PSA - riding in the gutter
 

I found myself thinking of our forum scribe, Event Services, this evening. I was on a local-ish group ride, trying to blow out the cobwebs after 5 days off the bike, and a weekend of driving and drinking (note the order).

About 12-14 guys, and a gal, showed up. About 4-5 of us were capable of pushing the pace.

There was one stretch, where the group were riding single file.

• the road was quiet.
• there was no traffic.
• there was a sidewind, coming from the left.
• EVERYONE (apart from wfrogge) was riding in the gutter.
• despite several requests from yours truly to move out to the middle of the road, they continued to surf the gutter.

the straw that broke the proverbial back, was after a hill, when one rider attacked me. that part wasn't a problem.

the problem came after we regrouped, and he explained to me that he rode in the gutter because that was his tactic. problem.

seriously... wtf? this was a shiddy little group ride. it was training. it was NOT a race. not even a training race.

i told him that if he had any interest in getting stronger, he should skip the tactics, and just ride himself into the ground. there are no podiums on a group ride.

for some reason i did not yell at him. probably because i was a guest on the ride.

next time will be different.

back OT - if there's a side wind from the left, and the road is clear, get out of the gutter.

that is all.

You mean like right along the curb in town? Who the f' does that? He would have gotten spoken to very quickly in our group. Curb to curb racing on a club ride...

Heck even riding too far to the right on the shoulder of a highway will have people asking you to move out to allow for better drafting.

pretty much. not really right on the curb, but there was no room to catch a draft.

I fail to see how thats a useful tactic...

it's useful in a race when you don't want anyone drafting you, but a training ride?

Who the hell rides in the gutter in this season? It's full of debris, potholes and people with 'tactics'

Have you raced bikes.

Guttering. Bike racing 101.

If the wind is coming from the left -and you stay far right- your draft zone is in the ditch and nobody can use it.

No.

It must be a typo. Did you mean FROM the left? I don't think that have been riding in England, Jamaica, Japan, Australia, etc. Or maybe that PBR is doing more damage than you think.;)

Last Sunday I went out on a small group ride with racer friends. There was a nice long stretch of road heading straight north with a "fresh" wind out of the Northeast (pretty steady 15 mph). The lead rider was way over to the right as he should be and the guy next in line was directly behind. The rest of use echeloned off of the second rider. Another "old salt" and I joked that the second rider was strong and didn't need to be getting a good draft, but probably needed the extra work.:p

yep. thanks. fixed.

I've seen riders do that in races with a teammate on their wheel.
"Hey Bill, I'm right here..... move left."
Nothing.
"Bill, it's me. I'm on your wheel. Scootch left."
Nothing.
"Bill, we drove to the race together. We're friends. Move..... left!"
Nothing.
"Bill, you stood up at my wedding. Our wives are shopping right now. Move left."
Nothing.
"Bill, I'm your insurance agent. Give me some room here."
Nothing.

Some people's children...

:lol:

Damn don't force me to buy your book. I like using the library, but I'm pretty sure it's not there...

Not to mention that we have had biblical rains over the past week or so so the "gutter" is full of debris, sand and potholes...... Must safer to ride down the middle or the lane (or at least middle or the right side of the lane)....

Funny thing is after Botto pulled off to the right I took a short pull and did the same.... Even though I was not in the gutter when leading every rider behind me was. At first the pack was slow to go around then didn't give me much room out of the trash to fade back.

Guess communication is key :) Should have gave some direction

It seems like a very useful tactic for picking up pieces of glass and metal with your tires.

I'm wondering why you stayed with the group for so long. Sometimes on clubrides the dynamic just isn't working (really, it's me, not you), and I take the cue sheet and haul ass into my own world.

You don't like anyone in the group? Even as antisocial as I can be, I still enjoy talking with a good chunk of our club's members. A single file group ride better be at a ballistic pace for it to be fun.

no cue sheet, and i had no clue where i was (although the route is marked).

besides, fellow bf homeboy wfrogge was there, so we could compare notes on who was a fred and who was an elitist.

what ride was it? Name names dagit!!!

Never heard of that curbing tactic, but man that sounds dumb, dangerous and ******bag. I've never encountered that in NY, and I've done enough racing and street rides with racers. Between the Nyack Ride and racing, 500+ competitive rides with racers, and that just doesn't happen here. They'd probably beat you to death with your own bicycle if you pulled that ****. I wouldn't do it just because I hate riding in the gutter. That's really dopey.

I've done one, count it one, race in CP and a guy tried to gutter me during the ramp-up to the sprint. It's just common sense to ride where no-one can get a good draft.

Too funny. Half the time I either have to assume they didn't hear me, or just don't understand what I'm saying. Hmmmm....

Perhaps an extra incentive is needed? :)

If that's your idea of common sense, you are in the right place.

It's a down and dirty racing tactic, and I can understand it in a race. It is insane on an open road group training ride, even a competitive one. The racers here in NY don't seem quite that stupid.

And he does race.

that would be telling.