Humongous

So I went on a 25 mile ride across the city to shake down the CAAD9 and about 3-5 miles from the end of my ride I stopped to get a drink. I get back on the road and this dude on some generic looking carbon in full kit flies past and then turns around and looks at me as if to say "i'm faster than you"..

So about 3 seconds later i'm drafting him and he does a quick check and he must have seen me in his periphery because he picks up the pace. I draft him for another few hundred yards and then drop him hard.

He must have thought I was a Fred, wearing a $30 Bell helmet & a windbreaker. Or does that make me a Fred?

So any way, my CAAD keeps phantom shifting the caseette when I'm on the small chaingear. Need to get it adjusted because its really annoying.

Oh, and I fell for the first time. Going down a road in a business park and all the heavy equipment was out cleaning the grounds.. there was a lot of debris on the road so I stopped to pick my bike up and carry it to the other side of the street and I was on the ground before I could remember to unclip I'm not sure if the dude driving the street sweeper saw me because he was looking backwards out his window

seb1041

Mayvbe he was just admiring your CAAD.

Don't assume that you know what others think

Humongous

Well, he can admire it from the back

The Carpenter

You didn't drop carbon, you dropped the rider....maybe. Remember it's the motor not the bike. It is possible that he didn't want you to jump on his wheel, so he looked back to see if you were. Then he may have picked up the pace to keep you from ruining his workout. When you didn't go away, he eased up and you went by with your inflated head.
There is no race unless all parties know the parameters of said race. You showed poor form by not asking him if you could jump on his wheel. THAT is what makes you a FRED!

dcvelo

I always look back after passing to be sure I have room to move back to the right. It has nothing to do with showing up the other rider.

I'm thinking yes, it does....

enjoi

whenever that happens to me, it usually mean do you want to work together and make get a pace line going. But if you want to draft a guy and then sprint by him when he lets you pull, that's fine too.

Humongous

He pulled over in front of me long before he looked back. To me that says "I wonder how bad I dropped that guy".

When I pass people, I look BEFORE I pull into their lane. I don't bother to look back at people I've long passed unless I'm worried that they're on my ass because I shouldn't have passed them in the first place.

I can see how this might make me look like a jerk but I probably didn't do a good job explaining how it went down. If you were there I'm sure you would have gotten the same impression.

fauxto nick

Dude, if situations like this boost your ego, move to So-Cal, you'll get to drop guys on Pinarello Prince's daily.

Then you'll get dropped by kids on fixies too.

Humongous

Yeah you're probably right, I should have asked if I could hang on his line instead of being a jerk, regardless of if he was trying to drop me. Guess I was caught up in the moment, new bike and all.

buzzman

OMG! What refreshing honesty! We've all been there but few are willing to admit it.

The Carpenter

It happens. Ride on.

conundrumx

There may come a day when "steel-straight-gauge-tubing" drops you

The Carpenter

I have to agree with this. I was expecting a fight. Kudos to Humongous

sheddle

What a coincidence, I got dropped by carbon today.

andr0id

I never draft anyone I don't know on solo training rides. If I come up on somebody going about as fast as I want to go and then they speed up to match me and not let me pass, I'll hang back about 10ft and to the left or right side. That way it doesn't turn into some kind of ego battle. Well, it is an ego battle, but of a different sort. Basically, I know how hard they can go because I can tell by position change and form that they're busting ass trying to leave me, but I just hang and chill til they turn, blow up or whatever...

Remember to always say, "Nice bike!" as you pass.

umd

:sigh:

umd

I got a good workout doing nearly 30 "motorpacing" behind a guy on a Prince today... We started with a pretty big group and he singlehandedly dropped all but about 10 of us.

DScott

Did you have to dial it up to 400 watts to drope him?

Grumpy McTrumpy

no dialing up to 400w?

Grumpy McTrumpy

dang. missed it by seconds

timmyquest

It's been a while since we've had this thread. I must say, i was expecting the next one to be from you. I wish i would have written it somewhere.

rooftest

Yeah - are you one of those guys who lets someone pull you for a few miles before you "drop" him?

Pendergast

You didn't drop carbon. Aluminum did.

jhmiller

Yeah, it's dangerous to make assumptions. Having just been in the market for a new ride, my wife pointed out recently that I check out bikes the way 15-year-old pervs check out women. Riders probably think I'm staring at their asses.

I'll have to keep an eye on that behavior.

Humongous

I'd hate to disappoint you...