jul 25th, 2008 - 6:47 AM

Re: Cycling Terms & Techniques

Ah found this mad site with some mad terms from 'bra's to condoms... please dont mention these when we riding in a group as people might get the wrong impression ;-)

http://www.bicyclesource.com/bicycling_glossary

Tony O'Malley

IP: 89.191.220.38

Jul 28th, 2008 - 7:05 AM

Re: Cycling Terms & Techniques - the REAL meanings

"I'm out of shape"

Translation: I ride 400 miles a week and haven't missed a day since the Ford administration. I replace my 11-tooth cog more often than you wash your shorts. My body fat percentage is lower than your
mortgage rate.

"I'm not into the racing. I'm just riding to stay in shape"

Translation: I will attack until you collapse in the gutter, babbling and whimpering. I will win the line sprint if I have to force you into oncoming traffic. I will crest this hill first if I have to grab your seat post, and spray energy drink in your eyes.

"I'm on my crappy trainer today"

Translation: I had this baby custom-made in Tuscany using titanium blessed by the Pope. I took it to a wind tunnel and it disappeared.
It weighs less than a fart and costs more than a divorce

"It's not that hilly"

Translation: This climb lasts longer than a presidential campaign.
Be careful on the steep sections or you'll fall over -- backward. You have a 39x23 low gear? Here's the name of my knee surgeon.

"You're doing great !"

Translation: Yo, lard ass, I'd like to get home before midnight.
This is what you get for spending the winter decorating and eating chocolate !!

"This is a no-drop ride"

Translation: I'll need an article of your clothing for the search-and-rescue dogs.

"It's not that far"

Translation: Bring your passport

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