Drafting during commute cycling: Have you sat on someone (drafted) during your commute or had it done to you? Does it annoy you or don't you care? One woman rode past a male cyclist twice on her commute before he jumped into her slipstream, much to her annoyance.
A cyclist who shared footage of being sat on during her
morning commute has sparked debate online about the practice (problem?).
Sarah McDonagh was annoyed at passing a male cyclist twice on her morning commute in Dublin before the man she passed then jumped in behind her.
The video – below – is rough
enough, showing McDonagh’s shadow on the road and another cyclist sitting
behind her, taking a draft in out of the breeze.
McDonagh pointed out she was
not annoyed simply because she was being drafted.
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Instead, she felt the man
had jumped into her slipstream in an aggressive manner in response to her
overtaking him.
However, she was so annoyed by
him she decided to post the clip on Twitter. And she has generated plenty of
debate.
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It seems Sarah McDonagh is
not the only commuting cyclist not wild about other cyclists jumping in behind
them to take a draft.
Some of those who replied wondered
what the fuss was all about, but most understood her annoyance and were in
agreement with her.
Those who replied said they
had gone through a similar experience. They spoke to trying to drop “wheel
suckers” or suggested waving him through or even getting a backward facing
camera to record him.
“It freaks me out when people do this,” said one cyclist who
replied.
Another commented: “What I do when I get unwelcome or
annoying slipstreaming is I sit up, move out, and look at them. Invite them to
move ahead if they want. If not, then I invite them to go away.”
One other cyclist said: “This happens to me a lot too. You end up spending an age trying to shake them off your wheel; whether by outpacing or slowing to force them to either overtake or back right off. Some people love a free ride.”
Another suggested turning the tables on drafters: “I’ve pulled in off the road when this has happened to me before. So frustrating to pass someone only to have them suddenly speed up and tuck in front. I’ve stopped passing a second time and taken the draft and let them sweat it out.”
We’ll leave the last word to a racing man, who said: “Think
that’s bad? You should see A4 racing! Drop him on the crosswind section!”
The incident...
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