Echelon: a paceline of drafting cyclists grouped in two staggered lines, one moving forward into wind, the other moving backward sheltered downwind by the others. (source)
On yesterdays FOG ride I experienced my first taste of riding in an echelon. We’d just turned onto Hwy 206 and there was a fairly strong cross wind and the next thing I know I hear some yelling about “Up on the right and back on the left”. This was followed by lots of coaching comments which helped me a lot since I was a newbie at this maneuver. I found it quite a lot of fun, but it was very busy and you really had to pay attention. With only 12 riders you were looping up to the front quite rapidly. This went along well until the traditional breakaway as we approached a hill entering into Birds Hill Park. At 75km into the ride I don’t yet have the legs to keep up with some of the faster guys, which today was almost everybody.
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