Cycling Thread 2

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Question for you all about drafting etiquette; or if there even is such a thing. The other day going into work I had somebody catch up to me while I was waiting for the light at the detour by Bonnybrook. I went ahead, and she followed right behind me. For the entire way under the tracks, beside the river etc she was right behind me and slightly to the left. Her front tire was maybe a foot or two away from my rear. After a kilometre of this I pulled over by the bird sanctuary to let her pass.

We were going into a 15 km/h headwind, so nothing crazy. My question, is it considered acceptable to draft so close to somebody you don't know in a recreational setting? I could see doing it in a race or something. I am still a little cautious since my crash a while back, so I wasn't comfortable.

Absolutely not OK, and not safe. Only draft people you know, and that they trust you. Also sketchy on the pathways to do. I'd have said "I'm not comfortable with you drafting me, please go ahead, or fall back."

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Absolutely not OK, and not safe. Only draft people you know, and that they trust you. Also sketchy no the pathways to do. I'd have said "I'm not comfortable with you drafting me, please go ahead, or fall back."

Your choices for the paths, below, based on my experiences of ~15yrs of year round riding/commuting/racing
Burn them off. Doesn’t always work.
Implement a slow speed competition without telling them. Doesn’t always work
Ask them nicely to go ahead or back off. Doesn’t always work.
Ask them not so nicely. Doesn’t always work.
Warn them of imminent snot rocket. Usually works.
Snot rocket, no warning. Gloves off!! (And often works).

My suggested order is last two. As someone who’s nose either drips or runs like a faucet (rarely stays dry, and I can’t/won’t sniff it in endlessly), this malady can be used in self defence apparently.

[Northendzone]

wow, i have ridden to work a lot on the pathways and never had someone draft me. what a dangerous move.

i just came off of two weeks of vacation, and during that time i did 16 rides for a total of 410km's. with about 320kms of that on my mtn bike as i had several days in fernie by myself where i would ride twice per day.

[Wormius]

You could check if they were recording on Strava and maybe find out what their intent was. Is drafting in that situation all that productive?

[KTrain]

Flybys are turned off on Strava by default now so it's less effective at finding people who've ridden with/by you. But it's because tracking down women on Strava was a problem for creeps (not saying you are Wormius).

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Wormius

You could check if they were recording on Strava and maybe find out what their intent was. Is drafting in that situation all that productive?

15km/h into a headwind? Hell ya it is. It's amazing how well it works.



I try to get my wife to draft me, but she stays a bit to far back. She also tends to ride slower behind me, so I let her go in front, which inevitably leads to me sitting on her wheel not peddling for 10's of km.

[ken0042]

Just to clarify- we were going about 22-24 km/h into a 15 km/h headwind. So it wasn't like I was helping her make any serious time; nor was the wind much of a factor.

Thanks for the replies guys. Glad to know I'm not crazy. (Well, on this one anyway.)

[Ryan Coke]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Just to clarify- we were going about 22-24 km/h into a 15 km/h headwind. So it wasn't like I was helping her make any serious time; nor was the wind much of a factor.

Thanks for the replies guys. Glad to know I'm not crazy. (Well, on this one anyway.)

I’ll take your word for it that you’re not crazy , but you were definitely making it easier for her to go the same speed as you with much less effort.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by KTrain

Flybys are turned off on Strava by default now so it's less effective at finding people who've ridden with/by you. But it's because tracking down women on Strava was a problem for creeps (not saying you are Wormius).

I didn’t know they got rid of the fly-by feature, but I can understand why. I thought it was interesting, but doesn’t really serve much of a purpose. I do know that I crossed paths with Denny Morrison one day when I was running and he was biking.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by RichieRich

Your choices for the paths, below, based on my experiences of ~15yrs of year round riding/commuting/racing
Burn them off. Doesn’t always work.
Implement a slow speed competition without telling them. Doesn’t always work
Ask them nicely to go ahead or back off. Doesn’t always work.
Ask them not so nicely. Doesn’t always work.
Warn them of imminent snot rocket. Usually works.
Snot rocket, no warning. Gloves off!! (And often works).

My suggested order is last two. As someone who’s nose either drips or runs like a faucet (rarely stays dry, and I can’t/won’t sniff it in endlessly), this malady can be used in self defence apparently.

Originally Posted by Northendzone

wow, i have ridden to work a lot on the pathways and never had someone draft me. what a dangerous move.

i just came off of two weeks of vacation, and during that time i did 16 rides for a total of 410km's. with about 320kms of that on my mtn bike as i had several days in fernie by myself where i would ride twice per day.

People always use to try to draft me in Victoria. All year long. It was annoying as ####. It's all the hotshot that train year round.
Eventually this stopped after some tactics because it was always the same people generally.

- Brake check
- asking them to stop- never worked they get all upset.
- back when I use to drink alot and smoke weed I was often hung over but still going 30 to 42 kms I would just let a big old fart out. Lol . All you'd hear is "WTF!" either they would back considerably off or just finally pass.
- I'd just start randomly swerving.
- Take water like a boxer and just spit it out .

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I didn’t know they got rid of the fly-by feature, but I can understand why. I thought it was interesting, but doesn’t really serve much of a purpose. I do know that I crossed paths with Denny Morrison one day when I was running and he was biking.

They still have the feature but you have to opt-in to share your data publicly. If you used it in the past there could have been 100 other people on the map. Now you're lucky to have 1/2 a dozen people on the fly-by map.

[Hack&Lube]

I tend to be a slow cyclist by default so drafters would have no choice but to pass or I stop and feign a phone call or something.

It's definitely not cool to draft someones bike just like cars tailgating you on the road.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

People always use to try to draft me in Victoria. All year long. It was annoying as ####. It's all the hotshot that train year round.
Eventually this stopped after some tactics because it was always the same people generally.

- Brake check
- asking them to stop- never worked they get all upset.
- back when I use to drink alot and smoke weed I was often hung over but still going 30 to 42 kms I would just let a big old fart out. Lol . All you'd hear is "WTF!" either they would back considerably off or just finally pass.
- I'd just start randomly swerving.
- Take water like a boxer and just spit it out .

Cyclists in Victoria are just weird man.. so rude most of the time.

[squiggs96]

I don't care if someone drafts me, but I know many cyclists that hate it. It doesn't phase me at all because it doesn't affect me. They can even half wheel me if they want, because I'm not the one tipping over if I swerve to avoid a pothole. I have become cycling acquaintances with several people where one of us started drafting the other. The key, for me, is to let the person know you are there, so you don't spook them and they don't jam on their brakes. If I catch up to a group of 2 or 3, I will ask if they mind if I rotate in. Sometimes they say no if they are a team or are training. In that case, I drop back or go forward. If they say yes I ensure I take my turn on the front of the group and use hand signals to point out pot holes, sticks, etc. I would not just find someone, and stick to their wheel without saying a word. That's creepy. I am well versed in crit racing and in large packs on fondos, so I am comfortable being a few inches from a wheel in front of me. I find that most people who think they have someone drafting have someone five feet behind, which is not drafting.

One of the main complaints I hear from women in Vancouver regarding cycling is that when they pass a male rider, the male then speeds up to draft them. They hate it. It's their number one annoyance about cycling. They do not mind if they pass another female and the female drafts. Again, it doesn't bother me when someone jumps on my wheel. In fact, our cycling team's slogan is Take Our Wheel. Some of it is likely that the guy just drops in on the girl's wheel, and doesn't announce it or ask if it's okay. Some people just like to cycle on their own. Everyone should respect that, regardless of gender.

My advice is that if you have someone drafting you, and you are uncomfortable, don't get mad about it. Either politely inform the person that you would like to cycle on your own, or quickly pull over for a few seconds and then continue cycling again. Both methods are respectful and take less than 10 seconds. Some people like riding with others and are just looking for a cycling buddy. They don't know they are offending you and are just happy people. If you are doing something like blowing snot rockets, ripping ass, swerving, or spitting, you're being a doosh.

[Bill Bumface]

I don't really enjoy strangers following me around in close quarters in any situation, I don't understand why people think it's ok.

Plus, with how human reaction times work, it's bloody dangerous in urban cycling if someone needs to slam on the brakes. There's a reason it's illegal in a car on public streets. People treating public infrastructure like a race track is a problem.

[Northendzone]

last week i rewrapped the bars on my gravel bike - what an art doing this is.

it was better than my first attempt, but i missed a small spot under the levers that is not super noticeable.

i also tweaked the angle of my bar (i have a bar with that flat section along the top) and the angle of my levers - hopefully cvan get out for a quick spin after work today.

[KTrain]

Got out for a charity event in Canmore this weekend in support of Habitat for Humanity. 375km and almost 4000m of elevation over the 3 days. 31 riders in total split between A, B and C groups based on skill and comfort.

All-in we raised $110,000 for the Southern Alberta chapter of HoH. Enough to help a family build a home.

Thankfully the forecast didn't hold true and we had great weather. Cool enough to tackle the climbs without overheating like crazy.

I can't get enough riding in our mountains.

[Northendzone]

one major i difference i find between solo road biking and mtn biking is the ability to take in the terrain around you while riding. the views down 1A are spectacular especially of castle mtn and i find that i can continue to crank out the miles, and take in the scenery.

when i am mtn biking, i am much more focused on the 10 to 20 feet in front of me, and often miss what is around. last week in fernie, i tried to force myself to stop a little more often and for a little longer to allow me to absorb my surroundings more.

it would be so awesome if they could put in a dedicated cycling pathway along the icefields parkway.

[GomerPile]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

it would be so awesome if they could put in a dedicated cycling pathway along the icefields parkway.

Unfortunately, there was one planned and it got squashed.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Question for you all about drafting etiquette; or if there even is such a thing. The other day going into work I had somebody catch up to me while I was waiting for the light at the detour by Bonnybrook. I went ahead, and she followed right behind me. For the entire way under the tracks, beside the river etc she was right behind me and slightly to the left. Her front tire was maybe a foot or two away from my rear. After a kilometre of this I pulled over by the bird sanctuary to let her pass.

We were going into a 15 km/h headwind, so nothing crazy. My question, is it considered acceptable to draft so close to somebody you don't know in a recreational setting? I could see doing it in a race or something. I am still a little cautious since my crash a while back, so I wasn't comfortable.

When I was young and stupid I'd enjoy drafting buses down the hwy, I could get up to 60 on the flat.

I healed quicker in those days though.