Well, you don't necessarily have to raise your effort, or at least not much. If I'm struggling into a headwind, and a group overtakes I will tag on to get a temporary respite. I make no apology for this. I will drop off soon enough if their pace isn't for me. No one has ever stopped and asked me to go past yet.
Because I'm not confident in their stopping ability?
I did a reliability ride today and we caught some riders but couldn't overtake at first due to traffic. When we did they jumped in our draught, their performance for the few moments they were in front made me very nervous. We caught other riders similarly and they also tagged on but there's something about how they ride which means I didn't give the latter groups a second thought
This bears further discussion I think...
This bears further discussion I think...
So approach stuff cautiously, brake gently and signal before you stop, then? All good habits even if you haven't heard someone behind you. Causing a pile up just because you can stop on a sixpence and didn't hear the rider behind until then... is a bit daft.
That's fair enough. I too am cautious when slipstreaming someone I don't know. They may do something utterly unpredictable. But - if the conditions are right (a raging headwind) I'll continue to do it - not very often, mind.
So let me get this straight... We expect drivers to know their stopping distances and leave a space that they can stop in, and we don't have the right to expect a following cyclist to do the same. If the traffic light changes and I decide to stop, I don't expect them to hit me because they thought id go through for example. Or if a car pulls out of a side road and I need to stop quickly.
They should and you can hope they do but let's face it, you're foolish if you expect everyone to get it right all of the time.
Me. Cycling is so busy in Norfolk and Cambridge and my brakes sharp enough that I suspect I'd have a line of bikes concertina'd into my rear rack at times if I didn't. In that London many don't seem to have a clue about any signals which is part of why it's so slow and stressful riding there. Aren't you in Bristol? I thought Bristol was pretty cycley now: how does it cope? Or are loads of cyclists cursing each other?