Drafting Etiquite

[endoman]

I extended commute last week as a gentle training ride. Saw myself catching a bloke, overtook, then he went past me through a red light, uphill next, 9% ish, I overtook again, he was hanging on my wheel, I pressed a bit dropped and him. At top I'm 100 yds in front, then some temp traffic lights means he catches again, then it goes up hill for about 4 miles where I have a scheduled effort planned, he's back on my wheel, I laugh and give it some gas, he tries and fails, then I never see him again.

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

I wait in the bushes with my bike and when a cyclist passes i jump on to their wheel. I am a serial drafter.
Like Andrew above, i also have a constant (slightly mental) grin on my face during. It doesn't help that i dress slightly worse then the 118 guys.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I wait in the bushes with my bike and when a cyclist passes i jump on to their wheel. I am a serial drafter.
Like Andrew above, i also have a constant (slightly mental) grin on my face during. It doesn't help that i dress slightly worse then the 118 guys.

If I could laugh like Brian Blessed while following someone and grinning like Oprah with a glazed ham I would.

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

If I could laugh like Brian Blessed while following someone and grinning like Oprah with a glazed ham I would.

At night i silently pedal into drafting position with no lights on then switch the magicshine onto full beam. Once the poor b*stard in front has soiled themselves they usually slow down. What they are not aware of though is that I am prepared to slow to a stop. For authenticity, silence is the key throughout.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

At night i silently pedal into drafting position with no lights on then switch the magicshine onto full beam. Once the poor b*stard in front has soiled themselves they usually slow down. What they are not aware of though is that I am prepared to slow to a stop. For authenticity, silence is the key throughout.

Or all of the above, then as you pass them turn, squint and hiss 'I know what you did...'

 

[Arjimlad]

This drafting lark is all new to me. Once on the long way home from work, I turned around to see a roadie right behind me grabbing a tow. I didn't know what he was doing !

He dismissively told me to keep going . I thought it was rather rude, and having someone so close behind made me nervous. I don't get too close to other riders on the commute.

 

[jdtate101]

It's all well and good getting a tow if you share the work at the front, but doing it without taking a turn is rude. Anyone tries to do that to me too much and they're gonna have some pain, because I'm going to divert to the nearest, steepest hill I can find and make them pay for it big time.

Once had a guy on a sportive suck my wheel for 15miles and he refused to take a turn despite being asked by myself and others in the chain. When we got to the hill we all nodded at each other and put the hammer down and dumped him. At the feed stop he asked why we did that, and I told him that sucking wheel without doing your turn was not acceptable and that he needed to learn to share the work if he wanted to play in a chain. Looked like he still didn't get it, as he had a face like a slapped arse. Some people never learn.

 

[Lee_M]

Even so, a cpl of feet off the back wheel of a stranger is a little off, imho. Then again perhaps I'm too touchy

if you didnt ride like that in London you'd never get to work

 

[Sittingduck]

No - I leave early, in the morning. Roll out about 6:30am and get to embark from the office just before 4
Still plenty of two-wheeled commuters at these times but significantly less bike traffic on the main stretches, than you get an hour or so later. It's one of the benefits of getting up at 6.

 

[Stevie Mcluskey]

I'm in the nervous category and normally slow down and hope to get passed. On the occassions i'm travelling quicker i'll always make a plenty room pass and offer a quick "how do".
Sometimes complicated when i'm travelling at approx same speed as someone else but always try and hang back at least 5-10 yards as i'm concious that i find it a wee bit intimidating if someone is right on my back wheel.

Having said that on my commute normally see on average 2-3 other cyclists and now getting less with the darker mornings and nights.

if you didnt ride like that in London you'd never get to work

Maybe covered somewhere on another thread and not wishing to hijack this one but wondered if many on here have experience of cycling in different cities North and South. Having a look at some of the stories and videos from London etc. only one thing comes to mind

 

[AndyPeace]

So to sum it up.... I must silently sit behind someone (with my best smile on), then scalp them, once in front I then detour up the largest hill I Know of, whilst singing nursery rhymes in a sinister voice?
Manners eh? who'd have thought they were so complex! Perphaps I should just ride side by side and prompt them to join CC and comment on this thread...

 

[zizou]

I never draft someone i dont know or trust but I dont really mind people drafting me. I figure if they can hold my wheel they must be a pretty awesome cyclist so will know how to handle their bike. Or something like that

 

[Andrew_Culture]

My wife cycles to the allotment with her pitch fork tied to her cross bar, it extends about three feet beyond the front of her bike, when she drafts someone it encourages them to find previously untapped reserves of leg power. This entire post is a fib.

 

[totallyfixed]

I would be interested to know where the term "scalp" came from in reference to passing another person on a bike. I'll take a guess that it is London or some other city. My thoughts are that whoever I pass, or am passed by, then I always say hello if I am doing the passing and I expect the same if I am being overtaken. As a roadie it doesn't stop me saying hello to a mountain biker or a pensioner going shopping.
The point I am trying to make is that experienced cyclists out in the sticks at least, tend not to go after each other with the intention of getting past without a word said and if you did catch them and draft them it would only be for a short distance in order to get your breath back and say hello. I would get damned angry if someone sat on my wheel without saying anything, but then I know it wouldn't be an experienced cyclist so dropping them would not normally be a problem [though not at present ].
I can see the rules might be different in the smoke but I don't quite get how much can be acheived with so many traffic lights. In our world drafting is only for club riding, chaingangs and friends, other than this, don't do it, bit like half wheeling.

 

[on the road]

It tends to be newbies and competative commuters who use the term "scalp".