Drafting Question

[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.

[singletrackmind]

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....

[caligurl]

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! i'm so lame! lol!