Is this normal practice?

steve_kay

I've been riding for around six months now. Always on my own as I'm not part of a cycling club. I was riding home this evening and passed another cyclist at the bottom of a hill. I pulled back in and carried on as normal. About 2 minutes later I looked over my right shoulder to check for traffic passing and saw the same cyclist right on my rear wheel but to the right slightly. He stayed there for a good 10 minutes before turning off. Is this the done thing? It didn't bother me but just seemed a bit odd. If anything it pushed me harder to maintain a good speed (21 mph is a good speed for me), especially with quite a strong head wind. I understand why he did it as it's less effort for him riding in my slipstream. Has anyone else experienced this?

ForumNewbie

Steve_kay wrote:

I've been riding for around six months now. Always on my own as I'm not part of a cycling club. I was riding home this evening and passed another cyclist at the bottom of a hill. I pulled back in and carried on as normal. About 2 minutes later I looked over my right shoulder to check for traffic passing and saw the same cyclist right on my rear wheel but to the right slightly. He stayed there for a good 10 minutes before turning off. Is this the done thing? It didn't bother me but just seemed a bit odd. If anything it pushed me harder to maintain a good speed (21 mph is a good speed for me), especially with quite a strong head wind. I understand why he did it as it's less effort for him riding in my slipstream. Has anyone else experienced this?

Yes, although 10 minutes is a long time for someone to slipstream you without any sort of acknowledgement. I might sit on someone's wheel for 30 seconds or so for a bit of relief if the pass me, but they can usually drop me as I'm not that fast. If someone was to sit on my wheel for 10 minutes, I would at least expect him to have a chat and thank me for 'allowing' him to slipstream for a bit.

steve_kay

Thanks for the reply. Yeah it did seem like quite a long time. Like I said before, I didn't mind really but just seemed like a long time to be sat there. He must have realised how strong the headwind was (I live on the coast) and thought his luck was in when I went past

Anonymous

Guessing he got the hump about you overtaking him (rightly or wrongly, depending on how you did it) and thought, great, I'll draft you then if you are so keen to be in front of me.

I think there is an onus on someone to say hi/make themselves known to you if they come up behind you and sit on your tail, but if you overtake them I think its up to you to either pull away, get overtaken again, or be happy that you are giving someone a free ride.

Sounds like you overtook him because of the hill and then sat in front of him and did not immediately pull away from him as you would expect someone overtaking you to do. I would find that really annoying to be honest.
If that were the case, where would you expect him to be when you looked around after 2 minutes?

Not sure I would draft someone that long on a solo ride (would be odd and better to overtake them back), but if its an event (with other cyclists around) and I thought someone was overtaking me in a 'oh look at me, I am better than you' type way, then I would find it a lot of fun drafting them and seeing if they upped their pace to get away.

Bozman

I've come across it quite a lot but I have feeling that some of the time you just come across someone who may have drifted off in to a world of their own, you go past them and it's like a kick up the ar5e.
I can remember passing some guy at pace on a long drag of a hill sometime back, half a minute later(?) the guy was on my back wheel and he was stuck there for a while. I just upped my pace up and over the top and then nailed it on the descent. For all I know the bloke could've been at the end of a 120 mile ride while I was only 40 miles in, but it broke the monotony of the ride up.

steve_kay

The thing is, i sat behind him for a good 5 minutes and judged the pace he was going. He was going around 18mph on average, so when we reached a flat open piece of road I picked up the pace and passed him. I then sat at around 21mph for the next 10 minutes or so. He obviously didn't like being passed and picked up the pace to sit on my back wheel. He was a guy on his daily commute by the looks of things (normal rain jacket, bag etc) so it's not like he's out on a training ride or anything.

diamonddog

I have not yet overtaken someone and them not sit on my wheel, I just carry on doing my own thing, at some point our routes differ and they're gone or I drop them or vice versa.
I have never felt the need to draft other riders (except when riding with friends in a group) and I always say hello when overtaking or being overtaken, if they reply fine if not who cares.

e999sam

Steve_kay wrote:

The thing is, i sat behind him for a good 5 minutes and judged the pace he was going. He was going around 18mph on average, so when we reached a flat open piece of road I picked up the pace and passed him. I then sat at around 21mph for the next 10 minutes or so. He obviously didn't like being passed and picked up the pace to sit on my back wheel. He was a guy on his daily commute by the looks of things (normal rain jacket, bag etc) so it's not like he's out on a training ride or anything.

Doesn't necessarily mean he had the hump. It's easier to sit on another riders wheel so he was probably taking the oppertunity to increase his speed without any extra effort. Perhaps he was unable to come through and help because he was already on his limit.

steve_kay

Yeah I personally wouldn't do it myself. I think that unless you're doing a long ride or and endurance event, it's beneficial from a training perspective to ride out in front as much as possible. Surely it'd built up the power and stamina in your legs. Either way, he was more than welcome to sit there. I'm yet to draught anyone so I don't know how it feels to ride in someone else's slipstream

slowbike

IMHO - partially normal practice

I've been overtaken a couple of times on my commute - I've jumped on their wheel (not too close) and taken a free tow - one chap was just too fast and I couldn't keep the pace going when we went up hill so called up "thanks for the tow" and off he went ...
the otherone was a lad chasing his mate on a TT bike - I didn't jump on the first lads wheel as he was on aero bars - but the second lad was on normal road bike and I got a free tow for ~5-10 minutes - but at the end of that one when his mate had pulled out quite a lead I passed my tower and gave him a tow up to his mate. He was quite pleased with that!

I have also overtaken a rider who was obviously struggling up a hill - he jumped on my wheel and took the tow down the otherside - we took a detour around some country lanes and had a chat - he's a sponsored rider/racer and was on his way home having done some serious miles - he was knackered and was very pleased to have a wheel to tag onto. Didn't bother me in the slightest as it was obvious that he was an experienced rider and it was nice being able to give back a tow for someone who needed it.

jasonbrim

I think if they say hi and acknowledge you, then it's kinda OK. I wouldn't sit on someone else's wheel unless I could see they were a decent cyclist, and similarly, I wouldn't allow someone to sit on mine if I thought the same. (I have told someone to stop once after I overtook them as they were all over the place trying to keep up.)

Sometimes it's nice to meet a random and even share the wind with them. I overtook one guy who was near the end of a 6 hr ride, and I was near the start of a 3 hr ride, so let him sit on my wheel until he turned off to head home. He was really appreciative. So it might not be "normal" practice, but it often happens. It's up to you to decide if it's acceptable or not, and you can always ask someone to stop sucking your wheel!

steve_kay

Thanks for the responses. I get the impression that it's acceptable and often mutually beneficial but I think some of it comes down to courtesy by acknowledging some one or thanking them.

markhewitt1978

He might have been miffed about being overtaken, but more likely he just wanted to follow you as he could benefit from your slipstream and even though he was going faster, he was then probably putting in less effort.

jasondxb

Daft question, but how close do you have to be to get the draft ?

cougie

Still felt 10 meters back apparently ! http://triathlon.competitor.com/2012/10 ... rule_63439

rolf_f

If it bothers you, just pull over and let them go. It's what I usually do.

jibberjim

Rolf F wrote:

If it bothers you, just pull over and let them go. It's what I usually do.

But then you catch them up 2 minutes later... so it's not a particularly sustainable approach.

If it's so acceptable to do it on a bike, why is it not acceptable to tailgate in a car? there you're actually saving cold hard cash by doing it.

steve_kay

I have to agree with Jim on that one. I don't mind someone drafting me but even if I did, I wouldn't want to ruin my rhythm by stopping.

fatsmoker

It's usually a bit of fun. I had a lad overtake me on the path this week as i slowed on the road for traffic. I thought I'm not having that, so I overtook him. For the next 2 miles he clung to my wheel as I went as fast as my fat ar5e would push me. He overtook me again as I eased off for the next set of lights and turned off. It was the most fun I've had this week - which shows how dull my commute normally is.

dowtcha

I think he was being polite, you overtook him and then ride at a snails pace of 21 mph. He did not want to embarrass you by having to re-overtake.

steve_kay

Dowtcha wrote:

I think he was being polite, you overtook him and then ride at a snails pace of 21 mph. He did not want to embarrass you by having to re-overtake.

That may be a snails pace for you but not for a lot of people. Especially with a strong headwind on a road with a bad quality surface. And considering he was riding around 18mph prior to that. Anyway, thanks for your quality input

rolf_f

jibberjim wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

If it bothers you, just pull over and let them go. It's what I usually do.

But then you catch them up 2 minutes later... so it's not a particularly sustainable approach.

Not really - chances are they turn off or you can just re-overtake at a fast enough speed that they don't get back on your wheel.

jibberjim wrote:

If it's so acceptable to do it on a bike, why is it not acceptable to tailgate in a car? there you're actually saving cold hard cash by doing it.

You don't really not know the answer to this do you?

ForumNewbie

Steve_kay wrote:

Dowtcha wrote:

I think he was being polite, you overtook him and then ride at a snails pace of 21 mph. He did not want to embarrass you by having to re-overtake.

That may be a snails pace for you but not for a lot of people. Especially with a strong headwind on a road with a bad quality surface. And considering he was riding around 18mph prior to that. Anyway, thanks for your quality input

Don't worry Steve, 21 mph for 10 minutes cycling at the front into a headwind is definitely not a snail's pace. I don't think many people could keep up that pace on the flat into a headwind.

xscreamsuk

Yesterday I passed someone up a climb and said hello. He asked if he could grab a wheel, yep of course I said if you can keep up. Never saw him again. It really doesn't bother me in the slightest. I'm out there for a purpose. Sometimes it's quick, others slow, others in between. If some one shares the same pace then all well and good. I race when I have a number on my back.

steve_kay

Don't worry Steve, 21 mph for 10 minutes cycling at the front into a headwind is definitely not a snail's pace. I don't think many people could keep up that pace on the flat into a headwind.[/quote]

Thanks for that mate. Yeah I didn't think that was too terrible. At least I hoped it wasn't as it was extremely hard work.

thefd

I'm confused - did you sit on his wheel for 5 minutes or have I misunderstood?

Are you saying you averaged 21mph up a hill into a head wind on a road with a bad surface?

steve_kay

You misunderstood. He sat on MY wheel at 21mph for 10 minutes. I followed him for 5 minutes before I overtook to judge what sort of speed he was averaging (around 18mph).

Moonbiker

Are you saying you averaged 21mph up a hill into a head wind on a road with a bad surface?

I did that once when saw some sky full kit guy ahead of me. Fastest I ever had gone up the hill before was about about 14mph but seeing someone ahead felt the urge to race so sprinted striaght past then at speed thinking they wouldn't be able to grab my wheel. A full out a race between us then started up to the top of the hill over about 3 miles, as the instant I went passed he jumped on to my wheel then re passed me by doubling his initial pace that was about 11mph to over 20mph. I followed him up to the top trying to reovertake but only manged to halfwheel him when I tried to reovertake :evil:

I was wearing a heavy ruckrack & steel toe workboots at the time & in normal baggy clothing.

Checked strava when I got home & the guy i raced got KOM on the segment while racing me so I know how fast I was averaging.

Tried to do that same hill fast again solo too beat his KOM but never manged more than 17mph on the strava segment since

Moonbiker

Anyone ever detoured from a planned route just to overtake people or only me who has done that? :oops:

thefd

Steve_kay wrote:

You misunderstood. He sat on MY wheel at 21mph for 10 minutes. I followed him for 5 minutes before I overtook to judge what sort of speed he was averaging (around 18mph).

Exactly - what's the difference then? You sat on his wheel for 5 minutes, then he sat on your wheel for 10 minutes. And now you are moaning about it? Did you speak to him when you were on his wheel?

Personally I think this thread has been an excuse for you to brag about your speed up a hill into a head wind on a badly surfaced road!

steve_kay

Sitting on someone's wheel and sitting 20 metres back are 2 totally different things. That's an assumption you've (wrongly) made. Moaning about it? I asked a question whether it was the done thing. Hence the title of the thread. I think you're getting yourself confused here which seems to be a recurring theme at the moment. Brag about what exactly? I explained what happened. And I never said It was on a hill. I said I overtook him on a hill, not that I rode at 21 mph up a hill for 10 minutes. At least read the thread properly if you insist on trying to pick holes in what I said