Practice drafting? It's not THAT easy to do it well.

Or, perhaps they know it annoys you and they get some satisfaction out of upsetting the hammerheads?

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''The enemy isn't conservatism. The enemy isn't liberalism. The enemy is bulls**t.''

—Lars-Erik Nelson

ride easy at a faster pace, just like often in a bike race. i love drafting of a stubborn triathlete.

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CAMPAGNOLO GRAN FONDO NEW YORK

Those are great, where did you get em?

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Jonathan Blyer,
ACME Bicycle Co., Brooklyn, NY

Roadies are obviously inferior since all they do is hunt for people to draft off of, making their rides less work.

My local roadie club has finally gone too far. They purchased a trigeek radar, allowing them to simplify the process of hunting down the fastest bikes in the immediate area.

"What's the roadie mindset?"

I seem to recall a number that was tossed out after one of Lance Armstrong's Tour de France wins that other than in the ITT's, Armstrong had spent a grand total of less than 30 minutes of riding, on the front, during three weeks of racing!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

roadies have minds? Who knew!!

Recovery ride, something that triathletes typically ignore.

Lack of tri bars does NOT equal roadie any more than having tri bars equals triathlete.

Roadies are just as annoyed by the random wheelsucks as you are.

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Kevin

http://kevinmetcalfe.dreamhosters.com
My Strava

Ah, sorry, I forgot. Road racing is more common over here in the old world. No need to be a pro racer to suck wheel for a swift, easy ride.

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CAMPAGNOLO GRAN FONDO NEW YORK

No need to suck a wheel for an easy ride either.

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Jonathan Blyer,
ACME Bicycle Co., Brooklyn, NY

for you: easy ride at quicker pace, e.g. ride big ring at low effort. BIG difference. if it's a good triathlete this could match motorpacing for a weak roadie.

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CAMPAGNOLO GRAN FONDO NEW YORK

I love it when someone gets on my wheel. It's very hard to wreck when someones front wheel hits your rear wheel and they give a great cushion between you and cars coming from behind. I always know that they will be hit before me : )

Ah, see, there's the issue. It's not 'roadies' in general but 'commuters' you're having problems with, that is, non-racers. Commuters, or novice riders as I refer to them, are the ones who wave and smile. A serious rider won't wave, won't smile, barely looks your way. Stuck up? No, just serious.

As for how to get rid of them, slamming on your brakes is a bit.....confrontational, and you may end up getting yourself hurt in the process. The last thing I want to see is a post from you saying that someone rear-ended you b/c you slammed on your brakes. Instead, do what I do: If you see the shadow, give a quick look over your shoulder, followed by a quick head shake. You'll probably notice that most riders latching on to you have poor riding form and are probably already breathing hard. Next, kick it up a couple of gears (big ring if you're not already there) to around 275 watts (or roughly 100% of your LT) and hold for 2 minutes doing nothing but concentrating on maintaining your form and breathing. At 2 minutes, give a quick look over your shoulder...I can almost guarantee no one will be there. If they somehow are, kick it up a little bit more, maybe 300 watts, and maintain for another minute and a half to 2 minutes. If they're still there after that, slide over to the right and stop pedalling. Once they go by, you get on their wheel and maintain proper distance. Assuming you got rid of them, hey, you just added a bit of 'kick' to your workout (or commute ;-) )

What's the advantage of big ring vs. small ring on a recovery ride? Just easier to pedal smooth in the big ring?
While on the topic, what's the point of motorpacing? I had a conversation with a guy the other day who was telling (trying to impress) me about how he motorpaced behind a hatchback with the roof up at like 50 mph. I thought that was about the dumbest thing I ever heard of.

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Jonathan Blyer,
ACME Bicycle Co., Brooklyn, NY

I've had guys attach themselves to my wheel without my knowledge. It is scary to turn a corner and discover some guy in his full CSC garb has been drafting off of you for who knows how long. I hate people who compare everything to a Seinfield episode but, it is like that guy who side-els Elaine at the office; she never knows he is there until somebody says something. Common sense dictates that you shouldn't grab onto someone's wheel without their knowledge.

On the back of my team jersey it says, in small print -- "if you're close enough to read this, grab a pull"

I referred to your quote about an "easy ride" not "recovery ride", that's different things.

re Motorpacing: just google, quite some info available. Then again, you'd have to try to fully understand.

re that guy: I rode in an elite cycling team. one of the guys was riding sixdays. he managed to keep up at no less than 70mph with 53/12 (no 11 back then). That surely was dumb and useless. 50mph is a bit too quick and a motorbike is better because it's more similar to a roadie in front of you.

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CAMPAGNOLO GRAN FONDO NEW YORK

big ring vs. small ring - just the usual changing of emphasis between muscular strength and cardiovascular support.

That probably the answer to most, but not all of them.

Yeah, but if you're on an easy or recovery ride, I don't see the real difference. The goal of the ride is a light workout and maybe to just get some blood pumping through your legs.

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Jonathan Blyer,
ACME Bicycle Co., Brooklyn, NY

you're right, it would be useless for a recovery ride (other than getting you faster from a to b).
however, drafting at 25-30mph will be an easy ride for a roadie and it'll still be close to a common bunch pace. with the increased speed while sitting on the wheel he's got to be more alert, may have to pick up pace again after a forced slow down (traffic lights etc.). from your comments i presume you haven't done any roadracing. i have never heard anyone question this who did race.

that said, it would certainly be impolite to just sit on and say nothing. and yes, it would be typical roadie style... (though I don't really get how people don't "feel" someone sitting on their wheel.)

OT: did you know that the front guy saves energy with a wheel sucker?

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CAMPAGNOLO GRAN FONDO NEW YORK