Originally Posted by
Flimflam
My usual deal with other bike commuters is just a silent pass, if necessary I'll say something, but more often than not it seems to ensure confusion and unsteadiness. If someone looks to be particularly wobbly/inexperienced, I'll pass by taking the full traffic lane giving them ample space, or I'll just wait behind them (with a lot of room) so I don't pressure/scare them.
Same here. If I have to alert anyone to my pass in any way, I ring my bell as I approach (usually that's on an MUP when there are five people walking abreast blocking the whole damn path). On the road, people expect to be passed all the time; if not by a fellow cyclist, then by cars. So as long as I don't buzz people (which I don't), I have no problems.
I don't talk to bike commuters just because they're bike commuters. Do you come up to pedestrians and start up a chat because, hey, you're both pedestrians and walking in the same direction? Cycling, especially commuting, is not really different.
Infact, I'd even go as far as to say drafting in most of my city riding is basically useless.
+1. Just because you consider yourself a roadie, don't expect other commuters to understand the roadie ways. Most won't draft, and probably don't even know what it is, let alone how to do it. Because, unless they're roadies too, they have no reason to do it on their commute: as others pointed out, it's both useless and dangerous, especially if you don't know the other cyclist and thus can't fully trust his technique.