Drafting in Training

In the majority of triathlons, drafting is illegal.  In a small number of ITU races and the Olympic Games, drafting has been legalized.  Even though you will most likely not be doing a race that allows any kind of drafting, it is an important skill to learn as you ride more and it will allow you to become a more efficient rider and ride with athletes of greater ability level.  Drafting helps to build better bike handling skills, allows you to ride faster than you can ride on your own and can develop great trust and team building in those that you ride and train with.

“Drafting” refers to riding close enough behind the rider in front that you are in their “slipstream”, you are basically benefiting by conserving your energy while the person in front of you does the majority of the work.  As you draft in a pack of riders, you must remain totally focused on what is going on in front of you and around you.  One wrong move in a drafting situation can impact a lot of riders other than you.  In order to really reap the benefits of drafting, you must learn to ride between 6 inches and two feet behind the rider in front of you.  My recommendations are to start at the 2 feet length and work your way up.  This is definitely a skill that you want to spend some time practicing when you are out there riding with one or two other people, it will be less intimidating to learn than with a larger crowd of cyclists.  

A row of cyclists drafting is referred to as a “pace line”.  Or as they are riding two abreast it is considered a “double pace line”.  The person at the front of the draft pack is “pulling.”  As that person sets the pace for the entire group, once they are finished with their “turn” at the front, they move out to the left and let the other riders pass and then join up in the back of the pack.  By rotating this way, each person takes a turn at the front pulling and they can maintain a higher average speed.

Make no mistake that drafting can be very dangerous.  If you ride in a pack, practice drafting and hone your cycling skills with a few riders first.  Be sure to learn all of the proper hand signals to use if you are in a pack as the other riders rely on you for information if you are ahead of them.  These hand signals allow you to communicate with the other riders without dangerously turning round and it will alert them to things that they cannot see.

Most common signals are:

• Slow
• Stop
• Hand pointing to glass, large rocks or something in the road
• Hand pointing to car doors
• Turn L or R