Drafting Question

[fixedgeargirl]

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.

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.

[alison_in_oh]

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.

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...

[fixedgeargirl]

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 .

[singletrackmind]

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!

[RoadRaven]

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...

[KSH]

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.

[wabisabi]

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.