Tailgating

oodboo

Riding home from work last night I though I saw someone out of the corner of my eye, I just carried on but had the feeling there was someone behind me. Turned out there was. Long straight stretch into the wind following the river tyne and there was some cheeky bugger sitting in my slipstream getting an easy ride.

This is the first time this has happened to me. Not long before we were about to go our seperate ways he over took me and as he was passing said he'll take a turn. As a mountain biker I'm not used to this type of behaviour but for the short time I was behind him riding was a lot easier and I could even roll for a bit. When we got to the lights he thanked me and said he hope to catch me more often then carried on when the lights changed. I was still trying to make sense of all this and was rendered fairly speechless.

Anyway, this experience has got me thinking, as strange as it was at the time I have realised I quite like the idea of the camaraderie of taking turns to face the wind and I enjoy cycling anyway. So should I go out and try a ride with a local club? Is my Genesis suitable for a beginner to go on a club ride with? Would I be too slow? Would I be welcomed in my baggies? Or should I just stick to playing in the mud that I love so much?

aripallaris

thats pretty cool actually. i often find people in my slip stream and not once to this day have they reciprocated. would be nice to find that sort of respect on the road.

go join up matey, if you find ur slow, itll give you something to work up too. if your bike isnt situable, then you'll soon be playing with a new toy and much better racer hahah...

enjoy mate. oh clothing situation. dont listen to people who rant and rave about lycra / baggies. wear what you like and have fun

merak

Yeah, riding in a group is brilliant fun and you can go faster, longer,easier in the wheels than on your own. Of course you have to take your turns too. In my club, no-one cares what you're riding. Of course if it's a thing with knobblies you might struggle tyo keep up but otherwise, who cares? On your first outing ask someone to show you the little signs and so on that keep people in the bunch from riding into parked cars and suchlike.

geoff_ss

When I commuted to work (ie before I retired ) there was a sort of informal club along a stretch of by-passed road (it was wide, but quiet). Bit and bit was common if it was windy or two across and chatting if not. The best was when a small JCB passed us doing about 20mph and we collected about half a dozen cyclists getting a free ride.

I used to enjoy my 14 mile each way commute ... usually.

petemadoc

Your Genesis will be more than suitable if you fit it with some slick tyres. I road for over a year with the local club on a cyclocorss bike.

Try some Lycra, you never know you might like it

marjorie dawes

i joined a roadriding club this year and like oodboo i was suprised at the ease of slipstreaming, its so handy if your struggling in the group, drop in behide someone,

sloppyschleckonds

wheelsucking is our rite

mouth

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

wheelsucking is our rite

But only if you take your turn in the wind. I did something similar the other day. Was riding with a guy on a Boardman Team Pro and another on some kinda Claude Butler that looked a whole lot better than my Carrera. I had to pull the uphilm(minor gradient)l stretch and was kindly impressed with my 19mph. Before I was on the front I was contemplating a chain gang style assault but he swung off track style before I had chance. The road ran out and we went separate ways after that without a word spoken.

jim453

Please be careful when using this new found technique. You need to be mighty close to your windbreak in order to get the full effect. I know from painful experience that this is no time to start daydreaming.

RedRyd3R

As for the wheel sucking, its great to latch on if you a willing friend or commuter.
But be warned there are those that don't play fair. I used to get wheel sucked by ryder every morning for abuot 2 miles, when I ran out of stream he would fly past me without word of thanks. One one morning luck would have it I mannaged to latch onto him. After ten minutes I saw him glance bak indiscust, anyway I carried on doing it, then the dirty sh*tbag cleared his nose over his shoulder and I got a face full of snot.

hangeron

I think the OP has pulled


:shock: :shock:

mattgoodman

What is the technique for this? I.e how close do you need to be to get the benefit...and is it directly behind, or slightly overlapping the real wheel etc? Matt

jim453

mattgoodman wrote:

What is the technique for this? I.e how close do you need to be to get the benefit...and is it directly behind, or slightly overlapping the real wheel etc? Matt

You need to be rather close and sheltering from the wind. If the wind is directly in the windbreaks face then you need to be directly behind. If the wind is coming into the left of the windbreaks face then you need to be behind and to the right of him/her. etc etc.

You will know when you are getting it right because you will suddenly feel like you are doing much less work for the same result (ie staying on), very noticeably less. Obviously, the faster you are both going the more pronounced the effect.

Don't overlap your wheel though unless you're really concentrating.

merak

jim453 wrote:

Don't overlap your wheel though unless you're really concentrating.

+1. And for this reason don't dodge or pull suddenly sideways in a group because someone might be on your wheel and overlapping. If you do, you'll hardly notice anything until you hear them hitting the road.

Sometimes with a side or a 3/4 wind, you need to overlap to get the benefit.

And if you're riding in a tight group, it's the job of those in front to signal hazards, holes, parked cars, pedestrians, speed bumps etc to those behind, because you can't see ahead if you're following a wheel closely.

mattgoodman

Thanks all. What are the hand signals used?

gavbarron

http://bicyclethailand.com/using-hand-s ... ng-groups/

rubertoe

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

wheelsucking is our rite

^^^

This -

although it is only fair that you take your turn - i towed some guy for about 4kms on wednesday on a fairly flat bit of my commute - then he jumped on the front (after stopping at some lights) and towed me up the 1.5km drag on the last of my commute - i normally struggle on this drag - but it was a piece of the proverbial out of the wind.

Not a word was exchanged.

gavbarron

Take your turn yes but I do find it annoying when someone sits on your wheel up the hills then only takes the front on the way down, and repeat mile after mile, doesn't take long to lose my rag and drop him for being a shirker.

That said, generally I find it to be a jovial affair if you share the work, you both know you're getting some free speed and it's nice to have a bit of company if it's been a long day in the saddle. Just a shame Norfolk doesn't have more cyclists to share the road with

madracer

While out on my ride yesterday I saw a tractor up ahead which appeared to be about the same speed. I was heading into the 20 mph wind, so had to work extra hard for me to catch up with him, but hey it would be worth the effort once I was getting a tow......Caught him up felt pleased and a bit tired......when he pulled over to let me past!!!!

Norfolk folk are just too kind

deffler

I drafted for the first time a couple of weeks ago on my commute from work. Was on my mtb with 2.1 knobblies going along a straight road into a headwind. A roadie overtakes me so it was an ideal opportunity to see if I could draft a roadie on my mtb. I defo felt the difference, at one point i was just cruising, kept his wheel no probs but doubt i could have done some work upfront. As I turned off i gave him a "thanks for the draft mate" shout, he looked very surprised.

andrewlwood

It doesn't make it harder for the person in front though, does it? I mean, if someone is drafting you, it doesn't increase the effort you need to put in - it's just easier for the person behind. So, while I agree that it's only fair to take your turn at the front, it shouldn't really be a problem if someone's drafting you.

sumosprintstar

A couple of weeks ago someone attached themselves to my wheel. He overtook me to take a turn and I could not keep up with him. Guess I better just train harder.

anto164

sumosprintstar wrote:

A couple of weeks ago someone attached themselves to my wheel. He overtook me to take a turn and I could not keep up with him. Guess I better just train harder.

That's called bad form.

If they were drafting you, then they should take a turn at a similar speed, instead of drafting then trying to drop you.