Cycling in a group equips each rider with a role to play in communicating with his/her neighbour at their front, rear or side. Riding at the front of the pack, i'm mindful to issue a hand signal early to my teammates to slow down upon reaching a red light. This signal is then indicated backwards to everyone else in the group, bringing everyone to a gradual and safe halt.
Furthermore, being in the front also means that i'm the first to see hazards such as potholes on the road. Again, signalling early by pointing to the pothole and shouting "pothole" to the person directly behind me helps translate the message down effectively to the group.
At the back of a group, the responsibility to communicate to the front is equally important. In the presence of any oncoming large vehicle from the rear, my response would be to shout "Car! Back!", informing riders in the front of the impending situation without them having to turn and look back.
Reflecting upon this example, it becomes clear to me how the model of the communication process is structured; source-encoding-channel-decoding-receiver becomes apparent. The impetus falls upon everyone in the group to effectively communicate with each other whilst training hard at the same time to ensure that collisions and hazards are avoided, maximizing the cycling experience.
