Glossary of Bicycling - W

W

wall

A steep incline along a race's course. See also hit the wall.

water carrier

Referred to in French as a 'Domestique'- these are the members of a team who chase down competitors and try to neutralize their efforts and they will often protect their team leader from the wind by surrounding him. When a leader has to get a repair or stop to answer nature his domestiques will stay with him and pace him back up to the peloton. They are called "water carriers" because they are the ones designated to go back to the team car and pick up water bottles and bring them back up to the leader and other members of the team. In Italian the term is "gregario".

winter bike

A racing bicycle adapted for use in winter seasons. Typically these are less expensive and incorporate mudguards, which are rarely present on their modern summer counterparts.

wheelsucker

A rider who sits on the rear wheel of others in a group or on another rider, enjoying the draft but not working.

wheelie

Lifting the front wheel of the bicycle in the air - through force transmitted through the pedals - whilst riding and continuing to ride on only the back wheel. The rider maintains the wheelie by applying pedalstrokes and rear brake in order to balance the bicycle on only the rear wheel.

wipe out

A crash. Can be used as a verb: "This rider wiped out pretty bad on the wet corner."

with

In contexts such as "riding with" and "finished with" used to mean "next to each other or one behind another, close enough to be drafting". Example: "Samuel Dumoulin (Française Des Jeux) and Simon Gerrans (Ag2r-Prevoyance) joined up with the leading four and set about working well together".

WOL

Abbreviation of wide outside lane. An outside lane on a roadway that is wide enough to be safely shared side-by-side by a bicycle and motor vehicle. The road may be marked with partial lane markings to designate the portion of the lane to be used by bicycles.

work

To work is to do "turns on the front", to aid a group of riders by sharing the workload of working against air resistance by "pulling on the front" of the group. Similar to pull. Often used expressively in combination with other expressions: e.g. "He hasn't done any work all day, he has just sat on the breakaway." Working is used in many contexts in the peloton and road racing.