Public announcement - drafting other bikes and safety

tgotb

Folks,

Now it's dark and damp, hazards are harder to spot and your bike is harder to stop. Please ride in such a way that, if the person in front of you stops suddenly, you will also be able to stop without hitting them or swerving madly. This means:
1. Leave a sensible stopping distance between yourself and the bike in front
2. Have brakes that work effectively
3. If you can't be bothered to sort out your brakes, you need to leave an even bigger stopping distance.
4. If you want to sit on someone's wheel at 20-30mph, please get a racing licence and do it in a controlled environment.
5. Even if you're used to flying through red lights and weaving round pedestrians on zebra crossings, please do not assume that the person who's a*se you're staring at, will do the same.

In the last three days I've been rear-ended twice, and had one guy fly past in a flurry of squealing brakes and expletives, nearly taking out a pedestrian in the process.

One conversation I had went as follows:
"Please can you leave a sensible stopping distance?"
"I couldn't do anything, you locked up"
"I didn't lock up; I stopped quickly because the guy in front of my stopped quickly. You ran into the back of me."
"No I didn't, I just hit your bag"
wtf?!?

pitchshifter

Well put. Been the victim of these fools twice recently.

Sticky?

Bikequin

I'm definetely stealing this from another forum member (apologies can't remember who to credit) but I like the line "My names not Mark Renshaw, you're not Cav and this isn't the tour!"

pangolin

Problem is, I have on many occasions backed off a little to an appropriate distance of a few bike lengths, and some other tool overtakes and hops into the gap. Usually results in me getting annoyed and dropping them both

As always, the people that these rants are aimed at are not the sort of people to read cycling forums (for the most part).

I agree though!

Wooliferkins

Oh to have the opportunity to wheel suck on my commute.

Ride hard

Ahhh, you have to love those people.

My tactic is to either a) Start slowing down to a snail’s pace until they are forced to overtake, or b) Pull out into the middle of the road (traffic permitting of course)

Either way, they’ll soon get the message.

phy2sll2

TGOTB wrote:

4. If you want to sit on someone's wheel at 20-30mph, please get a racing licence and do it in a controlled environment.

For the love of all that's sacred - please don't give people this advice.

daddy0

Wooliferkins wrote:

Oh to have the opportunity to wheel suck on my commute.

My too, my commute is very lonely with only the odd granny gear cruncher for brief company... I'm riding up to London for Critical Mass tomorrow though (my first time), so I expect some drafting action at some point.

roger_merriman

Daddy0 wrote:

Wooliferkins wrote:

Oh to have the opportunity to wheel suck on my commute.

My too, my commute is very lonely with only the odd granny gear cruncher for brief company... I'm riding up to London for Critical Mass tomorrow though (my first time), so I expect some drafting action at some point.

as far as I'm aware critical mass and other simular stuff are barely walking pace, handy for practicing trackstands than drafting.

Paul E

I had this all this morning thanks to it being windy, I put myself into the red to get rid of them and hopefully give them some pain, I am not a mobile windbreak, thank you

Headhuunter

Best thing to do is MTFU and ride harder... No one ever drafts me for long... Seriously.... I tend to be on my own for my commute

iPete

It's worse on a fixed, people assume pedaling = not slowing.

but as headhuunter put it, MTFU, tend not to get any fairies with a good get away from the lights and good pace.

fossyant

You aren't riding fast enough if you get wheel suckers. :twisted:

meanredspider

Wooliferkins wrote:

Oh to have the opportunity to wheel suck on my commute.

This.

Oh to see another bike....

sketchley

Snot rockets are the solution to drafters....

Initialised

Sketchley wrote:

Snot rockets are the solution to drafters....

You could just not fit rear guards, that puts me off pretty quick.

daviesee

meanredspider wrote:

Wooliferkins wrote:

Oh to have the opportunity to wheel suck on my commute.

This.

Oh to see another bike....

+1
I actually had two guys for company on one stretch this morning.
That's the first time in 1 1/2 years on that route. :shock:

I scalped them for the audacity. :twisted:

reformedfatty

Saw a couple this morning on shopping bikes heading the opposite way to me. At first I thought it was a tandem they were that close, must have been literally 2 inches max between them.

And they were travelling at just over walking pace. Still, im sure they are thrilled with their aerodynamics

notsoblue

Sketchley wrote:

Snot rockets are the solution to drafters....

No.

The number of times I've been snot rocketed while about make a pass....is...well...two. People who don't look before they snot rocket should be put up against a wall and shot with paintballs. People who do it intentionally to hit other cyclists should just be shot.

dodgy

#LondonProblems

Bikequin

notsoblue wrote:

Sketchley wrote:

Snot rockets are the solution to drafters....

No.

The number of times I've been snot rocketed while about make a pass....is...well...two. People who don't look before they snot rocket should be put up against a wall and shot with paintballs. People who do it intentionally to hit other cyclists should just be shot.

+1

Although the worst experience I've had is where some kid spat out of a window waiting in traffic lights and got me with a huge wad of spit. I was absolutely fuming - even more so by the fact that it was a Kid and hence I couldn't really do anything but shout, the most infuriating thing was the mother sat in the front and didn't say anything. In hindsight I should have D-locked both wing-mirrors and pissed on the petrol cap*

*Obviously this is going too far.

sketchley

notsoblue wrote:

Sketchley wrote:

Snot rockets are the solution to drafters....

No.

The number of times I've been snot rocketed while about make a pass....is...well...two. People who don't look before they snot rocket should be put up against a wall and shot with paintballs. People who do it intentionally to hit other cyclists should just be shot.

I always look. If someone is sitting on my back wheel dangerously, for a long time, being a c*ck, and refusnig to come passed even if I slow down, they might have to dodge one, I make it obvious I'm about to do it though.

jonginge

Bikequin wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Sketchley wrote:

Snot rockets are the solution to drafters....

No.

The number of times I've been snot rocketed while about make a pass....is...well...two. People who don't look before they snot rocket should be put up against a wall and shot with paintballs. People who do it intentionally to hit other cyclists should just be shot.

+1

Although the worst experience I've had is where some kid spat out of a window waiting in traffic lights and got me with a huge wad of spit. I was absolutely fuming - even more so by the fact that it was a Kid and hence I couldn't really do anything but shout, the most infuriating thing was the mother sat in the front and didn't say anything. In hindsight I should have D-locked both wing-mirrors and pissed on the petrol cap*

*Obviously this is going too far.

Indeed. Spitting at someone is an assault, I believe. Snot-rocketing is no different. Grim.

nigglenoo

OTOH, if you are going to pass me on your CF road bike while I am riding my hub gear commuter with MTB tyres and loaded panniers up a hill, please be sure you actually have it in you to carry on without immediately dying in front of me, or I will claim the right to draft you for the next two miles until you jump the lights...

unclejimbo1983

What's even worse than close drafting is when people half-wheel you but don't actually overtake. I shoulder checked the other day to go around a parked car and there was a guy 3/4 off my right hand side less than a foot from me, completely blocking my view of the road.

The really annoying thing is that he didn't have a clue about the danger he was causing me, even after I gave him a face full of my headtorch and the international WTF gesture for a couple of seconds, as he exactly matched my speed. In the end I just braked and he passed me, without shoulder checking of course.

BigLights

Headhuunter wrote:

Best thing to do is MTFU and ride harder... No one ever drafts me for long... Seriously.... I tend to be on my own for my commute

sound advice in theory, but i've seen how headhuunter rides and, although he walks and talks like a human, I can tell you that he is probably not an entirely terrestrial organic being, i'm sure of it. It's like watching a Eurofighter fly past a bunch of cessnas. And woe behold anyone who is nearby when he passes as the sonic boom will wreak havoc on your eardrums.

mroli

notsoblue wrote:

People who don't look before they snot rocket should be put up against a wall and shot with paintballs. People who do it intentionally to hit other cyclists should just be shot.

+1 - never happened to me, but deliberately aiming the contacts of your nose or mouth at another person is grim. Just slow down or speed up.