Holding your line…

The term ‘hold your line’ in cycling is most misinterpreted one liner in the rule book.

In cycling and in life, holding your line simply means “…be predictable and stay in your allocated spot”

It is not to be confused with “picking your line”. They are two completely different things.

Only the guys who are in front get to pick their lines. They get to pick the easiest and most economical route in the race – the reward for being the ones doing the work in front of all those in their slipstream. It is much the same in life.

So when you are tucked into the middle of a peloton, the safest choice (for everyone concerned) is to maintain your spot in the pecking order. If the guy in front of you goes wide into the corner, you do the same – because there is sure to be someone else either beside you or behind you who will occupy the inner lines. Trying to pick a better line into the corner is dangerous to you and your fellow riders.

“Very restrictive…”you may say. But that is the price to pay for safety.

If you want to pick your line, then get to the front. There, you can ride on any part of the road you like.

Predictability and holding your spot in the pecking order is the rule in life that we are better at obeying. Nobody tells you to ‘hold your line’ at the start of your life – and hardly anyone shouts that at you as you race through the roads of your life journey. But somehow, we get to apply this rule to our lives as if by natural instinct.

My father is a farmer and he did that for most of his life. He brought up a family and did the things that many men of his generation did. He worked harder than most and got justly rewarded. But he held his line (and continues to do so) and survives to tell the tale.

He is typical of a lot of us. And I also held my line for a long time. It was safe. It produced results and those beside me and behind me had confidence in me. It was all about predictability.

If you want to get home in one piece after a Sunday’s racing, then holding the line is an excellent rule to follow. If you want tomorrow in your life to be like it is today, then hold your line.

…But what if you want to “pick your line” in your life?

As in the peloton, it depends on where you are.

If you are strong (and mad) enough to be at the front, that you can take your pick. Bill Gates can chose to ‘part time’ at Microsoft and spend the rest of his time with Melinda on the Gates foundation. Richard Branson does his “space tourism” thing as Virgin flies on Auto pilot.

… But if I wanted to be the Prime Minister of Australia, It would cause chaos for those around me.

Actually, this is a bad example because I don’t really want to be the Prime Minister.

But I do want to be able to choose some of the things that I do in my life – rather than be totally restricted. And as in racing, there are ways that you can have the freedom to choose in life.

I do spend some periods (usually quite briefly) at the front of the peloton where I can pick my line. It does need some strategy, hard work and some pain – but it does open up another world of freedom.

And it is great fun – in a “FAR OUT!” sort of way.

 PS.  there are always exceptions and you don’t actually get to pick your line even when you are in front – the condition, camber and width of the road combined with the wind, your bike handling skills and many other things will make you pick a certain line. But more on this another day…

What exactly is “Hold Your Line”? – repeat and update May 2013

At the start of every race, the commissaire instructs all riders to “hold your line”. But do we all know what it means?

Since we all drive, the best analogy I can think of is the multilane round-a-bout. We all know that we need to pick a lane to be in as we enter the round-a-bout ….and more importantly to stay in it until we exit. I know that it is bloody dangerous to change lanes in the middle of a busy round-a-bout, and I don’t remember ever trying it!

This is what ‘holding your line’ is all about.

Imagine you have got your own lane as you dive into that corner with your mates on your sides. If you picked the outside lane, stay there. If you are on the inside, stay hugging the inside edge of the track. If you are in the middle, you are relying on your mate on your inside and outside to stay in their own lanes. This will give you space to stay in the middle.

So, if the peloton is bunched up, it is critical that you maintain your position relative to everyone else.

Many riders mistake ‘holding your line’ with ‘picking your line’. Many of us have seen video footage of the professional racers descending mountains. They take the best line on the road to maintain their speed. This means going in tight and coming out wide. They make full use of the width of the road. This is ‘picking your line’.

The only time you can pick your line is when you are ‘out on a limb’ by yourself. If the pace is fast and you are out the front pushing the pain barrier (with the rest struggling to hold your wheel behind you), then you are entitled to ‘pick your line’. You have earned it.

This is exactly what happens in life. Many of us are stuck in traffic, stuck in our jobs, friendship circles, regular routines, and “…same shit – different day” living. And we ask why?

Well, if you are in the middle of the bunch, you have created a position for yourself. And that is where you will stay. You know that if you deviate, something bad will happen. So, you just stay there – hoping that those around you will also hold their positions. You stay in the delusion of safety in numbers.

We start life and are taught to blend in. We follow the TV, the laws of the state and the person in front of us. Then we become another number in the census count – just another human ‘holding their line’ in the game of life.

As in our racing, the only way that you can get out there and dictate your terms in your life, is when you are brave enough to hammer it out in front. Out on the leading edge, you are entitled to pick the line that suits you best. You are not boxed-in.  Yes, there is pain and perhaps the shame of blowing up and getting dropped. That is why we like the comfort zone of our ‘spot’ amongst the majority.

In the bunch – you only have one choice. Hold your line.

Out in front, you have all the choices. You are given the right to pick your own line.