Road Cycling - a freeloading oaf

We've had a number of threads before about cyclists who don't wave or say hello or draft off you uninvited. We haven't vented on this in a while, so here goes.

I was in the final quarter of a 40 mile, fairly high intensity, ride today. I was coming down a short hill toward a traffic signal. I could see that I was going to make it through the signal easily so I put on some speed. Shortly thereafter I passed another cyclist. As I passed, I said hello. There was no response from him, not even a little wave or a smile. By that time, I was already starting up a 2 mile climb that has a couple of steep sections, but is a little bit challenging for its length rather than incline. The other rider caught up to me and was drafting off me for the 2 miles up and the nearly 3 miles down. When we hit a flatter area, he started pulling ahead, so I thought he would pull for a while. Not on your life. As he was on my left, I looked over and smiled, but he was looking straight ahead and would not acknowledge my presence. Then he put on some speed and dropped me. I guess he was far too superior to deign to say hello to me.

In the past, I did not understand why a number of forum members don't like other cyclists drafting off them uninvited. Now I do. Nobody likes to be used by someone, especially by a freeloading oaf.

Rich

I’m sort of a mixed about the acknowledgements. I’ll always make an oblivious nod to riders I’m passing or see on the other side, but I rarely speak (with the exception of “on your left”) because I’m pretty shy. On Saturdays around here there are a lot of impromptu groups formed with rarely any communication between the riders. Sometimes people will pull, sometimes they don’t. I personally don’t mind if someone drafts me uninvited since I ride alone 99% of the time. But if we come to a stop sign/light and they don’t at least say hello I get a little annoyed. Yeah.. that’s my rambling.

There are riders who if they thought they were the last person in the world, wouldn't acknowledge you if you pulled up next to them.

I've had this daydream where I come upon one of these persons and they happen to be having some techincal problems. I just keep going.

There is this one guy I see all the time. He has never returned a hello, hi, how ya doin', anything! I've kind of made it my personal goal to get him to respond. Now every time he ignores me after I say hi, I yell, "Have a great day", as loud as I can. :D I'll get him eventually.

Acknowledgment is one thing, but drafting is something else, most definitely.

I couldn't care less if someone waves or nods or says hello. However, if they draft,they'd better acknowledge me in some way, since they never asked. I hate pulling someone who's quietly sneaking up behind me- it sucks. Now, when it happens, I slow down to like 6 miles per hour until they get tired of schlepping behind me and take off. Now, if I notice someone is drafting, and I turn and they ask for a pull, I got no problems- I'll pull until I'm too tired to think straight... all you gotta do is ask. But if you're just not asking, sitting on my wheel, not acknowledging me, then you're in for the slowest pull you've ever encountered.... :lol:

Koffee

That would really irk me if someone rode my wheel, especially without even letting me know!

If you can't say "hi", stay off my wheel.

If you ride my wheel, and pull ahead of me, then it's my turn to draft.

If you can't take a turn at the front, that's okay. Just be sure to say "hi."

ten years ago every rider i saw waved said hello and would ride with you for a quick chat be it for 5 seconds or 5 minutes. Nowadays i find it hard to get a return wave off of other riders, i think its a general reflection on society today. Sad that really.

As for getting upset because someone drafted off of you and/or wasnt courteous, who really cares i just keep smiling and peddling knowing that your doing what you love and your a decent person, plenty of us out there that wont ignore you and will be happy to share a patch of road for a while.

Cheers

If someone's on your wheel, just drop them. Problem solved.

10 years ago there were still jergoffs on road bikes, at least where I lived. As I've said in threads like this before, wheelsuckers = bad. But, wheelsuckers < saddle sores. I hate saddle sores.

After reading these posts (and since I mostly ride alone), is the concern of this thread that the "pulling" rider must work harder to pull a drafting rider? Or is it more the blasted lack of consideration that a drafter has taken a benefit w/o acknowledging it?

IMO, the lack of communication is bad, b/c the cycling world is small and isolated enough that we ought to be looking out for each other, even in small gestures. Making someone work harder would be even worse.

Well, I really believe that one should not draft someone without asking permission. When someone is on my wheel, I modify my riding to take into account that they are back there. If I don't know they are there, there could be an accident. Drafting without asking is just nuts.

I do have a fond memory of an example of this. I was riding with a group of friends and we had a paceline going. This woman joined us without asking. Well that is OK because once you have a group, there is a certain bit of anonymity. I was behind her in the rotation. When she got up front, she put on a surge and the others got dropped. I told her that we were dropping the others and she replied "Keep up or shut up!". "Oh so this is how we play this game?", I thought. So she kept pulling and the rest caught back up. When she rotated out, I put on the speed to be sure that she would not catch the back of the line and we never saw her again. I tend to think of pacelines as cooperation but hereabouts they tend to be as much about competition as anything else.

Yeah, pacelines usually turn into pissing contests unless it's a cohesive group. There were two group rides during the week that I did when I was off of the Rez. Tuesday was a flat route that the Cat 3 boys hammered on and everyone tried to keep up. Thursday was more hills, and the dynamic was very different. But, everyone knows what they're getting in to and one person can't change the dynamic. If someone goes off the front at the wrong time (as determined by the group), they'll get caught and dropped faster than a lonely Frenchman on a breakaway.

I ride alone a lot, but the route I take has a lot of riders from the city some times they speak sometimes they don’t. One day I hear gears being changed behind me. I look back and it’s a big group of riders, all dress the same. Not knowing how long they been back there, I slow down a little, the lead rider “says passing you”. The whole group passes me. The last rider gives me hand signals for all the hazards on the road so I stay with them. About two miles later the lead rider is now behind me. Still no one said a word. About ten miles Later I’m in the front. Still no one said a word. … It seems everyone on this ride is in there own zone. And it’s about the ride. Just ride don’t let the small stuff get to you…

K

Here are just a few more thoughts in response to some ideas that have come up.

To Joe S' questions, I am not concerned about how hard I have to work. I just don't like having to think about someone behind me on a long climb, if it is someone I don't know or care about. If I move left to avoid glass, etc., I had to think about his position. It was only after he dropped me that I resented his presence. For him, I was someone to use to take it easy on a long climb and then show his disdain for me by sprinting away from me as soon as he was suitably rested.

He really reminded me of the some of the jerks I encounter in the water. I like to surf alone in remote breaks, just to avoid all the aggro crap at some of the more crowded breaks. I'll take the threat of sharks over dealing with human jerks.

The good thing is that I find this kind of behavior rare among cyclists. There is a lot of room on the road, so there's no reason to bug someone. Unless, of course, one is an anti-social lamprey who just enjoys giving a victim a hard time.

Rich