seosamh

so does anybody think drafting is dangerous? i'm unsure after reading this thread?

max-a-mill

clearly drafting is only bad if you are not taking on your fellow commuter in an epic bloody battle to the death....

seriously though; i enjoy the game, some don't, once you have commuted for a while you can quickly tell who is who. if you play, eventually you WILL get your ass handed to you

sorry back on topic; i'd never draft someone i don't know.

seosamh

aye tbh this is it, i'm used to being on trails or just really riding about with few or no bikes locally so, i wouldn't say cycling on the streets is new to me because it's not, just there are more cyclists about on my work route, so it's a novelty for the timebeing, finding out new things about cycling..as for me getting my arse handed to me, aye i've no doubt about it! to the death!!

John Hunt

I don't mind someone drafting behind me- I actually get a kick out of thinking I'm helping someone along. I ran into one guy who definitely thinks differently.

I saw him up ahead on the way home from work one day and decided to catch him. A couple of minutes passed while I waited for traffic to let up enough to pull up beside him and have a friendly commuter-to-commuter conversation. Well, he evidently thought he was doing me a great service and accused me of drafting as he swerved into the middle of the road and then stood up and sped off!

After the shock of being the recipient of such rude behavior, I pondered the situation and almost laughed when I considered the fact that we were climbing a long grade and probably didn't exceed 10 mph. Not what I'd call a serious drafting advantage..........

ItsJustMe

According to the stuff I've read, having someone drafting you should make your work EASIER. Not as much easier as what he's getting, but by being there he's reducing tail turbulence. I wouldn't care if people are back there all day, except I don't maintain a steady enough speed to have them very close. Therefore if they're trying to stay too close, I guess I'd want them to go away for that reason.

Honestly it hasn't come up. In nearly 13,000 miles, I've had about a dozen cyclists either pass or be passed by me, and only a couple of times have they been going about the same speed, and none of them tried to get closer than about 6 feet.

SDRider

I don't mind if someone hops on my wheel for a pull as long as they are competent and don't mind returning the favor.

TRaffic Jammer

Just this morning, in a heavy headwind I came across a gent on his SS MTB. He was riding a nice solid straight line, seemed properly geared out (not fred or OCP but for the weather), so I assessed him as someone I could get behind safely. I gave him a foot-ish. When we got to our first red I said hi nice weather, -25C We exchanged some pleasantries then I said OK my turn buddy... took off ahead and let him tuck in behind, he was off to the side and even closer than I was so he felt safe with me as well.

Just a bit of conversation can make it all the much better. Just tucking in however, can be dangerous if the person in front is squirrelly, he slaps on the breaks can you stop/avoid?

SO... drafting CAN be dangerous to the uninitiated/inexperienced, but it can be an awesome tool to those comfortable doing it.

madfiNch

I've never tried drafting anybody before. If I can catch up to someone, I usually just pass them. I imagine I'd be a bad person to draft behind for a couple of reasons:
1) I stop. Suddenly. For various reasons - like when I see a kitty that I have to pet, for example. It drives my boyfriend crazy. But he still prefers to ride behind me..
2) If a stranger was really close behind me, I'd freak. I'm way too paranoid, and I'd just pull over and let them pass.

StephenH

"Drafting also helps the guy out in front...Suprisingly drafting not only helps the bicyclist following the leader, but the lead cyclist gains an advantage as well."

"Oh, even at 10 feet back I notice how much easier it is to pedal to maintain a higher speed."

I know I've seen some online information that conflicts with the statements above (IE, wind tunnel tests and the like, not random opinions)- don't have a clue which is right, though.

JanMM

OK. Back to the original post: Please translate " knocked ma pan in doing it! "

ItsJustMe

Heh heh

CliftonGK1

I don't usually draft anyone, but I will allow people that I pass to hook on for a pull. When I'm on my way home and I pass someone, especially if the headwind is bad, I'll tell the person "Feel free to latch on." Riding behind me is like riding behind a truck (with slightly fewer emissions, depending on lunch) so most people hook on for the few miles until I turn off at my apartment.

BigDaddyPete

I don't mind being drafted, but I can't stand when someone pulls in behind me without announcing their presence. When I look over my shoulder to check traffic and there's a bike there, it kinda freaks me out.

syn0n

I've never been drafted on the bike. It's not that I'm going that slowly, it just seems to be pretty offensive here. On the MUP, friends/groups draft each other, but other than that, strangers just put the hammer down and pass. Then again, a lot of these guys and gals are weekend warrior types, not necessarily transportational cyclists, so there's a bit of competitiveness there.

I can say that I hate it when people draft me in the car. I had a motorcyclist latch on to me on a 55mph road, driving into a ~30mph wind. I get why he did it, but I wasn't comfortable having the guy maybe five feet from my bumper at the speed. He stuck there for ten miles before he exited. It was a bit stressful because I knew if I had to do anything suddenly, he'd probably wipe.

I don't think I'd want to be drafted on the bike for that reason. But more importantly, I don't want to get FUBAR if the guy hits me.

barndoor

I guess I'm in the same boat as Clifton....

I like to do centuries....on the flat ones I'll often look back and see a bunch of people drafting me. I don't mind one bit as I'm not racing, I'm just going as hard as I can without going anerobic.....if someone wants to sit in, that doesn't bother me one bit....just be careful not to get too close, you are drafting at your own risk....

I'll always ask for permission if I need to draft someone....such as the case in last years Seagull century....coming out of the last rest stop I realized that I'd gone a bit too hard up to that point , so I caught up with a group of about 10-11 riders and asked for permission and they were more than happy to let me sit in....some of 'em said they rode my wheel for a good part early in the ride

What goes around, comes around.....as they say.

I hardly ever even see another cyclist on my commute....once in a while I'll pass someone going in the other direction and on the other side of the highway....but I've never come up on another commuter....and a 27 mile one way commute is a lonnnng way.

ax0n

Drafting does not help the person in front much or at all. They're baffling the air for you, which means that they have to ride as hard as they usually do and those behind the lead guy don't have to ride as hard. While this doesn't hurt the rider out front at all, it's kind of cheap and underhanded.

The proper response when pulling up behind someone is to ask if you can draft for a bit. After a while, ask if they want you to pull (move to the front) for a while. This allows YOU to be the barn door for a bit while they get a bit of a rest. There's a reason that you see someone peel off the front of a paceline and move to the back every so often. Rotating through riders at the front gives everyone the honor of pulling.

SDRider

Agreed. There is definitely zero advantage to the rider at the front.

tjspiel

I had somebody drafting me once on my way to work last summer. He didn't bother to ask and I found it really rude. As I exited the bikeway he said "Thanks" on his way by so he wasn't a total a*s, just a tad bit presumptuous for my liking.

On my commute I wouldn't likely draft somebody else just because it's training for me as well as transportation. I could maybe see it if there's a nasty headwind or something, but I wouldn't do so without asking and it's highly unlikely I would ask somebody I didn't know.

bobcrotch

How people get upset by other drafting on them is beyond me. If anything I would take it as a compliment because you're setting the pace and doing the hard work while they're just reaping the rewards.

I've not had the chance to draft any strangers really. The only time I've ever really tried was following an old dude on a carbon road bike from a stop light. His pace was waay too slow so I just passed him and gave him a wave. He was having as much fun as I was just going slower =)

Really the only people I see 'commuting' are homeless folks and kids where I live. Theres only a 1 other guy who commutes regularly from what I know at the office. Drafting the homeless is not only counter productive, it can also be hazardous. I'm still considering the morals involved with propositioning them some kind of trade for one of their trailers.

TRaffic Jammer

^^ The reason I'd get ticked at being closely drafted by someone who's skills I haven't assessed at all, is that I don;t need to be slammed into if I touch the brakes. I hav eno issue with drafting per say but you need lto be able to trust that the other individual you are riding in such close proximity with (in traffic) isn't a wobbler,suddenly going to brake unreasonably, etc etc. Look how much difficultly teams have maintaining formation in a TTT, and those are pros. Some kook 6 inches behind me isn't going to out me at ease, some of my friends I'll trust with an overlap.

Often on the way home if I come up on a lone rider, when I pass I'll motion to them to cling on and drag along if they are into it. This'll bein the night time with waaaay less traffic so crashing isn't as deadly as during rush hour. Drafting at rush hour? Shake and Break time.

I love this!
There's a new sig in there!!!

tjspiel

It's not the drafting itself that I have a problem with. It's somebody you don't know from Adam deciding its OK to ride inches away from YOUR bike without announcing their intentions or that they're even there. When I'm commuting, I'm in defensive riding mode. Generally, I want some space between me and any other vehicle.

If I'm on a bikeway or trail and somebody who looks like they know what they're doing asks, then no problem.

CliftonGK1

Findlay Triathlon, 1991, Findlay Ohio. On an unsupervised back stretch of the course a guy latched onto my wheel (illegal in tri's) and wouldn't get the hell off. He misjudged how I was going to take a corner and bumped my back wheel going into a turn.
I saw pavement, tires and sky at the same time, then pavement again. The first bounce exploded my helmet as I landed on my head and right-upper back. That's when my bike finally unclipped from me, and on the second landing I skewered myself in a few places as I landed on broken fragments from my bike. I got 2nd degree burns on much of my back, arse and legs as I laid in the middle of the blacktop waiting for the ambulance. It took 6 hours in the emergency room to scrub and pick all the gravel out of my wounds. It took 18 stitches to close up all the punctures, and I still have scars from it 17 years later.

I will punch somebody in the neck for drafting me uninvited.

Brian T

I commute with another rider, 22 miles r/t. we draft of each other most of the time.
I'm always game for a chase or dragrace. I mean sh$t, why not? It's fun!

tjspiel

Ouch. My only racing experience has been in Triathlons where drafting is a no-no. I've never done any serious group rides either so drafting is something I've done only informally while riding with a friend.

I'm sure if one does group rides all the time they probably see drafting as a normal part of cycling but you can't assume some random commuter on the street has any experience with it or will be comfortable with it, even if they look like a roadie.