Tractors

jonesy124

So everyone on the road hates them.... or at least I thought.

I was cycling home yesterday and one pulled out in front of me. At first (when it was poodling along at 15mph) I thought 'bug*er'. How wrong I was.

It soon sped up to about 25mph and I was loving being behind it. I never realised how much of a difference it makes when you are in a windless environment. This big old tractor was my wind barrier and I was cycling along for about 20 mins at 24mph without even trying at all IT WAS AMAZING. Literally it was like pedal, pedal, freewheel... pedal a bit more... freewheel

I now love tractors and will be looking out for them.

pigman

couldn't believe it last nite. Its 12.30 am and I'm cycling home from the pub in the country. I have to go up a 1 in 6 past a farm to get to our house. That road was like a motorway of tractors with trailers - they were everywhere. However it was too steep and I was a bit pi##ed, so couldn't take any slipstreaming advantage. in the field at the top of the hill there were 2 combines and they were doing their harvesting under floodlites. what a racket! Wonder what the people living in the houses adjoining the field thought. It was loud at our house and thats half a mile away.
A farmers work is never done!

domtyler

Be very careful drafting big vehicles, especially those with lots of nasty big metal sticky outy things hanging off the back. I have heard of more than one person coming off pretty badly after going straight into the back of something large.
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JustRidecp

There was a guy on the old C+ forum put up a post about "top ten vehicles for drafting" It was a quality piece of work. Wonder if he uses this and would be kind enough to put it up here?

heavymental

haha...yeh tractors are funny things aren't they. When you're sat behind one you feel a bit guilty because its not really the pleasant ride in the country you imagined and you're only doing half the work. But then the speed and effortlessness is so nice you just have to stay in behind it.

On a few occassions I've ended up going way out of my way or much further than I was planning. The tractor finally turns off into a field or drops you on a hill and you look around and realise you're miles away from where you wanted to be. Such is the addictiveness of that swirling mass of smoky warm air infused with strands of hay

jonesy124

haha, so true.

I got a few bits of straw in my helmet and was slightly nervous that it would suddenly stop and I would clonk right into the back of it but I just couldnt resist staying there for as long as possible.

ricadus

jonesy124 wrote:

haha, so true.

I got a few bits of straw in my helmet and was slightly nervous that it would suddenly stop and I would clonk right into the back of it but I just couldnt resist staying there for as long as possible.

Better straw than lumps of cow sh!t flung off the tyres.

stevec205gti

I was out for a ride the other day and came to a usually unpleasant straight bit of head winded road that stretches for nearly 2 miles (that's the Fens for you) - however this time there was convoy of about 40 - 50 tractors of various ages. It was great, i could get a tow right up to the back of them then slingshot past and work up to the next one - the only time I got held up was behind cars that didn't have enough space to overtake them!!!

heavymental

The most dangerous aspect is the fact that you can't see pot holes coming until the last second. I try and keep quite relaxed for that reason so I'm ready to absorb any unexpected bumps. I guess that actually applies to drafting buses more as town/city roads tend to have more manhole covers and odd pot holes in the road.

Of course you can always step it up a level and grab a bit of trailer to make things really easy but its not as satisfying as drafting it and feeling you're an amazing cyclist!

Steven Martin

Drafting becomes addictive once you get confident, soon you will be timing it so that you can jump into the slipstream of faster vehicles.
Bin lorries are about the right speed but the stench makes it less than pleasant.
I've seen some crazy people slipstreaming lorries to over 45mph. They were so close that any sudden braking would have been catastrophic for them, and of course the driver had no idea where they were! I think they are still alive.... Braver/dafter than me!

caissad

Heavymental wrote:

On a few occassions I've ended up going way out of my way or much further than I was planning. The tractor finally turns off into a field or drops you on a hill and you look around and realise you're miles away from where you wanted to be.

I followed a tractor with a trailer last night. At every junction the tractor signalled one way and the trailer signalled the opposite ... so maybe the tractors also get lost and end up miles away from where they wanted to be!

phreak

We get quite a few tractors around this way and they are great for drafting. As people have said though you have to keep on your toes in case of flying debris or sudden braking.

John Stevenson

I once got told off by a policeman for drafting.

I suppose drafting his car was pretty silly.

Stephen Sorba

Chaingang, coming back into town on the A21, dual carriageway and little traffic. Mondeo man actually slows down to let me draft him at some silly speed. I've never dropped so many riders on the flat before!

on the road

I was drafting a tractor once, it was great

But you have to be fully aware, because when they realise what you're doing they deliberately slow down suddenly to try to catch you out. That what they were doing with me but I was too smart for them

jibi

john_stevenson wrote:

I once got told off by a policeman for drafting.

I suppose drafting his car was pretty silly.

Once, the police stopped me for drafting tractors pulling huge piles of hay bales on trailers.

but it was to warn me that the top bales sometimes get knocked off by low branches

Nice one

george

Dorian Gray

Was that on your new Bianchi, jonesy124?

Drafting a vehicle is definitely fun. Just make sure you slam on the brakes the moment you see brake-lights, because at 40 mph you need to seriously haul on the front brake to scrub off the speed as fast as a car can with disc brakes.

I find articulated lorries best for drafting: they accelerate slowly giving you a chance to tuck in nice and tight early on, before the gap widens too much and you get dropped. And they're not likely to brake suddenly because the drivers know how much fuel that wastes, whereas car and van drivers usually have no idea how badly accelerating and braking affect fuel consumption. And of course, lorries never get really fast except on a motorway, so you have half a chance to stick with them at cruising speed.

In the wet it's another matter, eating spray and no traction for sudden braking. Not worth the discomfort.