Tired, slow, complacent

mb said:

So, there I was this evening, bimbling away. I'd had a tiring day at work
and had already been cycling for over an hour. I was past the halfway
point and the wind was behind me...

Taking it easy at 34km/h, I passed a typical cloggy cyclist, on his "town
bike". A minute or so later, at the same speed, I became aware that my
bike was making a funny noise and promptly ignored it. Time passes... the
noise is a bit odd, so I look down at the rear mech where the noise is
apparently coming from.

Show off. If I could take it easy at 21 mph I'd be posting about it here
too.

Cheers,
Luke

--
Red Rose Ramblings, the diary of an Essex boy in
exile in Lancashire <http://www.shrimper.org.uk>

Ekul Namsob said:

mb said:

Taking it easy at 34km/h, I passed a typical cloggy cyclist, on his "town
bike". A minute or so later, at the same speed, I became aware that my
bike was making a funny noise and promptly ignored it. Time passes... the
noise is a bit odd, so I look down at the rear mech where the noise is
apparently coming from.

Show off. If I could take it easy at 21 mph I'd be posting about it here
too.

Well, it was with a force 3 to 4 behind, so not that hard.

--
Mike
Van Tuyl titanium Dura Ace 10
Fausto Coppi aluminium Ultegra 10
Raleigh Record Sprint mongrel

mb said:

Ekul Namsob said:

mb said:

Taking it easy at 34km/h, I passed a typical cloggy cyclist, on his "town
bike". A minute or so later, at the same speed, I became aware that my
bike was making a funny noise and promptly ignored it. Time passes... the
noise is a bit odd, so I look down at the rear mech where the noise is
apparently coming from.

Show off. If I could take it easy at 21 mph I'd be posting about it here
too.

Quoted message said:

Well, it was with a force 3 to 4 behind, so not that hard.

Ah. Fairy nuff. On my tour de Fylde last week I managed an average of 18
mph for the first hour with a light tailwind so I can see how that could
be.

Cheers,
Luke

--
Red Rose Ramblings, the diary of an Essex boy in
exile in Lancashire <http://www.shrimper.org.uk>

mb said:

So, there I was this evening, bimbling away. I'd had a tiring day at work
and had already been cycling for over an hour. I was past the halfway
point and the wind was behind me...

Taking it easy at 34km/h, I passed a typical cloggy cyclist, on his "town
bike". A minute or so later, at the same speed, I became aware that my
bike was making a funny noise and promptly ignored it. Time passes... the
noise is a bit odd, so I look down at the rear mech where the noise is
apparently coming from.

I notice a wheel which isn't mine and turn round to see the cyclist I
passed a couple of minutes ago, sitting on my back wheel, drafting me.

Similar stories have been posted here before.

If I am overtaken by another cyclist going a bit faster than me, I will
sometimes spin up and draft. I have also been drafted by strangers on
several occasions, and do not mind it.

Martin.

is that the kosher expression then, 'drafting'? I've always called it
slipstreaming (mostly do it with buses...)
"Martin Dann" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

mb said:

So, there I was this evening, bimbling away. I'd had a tiring day at work
and had already been cycling for over an hour. I was past the halfway
point and the wind was behind me...

Taking it easy at 34km/h, I passed a typical cloggy cyclist, on his "town
bike". A minute or so later, at the same speed, I became aware that my
bike was making a funny noise and promptly ignored it. Time passes... the
noise is a bit odd, so I look down at the rear mech where the noise is
apparently coming from.

I notice a wheel which isn't mine and turn round to see the cyclist I
passed a couple of minutes ago, sitting on my back wheel, drafting me.

Similar stories have been posted here before.

If I am overtaken by another cyclist going a bit faster than me, I will
sometimes spin up and draft. I have also been drafted by strangers on
several occasions, and do not mind it.

Martin.

Martin Dann wrote on 07/06/2007 23:40 +0100:

Quoted message said:

If I am overtaken by another cyclist going a bit faster than me, I will
sometimes spin up and draft. I have also been drafted by strangers on
several occasions, and do not mind it.

Aerodynamically you benefit from being drafted although not as much as
you benefit from drafting. So something to welcome rather than not mind.

--
Tony

"The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there
is no good evidence either way."
- Bertrand Russell

mb said:

So, there I was this evening, bimbling away. I'd had a tiring day at
work and had already been cycling for over an hour. I was past the
halfway point and the wind was behind me...

Taking it easy at 34km/h, I passed a typical cloggy cyclist, on his
"town bike". A minute or so later, at the same speed, I became aware
that my bike was making a funny noise and promptly ignored it. Time
passes... the noise is a bit odd, so I look down at the rear mech
where the noise is apparently coming from.

I notice a wheel which isn't mine and turn round to see the cyclist I
passed a couple of minutes ago, sitting on my back wheel, drafting me.

Aargh. I spin up to 45km/h and hold it there for a good while... Do I
look back or not? Has the funny noise gone?

Cheeky sod.

Oh my daily commute a few years back I frequently used to pass a slower
cyclist and he never failed to sit on my back wheel and then pass me a great
speed shortly after (I could never keep up)..... I'm sure he waited for me
each day!

Martin Dann said:

If I am overtaken by another cyclist going a bit faster than me, I will
sometimes spin up and draft. I have also been drafted by strangers on
several occasions, and do not mind it.

I consider it a compliment if someone slots in behind me. Although it
motivates me to keep up the effort, I wouldn't deliberately try to shake
them off.

On the few occasions that I slotted in behind someone else, occasionally
it has annoyed them causing them to briefly drop their effort and slot
in behind me in turn. Fair practice imo and I try to lead and keep them
out of the wind as best I can.

What slightly bugs me is being used as target practice, then overtaken
only for the other to slow down causing me to reel him/her in again.
When I do, I don't like to overtake him/her even when I could go faster
if he/she wasn't there.

If I reel in someone else I usually stay on their wheel for a short
while to gather a bit of extra energy before overtaking them, then I try
to continue at a higher speed than them.

--
Membrane

mb said:

I notice a wheel which isn't mine and turn round to see the cyclist I
passed a couple of minutes ago, sitting on my back wheel, drafting me.

Cheeky sod.

I had one guy drafting me on my commute home more that once, when our
ways parted he always gave me a cheery smile and thank-you. What's
not to like about that?

in message
<[email hidden]>, Ekul

Namsob (') said:

mb said:

So, there I was this evening, bimbling away. I'd had a tiring day at
work and had already been cycling for over an hour. I was past the
halfway point and the wind was behind me...

Taking it easy at 34km/h, I passed a typical cloggy cyclist, on his
"town bike". A minute or so later, at the same speed, I became aware
that my bike was making a funny noise and promptly ignored it. Time
passes... the noise is a bit odd, so I look down at the rear mech where
the noise is apparently coming from.

Show off. If I could take it easy at 21 mph I'd be posting about it here
too.

Just what I was thinking. I did a metric century yesterday afternoon, and
have been quietly congratulating myself on averaging 24.8Km/h (which is, I
think, the fastest average I've done over that sort of distance in ten
years). Another 10Km/h puts it well out of my league!

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; this is not a .sig

spokes said:

is that the kosher expression then, 'drafting'? I've always called it
slipstreaming (mostly do it with buses...)

They're the same thing. I think drafting is an Americanism with its
origins in motor racing. It seemed to come into common use with
cyclists on this side of the pond with the growth of triathlon.

--
Dave...

"dkahn400" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

spokes said:

is that the kosher expression then, 'drafting'? I've always called it
slipstreaming (mostly do it with buses...)

They're the same thing. I think drafting is an Americanism with its
origins in motor racing. It seemed to come into common use with
cyclists on this side of the pond with the growth of triathlon.

--
Dave...

The term 'drafting' has been used for years & years in time trialling. It's
a no-no.

Tony Raven said:

Martin Dann wrote on 07/06/2007 23:40 +0100:

Quoted message said:

If I am overtaken by another cyclist going a bit faster than me, I will
sometimes spin up and draft. I have also been drafted by strangers on
several occasions, and do not mind it.

Aerodynamically you benefit from being drafted although not as much as
you benefit from drafting. So something to welcome rather than not mind.

there is the point of braking, ie to get close enought to draft your
within the thinking distance assuming both bikes are equal.

i can see why folk do it, but in traffic i'd not be that keen on someone
doing that to me.

open roads, club runs etc better though still a risk.

roger

wafflycat said:

"dkahn400" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Jun 8, 2:32 am, "spokes" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

is that the kosher expression then, 'drafting'? I've always called
it slipstreaming (mostly do it with buses...)

They're the same thing. I think drafting is an Americanism with its
origins in motor racing. It seemed to come into common use with
cyclists on this side of the pond with the growth of triathlon.

--
Dave...

The term 'drafting' has been used for years & years in time
trialling. It's a no-no.

Trialthon too (or at least it was in the London Triathlon that I did.....
far from elite team event, cycling stage of course!).

Roger Merriman said:

open roads, club runs etc better though still a risk.

I have a 3 inch scar on my left elbow to attest to that risk! I was
drafting a friend, who hit a pothole that slowed him enough that I hit
his back wheel (I was very close), and off I went. There was someone
drafting me too and I was lucky not to get run over. The funny thing was
the road had a terrible surface, and I thought as we joined it "wouldn't
it suck to fall off on this road", only moments before I actually fell
off :-)

It was on the Katy Flatland tour (near Houston), almost 10 years ago to
the day. We were doing the 'metric century' ride. Except I got to do the
rest of it in the sag wagon.

Didn't stop me from drafting, though...

--
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de

Quoting Martin Dann <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

If I am overtaken by another cyclist going a bit faster than me, I will
sometimes spin up and draft. I have also been drafted by strangers on
several occasions, and do not mind it.

I was very grateful a few weekends ago, running up from Stevenage to
Cambridge into a headwind entirely full of water (when I arrived. the only
clothing I had not soaked was the bit of my pants that goes between [censored]
and saddle), for three triathletes towing me along for a few miles.

I did ask if they minded, though.
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> flcl?
Today is First Brieday, June.

cupra said:

mb wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I notice a wheel which isn't mine and turn round to see the cyclist I
passed a couple of minutes ago, sitting on my back wheel, drafting me.

Aargh. I spin up to 45km/h and hold it there for a good while... Do I
look back or not? Has the funny noise gone?

Cheeky sod.

Oh my daily commute a few years back I frequently used to pass a slower
cyclist and he never failed to sit on my back wheel and then pass me a great
speed shortly after (I could never keep up)..... I'm sure he waited for me
each day!

Shouldn't you have sat on his wheel for a bit instead?

Cheers,
Luke

--
Red Rose Ramblings, the diary of an Essex boy in
exile in Lancashire <http://www.shrimper.org.uk>

Roger Merriman said:

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wzn|UrTY!]mz,E
User-Agent: MacSOUP/2.8 (Mac OS X version 10.4.9 (PPC))
Xref: number1.nntp.dca.giganews.com uk.rec.cycling:564348

Tony Raven said:

Martin Dann wrote on 07/06/2007 23:40 +0100:

Quoted message said:

If I am overtaken by another cyclist going a bit faster than me, I will
sometimes spin up and draft. I have also been drafted by strangers on
several occasions, and do not mind it.

Aerodynamically you benefit from being drafted although not as much as
you benefit from drafting. So something to welcome rather than not mind.

there is the point of braking, ie to get close enought to draft your
within the thinking distance assuming both bikes are equal.

i can see why folk do it, but in traffic i'd not be that keen on someone
doing that to me.

I wouldn't have minded much, but I didn't know the guy was there and he
was very close when I spotted him.
Any unexpected slowdown by me would have had him into the back of my
rather expensive Van Tuyl bike.

--
Mike
Van Tuyl titanium Dura Ace 10
Fausto Coppi aluminium Ultegra 10
Raleigh Record Sprint mongrel

"dkahn400" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

spokes said:

is that the kosher expression then, 'drafting'? I've always called it
slipstreaming (mostly do it with buses...)

They're the same thing. I think drafting is an Americanism with its
origins in motor racing. It seemed to come into common use with
cyclists on this side of the pond with the growth of triathlon.
--
Dave...

I've heard 'Slipstreaming' used by european drivers more than 'Drafting'
which i've heard almost universally from American oval racers.

Theres a longish flat straight bit of road near tentsmuir forest which i
tend to attack (well go faster than 20ish k) if the wind is in the right
direction. I deliberatly left a friend for dead down it one day when we had
just passed someone twiddling around on a hardtail. When I heard a bike
behind me I assumed it was my mate having finally caught up with me, to my
suprise it wasn't my mate who responded "No not really" to my question of
"was that too fast for you?". The git on the hardtail then blasted off into
the distance.

Hmpf.

Niall