This week

**cadseen** · 28th July 2011

Just done my second chaingang of this week
It was carnage with half dropped in few miles.

**puddings** · 28th July 2011

If half the members were dropped in a few miles that suggests that the gang captain didnt know what he was doing. A good captain will know to modulate the speed for the conditions and how everyone is riding (and I am not saying ride soft but hard enough so that people are not left all over the road). The target speed is just that, a target not an absolute and sometimes it might be necessary to step back from it.

**Richard Hallett** · 29th July 2011

Originally Posted by cadseen

Just done my second chaingang of this week
It was carnage with half dropped in few miles.

I assume, going by your smiley, that you were not one of those dropped?

**cadseen** · 30th July 2011

Its meant to be challenging, there is NO waiting if you are dropped. From time to time diferrent people turn up who may underestimate their ability to ride fast. You cant wait for the slowest man.

Its the BC national vets road race champs tomorrow, hope this extra speed work has done me some good.

**puddings** · 31st July 2011

The rules of Chain-gang that were pretty much followed when I was racing;
1. A chain-gang should have less than 10 members, if not 6 - more than that there is too much chance to rest/avoid turns and is in effect a club run. If enough members turn up, two captains should be appointed and two chain-gangs should be run.
2. Turn-up and try-outs are not members of the chain-gang. You are only a member of the chain-gang if the captain invites you through to the front to contribute to your share of pulling on the front at the required pace and have made it home in the gang.
3. If turn-up and try-outs out number chain-gang members it is not a chain-gang, it is a club run
4. Turn-up and try-outs do not count as dropped from the chain-gang because they are not members in the first place - they just haven't made the grade for the gang.
5. The chain-gang has a captain who dictates the pace at a level that tests the gang but doesnt shred it. The captain is also responsible for declaring when KOM conditions apply and nominating who will be the lead out man for road sign sprints.
6. KOM conditions are called on hard hills to allow the climbers in the group do their thing and then the gang regroups either on the flat top or if it is an immediate decent at the bottom
7 Road sign sprints are only included in the gang run if you are training for an event with intermediates (especially crits). The idea of a leadout man is to stop the whole pace dropping as individuals jockey to not leadout.
8. A chain-gang that keeps getting blown apart is more likely to be a cat 4 lemonparty

**Mike the bike** · 31st July 2011

That takes me back to the good old days puds. The days when I could keep up.

**puddings** · 31st July 2011

I used to love it - more than racing a lot of the time because if its technical beauty when working properly as well as its brutality. Racing back in the late 80s early 90s was in the doldrums (people forget how much more popular it has become in the last 10 years) - TTs ruled in my part of the world (I wasnt much cop at them and really didnt enjoy them) and a lot of the road racing outside the big name events was poorly organised/attended (mind you it seemed easier to score a few points and improve your ranking)