Originally Posted by
apricissimus
What if you just don't feel like it?
Or what if you're already going at at good clip, and you don't want to kill yourself for that extra 2 mph or so when the guy behind you (since he's drafting, obviously) can make up that difference much easier than you can?
Or what if the guy behind you is just stronger than you, but is sucking wheel anyway? Or you're really tired from a long ride?
Myriad reasons.
That is pretty much my rational. I ride as hard as I can reasonably sustain on my 30 mile ride home. That I can bump things up a few miles per hour, does not mean I want to waste the energy. I like to keep a steady 20-21 mph pace on the 15 miles of bike trail so that when I hit my 15 miles of downtown traffic, I have the legs under me to sprint from stops to keep up with 25-30 mph traffic and not get squeezed out.
I do draft with fellow centry rider and obviously on club rides, but on a century or club rides, you are all on the same ride, ridng the same distance, and knowingly working together.
Also, just because me in the front may have less of a chance of crashing if wheels touch, I have ZERO wish to make anyone else crash regardless of how rude I think they are.