Missed connection

[ShawnoftheDread]

@consularrider 65121 wrote:

Of course not! I believe you were the very polite gentleman observing the stop sign at the Custis and W&OD Trails intersection and acknowledging the right turn signals of the two riders turning right from the W&OD onto the Cusits.

Gentlemen will behave; others must.

[dasgeh]

@rcannon100 65168 wrote:

ME: Oh no…… Cherrydale, dead ahead Oh no….. Really?!?!?

YOU: The Cherrydale Bridge Troll

ME: Nice @#$%@ try Cherrydale Bridge Troll. Not this time!!

Yeah, going up Lee into Cherrydale sucks. I’ve started going up the S curve, then turning R into Maywood (and going up some more!), then winding through Maywood to Monroe. Bonus: you get back on Lee at the top of the hill. Double bonus: if you turn when the light for Monroe is green, you get the lane on Lee Hwy to yourself (or with few cars) for a while, which is nice. Triple Bonus (or deal killer, depending on the day): going up the S curve and up into Maywood is quite the workout…

[vvill]

@dasgeh 65211 wrote:

Yeah, going up Lee into Cherrydale sucks. I’ve started going up the S curve, then turning R into Maywood (and going up some more!), then winding through Maywood to Monroe. Bonus: you get back on Lee at the top of the hill. Double bonus: if you turn when the light for Monroe is green, you get the lane on Lee Hwy to yourself (or with few cars) for a while, which is nice. Triple Bonus (or deal killer, depending on the day): going up the S curve and up into Maywood is quite the workout…

I do often that too – actually, usually I go past Monroe onto Oakland, and cut through the parking lot to Pollard, and take the service road to the Military/Lee junction.

It is a fun little workout! http://www.strava.com/segments/4879548

[Toonces]

You: Catching up and riding my wheel after I passed you.
Me: “Please don’t ride my wheel, thank you”
You: Still riding my wheel
Me: “Please don’t draft me”
You: Still riding my wheel
Me: Pulling off to other side of path – “Get off my wheel”
You: Shaking head, “Are you asking me to get off your wheel?”
Me: “Yes and I said please and thank you”.
You: Taking off on other side of the road and running a red light instead of being stuck at the light with me. I would have liked to let you know why I didn’t want you on my wheel. No road rage, just a little chat.

[bikeeveryday]

@dgm 65253 wrote:

You: Catching up and riding my wheel after I passed you.
Me: “Please don’t ride my wheel, thank you”
You: Still riding my wheel
Me: “Please don’t draft me”
You: Still riding my wheel
Me: Pulling off to other side of path – “Get off my wheel”
You: Shaking head, “Are you asking me to get off your wheel?”
Me: “Yes and I said please and thank you”.
You: Taking off on other side of the road and running a red light instead of being stuck at the light with me. I would have liked to let you know why I didn’t want you on my wheel. No road rage, just a little chat.

I am interested in hearing why…

[jabberwocky]

@dgm 65253 wrote:

Me: “Please don’t ride my wheel, thank you”

Screwing with stealth wheelsuckers is one of the things I really miss about commuting on the W&OD.

[MattAune]

@jabberwocky 65256 wrote:

Screwing with stealth wheelsuckers is one of the things I really miss about commuting on the W&OD.

So true. I love to slow down very gradually then when they try to go around me I start to sprint. “oh, I didnt know you were back there, why are you hiding? And please call your passes!”

I know guys who claim they like to spit, or blow snot rockets, but I am not that mean.

[OneEighth]

On the other hand, you could choose to treat having someone on your wheel as an opportunity to pull hard.
Half full or half empty? It’s a choice.

Food for thought—
1. If someone shows up behind you, it usually means they caught you. Just sayin’.
2. The person behind you may be on a fixie and may have chosen not to pass because the terrain ahead is about to make you faster on your geared bike.

[jrenaut]

3. The person also might not realize they’re being rude.

Doing most of my riding in the city, I have almost no experience with this, and might do something wrong out of ignorance. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’d respond well to a polite bit of education.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@OneEighth 65266 wrote:

On the other hand, you could choose to treat having someone on your wheel as an opportunity to pull hard.
Half full or half empty? It’s a choice.

Food for thought—
1. If someone shows up behind you, it usually means they caught you. Just sayin’.
2. The person behind you may be on a fixie and may have chosen not to pass because the terrain ahead is about to make you faster on your geared bike.

Yeah, I tend to be more cautious than most when passing, so that means I sometimes end up sitting on someone’s wheel for a while before I make my move. I make sure that I have a good sightline to the space ahead of the rider I’m following, as well as room to maneuver if that rider has to make an emergency move, but I’m not going to hang way back or make an irresponsible pass just because someone doesn’t like that I’m behind them. What really gets me is the people who wave me past in an impatient manner…they always seem to do so at a point where it’s unsafe (from my view) to pass…uh, yeah thanks, I’ll pass when I’m ready…no arm-waving necessary.

[DismalScientist]

Also, people have different definitions of being “on my wheel.” If I am five feet back and a little to the left, I am not sucking your wheel.

[cyclingfool]

@TwoWheelsDC 65269 wrote:

What really gets me is the people who wave me past in an impatient manner…they always seem to do so at a point where it’s unsafe (from my view) to pass…uh, yeah thanks, I’ll pass when I’m ready…no arm-waving necessary.

Yeah, I don’t like the arm waving thing either. Some guy did it to me the other day on the MVT. I was at least a good two bike lengths back the whole time and the only reasons I hadn’t passed yet were:

1) I only caught him slowly so there was no huge speed difference.
2) We were riding past the intersection with the trail spur over to Crystal City and there tends to be a bit more traffic and really bad lines of sight there with the ups and downs and the turns.

I didn’t pass him for at least five seconds after he waved me past because I couldn’t see far enough down the trail/around the bend to make sure I wasn’t about to pull out right into the path of an oncoming cyclist or pedestrian.

[dcv]

@DismalScientist 65273 wrote:

Also, people have different definitions of being “on my wheel.” If I am five feet back and a little to the left, I am not sucking your wheel.

<4" and no brakes

[jabberwocky]

If you’re less than 1 second behind me, you’re wheelsucking, period. I commuted for years on the W&OD and had zero issue either hanging back several bike lengths if I didn’t actually want to pass. There is really no excuse for being that close to someone you don’t know at speed. The W&OD ain’t the peloton.

[grandallj]

Maybe I’m posting a missed connection on myself here, but I was riding the W&OD this past Saturday and had caught up to another cyclist but didn’t consider myself to be wheelsucking and certainly not drafting — just riding maybe two bike lengths behind her. Then the clouds parted and she slammed on the brakes and started turning left to turn around, which necessitated hasty application of hard braking by yours truly.* We didn’t crash and I’m not sure I’d say either of us was totally in the right or in the wrong for how it went. I guess it’s just to say that I’m learning that there are some gray areas about how close is too close, staying alert (for what’s in front of you as well as what’s behind) is important, and not trusting Doug Kammerer when he says the rain won’t likely start until 4PM is imperative.

*FN: Disc brakes in the rain are pretty sweet.

@jabberwocky 65277 wrote:

If you’re less than 1 second behind me, you’re wheelsucking, period. I commuted for years on the W&OD and had zero issue either hanging back several bike lengths if I didn’t actually want to pass. There is really no excuse for being that close to someone you don’t know at speed. The W&OD ain’t the peloton.

[Author]

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