Originally Posted by
mcours2006
He actually save about 3% by having you draft behind him. You would have disrupted the slight vacuum he created behind him. You both benefited. And that's the great thing about drafting.
As far as etiquette goes, as long as the person you're drafting is okay with it, and you find out by asking, then it's fine.
We had a situation yesterday where my guys (eight of us) were in a line moving at a decent clip on a road that's used by lots of cyclists, some slow some fast. We passed a whole bunch of groups as well as solo riders. At some point during a long stretch between lights I noticed that there were only 5 of us, plus some other guy. Apparently, as I found out later on, he cut into our line in front of three of our riders. I'd have said something right away, if I'd noticed it right away, but by this time 3 of our group had dropped back. Anyway, the dude stayed on our wheel for another couple of km before we hit a light.
Personally, I don't want some random stranger tagging on to our group ride. I don't know the dude, and so I don't trust him. I don't want to ride with someone I don't trust. Period.
Those of you who are comfortable with drafting random strangers, you're kind of playing with fire. Saving a few watts isn't worth the risk in this case.
I would hope someone tagging onto a group ride would introduce themselves.
But it doesn’t take long watching someone ride to determine if they’re worth drafting or not. If they’re riding at about the same speed as me, they’re more than likely of a certain level of cycling competence (I’m no elite racer, but at the same time complete noobs don’t roll along at 18-20 mph) and there are always tell-tale signs to spot the loose cannons.
I was on a century ride once and there was a tandem riding close to our group. The captain was obviously unfamiliar with his vessel, as they couldn’t hold a straight line. But we couldn’t drop them, and they wouldn’t take a hint and pull ahead. We were getting to the point of telling them to give our group space, when they had a loud blowout. “Sorry everyone, you won’t have our draft now” he said, as we all kept rolling and chatting about the bullet we had collectively dodged.