ItsJustMe

Pay in what way? It isn't any harder to ride with someone on your tail than on your own. It's not like you're towing the guy behind you.

vrkelley

OTOH If someone won't take a turn (they ususally won't) , I slow down...let him pass and then draft HIM. If he won't pass, I yell, "I'm not pull'n you. Take a pull" The usual sheepish reply is...

You' were going at a good pace, I couldn't pass you! As they pass, I suck their wheel for several blocks and then either drop them or drop back.

vrkelley

That's exactly what it feels, I can feel the resistance back there when I'm tow'n the guy. Esp. if he's twice my weight.

ItsJustMe

Makes no sense though. Aerodynamically, it should make no difference. I've only been drafted a couple of times, and it didn't seem any different to me.

With cars, you actually get BETTER mileage if someone's close behind you, due to the reduction in turbulence. I have no idea if the same holds for bicycles but I wouldn't see why not. You'd probably need to have one of those ultra-shiny training comps with pedal sensors and wattage readouts to know for sure though.

Rex G

Hmm, I think I read somewhere in a book recently that drafting gives a slight benefit to the rider in front, too. Now, to try to recall which book.

BarracksSi

Anything relating to NASCAR, and there are driving missions in the Gran Turismo 4 video game that cover it, too.

Effectively, part of the drag comes from the turbulent air to the rear. Fill that swirling air pocket with a body, and the vacuum-esque effect is reduced. It's like adding a longtail.

LWaB

Not at bicycle speeds and with the separation between drafting bikes. Significantly faster and closer, that effect comes into play.

Sixty Fiver

I had these girls sucking my back wheel all day...

ATAC49er

Lotsa different opinions here...indifference, racer's rage, passive-aggressive nonchalance (Just pull over & wait), etc.

All over an issue that only exists in one person's mind. All the rest are 'what-if'....

Until such time as that rider costs you something, JUST FRICKIN' RIDE! When you have to slow/stop suddenly, and they bend one of your wheels by bashing into you, THEN you can snap on them. Play hardcore if you like, attack if you care to and can, or just do your thing your way. If you're such a ***** that you have to compete with every other two-wheeled adult out there, party on, dude.

All I'm doing is riding; I won't be drafting you, just cuz I don't know/trust you. I'll nod if we see each other, speak if spoken to, otherwise, I'm going where I'm going at my own pace.

bjornb

At what distance does this so called drafting occur at?

BarracksSi

Yup, true. Bikes are too aerodynamically dirty; they have more turbulence than just one pocket behind them (unlike what I mentioned above, which mainly applies to cars).

If it's going to be close enough to work, it should be within a foot or two.

CB HI

Not always true. During an organized century ride, I had a guy draft me for over ten miles. He refused to take a pull and at the end of the ten miles was a steep hill. Him being about 140# riding a Merlin and me at 200# with a linebacker body, I knew he planned on using me and then dropping me on the hill.

I did not want to slow way down to force him to pass, because I wanted to make the ride a sub 5 hour century, so I needed to keep my speed up.

Sure enough he dropped me on the hill. But I had a plan. I would make up most of the distance on the back side of the hill and I would pull in behind him just before we reached a long flat straight section with a strong tailwind.

Worked great, I sucked his wheel for five miles and I took away all of the tailwind that would have helped him. At the end of the straight section, I was so well rested, it was easy to pull around him and leave him in the dust.

Too bad though, if he had worked with me, we both could have cut extra time off.

CB HI

On just a commute ride on a bike path with a low end steel bike, I have a guy draft me on his new Litespeed. I was at the speed I wanted and not in any bigger rush, so he could sit there all he wanted as far as I was concerned.

A guy feeding cats next to the path stepped out without looking and I had to brake hard (could not move left without a head on with an oncoming cyclist). The guy drafting me was not paying close enough attention and banged into my left stays with his front wheel.

He apologized. I looked over my bike for damage. Damn, not even a scratch - I wanted to make him trade bikes for the damage he caused - but there was none; it really pissed me off.

Ka_Jun

Happened to me for the first time a couple of days ago. Weird, but what do you say? *shrug*

lapher22

So who won the race home you or him?

turtle77

I don't care about the drafting. As someone else said, it's the fact that they're in my space, sometimes for a considerable amount of time. I don't necessarily want someone that I don't know right up on my ass for like, twenty minutes or something - it's pretty unnerving. Our culture values personal space, and having grown up here, so do I.

And no, I'm not freaked out by people in general, or weird about it. I actually usually let people draft me, but I do think it's kinda rude to just draft someone without asking.

JoebikerLa

I wish I had the OP's problem. I'm just now seeing a few more people riding bikes, but none that are going my way or in the early morning like I ride.

mattm

why not just speed up? that way nobody will be able to hold your wheel.

if they are, you aren't going fast enough. if going fast isn't your goal, then who cares about drafting?

an alternative is to pull to the left, and gently swing your arm in a back-to-front motion as in, "it's your turn, bud."