Howdy,
This has happened infrequently in the past summer. Today, for whatever reason, it happened no less than 4 times.
What was it, you ask? Drive by, stealth, random stranger wheelsucking / drafting. Not once did anyone ask whether it was OK, nor did they let me know what they were doing. Perhaps it was because I was trying to commute home easy with a hefty backpack and worn out from a hard ride the day before and today hill repeats, followed by weights, followed by swimming.
These were not the casual, happenstance occurrences either. These individuals were committed to riding my wheel. How do I know you ask, because I tested them.
Case 1: I was turning right at an intersection. The other rider was waiting for a light. I had to have had at least 20 seconds head start. One half mile down the road, I could see his shadow and hear his pedaling. I continued at the same pace for another 1/2 to see if they would pass or let me know he was there. He did not, so I sprinted away.
Case 2: A few miles later at another intersection, a rider blew by me when I was stopped. I quickly caught up as he was not cruising very fast (18ish). I kept my distance, there was no shoulder and the road is pretty busy. I made my move accelerating very quickly around him during a lull in traffic. I held speed to 24-25 for a few miles after which I realized he was on my wheel. I slowed a bit, no passing, no annoucement. I had enough and made a hard right followed by a hard left and a slight incline and pulled away.
Case 3: I went on some local trails around a lake and slowed my pace. After a while a cyclist, beathing heavily, went past me, let up and slowed. It was apparent that he was trying to catch me and once past was resting. I slowed some more to make distance - after a while I was bored with the pace and passed him as fast as I could muster (I was fatigued). He sped up to keep pace, I held the pace for a mile and he dropped off at a slight incline. He never acknowleded that he was behind me.
Case 4: The home stretch of trail was approximately 4 miles long. I usually do some time trials on it, but I was tired. Yet another cyclist caught up to me at the last intersection before the stretch. His pace was not fast, so I had to pass but I did not have much gas left. Regardless, I announced my pass and sprinted past about 25mph. I wanted to make distance so I held the pace and averaged 22mph for the stretch. Guess what, he was right on my wheel the whole time. At the very least, he said thanks when I looked back when I was turning off.
I do not like being followed by riders I don't know and who aren't courteous enough to make themselves known. I am not a charity event, does that make me a snob? Usually I am strong enough to make a gap, my sweeping generalization was that none of them were in competition form. I guess I could have said something to them, but I didn't want to be a jerk - what else is there to do?
This has happened infrequently in the past summer. Today, for whatever reason, it happened no less than 4 times.
What was it, you ask? Drive by, stealth, random stranger wheelsucking / drafting. Not once did anyone ask whether it was OK, nor did they let me know what they were doing. Perhaps it was because I was trying to commute home easy with a hefty backpack and worn out from a hard ride the day before and today hill repeats, followed by weights, followed by swimming.
These were not the casual, happenstance occurrences either. These individuals were committed to riding my wheel. How do I know you ask, because I tested them.
Case 1: I was turning right at an intersection. The other rider was waiting for a light. I had to have had at least 20 seconds head start. One half mile down the road, I could see his shadow and hear his pedaling. I continued at the same pace for another 1/2 to see if they would pass or let me know he was there. He did not, so I sprinted away.
Case 2: A few miles later at another intersection, a rider blew by me when I was stopped. I quickly caught up as he was not cruising very fast (18ish). I kept my distance, there was no shoulder and the road is pretty busy. I made my move accelerating very quickly around him during a lull in traffic. I held speed to 24-25 for a few miles after which I realized he was on my wheel. I slowed a bit, no passing, no annoucement. I had enough and made a hard right followed by a hard left and a slight incline and pulled away.
Case 3: I went on some local trails around a lake and slowed my pace. After a while a cyclist, beathing heavily, went past me, let up and slowed. It was apparent that he was trying to catch me and once past was resting. I slowed some more to make distance - after a while I was bored with the pace and passed him as fast as I could muster (I was fatigued). He sped up to keep pace, I held the pace for a mile and he dropped off at a slight incline. He never acknowleded that he was behind me.
Case 4: The home stretch of trail was approximately 4 miles long. I usually do some time trials on it, but I was tired. Yet another cyclist caught up to me at the last intersection before the stretch. His pace was not fast, so I had to pass but I did not have much gas left. Regardless, I announced my pass and sprinted past about 25mph. I wanted to make distance so I held the pace and averaged 22mph for the stretch. Guess what, he was right on my wheel the whole time. At the very least, he said thanks when I looked back when I was turning off.
I do not like being followed by riders I don't know and who aren't courteous enough to make themselves known. I am not a charity event, does that make me a snob? Usually I am strong enough to make a gap, my sweeping generalization was that none of them were in competition form. I guess I could have said something to them, but I didn't want to be a jerk - what else is there to do?
