Watch how a cyclist almost gets cleaned up by a car while overtaking a bunch. Doing things like this gives cyclists a bad name. In this bunch riding training video, we show the wrong and right way to overtake a cycling bunch and avoid upsetting people driving cars and keeping everyone in the bunch safe.

Here is a piece of video I managed to capture on my Go-Pro.  It was taken on a Tuesday morning on the North Road Ride (NRR) and we have just come through Blackrock.  We’re sitting on somewhere between 42-45 kilometers an hour.  I’m just sitting in the bunch and we’ve got about seven or eight people at the front rolling turns and we have a gatekeeper. Then I am sitting about four to five bike lengths back from the rolling turns. So, I am sort of fairly close to the head of the bunch.

So I’ll show you what I’ve managed to capture.  And this is the muppet move of the day. So here we go, here he is. He just screams past the side of the bunch and you will see this car, it has to break pretty heavily now. Now it’s pretty daunting for people driving cars going past these fast bunches.  It’s compounded by random riders just jumping out without looking and doing crazy things like that.

Now, here’s a piece of video footage on how to do it properly.  It was actually taken a couple of minutes later.  So, here we go.  This guy is coming in.  You will notice that he hasn’t gone onto the other side of the other lane to be able to do this maneuver.  He has indicated to come in.  So I know that he is going to drop into that slot and I have left him a bit of room. He is all good, nice and comfortable and he has obviously planned this move.

He is thinking, yep, I am going to wait for the right opportunity and here we go.  He is just going to glance to the right to check that there are no cars coming, yep quick glance, and then he screams up the bunch.  You notice that he tries to keep as much as possible in that left-hand lane.  Now, obviously, he is just on that white line.  Nice and smooth.  Fantastic move.  That is how you do it properly.  Alright, so if you are ever overtaking bunches, now you know how to do it.

Where to next

We have put together an online video bunch riding masterclass course that covers off what we believe to be the fifteen essential bunch riding skills. These fifteen modules will help you quickly get up to speed and give you a much better understanding of the way that a bunch operates. That way you’ll be able to do the right thing while riding in your local bunch and you’ll also be able to confidentially ride with other riders from all around the world you don’t even know. And, you’ll be able to help keep you and your fellow cyclists upright and safe. Each of the fifteen video modules includes the relevant instructions and specific exercises you can do out on the road to help you improve your bunch riding skills and keep it safe. You can download and keep all fifteen modules in this masterclass. No further subscriptions are required. I’m sure that you will get a lot out of this online video masterclass course and be riding in bunches safely, smoother and with more confidence. Click here to check it out.

Other articles of interest

Tips on cycle bunch riding

Pacelines, overlapping wheels and aerobars, what could possibly go wrong…

How to become a powerful bunch rider

Bunch riding tips that will help you avoid an accident