Uninvited dude drafting me, silently, in the dark…with attitude!

[JFF]

Headed home 6:30ish tonight up the Custis Trail, near Italian Store, I’m making good speed up the hill, passing others and lit up appropriately (yes, averting headlight to oncomers). I spy a flashing handle bar light closing in on me from a ways off. I keep tabs on him and lose sight of him in the interspersed overhead lighting. Cruising through a darker spot, I look again and am stunned to see his face filled up my helmet-mounted mirror. He’s right on my back tire, in the dark, without word or warning. He’s not passing, he’s not a foot or two back, he’s literally drafting me with overlaped tires.

Given I’m moving fast and there is plenty of room to pass, I’m confused at first, thinking maybe he’s afraid to pass in the dark and he came up on me too quickly? So I slow slightly (I’m already on the far right) and he slows too, still right on top of me. So I say, “feel free to pass’ and he says “that’s ok.” At that point, I change my tone and make clear, “pass or pull back, but get off my tire.” I slow more (I’m about to get off the trail at Spout Run) and he — clearly out of breath – huffs/puffs past me muttering something unintelligible that sounded like he was somehow miffed at me for not playing along.

Had I not had a mirror and not been looking hard to see where he went, a slight drift left or quick brake and we’d both of had a rough time of it tumbling to the pavement.

If you are him and reading this – what the hell were you thinking?

Topic

[TwoWheelsDC]

Yeah, a bit frustrating…The one time someone half-wheeled me and brushed my wheel, they went down, and the only reason I realized it was because I heard him hit the tarmac…So at least most of the risk is on the half-wheeler in that situation.

[acc]

Not to defend, but to explain. There have been times when I’ve been so tired, so sick of riding, so far from home, that I’ve tried to grab onto a wheel just to make it a few more miles down the trail. No offense to you but “you” seemed competent and not frightening. Therefore, I hung on your wheel long enough to get closer to home. I considered “you” safe and reliable.

[Jason B]

People drafting me I am ok with, actually I am surprised when people are going as slow as me, but overlapped tires is weird, and dangerous.
(I can assume there were not five other commuters with you riding an echelon up Custis)
I usually avoid conversations with other riders, so I probably would pull a quick fake glove adjustment at the next stop to allow him to pass. If he doesn’t pass, I guess give him your number or show him your ring, because it is that weird.

[eminva]

This was actually the topic of my first post to this forum. Interesting how it resurfaces from time to time.

Since then, I’ve gotten used to it during daylight hours, but it still freaks me out at night when I can’t look over my shoulder and see who’s behind me. The overlapping wheels is bad; I’ve had that from time to time but I usually try to get away from that rider the best way feasible (either slowing or speeding up).

Liz

[Mikey]

If I find myself going the same or similar speed to someone else I will try to draft a little, but not right on the wheel and never overlapping, then after a few minutes I always announce my pass, and as I pass the person say “Thanks, I’ll pull for a while”. If the other person wants to play, they will usually do the same, if not they will drop back. If I can’t pass the person I have no business trying to stay up with them. If I’m in front, I usually am flattered by a draft, but if they are acting erradic I will slow to let them pass. In the dark it is nice to have a buddy (or sadly, a witness).

[jabberwocky]

I don’t mind people drafting if they ask first (which happened occasionally when I commuted on the W&OD). A quick “mind if I hang on your tire while I catch my breath” will generally get a positive response from me. I really hate people that stealth draft though. I had lots of ways to screw with people who pulled that (I got real good at snot rockets into the wind that would go over my shoulder, for instance).

I was rear ended by stealth drafters twice over the years. Once was just me slowing to make a left turn (which I signaled), the other was me grabbing brakes to avoid hitting a deer that jumped out. Both were people I did not know where behind me until they rammed into me. One was apologetic, but the other gave me crap for “not warning him I was going to slow” (sorry I didn’t predict that the deer would jump out in front of me, jackass. :rolleyes: ).

In general, if I’m going to pace a stranger, I stay at least a few bike lengths back.

[pfunkallstar]

This time of year I tend to just enjoy the company. But seriously, overlapped tires is not okay. This discussion has gone through the wash a number of times and the consensus, drum roll, is that “everyone just needs to be courteous and respectful.” Interpret that as you may, but should I start drafting someone on the inky depths of the Custis trail, I will usually hang out two bike lengths back and turn my lights down.

[fongfong]

Sad to say, bad behavior is not just for car drivers. Most cyclists are also drivers, and the “me first” attitude is something hard to drop. Coming up the WO&D from the Key Bridge one day alone, I was startled to find a big lumox on my tail, who had sprinted to catch up with me and then just hung back there. When I waived him through and then said it was bad manners to draft without warning, he actually wanted to fight with me. So we danced back and forth crossing the 66 bridge, with him yelling how he was gonna beat my a–, etc. and so forth.

It seems to me that the sense of entitlement one comes to believe is god given for car drivers can easily carry over to cyclists.

When it comes to passing someone on the bike lane, I really like to avoid the Cat 6 racing that often ensues as I pass someone that has been going slower. Half the time, the person takes it as a personal affront to their manhood (yes, this only happens with men), and the race is on. I dislike having a perfect stranger on my wheel since I have no earthly idea if they know anything about proper drafting technique. So now I have taken to only passing folks when I am sure I will put some distance between me and them.

[jrenaut]

@fongfong 69232 wrote:

…Half the time, the person takes it as a personal affront to their manhood (yes, this only happens with men), and the race is on…

Not true – my most memorable experience with this was a woman at Hains Point. I passed her (because she was chatting with a friend and not going that fast) and she chose to catch and pass me then cut over much more closely than was at all necessary.

We can ALL be PALs, and we can ALL be a-holes. Let’s all be PALs. And not draft without permission, regardless of the situation. It’s just rude.

[consularrider]

@pfunkallstar 69231 wrote:

… but should I start drafting someone on the inky depths of the Custis trail, I will usually hang out two bike lengths back …

That’s not drafting, that’s stalking.

[rcannon100]

@pfunkallstar 69231 wrote:

This discussion has gone through the wash a number of times and the consensus, drum roll, is that “everyone just needs to be courteous and respectful.”

I thought the consensus was that if you go slow enough, no one will draft off of you

[dasgeh]

@jrenaut 69234 wrote:

We can ALL be PALs, and we can ALL be a-holes. Let’s all be PALs. And not draft without permission, regardless of the situation. It’s just rude.

Whole-heartedly agree with the first part, but I don’t think the second is generally accepted. If you don’t want someone drafting off you, don’t assume they know it’s rude and are being a dick. Just slow down or ask them not to draft (to the OP, I could see how the drafter took your offer as an offer to take a pull, and that’s what they were declining. A simple “I prefer you not to draft off of me” would have been more clear. Not that any of that excuses him from being a dick when you slowed).

[off2ride]

In a situation like that I usually just slowly crank it up. If that person can keep up then I get home quicker using him/her as my motivation. It’s good clean fun. BUT!!! If this rider is trying to make me crash or just being unsafe, then I’ll back off so I can get home in one piece. After I peel off then he/she has my permission to crash by all means.

@JFF 69208 wrote:

Headed home 6:30ish tonight up the Custis Trail, near Italian Store, I’m making good speed up the hill, passing others and lit up appropriately (yes, averting headlight to oncomers). I spy a flashing handle bar light closing in on me from a ways off. I keep tabs on him and lose sight of him in the interspersed overhead lighting. Cruising through a darker spot, I look again and am stunned to see his face filled up my helmet-mounted mirror. He’s right on my back tire, in the dark, without word or warning. He’s not passing, he’s not a foot or two back, he’s literally drafting me with overlaped tires.

Given I’m moving fast and there is plenty of room to pass, I’m confused at first, thinking maybe he’s afraid to pass in the dark and he came up on me too quickly? So I slow slightly (I’m already on the far right) and he slows too, still right on top of me. So I say, “feel free to pass’ and he says “that’s ok.” At that point, I change my tone and make clear, “pass or pull back, but get off my tire.” I slow more (I’m about to get off the trail at Spout Run) and he — clearly out of breath – huffs/puffs past me muttering something unintelligible that sounded like he was somehow miffed at me for not playing along.

Had I not had a mirror and not been looking hard to see where he went, a slight drift left or quick brake and we’d both of had a rough time of it tumbling to the pavement.

If you are him and reading this – what the hell were you thinking?

[MattAune]

I had a stage 5 clinger this morning on the W&OD. I normally dont mind, and he was nice when we stopped at the light, but I don’t like having a 17,000 lumen light projecting my shadow on the trail in front of me so I detoured around Shirlington and back to the trail.

They never, ever, ever announce their presence, and rarely are they grateful for the pull, but I have not had one overlap my wheel on trail either.

[jrenaut]

@dasgeh 69239 wrote:

Whole-heartedly agree with the first part, but I don’t think the second is generally accepted. If you don’t want someone drafting off you, don’t assume they know it’s rude and are being a dick.

Do they make classes that teach two people how to communicate with each other, kind of like marriage counseling but for people who are friends on online forums (and occasionally in person)? You and I seem to constantly be arguing about things we agree on.

[Author]

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