Loner Manners?

[NoNo]

Since I usually ride alone and I'm still relatively new to road biking, could someone tell me just how close you can be to be considered drafting? I don't think I've ever done it, as I've never thought "Boy, it sure feels easier to pedal now!" so I'd like to have some idea to make sure I don't unknowingly annoy someone. However, I seem to feel differently than most of the opinions I'm seeing here. Living near the shore, I pass and am passed regularly as there's a lot of people out and about enjoying the scenery. If you happen to be going the same speed or am going the same route, knock yourself out, doesn't really bother me. I actually feel better if they don't pass because it makes me think they can't get ahead of me and stay there

[SlowButSteady]

Count me as someone who rides so d@mn slow I've never noticed what it feels like to draft, either.

I've been on a couple of organized rides where some grouchy cyclists yelled at me for not loudly announcing my presence with a hearty "on your left" before passing them.

I, too, usually ride alone and am not really "up" on my group etiquette.

If your usually ride alone, how are you supposed to learn this stuff, by osmosis?

Having a bunch of bike-club folks act generally snobby & unfriendly to me doesn't exactly make you want to go out and join a club, either.

...in which case I still don't learn.

[singletrackmind]

If your usually ride alone, how are you supposed to learn this stuff, by osmosis?

Having a bunch of bike-club folks act generally snobby & unfriendly to me doesn't exactly make you want to go out and join a club, either.

...in which case I still don't learn.

Threads like this are good for getting a feel for what bikers feel....too bad a reprimand is someone's solution for telling you what they want, imagine if that's how teachers taught our children! Awful!

I usually say 'hello' from as far back as someone might be able to hear soft-spoken me and they generally acknowledge with either a move or verbally. I know a lot of people like 'on your left' but when on a bike path
half the time when I say that the target...er....person....moves left.

Well, don't worry about the Mr. Gruffpantses, we all make mistakes even after we think we've learned what we need to know. At least you're trying! 'Fore you know it, you'll be helping others learn bike etiquette, though I'll bet in a much kinder manner.

[spokewench]

I've been watching this thread for quite a while and I'm sorry, but I just don't really get it. Drafting is a part of this sport - I will usually say hi to someone that I am going the same speed as when I'm out on a ride or event, because I'm a fairly friendly person, but someone drafting on my back wheel JUST DOES NOT BOTHER ME! I have never been taken out from behind - it is the person that cuts over on my front wheel, runs into the side of me and pushes me into the dirt or doesnt paceline well that bugs me. If it is just me and another person and they are drafting me, I figure they must need a break, I'm stronger and I'm happy to pull them. If I need a break, I just move to the right, slow down and ask them to pull a while. Simple as that. No animosity, no worry, no nada, just part of biking. If I'm uncomfortable with the skills someone has, I either help them, or I get away from them.

Yeah, that's my thought, I'm Stronger! So go ahead and draft - i dont care. If you hit my rear wheel, I'm not going down - YOU ARE!

spoke

[Starfish]

Yeah, that's my thought, I'm Stronger! So go ahead and draft - i dont care. If you hit my rear wheel, I'm not going down - YOU ARE! spoke

I know there are others out there who agree with you, too. I remember my first big organized ride. I had heard about the etiquette of asking permission, and I dutifully asked each person I wanted to draft. I got every response from total indifference (silence...no response) to "Sure, of course!" to "You don't need to ask...I couldn't care less."

I guess for me it kinda depends. On an organized ride, I really don't care (and I am slow enough that it hardly happens...so I'm sure that's part of it! ).

But, on roads and paved trails, if there aren't lots of cyclists around, and someone just eases up on me and follows somewhat closely a long time without saying anything, it kinda gets to me. Kinda like having a stranger on a less-than-crowded street just slip in behind and follow me. Just feels creepy. On the bike, especially if it is a guy, I usually pull over and let him go by.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

But, on roads and paved trails, if there aren't lots of cyclists around, and someone just eases up on me and follows somewhat closely a long time without saying anything, it kinda gets to me. Kinda like having a stranger on a less-than-crowded street just slip in behind and follow me. Just feels creepy. On the bike, especially if it is a guy, I usually pull over and let him go by.

Yes, that's how I feel. I think it's good to remember that not all cyclists ride in organized packs and clubs where drafting is taken for granted. Many of us are independent bicyclists who never ride in cycling clubs, and do not see ourselves so much as members of 'the sport'.
I am not antisocial, but if i am out riding alone then I am riding alone. I don't want some silent stranger following me. ((shudder)) Most of my rides have at least some portions that are rural and not highly populated. It would be pretty stupid for me to ride down a wooded back road while some strange man was tailing me on his bike.
At the very least I would want you to introduce yourself in a friendly way and ask to ride along for a while and chat (I still will be naturally wary though).
No stealth shadow riders for this girl.

[Crankin]

I don't feel comfortable with anyone drafting me. On occasion, I have been having a fast day when I am out with my husband. Usually, a guy will come up behind me and just stay there. They never say anything. In some cases they pass me, but sometimes it's a slower guy that just can't stand that a woman is ahead. Eventually, they drop back. I don't like it at all.
At times my husband wants me to "pull." I hate it. I just feel like he is going to crash into me being that close. I know he won't, but I can't stand it for more than 15 minutes.
The only people I will get sort of close behind are my husband or the couple who are our regular riding partners. I can predict what they will do. Oh, and Denise G., who I have ridden with several times.

[Brandy]

I've been watching this thread for quite a while and I'm sorry, but I just don't really get it. Drafting is a part of this sport - I will usually say hi to someone that I am going the same speed as when I'm out on a ride or event, because I'm a fairly friendly person, but someone drafting on my back wheel JUST DOES NOT BOTHER ME! I

Spoke, I'm right there with you.

[mkidd]

My triathlon coach had us do a paceline workout last year. I never knew how potentially dangerous it was. I prefer more space as I'm not a really strong rider, but in reading this thread I'm glad she had us do it.

[Crankin]

Well, I understand why someone would say everyone should practice paceline skills, but like Lisa, there's no way I want to do that. I ride in groups, but it's not paceline riding. Most of the people have good skills, but one group I ride with, many don't. I know who to stay away from. The rides my husband and I lead are more social. I am strict about "single file," calling out, and signaling. If someone doesn't like it, then they don't need to come on my rides!
Last year SheFly asked me to come to her club's paceline clinic. I am just too afraid to do that. It doesn't make me a bad rider; I am not a racer and the only one I want to draft is my husband, so we can ride together. Even then, I stay back a little.

[Grog]

Since I usually ride alone and I'm still relatively new to road biking, could someone tell me just how close you can be to be considered drafting? I don't think I've ever done it, as I've never thought "Boy, it sure feels easier to pedal now!" so I'd like to have some idea to make sure I don't unknowingly annoy someone. However, I seem to feel differently than most of the opinions I'm seeing here. Living near the shore, I pass and am passed regularly as there's a lot of people out and about enjoying the scenery. If you happen to be going the same speed or am going the same route, knock yourself out, doesn't really bother me. I actually feel better if they don't pass because it makes me think they can't get ahead of me and stay there

When you are less than one-bike length behind someone, you are clearly "in the draft" although of course the effect will be much stronger if you're 10 centimeters (3 inches) away from the person's wheel than if you're a whole meter (3 feet) away. Within a two-bike distance there is some effect as well, and I don't like to have someone I don't know riding so close to me without permission unless it's a very busy segment of road and everyone is riding very slow.

When, in a headwind, I start dropping further than a three-bike length (approx 6 meters?) away from my husband, I know that it will be really hard to catch his wheel again unless he slows down...

[Eden]

Ah, but there is drafting and then there is personal space..... you can be not really drafting, but still in somones personal space. If the rider ahead is nervous then 10 feet may not be enough for them.

Just if you are on a busy MUT (multi use trail) do have some expectations that you will have someone following you at times.... I know that I always WAIT until there is a safe place with good visibility to pass, and that does mean that I end up behind people at times.