The Advantage of a Sweeper/Coach

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When I ride with some groups I have to ride hard. I have to keep the wheel and stay with the group because if I get dropped then I need to work hard to get back onto their wheels. In contrast when I ride with other groups, as a result of having to ride hard sometimes, I end up faster.

Too Fast

Today at least one person objected to me being faster, and thought that I should be riding with another group. I would argue that to always ride hard means that you never rest. You're pushed to be at your peak. This means that you can't rest while riding.

Recovery

I personally like to ride with the relaxed group. I like to sprint, and then to slow down. I am fine with being at the back as sweeper. The advantage of having a strong rider at the back is that they're calm, and relaxed, knowing that they can catch up with the group with ease if needed. There is no "Will I be able to complete this ride?" question.

Sweeping

For me the sweeper position is for moral support. In some situations being abandoned at the back is not pleasant. At other times it's nice to have someone to coach you, to tell you that it's not far, or that you're almost at the top. It's also good to provide people with help with navigating the route. If you get dropped it can be easy to lose sight of the group and have to improvise the route home.

With a sweeper a sub-group can form. The main group can continue at a faster pace and stop when they need to have a rest, somewhere in the shade, and those that are struggling don't have to push as hard not to be dropped.

Zone 1 and 2

I spent one hour in zone 1 and 1hr39 in zone 2. Staying in zone two for so much of the ride is positive for my training schedule. This was a recover ride for me. I wanted to be active, without it being too physical.

Shorter Ride With Less Climbing

In reality the "Relaxed" rides are long, with quite a bit of climbing. This one was 63.43km long with 622 metres of climbing and one or two climbs are steep. You need strength and endurance for these rides. Without this the rides are hard, which is why people who are new struggle.

Blown Out

A week or two ago someone was blown out quite fast, near the beginning of the ride, and then I stayed with him for the rest of the ride. This week someone was blown out near the two thirds mark, by the café. I was not designated sweeper on this ride so I could have continued riding as sweeper on climbs, and then rejoined the main group.

In future, if I see that someone is blown out I will ask if they are okay finding their way home from that point, and resume riding normally. I am happy to be slow on climbs. As I write this I am reminded of an extreme via ferrata experience where I took an hour longer than the group, with someone who was petrified. I had no problem helping, but was sad the group decided to leave as soon as we finished.

In future, if I see someone is blown out I will ask if they're okay to find their own way home, without pressure, and if they are, then I will rejoin the group.

And Finally

As I find the relaxed rides comfortable it makes sense that I should slow down and provide support and coaching for those that benefit from it. Having said this it makes sense to help and support people who are loyal to the group, rather than newcomers. The reason for this is that if a newcomer hits a point of exhaustion, then it might make sense for them to stop, relax, and then continue at their own pace later on.

This week and two weeks ago I took on the role of sweeper, but both times I ended up providing support for people I doubt will rejoin this group. I end up isolated from the core group for the rest of the ride. Someone did that for me on the Baudichonne climb and I believe it's that pressure that got me to beat my personal best time. Having said that, I was blown out as a result.

On almost every ride I have done we abandon each other during the climb, and then meet up at the peak.

But Wait, There's More

Today I was tempted by the 140km Salève ride by TDC and the Morges ride by BSC. I did neither because I noticed an issue with my bike that I wanted to have checked. If not for that then I would probably have ridden different routes.

Conclusion

I wanted to socialise more than I did, so my primary goal for this ride was a failure of sorts.