kabex

Those of you who ride on highways/state roads (all my riding is done in those here).

Do you ever chase trucks to drift behind them?

I was doing my usual 37km roundtrip ride to a nearby town today and found a big tonka truck on the highway. I was cruising at around 35kph and it was going maybe 43-44. I decided to chase it and after a while I was right behind it and my speed shot up to 40+ very quickly.

I drafted for maybe a minute before it took a turn and I was on my own again, it was pretty cool. I saw another one later but couldn't reach it.

These are small roads so they aren't going that fast. I imagine your usual american inter-state highway wouldn't work for riding a bike in, so I'm talking rural roads in your case.

teterider

Oh boy, this topic always opens a can of opinion worms.

Drafting trucks is very fun and speeds in the 50s are very easily obtained. However for the readers of this thread it is dangerous so don't do it and leave it to the experts.

mckeithen

Question - what is your purpose for riding? To get faster? To enjoy the outdoors? General health? I don't see how riding a few feet behind a truck will advance any of these. However, if your purpose is to get an adrenaline rush - then go for it. Make sure your life insurance is paid up.

saratoga

No. I don't have a death wish.

Truck hits brakes=most likely going to hurt.

SteveDave

I don't get to chase trucks. Most of the time they are usually jackwads with huge diesels that pull up beside me, smash the gas and blow black smoke out on me and drive off in a blaze of glory.

coasting 

I chased an ice cream van once. He got away.

calamarichris

[safety lecture] Drafting trucks is a bad idea because
a) they impair your visibility and all sorts of terrible things like ladders, boulders and roofing nails will suddenly appear in front of your wheels and possibly cause a high-speed crash, which would be humiliating.
b) they have superior braking capability, and if a truck decides to nail his brakes you are almost certainly going to nail him, which would also be humiliating.
c) pulling out into the path of any other high-speed vehicles that might be behind that truck runs the risk being run over, which would perhaps be an humiliating detail that your surviving relatives would rather have omitted from your obituary.
[/safety lecture]

That said, yep, I love drafting larger vehicles. I've gotten up to 58mph twice, and there was the potential to break 60 on the most recent on Twin Oaks Pkwy near CSUSM, but the guy driving the truck saw me, chickened out, and slowed down. I also got to ride 50+ for more than a minute (and perhaps more than two) behind a large horse-trailer coming down the 78 from Ramona at last year's Tour de Poway. It was an awesome feeling not to crash in either instance, but I fully acknowledge the consequences and potential humiliation of doing this.

rumrunn6

wild! ... I avoid trucks

coasting 

this is a great post. it is like a packet of cigarettes with a health warning on it.

marcosbullock

Yup...cause life's too short not to enjoy the rush. Have to be careful though...don't want to become a permanent installment on the pavement.

DScott

I'm not inclined to chase trucks because, frankly, I don't think I'm much smarter than my dog. And if HE doesn't know what to do if he caught one, I'm not sure I could figure it out either. I, at least, have realized that.

We're still waiting for the dog to wise up...

surgeonstone

You sound like a great guy except the lawyer part.

sbxx1985 

I do, but it's dumb and reckless.

I chased a garbage truck about two weeks ago. He brake checked me and I almost killed myself. It was a dumb idea.

waterrockets 

I chase trucks all the time. I've had some 5-minute draft sessions, and I've been over 55mph behind them for significant stretches. I've never had any issues with probably 70-80 drafts/year for 19 years of road cycling.

For those who are worried about hitting the truck, that's not always going to be a problem. I used to draft a team van with some other teammates, with the back doors open. The van was all white, and we used to put skid marks on the rear bumper at 45mph, trying to make patterns or long streaks. Hitting a truck really hard, or hitting an edge of an angle-iron bumper will... umm... "complicate" things a bit, but it's not like you explode if the front tire touches the truck.

The biggest hazard is debris that the truck runs over and throws into you, or you run over it yourself. For this reason, I stay behind a mud flap, and every 10 seconds or so, I pull out and look waaaaaaayyyy up the road, to see what's up there. I've only seen one hazard doing this, but I'm glad I did. Just a big pothole, but it wouldn't have been pretty at 58mph.

sbxx1985 

Scary, but sounds like great fun.

sebatl

All the time. I bark at them as loud as I can and try to bite their wheels when I do it. It is so much fun.

Seattle Forrest

I do, and then I bark at the moon.

No, I'm kidding.

tagaproject6

This guy drafted a truck! It did not end well.
CAUTION VERY GRAPHIC< YOU MAY LOSE YOUR LUNCH > NSFW
https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._5636584_n.jpg

calamarichris

Cool. Do you also brazenly walk around naked, defecate in public, and lick your own genital?
(Curse my inflexible primate spine!)

sebatl

I wish I was that flexible.

KD5NRH

If I could lick my own genitals, I'd never have time to post here.

tagaproject6

You probably won't need chamois cream.

JaceK

I chase parked cars.

seawind161

I chased a beer truck once. The reward seemed worth the effort, but it was too fast for me.

patentcad

Of course.