ECB1

Last night I got to draft for the first time, I ended up passing the rider in front of me by a little bit. He yelled out for me not to box him out. My bike was going faster than I wanted it to go, should I have hit the breaks and did I do something wrong. I am a heavy rider and I am getting in good shape, this was an exellent experiance.

ericm979

Don't wait until you're passing the rider whose wheel you are on before you do something.. do it early.

Usually you can soft pedal, stop pedalling, or move a litle bit out of the draft to catch some air and slow down.

If you have to brake, use your back brake first and apply it gently. If you slow down quickly you may crash the rider who is behind you, and you'll slow too much and have to make an effort to get back on the wheel.

Don't stare at the rider in front's wheel, or their butt. Look around them and up the road.

merlinextraligh

I'm assumming this was in a paceline.

You definitely do not want to overlap the wheel in front of you, but you also don't want to be slamming on the brakes.

So the key is control your speed smoothly. Try to anticipate the line speeding up or slowing down. When its going to be slowing down, stop pedalling, or pedal softly.

If you're still going to overtake the wheel in front, you can regulate your speed by taking more air,i.e. sitting more upright than the rider in front.
If you still need to slow more, use your brake, but use the brake smoothly. You can slow smoothly without disrupting the line, by using a little front brake, and still pedalling.

If you need to brake with any force let the people behind you know you are slowing.

The key to all this is anticipating, and beeing smooth.

Ex Pres 

Heavy riders (like me) will often have trouble with drafting smaller guys. I often have to pull out to the left of a paceline just to catch some wind on descents. I also find that at the very beginning of ascents the extra momentum we're carrying will quickly collapse any space I leave in front. Too bad it won't carry me all the way up.

1. You'll learn to adjust for these upcoming situations. Timely coasting helps.
2. Use the brake sparingly. I try to use my rear because it has less effect, and the rider behind may see me apply it.

merlinextraligh

I was taught to use the front brake. If you use the back brake, the rider behind you sees the brake going on, they instinctively slow, setting off the accordian effect.

Of course if you're really slowing its good the rider behind you sees it. But if you're just scrubbing a very little bit of speed subtly, you can do it with the front brake, and not disrupt the line.