The Breakaway

“Come on mate, want to chop off together?”

That’s what someone actually said to me on a mid-week social ride. I looked at him like he’d lost the plot. It was supposed to be a nice, easy spin. But he’d clearly got it into his head that we were in the professional peloton.

What he meant was that he wanted the two of us to work together to “breakaway” – to push ahead of the main group and ride out front on our own.

If you’re not a cyclist, you might not know what a breakaway is. But the concept will feel very familiar if you’ve ever had to make a bold move at work while everyone else seemed content to stay where they were.

What Exactly Is a Breakaway?

In cycling, the breakaway is this uniquely odd phenomenon that happens in most races. One or more riders suddenly puts a spurt on, breaks away from the peloton, and rides out front.

Usually, they’re trying to surprise the group, create some sort of strategic advantage, and cross their fingers that they can stay out front all day – beating the big peloton back to the finish.

Breakaways bring excitement and intrigue to a race. Without them, it really is just 150 riders all in one big group for four hours, which even the most die-hard fan finds a little bit tedious.

But here’s the thing about breakaways that most people miss: they’re not acts of lone heroism. A successful breakaway depends on the riders in it working together. Sharing the effort. Taking turns at the front. Sheltering each other from the wind. It’s a calculated risk, but it’s a shared risk.

The Comfortable Choice

Back to that mid-week ride. My first reaction when he asked me to chop off was, honestly, “urgh.”

I’d deliberately picked the slower group that day. I wasn’t feeling great and I just wanted a comfortable ride. No pressure, no suffering, just turn the legs over and have a chat.

But that was also a choice I’d been making for several weeks. And I knew – in that honest part of your brain that you try to ignore – that sitting in a nice, safe group every week wasn’t going to make me any faster or stronger. It was just going to keep me exactly where I was.

Sound familiar?

I think most of us have been there, whether on a bike or in our careers. We know the comfortable group. We know the rhythm. We know nobody’s going to ask too much of us if we just stay where we are. And for a while, that’s absolutely fine. We all need recovery days.

The problem is when “for a while” quietly turns into “always.”

Tightening Up the Shoes

So I tightened up my shoes and went with him.

We did our own little two-person time trial for the rest of the session. It was hard. Properly hard. But it helped me build pace that I would never have found sitting in the bunch.

And the key thing? I didn’t do it alone. He was there, sharing the effort, taking his turn on the front, keeping the pace when I was struggling. That’s what made it work. If he’d just ridden off and left me to chase, I’d have been back in the main group within five minutes.

What I took from it was simple but important. It’s okay to have days where you sit with the group and enjoy the social ride. We all need those. But if you actually want to improve – if you want to grow, to get stronger, to find out what you’re capable of – at some point you need to take the risk and ride with someone who pushes you.

You need to break away from what’s comfortable.

What This Means for Leaders

I think leadership works the same way.

It’s easy to stay with the pack. It feels safe. You know the expectations, you know the pace, and nobody’s going to question you for keeping things steady. But if you’re reading this and feeling that quiet tension – the one between where you are and where you know you could be – then you already know that staying comfortable isn’t the same as being fulfilled.

The leaders I work with who make real progress are the ones who discover that they’re ready to push on, even when they’re not entirely sure they’ve got the legs for it. They’re the ones who say “I don’t know exactly where this goes, but I know I can’t stay here.”

And just like a breakaway in cycling, they don’t do it alone. It works because someone else is there sharing the effort, taking a turn on the front, keeping the pace when things get tough. Not telling them what to do. Not riding off ahead. Just riding alongside.

Where Are You Sitting Right Now?

Maybe you’re in a comfortable group and that’s exactly where you need to be right now. That’s fine. There’s no shame in a recovery ride.

But if you’re starting to feel that itch – the one that says the pace isn’t enough, that you’ve been sitting in for too long, that you’re ready to find out what happens when you push on – then maybe it’s time to tighten up the shoes.

That’s what I do. I ride alongside leaders when they’re ready to break away from what’s comfortable. Not with a prescriptive plan or a set of frameworks. Just as a thinking partner who’ll share the effort and help you find the pace you didn’t know you had.

If that sounds like what you need, get in touch. I’d love to hear where you’re at.

And sometimes? I’m the one at the back, taking the photo.