Carbonfiberboy 

Here's how it really goes in the PNW on the open road. I'm riding along through the mist and gradually a yellow jacket appears in the distance. I gradually close the gap over a period of several minutes until I'm on their wheel, where I rest a bit and then go around. They don't follow and gradually disappear into the mist behind me. Or the same thing happens with a rider behind me and if we're climbing, gradually disappears into the mist in front of me. On the flat, I might draft or might not. I never draft someone I catch for more than a minute or two. Why would I do that? Same thing with those who overtake me - they go around. But if it's a paceline with only 1-2 mile/hr speed advantage, I might latch on. So this whole thing with people who appear out of nowhere to draft your gf . . . sure pepper spray 'em. That's the response isn't it? Maybe they'll go down and get badly injured, how wonderful! No one I've ever been behind has said anything about it, one way or the other. Why would they do that? So like she's going to turn around and say, "Oh nice, please sit my wheel if you would!" That's in some other reality, not this one. In the real world, no one ever says anything. We converse with our bikes, not our mouths. Which brings up a nice point: you don't really know someone until you've ridden with them because the bike brings out the real person. One can hide behind words but not from one's bike.

So I'm going to come up on someone and they're going to break their rhythm and accelerate away from me, only to find me back on their wheel after a while? Or they're going to slow down so I go around them, which I would have done anyway? Their problem, not mine. People maintain their pace. That's the reason it's their pace - it's the pace they want to ride. When a single rider passes, it's normal to come up and accelerate to reduce the exposure time to traffic. So when they sit back down, they're maybe 20' ahead. I'll let 'em go. No point burning matches to catch a faster rider who'll drop me anyway when the road tilts up. If they wanted me on, they would have dropped in right in front of me and we could have traded pulls for a while. That happens, too. We talk with our bikes.

RoadKill

Why worry about a wheelsucker? I've never seen one take out the guy in front, only seen them take out themselves and the people behind. You have virtually zero risk in what he is doing, enjoy your ride instead of fuming about the possibility this guy might hurt himself.

CliffordK

I do a lot of utility cycling.

pull a trailer, and it is unlikely anybody will try to draft you.

noisebeam

I drafted a tweaker couple about a year ago, lady sitting in the utility trailer pulled by lawnmower bike. She was smoking something out of a glass pipe and screaming words of encouragement to me to keep up. It made my day.

rgconner

Not to mention I ride that same trail, there is a 15mph recommended max MPH.

Sure we all ignore it, but going the speed limit is one way to do it, or never pass when catch him. Take a break.

Personally I "wheel suck" and get "Wheel sucked" all the time. It is a beautiful trail, look at the trees and birds for a little till your blood pressure drops.

Otherwise, your name might end up on a bench, telling the world how much you loved riding the trail while you were alive.

Colnago Mixte

It just really bothers me, that some innocent person somewhere, right at this very moment, is blissfully riding along and getting their wheel sucked, and they might not even know it.

This wheel sucking stuff has gotten so bad that truthfully, I'm about ready to give up cycling and give up the sport entirely. If I want my wheel sucked, I'll have it done it in the privacy of my own home, this bike path stuff is just sick.

Reynolds 

+1 Carbonfiberboy. The voice of an experienced cyclist (but I'd still rather say "No problem if I get on your wheel?" or something like that)

SactoDoug

I have not seen him the rest of the week. In fact, I have not seen many people on the road this week. It must be all the smoke in the air.



Smoke in air at 7:33 AM.


I cannot train harder to blow by him. I am losing weight. Weight loss and speed/endurance training do not mix well. The weight loss is making me faster but not enough to see results in two weeks. 20# so far since the beginning of May.

I have decided that the next time the wheel sucker gets on me, I will pull over and let him pass. I'll see what happens from there.

I have been on group rides where emergency braking by the front rider resulted in a member breaking his collar bone. I have seen a couple riders go down when a squirrel jumped into the front wheel of the front rider. I am not a group ride. I am not training for anything. I just want to get home from work. I don't want to have to signal, point out hazards or anything else because someone I don't know decided to ride on my rear wheel. No thanks. I just want to ride and think about nothing at all. I do not want a stranger behind me and I think that is my right not to have someone sucking my wheel or tailgating me.

wolfchild

Turn the negative experience into a positive one and use this situation to improve you own riding skills and become more comfortable around cyclists who are different from you, doing this will sharpen your senses. The only way to improve is to face situations which make you uncomfortable... Eventually your skills and fitness will improve and who knows, maybe you'll end up chasing and drafting every cyclists who crosses your path.

ThermionicScott 

BikeForums: where cyclists go to complain about things they don't have the courage to confront in real life.

old's'cool

noglider 

I might be annoyed if someone drafted off me, but it hasn't happened. Here's something even weirder. It happened a couple of weeks ago. I ride kinda-sorta fast on my daily commute, and one morning I had a stiff headwind, as I often do. I was working my way through the wind, and some guy pulls past me and then pulls right in front of me, forcing me to draft him. I have no idea what was on my mind, and I thought about what the best response was. I drafted him for a while, as he clearly had no basis to complain that I was following him too closely. Eventually, he turned off, but I was tempted to pull out, because while he reduced my effort by a lot, I wanted to go just a little faster.

hardboiled718

^ I've had that happen to me and I find it pretty annoying. If you go for the pass, don't cut anyone off and force them to slow their speed.

I've had a few people wheelsuck on my commutes, a freewheel buzzing right behind me is a good indicator. It usually doesn't bother me too much, although I completely understand why it would bother people and agree that it puts both parties in a more dangerous position than if they were safely spaced. I'm not really a fast rider, and never ride in a kit or spds so I find it amusing when roadies try to draft off me. What frustrates me is when riders get in my peripheral and stay there, maybe they're angling better to be shielded from the wind, but I find that position with a stranger to be completely unnecessary and will usually tell them to move. either commit to passing or stay behind.

johngwheeler

I think I would be a bit disconcerted by a wheelsucker partially because it forces me to take their presence into account in order to ride safely, but mostly because because it is somewhat an invasion of privacy and personal space that I haven't chosen.

if someone walked closely behind you on a dark lane, you would rightly be uncomfortable, cautious or scared. I haven't heard of "cyclist muggers" but they might exist, and even if they don't, you should be able to choose how close people get to you. To have it forced upon you without an assumption that you're OK with it, is presumptuous and rude.

The matter might be slightly different on the open road when cycling for leisure or sport where you might expect to see other cyclists, but I would expect the draftee to ask if it was OK with you before latching on. Many people cycle to escape the world and other people, and simply don't want another person near them.

JonathanGennick 

I get what you're saying. Like you, I don't want the stress of having to watch out for someone that close behind me. It's the same as tailgating in a car, really.

chiefkurtz 

I ask, after taking a big swig of water, and spitting out half of it.

RidingMatthew

haha

Colnago Mixte

Smart Aleck Wheelsucker's response:

"Oh, you must suck a lot of wheels too, may I ask what you're rinsing with?"

Reynolds 

One would think a "cyclist mugger" would rather lure you to draft him and then make you fall...