Keeping up with cyclists traveling between 25 and 30 mph is tough. Keeping up with the jargon is even tougher. To help you sort through the mumbo-jumbo, we offer the following:

Attack: The beginning of a breakaway, the burst of speed that a rider or group of riders uses to separate from the pack.

Breakaway: A rider or group of riders that has left the main group behind.

Bridge a gap: To catch a rider or group that has opened a lead.

Cadence: The number of pedal strokes per minute. Also called pedal rpm.

Chasers: Riders who are trying to catch a breakaway.

Circuit race: A multi-lap event on a course usually two miles or more.

Criterium: A multi-lap, one-day race on a closed, short course, typically a mile or less.

Director sportif: The head coach, the boss of the team. He manages the racing tactics, drives the team car and communicates with riders during a race. The most famous in the sport is Johan Bruyneel, who led the U.S. Postal Service and Discovery team to eight of the last nine victories in the Tour de France.

Domestique: French for "servant." A rider who sacrifices individual goals to help a teammate win a stage or race. Duties can include giving up one's bike for another rider, shuttling food and water from the team car to teammates at the front of the pack and catching breakaways.

Draft: To ride closely behind another racer or vehicle, saving energy by using the racer or car as a wind break. Riders who draft can expend 20 to 30 percent less energy than the lead rider.

Drop: To be left behind. A rider who can't keep up with the main group is dropped.

Feed zone: A designated area along the route where riders can grab food and drinks. Riders do not attack in the feed zone.

Field sprint: The most chaotic, exciting type of finish in cycling. A mass sprint at the finish among the main group of riders in a road race. Riders can exceed 50 mph, fan out over the road, even use their shoulders to knock competitors out of the way. That's hockey, baby!

General classification: Referred to as GC, the overall leader board in the race. The rider with the lowest cumulative time is "first on GC."

Lanterne rouge: French for "red light," found on the back of the caboose. The last-place rider in the overall standings, or GC.

Lead out: A move involving two riders from the same team, both of whom are sprinters. The lead rider allows the second to draft until the final 50 or 60 yards. The first rider pulls to the side after launching the second rider to the finishing line.

Musette: The bag of snacks that a rider picks up in the feed zone.

Natural break: Do the math. Five or six hours of riding, and drinking bottle after bottle of fluid. Riders need to stop when nature calls. The unspoken rule is that riders do not attack during a natural break.

Off the back: One or more riders who have failed to keep pace with the main group.

Off the front: One or more riders who have broken away to a lead over the main field.

On the front: Don't be confused. This term describes a rider or team that paces the main field. Sometimes, they pick up the pace to catch riders "off the front." Sometimes, they slow down to allow riders "off the back" a chance to catch up.

Paceline: A formation in which each rider takes a turn setting the pace at the front before pulling off, dropping to the rear position, and riding the others' draft until at the front once again.

Peloton: French for platoon. The main field, or pack, of riders.

Sitting in: A rider who does not take his turn at the front of a pace line. A slacker or wheelsucker.

Sitting up: When the rider is no longer tucked, or riding in the most aerodynamic fashion. Riders in a breakaway also will sit up when the peloton is about to catch them.

Slipstream: The area of least wind resistance behind a rider.

Soigneur: A French term meaning "to treat" or "to care for." Soigneurs provide massages for riders during competition, prepare feed bags and water bottles, and drive team support vehicles.

Team car: Each team has one or two cars that follow the peloton. Driven by the director sportif, the cars carry spare bikes and wheels, a mechanic, food, drinks and medical supplies.

Time trial: A race against the clock. Riders start one at a time, two or three minutes apart. Riders can pass each other on the course but are not allowed to draft off each other. The French call it the Race of Truth because the clock doesn't lie about who is fastest.