I want to be alone (or how to be barred from the fraternity of cyclists)

[DWiggy]

I caught a fella up the other day and passed him gave him a hello and carried on in a world of my own, about 5mins later I took a quick glance behind me only to find the guy right on top on my wheel it crapped the life out of me!

 

[Profpointy]

I caught a fella up the other day and passed him gave him a hello and carried on in a world of my own, about 5mins later I took a quick glance behind me only to find the guy right on top on my wheel it crapped the life out of me!

If someone passes me, then for the same amount of effort I can quite likely go slightly faster than I was if I slipstream. I don't really see why the passee should be obliged to deliberately slow down and not slipstream

 

[DWiggy]

If someone passes me, then for the same amount of effort I can quite likely go slightly faster than I was if I slipstream. I don't really see why the passee should be obliged to deliberately slow down and not slipstream

I don't have a problem with people tagging along at all, it just startled me as I was expecting to see road but instead there was a fella 30mm off my rear....I wobbled a bit lol

 

[Profpointy]

I don't have a problem with people tagging along at all, it just startled me as I was expecting to see road but instead there was a fella 30mm off my rear....I wobbled a bit lol

Was more a dig at the grumpy lot above, rather than yourself by the way

 

[yello]

I don't really see why the passee should be obliged to deliberately slow down and not slipstream

How would you feel if the passee deliberately speeds up to take your wheel?

The guy I passed was trundling along at his own much lesser pace. Maybe he was struggling, I don't know. He wasn't at death's door, that much I do know. He just wanted a ride home, fair enough. No probs there either. The poor bloke just chose the wrong grumpy sod to hitch on to. Others wouldn't have minded. He would have hitched as far his legs could have managed, I doubt he could have 'taken a turn'.

Not that that any of that was my issue at all. As I said in the OP, it's not about the wheel sucking. It's simply my preference to do my own thing. If that's not what cyclists are supposed to do then I'm not a cyclist - hence my thread title; I'm barred from the fraternity!

 

[Profpointy]

How would you feel if the passee deliberately speeds up to take your wheel?

The guy I passed was trundling along at his own much lesser pace. Maybe he was struggling, I don't know. He wasn't at death's door, that much I do know. He just wanted a ride home, fair enough. No probs there either. The poor bloke just chose the wrong grumpy sod to hitch on to. Others wouldn't have minded. He would have hitched as far his legs could have managed, I doubt he could have 'taken a turn'.

Not that that any of that was my issue at all. As I said in the OP, it's not about the wheel sucking. It's simply my preference to do my own thing. If that's not what cyclists are supposed to do then I'm not a cyclist - hence my thread title; I'm barred from the fraternity!

Yebbut, although the passee speeds up, they could well be using the same effort if slipstreaming - that's the whole point after all

 

[yello]

Yebbut, although the passee speeds up, they could well be using the same effort if slipstreaming - that's the whole point after all

I realise that. Wasn't my question though

 

[NorvernRob]

That sounds a classic how-not-to-ride story. The guy you towed was riding in bursts..........fast/ slow/ fast/ slow...... I watched a really interesting interview with Andy Wilkinson, who was a 47 year old amateur when he broke his own world record for 24 hours (541 miles!!!!!!), and he was saying that the secret was to put in exactly even effort all the time. The same effort up hills as down. Let the bike speed vary, considerably, but the riding effort should be exactly the same, constant, all the time. No coasting, no big effort to get up a hill.

I reckon that's why I didn't find the 100 miles massively difficult. There were a lot of false flats where you'd be at 14-15mph if slightly up and 21-22mph if slightly down, but we tried to put in a sustainable even power for the whole ride. On the 20 mile dead flat fen section I don't think our speed altered by more than 1mph, staying between 17.5-18.5. We only hammered it towards the end as we knew we'd cracked it by then.

 

[HLaB]

Just had a thought you could only go out in the wet without mud guards, that might get the message across ;-)

 

[sheffgirl]

I don't like people riding behind me because I can't tell when they're going to overtake. And most people do overtake me, I'm not that fast haha.
Although I did overtake a cyclist with panniers on going up a hill recently, only to be overtaken by him later downhill. He said 'sorry but I'm faster down hills' as he passed. That made me laugh, I'm terrible at hills, but obviously not the worst person

 

[Rouge79]

Instead of all the games, couldn't you of just said sorry but you like to cycle alone?

or fart like a trouper

 

[Mugshot]

I agree th the OP and far prefer to ride alone too. Maybe once a month a pal would ride to Skipton & back with me, via Ilkley on the return, maybe 45 miles. He'd sit on my wheel all the way to Skipton, usually into a headwind, then he'd sit on my wheel all the way back to Ilkley, close to home, where he'd pass me and climb like he was king of the mountains.

My regular ride partner does that, never ever takes the lead then nips through to take the segment or whatever , i dont really mind he knows as well as I do that Im a bit quicker so I usually pop back at a later date on my own just to prove it