The idiot on my back wheel

[glenn forger]

Four miles?

 

[Ganymede]

Does someone riding just behind you actually make it harder then?

Looks like it might have done so for fossy (see Tales of Today's Commute).

 

[Ganymede]

Nasty story, but that wasn't what I meant.

Yeah, I know - you meant does is cost anything to be the one in front, which is an interesting question. I think if you would otherwise be just grinding along on your own, then no, although I expect someone will come along with proper figures. I get the feeling though from this and other threads that a lot of people don't like it because it makes them feel unsafe, especially if you're being drafted by someone you don't know and you don't have a mutual understanding about riding together.

It never happens to me as I always cycle alone on country roads. And am very slow...

 

[Brightski]

Does anyone else suffer from this?

Over the past few weeks I seem to be getting two different cyclists getting on my back wheel and staying there. One is a fairly nice young lad who after talking to him last week now, when given the lift of the right elbow, comes past and takes over and we seem to get home fine. I don't know they guy but he is polite and we say hi and bye when we meet and part. The other older guy in his fourties rides like an idiot. He gets behind me, half wheels me and once touched my rear mech. I have asked politely to pull back or pass without joy so yesterday I had enough and gave him a piece of my mind. He seemed to think I was the one in the wrong...

Anyone else deal with idiots like this. It should be noted we are on the Bristol to Bath Cycle Path and I am trying to get home quickly but safely and give other walkers and riders due care and respect but this guy is a nobber.

Touching your rear mech, what a d1ckhead, I occasionally have people sit on my wheel if they say do you mind or are light hearted its fine but if they sit there and say nothing = Nob jockey!

 

[slowmotion]

The person behind is, to some extent, getting a tow so the person in front has to work harder to make progress. I think I read that professional cyclists in a peleton use 30% less effort compared to a rider going at the same speed out in front.

 

[John the Monkey]

None distance? Not even 50 yards?

Ah, the Zeno's Wheelsucker Paradox, eh?

But yes, you understand me correctly.

 

[Dragonwight]

Does someone riding just behind you actually make it harder then?

Everyone is of course different, however it feels no different to me than someone who tailgates you in a car. Firstly like their trying to pressure you to go faster then of course you have the added worry of an unknown quantity right up your backside, if I move for this pothole will they, will we collide? So yes it is extra work and an invasion of your personal space. You have a whole empty road why ride right up my arse. The only reason I can think of is because they want you to do the hard work while they get a freebie. As you put it a cheek.

 

[raleighnut]

Does someone riding just behind you actually make it harder then?

I don't think it does but it really pi**es me off for one, I like the solitude and silence of my bikes not some creaky, squeaky clicking thingy in my hearing range,

 

[slowmotion]

Well, no. The one at the back works less hard, but that doesn't mean the one at the front has to work any harder. The one at the front is just cutting a hole in the air.

We need an expert in aerodynamics.. I'm guessing that the airflow behind the front rider is different depending on whether or not there is another second rider. This might influence the air resistance experienced by the front rider.

Just guessing...

Edit: TMN, that's absolute rubbish! In fact the front rider seems to use 5% less energy if there is somebody behind. Well I never. See here...
http://www.bicyclesource.com/slipstreaming

 

[raleighnut]

We need an expert in aerodynamics.. I'm guessing that the airflow behind the front rider is different depending on whether or not there is another second rider. This might influence the air resistance experienced by the front rider.

Just guessing...

Edit: TMN, that's absolute rubbish! In fact the front rider seems to use 5% less energy if there is somebody behind. Well I never. See here...
http://www.bicyclesource.com/slipstreaming

That's cos of the area of low pressure behind a moving object and also the eddy currents in the disturbed air but I wouldn't have expected it to be 5% at the relatively low speeds (sub 50mph) that cycles travel at.

 

[vernon]

Ignore them. Or do what I do.........I'm soooooo slow these days that nobody wants to follow me.

I'd follow you to the ends of the Earth

 

[John the Monkey]

Edit: TMN, that's absolute rubbish! In fact the front rider seems to use 5% less energy if there is somebody behind. Well I never. See here...
http://www.bicyclesource.com/slipstreaming

Yep, I think I read that.

For me, it's not the slipstreaming, or the idea of extra work, it's more a case not knowing how well the rider behind knows the road, what their observational skill is like, whether I should be pointing out hazards, the fact that they block my view of traffic coming up &c.

It's a blinking nuisance. (Plus, if you need to slipstream a tubby monkey on a tourer, you need to have a think about your life choices).

 

[summerdays]

For me it's not knowing their skill level, and whether they can react in time. One time the guy who was sitting on my back wheel was a rude impatient sort, I'd slowed as there was a slower cyclist in front who had just passed a pedestrian but was slow returning to the side afterwards. I was ok with that, whereas Mr Impatient felt the need to ring his bell, and the poor chap apologised unnecessarily to me.

 

[Crankarm]

Touching your rear mech, what a d1ckhead, I occasionally have people sit on my wheel if they say do you mind or are light hearted its fine but if they sit there and say nothing = Nob jockey!

Perv .

 

[Crankarm]

I too would to interested in the above. Also, I will sit on people's wheel if they have decided to pass me and then just plonk themselves right in front on me at only marginally faster than the speed I'm already travelling, this absolutely does my head in.

A man's gotta know his limitations ………….