Drafting while commuting

[goneriding]

I think I'll skip the drafting, there's too much dependant on trust with a stranger. No thanks.

Do some bunch riding to get comfortable with drafting before trying it on random cyclists you come across. Learn where you can and can't draft (door zone is a great don't). One of the tricks to drafting is to ride slightly off to one side of the rider in front which gives you a bit more time to react and gives you a bit more vision up the road.

The other thing to do is, as you approach the rider in front, is assess their speed and how smoothly they are riding. Then sit a few metres off their wheel to match their speed and gently roll in. If in doubt let them be. As you attach give the call.

[DavidS]

so I am a bit reluctant to pass a quicker looking bike

Where is your sense of adventure? Just about every bike I pass is better than my commuter (BSO's notwithstanding). There are those who have also made that the basis for their judgement and paid for it

That said, there are a couple of guys I know who, if I judged their ability by their bike, would leave me crying/puking in their wake!

Judge the engine not the bike!

I do judge the engine, and this smoky 40+ model tends to be conservative when it comes to passing . Don't get me wrong though, drop bar carbon roadie in front going slower than me and I'll go straight past.

DS

[Kemp]

Had an interesting chat with a cyclist at a hardware shop the other day. I was buying polish for a restoration project and he happened to ask what it was for. When I mentioned it was a bike he went on to talk about all his bikes and cycling in general.

Anyway the conversation got around to drafting, and when I told him I sat 4-5 metres behind other cyclists this flash of anger went across his face. He basically said that it was extremely annoying, and there one of three things should be done.

a) drop back and wait for a gap
b) pass
c) communicate and draft properly, i.e. sit 6 inches behind their rear wheel, and work properly at it.

I'll see what happens when I head out on Sunday morning. I think I'll take a or b though.

[Jensen]

I don't find my pace is sufficiently closely matched to other riders on the road to really draft, unless we start at a set of lights. I have had the odd person drafting off me for short distances, 'climbing' SHB or northbound after St Leonards station. Definitely eggs me on to work that little bit harder, especially when it is a roadie hiding in there behind me. I know they are there without looking around and it pisses me off when they do pass without any acknowledgement. Now better than drafting is the bloke that rides along next to me for a chat while our travel plans coincide.

[Max]

Anyway the conversation got around to drafting, and when I told him I sat 4-5 metres behind other cyclists this flash of anger went across his face.

This guy had a problem with you riding FOUR TO FIVE METRES away? That's far enough away that a) you wouldn't get any advantage of it and b) you have sufficient room to react if he brakes suddenly or swerves in front of you. I wouldn't be too worried about what he had to say. He sounds like a complete princess.

Max

[Kemp]

Anyway the conversation got around to drafting, and when I told him I sat 4-5 metres behind other cyclists this flash of anger went across his face.

This guy had a problem with you riding FOUR TO FIVE METRES away? That's far enough away that a) you wouldn't get any advantage of it and b) you have sufficient room to react if he brakes suddenly or swerves in front of you. I wouldn't be too worried about what he had to say. He sounds like a complete princess.

Max

Exactly. I only ride behind to keep pace, if it's a desirable speed, rather than gain any advantage by drafting and just soft pedalling behind. Nonetheless he considered it 'bad form' and made me feel like a bit of an idiot. Oh well.

[Kenzo]

Anyway the conversation got around to drafting, and when I told him I sat 4-5 metres behind other cyclists this flash of anger went across his face. He basically said that it was extremely annoying, and there one of three things should be done.

he probably thought you were a Triathlete.... hehehe....

[singlespeedscott]

I only wish there was somebody near were I live that I could draft with. In the 13 years of commuting to work I have only come across 3 others to draft with. One was a cyclotourist heading to Cairns. The other 2 were roadies heading out to one of the road races they usually have out my way on Saturday arvos. They were a bit surprised that a guy riding a 30 year old fixed geared, steel roadie, with mud guards, covered in lights, reflectors, and bags wearing MTB attire was fast enough to pull turns with them.

[westab]

Know how you feel - would even be happy to take turns. Personally it would need to be someone I knew could ride OK (like my workmate); others I an happy to ride next to and chat (in certain conditions) giving us both time and space if anything goes pear shaped.