Four men arrived at a cave through very different ways, but all of them got there by bike. They’ve just pulled over, all in a line behind one another as is the cyclist’s usual tactic. The line of four helmeted heads bowed in concession to the sky’s teeming. Their form showed much compromise in the weather and after many miles, but this most basic of concepts, the formation in which cyclists run their race, the line called a peloton when leading, or “grupetto” when trailing (as these four, I’m sorry to say, were), remained as a sort of illusion of order as the group ventured further and further down a track which, as it was becoming clearer and clearer, was not the one they ought to be on.
It was a curious thing that all four kept so rigidly to the line, it was certainly not the case that the strategic advantages this offered were noticeable enough through the mud and lightening to motivate it. Although tactical considerations were the last thing on any of those racers’ minds in those moments, a curiosity which simply must be expanded upon is the fact that racing within a peloton not only secures an advantage for those in hot pursuit, but for the leader of the pack as well. Readers will likely have some vague notions around how this structure benefits the followers, wind resistance and such, but the leader too finds comfort enough in the peloton to tolerate his hangers-on. On to the service of the peloton: The leading cyclist, all cyclists in fact, leaves behind himself a turbulent wake as he single-mindedly or semi-distractedly spins his wheels in service of crossing the finish line as fast as he can. This turbulent wake in its turn produces vortices behind the speeding cyclist, which do their part in the sequence by creating a low-pressure area in the space between leading and following bike. The follower then moves into this area and the low-pressure and eddies push him forward and offer what relief they can. Where the advantage to the leader himself comes in is with the filling of these eddies. To rush forward and occupy where otherwise there would be the chaos of a vortex is the follower’s solemn duty in the peloton, stabilising his leader, and in the end meaning that all parties get more distance for the pedalling energy they expend. Chaos, the vortex, does find itself very much reduced when there’s multiple chaps moving through it all together with common purpose and shared understanding. One fellow helps another in this way, the peloton emerging as a deeply decent occurrence in aerodynamics to all involved.
Do you think these facts of nature were why our four stuck by one another even through the torrential conditions? It could be any number of things. Motivations, even among a group as limited in number and variety as these four, fan out like a galaxy. Though this author is confident enough in his assumption that the spirit of competition which is the conceit of any race, even a minor and more casual one as this was, no longer remained a factor in any of these lost and helmeted heads.