I hate getting half wheeled. It doesn’t really matter by who, but the stronger the rider, the more I dislike it. That being said, I do, on rare occasion, half wheel myself. I’m not sure that I actually half wheel because I am cognoscente of the action. To truly be half wheeled, or to be half wheeling, the half wheeler has to be oblivious to the action.

If you don’t understand the definition of half wheeling, it is the action by an individual, when he or she rides beside you, when you are riding two by two, and is always just enough ahead of you that you feel like you are always trying to catch up or get back even with them. If a rider is a true half wheeler, they don’t have a clue that they are doing it.

The funny thing about the whole situation is that the rider that is “behind” is actually controlling the speed, so there really should be less mental stress.

I’ve been unfortunate to be half wheeled by some pretty great riders. Like I said above, the better the rider, the more stress it causes the rider on the receiving end. The most famous rider I was half wheeled by was Bernard Hinault. I didn’t train with Hinault enough to know if he is really a half wheeler, all I know is that I was riding with him, before a time trial in Colombia, and he definitely half wheeled me for 30 minutes or so.

Michael Engleman half wheeled. Nearly always. And he was strong enough, more than strong enough, that you should have been stressed. Micheal was so strong that he could keep nearly any pace, virtually all day.

I didn’t mind it so much from him. He and I lived together in Boulder and I rode with him a ton. I like training hard and once you get used to the situation, it really isn’t much of an issue. It’s only when you’re having a really bad day that it wears on you. Before the Tour of the Americas, back in 1988, we were training in Florida and I’d do some pulls with him at the front of a group of 10 for over 30 minutes at 25 mph +. Sometimes for an hour. Alan McCormick, Broz, and most of the other guys on the team would purposely not ride beside Micheal because of the high chance that was going to occur. I finished 2nd overall in that stage race and the reason was because of getting half wheeled for weeks.

I really hate to be half wheeled by guys I don’t know. Getting half wheeled by complete strangers is worse than getting half wheeled by Tour de France winners. When you have no knowledge of how strong a rider is next to you, it just stresses you out that much more. It’s like you’re going up a huge climb, but you have no idea where the top is. This usually occurs when I’m really tired. Usually on a Monday, after a weekend stage race when I’ve stayed around a city to do the local group ride. Everyone that didn’t race on the weekend shows up and the Monday ride eventually turns into a pseudo race. I don’t mind it turning into a race, I just hate the pulling at the front, 2 x 2, at 28 mph.

The same thing can happen on a MTB. When you go to someone’s local course/trails, and they are so excited that they take you out and ride at race pace on trails you’ve never rode on. It is a drag. Tom Ritchey had a reputation of doing that. Thomas Frischknecht would say that he needed to rest up to ride with Tom, if Thomas was heading out to San Francisco after a race. He say that Tom would take him out and just hammer him. I always felt for him, getting hammered after a Norba National or World Cup, by your sponsor. That is a pretty weird situation.

Anyway, everyone that has ridden much has experienced being half wheeled. If you haven’t then you most likely are a half wheeler and just don’t know it.

Half wheeling observation from behind.

We pretty much always ride 2 x 2 until the end of the ride. We’ve been having pretty good turn out on the evening rides, 15-20 guys.

On Tuesdays here in Topeka, the local bike club has recently started a ride that starts at PT’s Coffeeshop and only rides down the bike path. It was meant to attract new riders to the sport. A few new guys have shown up, so that is great, but in reality, Tuesday has become the new Monday rest day. With that, it has become a social gathering and beer drinking session.

I’ve participated the last two Tuesdays. I can’t keep up though, so I’m going to eventually have to surrender. I’m one of the lucky guys that pays the next morning for drinking too much beer the night before. I’m not sure if “training” would help, but right now the after effects aren’t worth it.

Anyway, I’ve had this theory, well, not really a theory, but an observation, that for a sport to be successful as a spectator sport, there has to be beer and drinking involved. That is nearly a fact for American sports. Think about it- football, baseball, Nascar, hockey, you name it, there is drinking involved always.

It is the same for cycling in Europe. Spectating cycling and drinking goes hand in hand. Especially in Belgium, the king of all countries when it comes to beer. During he classics, cyclo-x, the start money criteriums after the Tour, all involve a huge amount of drinking while spectating.

Most of the truly successful big races in the US that I’ve done over the years are at venues that allow drinking. The first one that comes to mind is Athen Twlight Criterium. I pretty much refuse to ride that race now because of an over 50% crash ratio over lifetime participation, but I have to admit that Gene Dixon has a perfect formula for attracting spectators. The whole course is nearly a street party for the whole evening.

Tulsa Tough is relatively new event that has finally started attracting very good riders and a very good spectator base. Most of the spectators at Tulsa aren’t bike race fans. They are just regular people that have heard that the bike races are a very fun time and nearly a street party. After coming, they become bike race fans. That is the key.

For a sport to be successful financially, there has to be a fan base that doesn’t necessary have any desire to take part in the sport personally. Cycling in the US doesn’t have that fan base now. It had that fan base in the 70’s, but somehow lost it. To get it back, guys riding around in circles isn’t enough. Adding beer to the mixture just might be.

The savior of the sport in the US?

Blue Dome Criterium at Tulsa and especially The River Criterium with Cry Baby Hill have both become very spectator friendly. Part of the success is because of the festive atmosphere. Here a video from Cry Baby Hill that I took just pre-riding the course.

Tulsa Tough Cry Baby Hill Pre- Ride 2013 from Steve Tilford on Vimeo.