Drafting or not during triainig rides? (Page 2)

Jr. did 8 sessions this Spring, kind of the same principal as the overspeed treadmill training he did......pure gold. 

25 years ago the training group I was in did motor pacing about once a month.  There were usually 6-8 of us behind the bike.  It was a hoot.

Yeah, it's fun to go so fast too!

Now that we've derailled the thread, kind of...

Motorpacing usually goes like this for me. Okay, this pace feels okay, then I keep moving up as others pull off the bike. Then I'm second wheel behind the bike and it feels pretty good, but I have to concentrate to make sure I use the other riders draft to my advantage and not get gapped when he pulls of the bike. Then it feels awesome being behind the bike. Are we really going 50? I could ride at this pace all day. Then it's my turn to pull off and I'm like, damn, do I really have to speed up to pass the bike and pull off, damn how am I going to do this. Okay, pulled off and got back on the group. Now it's tough and I wonder if I can maintain 50. I can't wait to be back behind the bike.

Absolutely.....it's the "pulling off of the bike", and then not losing the line/bike, where the real work comes....it's almost frantic, as you describe.  Most people have no idea how fast you can actually ride in that vacuum of air......but your legs do.   As I've said before, Jr. rides a surprisingly small amount of miles compared to what the general "knowledge" calls for to be able to ride at the level he's at......but NEARLY  every single workout is tailored to build power. (almost always hard, once in a while easy?  HA!! )  Now, if only handling skills could be learned as easily. LOL

Originally posted by JoelO Yeh, I've been dropped when I pulled a little to long with the "A" group. It's still a work in progress for me knowing when to cycle out and still catch the last wheel. I know the answer is shorter pulls..I'll learn and/or get stronger while I'm figuring it out.

You'll do both, and you'll be a better cyclist because of it.