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Q & A
What is the D'Ornellas Racing Team ?The D'Ornellas Racing Team is composed of Bike Racers, Multisport Racers and Cycling Enthusiasts. We offer both structured and unstructured rides to promote Bicycle Racing and the sport of Cycling in a safe and friendly environment. You'll see our Masters Cycling team at various bike races around the province. Our multisport racers compete provincially, nationally and internationally ranging from short course Triathlons and Duathlons, up to the Ironman World Championships. In our weekend rides, we generally have 3 types of riders:
We start out as a big group to warm up and split up into smaller groups for safety and speed type. While our policy is to provide safe and fun rides as well as keeping people in groups (we don't like folks riding alone for safety reasons) we expect people to have responsibility for choosing the right bunch to ride with. Our ride speeds range from mid 20 to high 30 kilometres per hour.. We ask those who are unfamiliar to group riding to sit at the back in the warm up with someone who lends a hand. Multisport riders are welcome to join and ride with us, but should note that we do not allow the use of Aero-bars in the group. Back to TopWho is Eon D'Ornellas ?Eon D'Ornellas, 4-time Olympian and 2-time National Road Racing Champion is the owner of the very visible D'Ornellas Bike Shop on Lawrence Avenue in the city of Scarborough. This shop caters to all disciplines of competitive and recreational cycling and carries one of the largest inventories of bicycles, clothing and accessories from the leading manufacturers the world over. Eon formed the D'Ornellas Racing Team to promote the sport of Cycling and Bicycle Racing in particular. Eon continues to race and win races and medals at events like the CHIN Picnic, and the Canadian National Championships, where he has twice been on the podium for the Criterium. Back to TopWhen are the club rides ?We run both structured and unstructured rides from May until November. Click on the News page for the latest information. When our official rides begin in April, we offer structured group rides Saturday and Sunday mornings. Less structured rides are Tuesday & Thursday mornings. Saturday group rides begin at 9:00am before the May long weekend and at 8:00am from the end of May until the October Thanksgiving weekend where they switch back to 9:00. Rides are generally 2-3 hours in length. Sunday and Holiday rides always begin at 9:00am. Group size is usually smaller on Sundays and Holidays. Back to TopWhat is a pace line?Pace lines are those neat single file lines you see when watching the Tour de France. and it's a great way to cover a lot of distance fast, with much less energy expended by everyone in the group. The concept is that wind resistance is your enemy (as much as 40% of your energy is spent overcoming wind resistance) and by following someone close behind you can use less energy. Of course the person in front will be doing most of the work so you trade off turns at the front so that every one gets a break. On most of our rides where the roads permit we ride in a double or dual pace line. See Dual Pace Lines for more information. We always rotate our double pace line to the right for safety in traffic. Is it safe? With practice, a pace line is relatively safe. When riders are attentive and practiced, accidents are rare, but the efficiency of riding in a pace line comes at the cost of added risk. Riding in a pace line is not as safe as riding by yourself. If the rider ahead of you (or behind you or on either side for that matter) does something unexpected, you could find yourself on the pavement in an instant. Don't ride in a pace line unless you're willing to assume these risks! There are three basic rules to Pace line riding: 1.
Don't do anything
suddenly! 2.
DON'T DO ANYTHING
SUDDENLY! 3.
DO NOT DO ANYTHING
SUDDENLY!! See Riding in a Group for lots more information Updated: May 1July 08, 2007 |
