KneesUp
Guru
I set off for work today and remembered quite early on that I'd left my asthma inhaler on the shelf in the kitchen. This is not normally a problem because I don't normally need it, but today I was running very slightly late (because 4 weeks in, I still haven't got the hang of 'school holiday' routine)
My commute is only short (under 3 miles) and about half of it is down one road if you go the quick way* As I waited at the first set of lights, I saw another cyclist join the road, and he seemed quite fast. It was quite windy, so I decided my best bet when the lights changed was to bust a nut catching him and then wheel-suck the rest of way to maximise my getting to work on time/not getting asthma ratio+. Having duly caught up with him (because he got held up by another cyclist - thanks, whoever you are!) I then sat in, and we skittled along quite nicely. I like to think I was far enough away not to bother him, but close enough to get some benefit aerodynamically, and certainly close enough to use him for pacing. All was well for a mile or so in which the road is basically flat, but the last quarter of a mile is downhill and at this point he dropped me completely. It's a straight road, and it's only -2.5% (accroding to bikehike) so it's not some madly technical break-neck alpine pass, but I've noticed this before with other cyclists - they always leave me for dead going downhill, even ones I've wanted to overtake on the flat bit but have been unable to because of traffic.
Is this all aerodynamics, or could it be that my bike needs servicing? It has a slightly noisy rear hub, but otherwise seems ok to me. The chap this morning had a small rucksack to my two panniers, and was in lycra to my jeans and t-shirt, but I can't see that making that much difference, especially given that the weight in the panniers should help me downhill. Has anyone else noticed this? We were both in the hoods, and he didn't seem to be putting much effort into pedalling downhill.
*I always go the quick way in the morning
+I was slightly wheezy when I got to work but otherwise ok. I was 1 min late (but I'm self employed, so I was in at the same time as the boss)
My commute is only short (under 3 miles) and about half of it is down one road if you go the quick way* As I waited at the first set of lights, I saw another cyclist join the road, and he seemed quite fast. It was quite windy, so I decided my best bet when the lights changed was to bust a nut catching him and then wheel-suck the rest of way to maximise my getting to work on time/not getting asthma ratio+. Having duly caught up with him (because he got held up by another cyclist - thanks, whoever you are!) I then sat in, and we skittled along quite nicely. I like to think I was far enough away not to bother him, but close enough to get some benefit aerodynamically, and certainly close enough to use him for pacing. All was well for a mile or so in which the road is basically flat, but the last quarter of a mile is downhill and at this point he dropped me completely. It's a straight road, and it's only -2.5% (accroding to bikehike) so it's not some madly technical break-neck alpine pass, but I've noticed this before with other cyclists - they always leave me for dead going downhill, even ones I've wanted to overtake on the flat bit but have been unable to because of traffic.
Is this all aerodynamics, or could it be that my bike needs servicing? It has a slightly noisy rear hub, but otherwise seems ok to me. The chap this morning had a small rucksack to my two panniers, and was in lycra to my jeans and t-shirt, but I can't see that making that much difference, especially given that the weight in the panniers should help me downhill. Has anyone else noticed this? We were both in the hoods, and he didn't seem to be putting much effort into pedalling downhill.
*I always go the quick way in the morning
+I was slightly wheezy when I got to work but otherwise ok. I was 1 min late (but I'm self employed, so I was in at the same time as the boss)