How close should I be to get a good draft?

JTE83 said:

I will be racing a citizens / Cat 5 race - my 2nd race ever at Downer's Grove IL -- see dgnationalchampionships.comdgnationalchampionships.comOpen ↗
I'm not a great bike handler and I crashed in my first race going out of a turn into a corner.

Well, how close should I be to a biker in front of me to get a good draft and be safe? Is 3 feet ok? Is 5 feet to far?

I'd say 3 feet is about right until you more comfortable riding close in a pack. Make sure you don't cross your front wheel with the tire in front of you. Also, don't brake check the guys behind you.

JTE83 said:

I will be racing a citizens / Cat 5 race - my 2nd race ever at Downer's Grove IL -- see http://www.dgnationalchampionships.com/
I'm not a great bike handler and I crashed in my first race going out of a turn into a corner.

Well, how close should I be to a biker in front of me to get a good draft and be safe? Is 3 feet ok? Is 5 feet to far?

It depends of the speed, but when the pressure builds up, 1 feet and open eyes can be a good combo.

JTE83 said:

I will be racing a citizens / Cat 5 race - my 2nd race ever at Downer's Grove IL -- see dgnationalchampionships.comdgnationalchampionships.comOpen ↗
I'm not a great bike handler and I crashed in my first race going out of a turn into a corner.

Well, how close should I be to a biker in front of me to get a good draft and be safe? Is 3 feet ok? Is 5 feet to far?

Mmmmm. I know this isn't directly an answer to your question, but before I jumped into a race I'd go out and ride with some people I knew to get comfortable in close quarters. You've got to be able to ride in a steady and predictable manner when you're in a crowd. That's really for everyone's safety.

To answer your question, I like to be within 1 foot (tire-to-tire) when I'm riding with people I'm comfortable with, and no more than 2 feet in a race. If I'm behind someone that I'm not comfortable riding behind at that distance, then I'll move past them and grab the better wheel in front of them. If you're back 5 feet, then everyone will be jumping over you and pushing you straight to the back.

Of Course if you're off the front, you don't have to worry about it....:p

[b]"'m not a great bike handler and I crashed in my first race going out of a turn into a corner."[/b]

What happened? Did you hit something? Turn in too soon and slid off the outside coming out of the corner? Bike-handling is just as important as fitness, and in a crit, it may even be more important as you found out; crashing ends the race for you no matter how strong you are.

So... practice the follow-the-leader game. Find a practice-crit in your area and sit at the back of the pack and follow the 2nd to last guy around. Follow his line EXACTLY so that your tyres trace the same path as his tyres. The key to this is not to stare at his back wheel and try to place your front wheel in the right position. Rather look up at his back and hips and use your 3D vision to maintain distance and centering. The hips are the center-of-gravity and wherever they go, the bike will go. No matter what he does to his upper-body or handlebars in a corner, the hips will carve the real line, so follow the hips around. About 1-foot behind is about ideal. Gives you enough time to react to things and doesn't open up enough of a gap to let others shove their way in.

By looking up, you can also see what the guys in front of him are doing as well. Crashes and slow-downs occur well ahead of you in the pack and if you can see all the riders in front, you can avoid scary incidents. You can also see who the strong guys are and manuveur to follow them around. Eventually this follow-the-leader game will be second nature and you'll be able to hang onto a wheel no matter what. You'll know who the strong guys will be, the ones that'll win the race if you let them, so you'll follow them around and on the last couple laps, other people will try to push you off his wheel. By getting good at follow-the-leader and sticking to a wheel, you'll be able to shove and push back with all your force and weight to keep other guys off. There will even be guys who swerve away and slam back into you at full speed with all their weight and if you see it coming you can slam them back with just as much force to maintain your position in the prime spot in the pack... right behind the guy that's gonna get 2nd place at the finish... 🙂

JTE83 said:

Well, how close should I be to a biker in front of me to get a good draft and be safe? Is 3 feet ok? Is 5 feet to far?

I usually draft very close. I mean, if the guy in front of me were to even brush his brakes around a corner we'd be both screwed. I don't recomend being that close if this is only your second every mass start. I would say follow close enough to where you are comfortable, whether it's 1 ft. or 3 ft. I think 5 might be a little too far. It also depends how big the guy in front of you is that you are drafting.

ChangMan said:

...I think 5 might be a little too far. It also depends how big the guy in front of you is that you are drafting.

5 ft is a bike length back. If you are stting that far back, (a) you aren't getting any drafting and (b) someone else will jump in and fill the gap. When that happens you will have to drop 5 ft back from them and the same will happen again. Before you know it you'll be sitting 5 ft off the back of the bunch.
As DannoXYZ said, don't sit there fixated on the tyre of the bike in front. You need to keep your eyes up and judge your distance through depth perception.
Hold your line, no sudden moves and keep the door closed on others who want to take that wheel.
Try it - you'll like it!

[quote="DannoXYZ"][b]"'m not a great bike handler and I crashed in my first race going out of a turn into a corner."[/b]

What happened? Did you hit something? Turn in too soon and slid off the outside coming out of the corner? Bike-handling is just as important as fitness, and in a crit, it may even be more important as you found out; crashing ends the race for you no matter how strong you are.
[/QUOTE]

I went into a turn with my hands on top not by the shifter so I couldn't brake to avoid going into a corner. So I crashed into the corner and flipped over into a hay bale. I was lucky there was a hay bale to cushion me or else I might have broken my back. My tires didn't seem to grip well, and they were Michelin Pro Race.

I later watched how the pros raced into every corner and now I will do the same. I'm still very nervous about my 2nd race coming up.

JTE83 said:

I went into a turn with my hands on top not by the shifter so I couldn't brake to avoid going into a corner...

Lesson learned, JTE. If you're riding in a crit, keep your hands on the drops or on the hoods. Don't worry about your next race, it gets better. I crashed in my first race (quite a few decades ago), ended up unconscious and totalled the bike that I'd just built, but went on to have many years of enjoyable(!?!) racing.
To paraphrase Huskey, that which doesn't kill you, usually makes your back hurt. Jump back in there. You've experienced the bad side of racing, now you have to keep going so you can experience the good side.

frenchyge said:

Mmmmm. I know this isn't directly an answer to your question, but before I jumped into a race I'd go out and ride with some people I knew to get comfortable in close quarters. You've got to be able to ride in a steady and predictable manner when you're in a crowd. That's really for everyone's safety.

To answer your question, I like to be within 1 foot (tire-to-tire) when I'm riding with people I'm comfortable with, and no more than 2 feet in a race. If I'm behind someone that I'm not comfortable riding behind at that distance, then I'll move past them and grab the better wheel in front of them. If you're back 5 feet, then everyone will be jumping over you and pushing you straight to the back.

best advice you can get...I'd only add...keep your head up and try NOT to look at the tire/tyre in front of you (with practice you won't anyway)...watch ahead for the pack and break aways, obstacles, turns and danger...an overlap won't hurt as long as you dont roll your tyre past their axles...most close quarter racing has some degree of overlap and touching, just relax and stay loose, ready to absorb the bumps and touches as they will happen.....