To build confidence in a pace line, start by staying one bike length from the rider in front, then gradually close the gap as your experience and ability increase. Once you can ride comfortably within a wheel's length, you’ll be getting most of the benefit of drafting.

Don't stare at the rear wheel you're following in a pace line.  Let your peripheral vision keep tabs while you look a couple of riders ahead to see what they are doing. Then you’ll be prepared if something happens to make them veer or change speed. Remember a pace line is like a Slinky. What happens at the front quickly flows to the back.

Staying with the Slinky concept a little longer, regulate your speed to be fairly constant by varying pressure on the pedals to keep a constant distance behind the rider ahead.  Avoid pedaling hard and then having to coast because you're about to run over the rider in front of you. That sort of "all on", "all off" pedaling just confuses the riders behind you.

For safety, don't brake in a pace line. Doing so will slow you too much, open a gap, and possibly cause a dangerous chain reaction. Instead, if you begin to overtake the rider in front, ease your pedal pressure, sit up to catch more wind, or move out to the side a bit. Once you’ve lost enough speed, tuck back in line and smoothly resume pedaling.

Don't overlap someone’s rear wheel. If that rider should veer and hit your front wheel even lightly, you could lose control and crash. (This happened to me as a result of the rider in front of me braking, and me not being attentive enough to react in time…Bob)

Communication is the key to safe group rides. When you’re at the front, make sure everyone knows of approaching turns, stops, and hazards by calling them out loud and clear, or using hand signals for turns, slowing, and pointing to holes or objects of concern in the road.

If there is any possibility that there is someone drafting behind you, assume there is and follow all of these rules.  Sometimes you think you’ve pulled out in front after a sprint or going up a hill, only to find that one or more riders are still right there with you.

When taking the lead position in a pace line, don't accelerate. Maintain the same speed as when drafting so you don't cause gaps to open between riders. Also, don’t slow the pace significantly. If you can't maintain the pace for long, make your turn in the front short. Everyone understands that every pace line has riders of varying strengths in it. Take your pull at the front, but not for so long that you burn out and get dropped. That doesn't help anyone.

When you're leading a pace line up a hill, keep your cadence and pedal pressure constant by shifting to a lower gear.  Standing and jamming is dangerous to the riders behind you.

When it’s time to pull off the front, signal to the rider behind you that you’re pulling off, so he knows that you’re not just avoiding a hole in the pavement or losing your concentration, but that he should move up to take the lead, while you drift to the back of the group.