Drafting Question

I did my first drafting today! (is "did" the right word! LOL) Anyway, there was a man drafting off me which was fine. When we got to some hills he came around and told me I could draft off him. I said I had never done that before and he said no problem just stay on his wheel and he'd pull me along. But he was going too slow! :( As we climbed the hills I would stand up when he did but I seemed to be climbing faster than he was. Before I ask my ?? - I just wanted to say what a Blast drafting was tho. We were in headwinds and he was a much bigger guy than I was so it was nice to have him blocking those winds as we climbed.

Now for my ??: even on the flats I felt that I was crowding his space and going too fast. Since he was blocking the wind should I have backed off some to draft off him??......My speed dropped when he took the front so I don't believe it was just him blocking the wind - I believe he was riding slower than me but etiquitte-wise should I have slowed down and ridden his pace? After the second hill he dropped back and told me I could lead and I picked my pace back up to where it had been before and was comfortable for me. Should I have continued at his pace? He seemed to struggle for a little but he did catch back up with me.
Any drafting manners/advise would be appreciated!

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Originally Posted by CorsairMac

Now for my ??: even on the flats I felt that I was crowding his space and going too fast. Since he was blocking the wind should I have backed off some to draft off him??......My speed dropped when he took the front so I don't believe it was just him blocking the wind - I believe he was riding slower than me but etiquitte-wise should I have slowed down and ridden his pace? After the second hill he dropped back and told me I could lead and I picked my pace back up to where it had been before and was comfortable for me. Should I have continued at his pace? He seemed to struggle for a little but he did catch back up with me.
Any drafting manners/advise would be appreciated!

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Hm. I'm just getting into drafting too, whoo! If you need/want the draft, then shift down and spin your gears. It should be easier than riding alone -- I often fall into the trap of thinking we're going too slow on group rides, until I realize I'd never be doing 19 mph into a headwind by myself! If you don't know the guy/feel he's predictable, stay a foot or more off of his wheel. When you take a pull, start at the same speed but ramp it up slowly if you want. He should be able to keep up with you if he's anywhere near your ability. If he's not...well, if it were me and some dude that I picked up on the road, I'd drop him. :\ My workout's more important than his feelings! And though you'll lose out on having someone to take a pull for you later, well, you started out the ride solo -- you probably chose the route such that you can complete it solo!

Sounds like you whooped up on him, Corsair :D !! Also sounds like this guy is not at your ability, since you were able to pull faster than him :D ;) !!

As for crowding his space, that's the whole idea. DH tells me to ride one inch off his wheel, and I do. I do it because I know he's a solid rider who rides a clean line and pedals smoothly. I do it because that is where you will actually catch a draft. Get more than a very few inches behind and wind resistance goes up exponentially. You can feel it when you lose the sweet spot.

But you are taking your orthopedic health in your hands if you closely draft someone who wiggles all over the place and doesn't spin, that is to say, they don't pedal continuously (and I mean CONTINUOUSLY). The second they back off pedalling, their speed drops ever so slightly, and there you are, climbing up their tail-pipe.

I have been totally spoiled by drafting my husband and the club I've been riding with here. Very solid wheels (and they're all bigger than me ;)). I've been on some other rides here with, shall we say, less solid wheels. On the last ride, a 50-miler, I followed the ride leaders, triathlete women who were clearly stronger than me (oh, they actually train, maybe that's it). I could have kept up if I could have drafted, but their technique and etiquette were not up to my high standards :rolleyes:. This was my ride to really experience what it's like when the person(s) in front of you don't spin smoothly. Scary!!!They were unfamiliar with what to do when you're done pulling and want the next rider to take a pull (peel left, let the paceline pass, jump on the back). One of them was strong, but bobbed and weaved all over the place, I stayed away from her rear wheel.

So, your guy finally realized he was out of his league and sat back in! If he hadn't, and you were frustrated with the pace (slower than you were going on your own!), then I think it would be appropriate to pull around left and get ahead of him. Of course, I do not have the Emily Post Cycling Edition in front of me, so this is IMHO.

Sounds like you're ready for club rides!!!!

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Originally Posted by fixedgeargirl

They were unfamiliar with what to do when you're done pulling and want the next rider to take a pull (peel left, let the paceline pass, jump on the back).

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Having listened to my hubby complain recently about this, I feel I should point out: if there's enough wind to merit an echelon formation, pull off *into* the wind whether that's right or left. That way you continue providing some protection to the other riders in the echelon as you drift back. :)

(Not that I'd EVER be coordinated enough to do this! DH tries to quiz me sometimes, "Which way's the wind coming from?", and I guess wildly!)

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Originally Posted by alison_in_oh

Having listened to my hubby complain recently about this, I feel I should point out: if there's enough wind to merit an echelon formation, pull off *into* the wind whether that's right or left. That way you continue providing some protection to the other riders in the echelon as you drift back. :)

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You learn something new every day!! I'm surprised I haven't heard this from my oh-so-correct DH!!! Maybe we haven't encountered this before.

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Originally Posted by fixedgeargirl

You learn something new every day!! I'm surprised I haven't heard this from my oh-so-correct DH!!! Maybe we haven't encountered this before.

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Yeah, I think it's a pretty unique situation. The particulars he was complaining about were in a race: a 2 mile lap, there were strong sidewinds on two of the legs of the loop, and he'd been caught up in a group off the back of the pack that therefore needed every advantage to bridge the gap...

Now I'm thinking that in a group ride situation you'd want to have the person peeling off keep to the left so as not to drive the rest of the echelon into traffic. Keeps it simpler, since all us Yanks are so ingrained with riding right anyway. But that's just me thinking, and that doesn't always work out so well :rolleyes:.

Don't let your wheel overlap! If the wheel rubs the guy in front won't really notice but the one in back will crash, or in my case, drop off the guy's wheel with mine spinning backwards, go backwards several feet rather quickly, do a backwards u-turn, a straight up flip and a pile driver into the pavement.
Ahhh, the power of a moment's inattention.
That was the weirdest crash I've ever done,

Bravo to the helmet, may she rest in pieces! :(


Oh, and I'd have left the guy, unless we had some sort of agreement or he'd been pulling me forever and might thus be tired-then I'd give him a chance to recover before I whooped his behind! :)

I always find drafting a bit nerve-wracking with strangers - you cannot predict what they will do and you do not know how much they know in terms of protocols...

It certainly is great to draft though - a great way to have a rest and go faster than you could on your own WHILE you are resting (LOL, depending on how much your leader is pushing it).

I think one of the reasons I want to time-trial more than to road race is because I still don't like drafting with people I don't know... and when you TT, you are on your own.

Wise words about not letting your wheels too close or over-lapping - if you touch wheels with the person in front - they'll probably recover their balance, but the liklihood is that you will tumble...

Maybe not completely on topic... but I doubt I will ever get into drafting.

Personally, I am just too scared of hitting the pavement because the person in front of me slows down, or worse, falls.

You see, I don't have depth perception, I only see out of one eye at a time... so riding an inch away from someone's tire, sounds very risky to me!

I figure taking the wind on myself will just make me stronger.

I had trepidation about drafting, and agree with the advice to know or at least be able to gauge the person in front. I pedal with much less effort, because you need less effort when drafting, of course that's the point, and it gets appreciably easier the farther back you are in the paceline. You could just be stronger, or it was the effect of the pull. I also had a tendency to speed up when I took the lead, which is a no-no, the idea is to conserve energy as a group. We do 30 second pulls. I sure did appreciate it with a friend at the century this weekend, especially the last 20 miles in headwinds.

My hubby drafted me this weekend while he was pulling the baby trailer in 25 mph winds! I gotta do that more often-he kept complaining that I wasn't big enough.... :D

ONE INCH!?!?! no wonder i don't get any benefit when i try to draft! i'm waaaaaaaaaay to far back! lol! i'm so afraid of hitting the front wheel and crashing! even with hubby who is a solid rider.. i'm scared to get too close! (can't hardly maintain a tire's width.. much less ONE INCH!)

my "drafting" usually results in my using my own power but using the person ahead of me as a goal to keep up with! :rolleyes: i'm so lame! lol!

One inch scares me also and I draft Bubba a lot. Any little thing that makes him slow would cause me to run into his back wheel. I've seen a "solid rider who rides a clean line and pedals smoothly" forget his wife was that close to him and stand up. Chris Carmichael calls that "drop kicking" the person behind. Nope, I leave only as much space as necessary to find that "hole."

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Originally Posted by caligurl

my "drafting" usually results in my using my own power but using the person ahead of me as a goal to keep up with! :rolleyes: i'm so lame! lol!

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Not lame at all caligurl! If you're not sure of yourself (or your drafting partner), there's nothing wrong with that. It's kind of like a mental draft. It might not help you aerodynamically, but it keeps you going.