Drafting - are there any unwritten rules/etiquette?

heathy_76

Whilst out yesterday I overtook another cyclist after 20 miles or so of my ride, said hello and carried on. Half a mile later I can hear said cyclist behind me on my back wheel, which is where he stayed for another mile.
All of this time I am trying to batter through a horrible headwind.

Getting a bit p***ed off I pulled over and let him carry on.

I am right to get a little bit narked by someone getting a free ride or is it acceptable???

amaferanga

heathy_76 wrote:

I am right to get a little bit narked by someone getting a free ride or is it acceptable???

Yes you're right to be narked. He was a lazy freeloading tw@t.

justrideallday

Yeah would get annoyed!!

Personally I think you should take it turns if you are going to drafft - if you are not prepared to take the front then don't think about drafing someone else.

Davidius

Should have dropped him properly if you overtook him

Drafting is acceptable, only if manners are applied. No manners, no ride.

heathy_76

Thanks, I'm glad it isn't just me being grumpy!

Richa1181

Manners it is! Maybe if you've made an immense effort to get on somebody's back wheel from a way back then you can at least pull along side and say hello, ask if they don't mind towing you and have a chat once recovered, but sitting on somebody's back wheel without even acknowledging them is plain rude!

MattC59

heathy_76 wrote:

Whilst out yesterday I overtook another cyclist after 20 miles or so of my ride, said hello and carried on. Half a mile later I can hear said cyclist behind me on my back wheel, which is where he stayed for another mile.
All of this time I am trying to batter through a horrible headwind.

Getting a bit p***ed off I pulled over and let him carry on.

I am right to get a little bit narked by someone getting a free ride or is it acceptable???

This is road cycling, of course there are unwritten rules and etiquette. Unwritten so that noone can be sure what they are but people can get p*ssed off when someone breaks a rule that they don't know about.
In turn, the person getting p*ssed off can then feel smug knowing that he/she is far superior as he/she is aware of something unwritten and undefined that the other person is unaware of.

Bottom line, yes, there are unwritten rules, I've no idea what they are, but I think that in this case, you were right to feel somewhat 'put out'

That said, the fellow could have been a broken man, struggling home against the headwind, but (as per this unwritten etiquette) it would have been decent to have let you know or asked.

Of course, the other side to the argument could be that it's a public road and he can cycle where he likes.

I've got a book here of all of the unwritten etiquette, but it's written in invisible ink.

turnerjohn

justrideallday wrote:

Yeah would get annoyed!!

Personally I think you should take it turns if you are going to drafft - if you are not prepared to take the front then don't think about drafing someone else.

+1 same thing happened with me and a mate...this guy just hung on...didn't even say hi...as my mate said it was like riding with a ghost behind ! I dropped him on a big hill after 15mins...was getting quite p*ss*d off him :shock:

ShutUpLegs

heathy_76 wrote:

Getting a bit p***ed off I pulled over and let him carry on.

I am right to get a little bit narked by someone getting a free ride or is it acceptable???

He was probably waiting for you to indicate if you wanted him to do his time in the wind. 1 mile isn't that far depending on the run you are doing.

heathy_76

I think some manners or a hello would've made a lot of difference! Hopefully he might read this!

jamm13dodger

Now, i'm glad I read this. I would happily have sat on someones rear wheel without saying anything and not realised I was commiting a terrible offence.

What's the protocol then? Ride up next to the leader and ask "Is it okay if I draft you?"

What if they don't answer? There's some people who aren't very talkative out there. Very few respond when you say hello.

Rob

jamm13dodger

Double Post

heathy_76

ShutUpLegs wrote:

heathy_76 wrote:

Getting a bit p***ed off I pulled over and let him carry on.

I am right to get a little bit narked by someone getting a free ride or is it acceptable???

He was probably waiting for you to indicate if you wanted him to do his time in the wind. 1 mile isn't that far depending on the run you are doing.

Good point, never thought of that.

Every day is a school day!

PhilofCas

I'll tell you one, don't creep up behind someone very quietly and sit there not saying owt, frightened the life out of me the other day when that happened to me. I'd say ride up to them wide and at least say hello straight away, i've met 2 good riding mates doing that!

Cloudy_Wheat

When Im out training and someone is drafting me I couldnt give a monkey. If it was a bike race and it was a small break I would expect everyone to take turns.

Next time just ask the person how about some help here. If you dont get a responce pull over and let them get on with it.

bruce225

My theory on this is when your behind some one in the distance, you pedal like hell to catch up, then over take,but then when you settle down you find that your both going more or less the same speed thus he's staying on your rear wheel.l don't think your dragging him along that much.

Now if he overtakes you back, many people would take that as some indication it's race time...

Plus chances are you won't be going the same direction for that long..

But i always say HELLO!!

That's a newbies point of view..

JST

PhilofCas wrote:

I'll tell you one, don't creep up behind someone very quietly and sit there not saying owt, frightened the life out of me the other day when that happened to me. I'd say ride up to them wide and at least say hello straight away, i've met 2 good riding mates doing that!

That reminds me a month or so ago I was out on a ride and caught up with someone on a hill. I didn't sit behind him, I pulled alongside and said hello and he nearly fell off with surprise! He had been 'in the zone' and hadn't noticed me pulling up alongside. Any way we had a good chat and rode for a while before going our seperate ways.

christurbo

Ive had a few people/groups draft us; most say hello, the ones that do not overtake and take their turn.

However, one of the guys I ride with sees the overtake as 'Race Time', and it becomes messy!!! :twisted:

My advice would be - if you have had enough of the headwind and you have a drafter who has not said hello for 5 miles then drop your pace, he will soon get the point and overtake.

P_Tucker

Someone sat on your back wheel affects your ride how exactly? If someone wants to sit on your wheel and stare at your arse, why would you care? Are you a homophobe?

iPete

As a commuter, I see no issues.

MTFU and drop him or let him be.*

When your head of the pack, its to be expected.

*That is providing he is drafting at a safe distance.Too close, especially when commuting in town can be iffy if you need to take evasive action.

Chip \'oyler

BRUCE225 wrote:

My theory on this is when your behind some one in the distance you pedal like hell to catch up then over take,but then when you settle down you find that your both going more or less the same speed thus he's staying on your rear whee,l don't think your dragging him along that much.

Now if he overtakes you back many people would take that as some indication it's race time...

Plus chances are you won't be going the same direction for that long..

But i always say HELLO!!

That's a newbies point of view..

1. Why?
2. If you want to race - pin a number on your back and race.

iPete

Chip \'oyler wrote:

BRUCE225 wrote:

My theory on this is when your behind some one in the distance you pedal like hell to catch up then over take,but then when you settle down you find that your both going more or less the same speed thus he's staying on your rear whee,l don't think your dragging him along that much.

Now if he overtakes you back many people would take that as some indication it's race time...

Plus chances are you won't be going the same direction for that long..

But i always say HELLO!!

That's a newbies point of view..

1. Why?
2. If you want to race - pin a number on your back and race.

erm http://www.itsnotarace.org/ I'll say no more.

-steves-

So, where does this one sit?

I am coming up to a roundabout after doing about 20+ miles (remembering that about 30 was my limit at the time). A bloke comes from my left across the roundabout and is infornt of me by about 20 meters. I eventaully catch him as his pace was only about .2 slower than what I was doing, BUT i knew the bit of road and knew it started to go slightly up hill and this was where I usually started to slow off a bit due to being knackered and its uphill. I sit about a couple or so meters behind him, too worried to overtake as I was almost flat out at the time and he could have been taking it easy, didn't want to invoke a "race" as I had nothing left. I sat behind him for about a mile, at which he was turning right at the next roundabout and I was heading home turning left. As he turned to look over his shoulder for the roundabout he saw me, so I said good morning and also said "nice pace" as I had realized by now that this was probably about the quickest I had done this part before as it must have been me drafting him that assisted me. P.S. I wasnt aware of the massive "drafting" benefits at the time, kinda worked it out on that run.

Was I in the wrong anywhere? :oops: He was polite, smiled and said hi back (makes a ruddy change for round here too, ignorant "people" i met out on rides this morning, said hi to them and not one of them replied, I do hope they are reading this)

furrag

You're a miserable lot!

If someone sits on or even is 20 yards or so behind my wheel, not only do I not give a shit, but I'll point out holes, signal to go around cars etc. I leave the house in the morning expecting to cycle to my destination, and I do that. I don't see the reason to get arsey if someone wants to do less work.

Dmak

If you're going to scalp someone at a marginal difference in speed I think it's to be expected that you may well end up with a wheel sucker.

The last time I got scalped the guy was massive, like a giant wind break. He ended up going at my original speed so I could hardly avoid drafting. I wasn't right on his wheel at all but even then it made for a very easy mile.

What would you have done?

PhilofCas

JST wrote:

PhilofCas wrote:

I'll tell you one, don't creep up behind someone very quietly and sit there not saying owt, frightened the life out of me the other day when that happened to me. I'd say ride up to them wide and at least say hello straight away, i've met 2 good riding mates doing that!

That reminds me a month or so ago I was out on a ride and caught up with someone on a hill. I didn't sit behind him, I pulled alongside and said hello and he nearly fell off with surprise! He had been 'in the zone' and hadn't noticed me pulling up alongside. Any way we had a good chat and rode for a while before going our seperate ways.

Ha-ha, nice one

Stone Glider

Yes, there are unwritten rules and an unwritten book of etiquette. However, I have taken out a super-injunction which forbids any reference to anything to do with it.









What have I done!

What have I done???

Aaaarggghhhh!

colsoop

I don't care if someone hangs off my back wheel. If im out by myself i will be battling the elements anyway so somebody drafting me makes no difference to my effort levels or the ride i am doing.

It can sometimes be good for upping the intenisty level on a ride as you can use it as a challenge to try and drop them.

Having said that a polite hello / good morning or a thanks if we go are seperate ways is always nice.

amaferanga

I'm surprised at how many people don't mind some random cyclist sitting inches from their back wheel when they have absolutely no idea how good or bad a cyclist that person is. Likewise, I would never sit on the wheel of a random cyclist who may have absolutely no idea how to ride when someone is on their wheel.

P_Tucker

amaferanga wrote:

I'm surprised at how many people don't mind some random cyclist sitting inches from their back wheel when they have absolutely no idea how good or bad a cyclist that person is. Likewise, I would never sit on the wheel of a random cyclist who may have absolutely no idea how to ride when someone is on their wheel.

Obviously, if the person on my back wheel had hairy legs, had tribars or was riding a Trek then this would be different and I'd take the opportunity to have a p!ss stop.

bruce225

Chip \'oyler wrote:

BRUCE225 wrote:

My theory on this is when your behind some one in the distance you pedal like hell to catch up then over take,but then when you settle down you find that your both going more or less the same speed thus he's staying on your rear whee,l don't think your dragging him along that much.

Now if he overtakes you back many people would take that as some indication it's race time...

Plus chances are you won't be going the same direction for that long..

But i always say HELLO!!

That's a newbies point of view..

1. Why?
2. If you want to race - pin a number on your back and race.

1.It's happened to everyone,and people use it for motivation including me as a newbie,problem is person in front doesn't know what's happening...Don't always catch them.

2.I didn't quote I want to race but that's the mentality of lot's of people,when I go to the gym people look at each other to see what there lifting/running etc. once again using them for motivation to beat them,that's just society...