Cycling etiquette....

[TheRedLantern]

I am new to the world of cycling, and have been riding for about 5 months now.

I was out of my bike last night, and was overtaken by another cyclist who

1.had a better bike than me
2. had better gear than me
3.and mainly was going faster than I was...

So my brain malfunctioned and i decided i wanted to test myself and try and keep up with him - simultaneously i may have suddenly thought i was in the Tour but lets ignore that for now. So i caught up with him and tailed him. At first this was reasonable behaviour as there was no room to pass on a busy road, but then he kept going the way i was head... over the round about, a long a fairly long stretch of road and then finally and this is where is gets really stalky, we hit a fairly sizeable hill. I was still in fantasy world so i tailed him, not wanting to be dropped on the Alps of South Manchester - the faster he went, the more i tried. Eventually i turned off before things got too weird, but I pretty sure he told his wife about me when he got home.

My question is this, is acceptable to ever trail other cyclists on a route, or even a nod or wink to share the work efforts? take it in turns to lead... i think i know the answer but its worth a punt.

If you were tailed last night in the manchester area, please accept my sincere apologies.

Sam

 

[danfoz]

There was a recent thread about this... search for "When a stranger wheelsucks".

If you are going to be riding closer than a bike length or two it is courteous to say "mind if I sit on", or something similar. It's another thing to insert oneself into a 2 or 3 man paceline (the paceline itself may have some pre-arranged workouty goal), or to assume someone out alone actually wants a partner. If there are a few riders who are working it's usually not a big deal. I have done so myself on hungover Sunday mornings and not said a single word to the group. If it's just one bloke he may have a workout agenda going and it could be a bit of an interruption. Only one way to know, just ask. Personally if I have set some goals for the workout I only have a problem when someone is quite a bit stronger or weaker than myself. Despite what many folks think, roadies are actually just like everyone else in the world. Some friendly, some not. The price of one's gear doesn't determine anything.

But trying to hold on come hell or highwater the way you did is a great way to get stronger on the bike. You don't want to ride as hard as you can everyday to reach peak conditioning, but once or twice a week is fine.

PS nice forum handle btw.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Yeah, just announce yourself as you close and say howdy. I always pull alongside and chat a spell...introductions and a quick 'where are you from' while sizing up riding skill. Then, if it turns into an overdrive jam session, everyone's on the same page.

Contrary to popular theory, there's plenty of dangerous freds out there on carbon superbikes. If the rider looks fit and rides easily/smoothly at speed with confidence and economy of motion, that's usually the sign of experience...a good start.