Friday, November 30, 2007

finding good drafts

the one thing i am good at in cycling is finding good wheels. at the bike clinic i found m-coco's wheel out of a slew of people and look how good she is. at the track, i pride myself on being able to tuck in right behind the biggest older guy and get a sweet draft until the sprint laps. so the other night while biking home from my work, some dude with big panniers passed me somewhere in alameda and then i hopped on his wheel. and, man, panniers make for some sweet drafting. i don't know if that is really kosher behavior with bike commuters. the pace kept getting faster and faster, and then he dropped me on some corner as we were heading back into east oakland. i felt pretty lame. personally, i don't think it is very nice to try and drop a girl off your wheel when it is dark out going through east oakland. but i am from the midwest.

i realize i have been slacking on my blogging recently. very sorry. my life is just really boring these days. the above was the best story i had in two weeks. pathetic.

here are my quad measurements last week and this week.

Thursday, Nov. 22: 59cm (gobble gobble. .25cm increase!)
Thursday, Nove 29: 58.75 (oh well)

8 comments:

place_holder said...

since the number seems to have stabilized, can we conclude that your quads are naturally bigger than your head?

Anonymous said...

Drafting on people you don't know without saying anything is not appropriate or a good idea. 1. you don't know how they ride and they don't know your habits. 2. they may not know you are there and suddenly stop... or you might nail a whole or obstacle etc... because they don't warn you. Basically it is unsafe and a bit tacky
When it happens to me, I do the opposite. I slowed down until they get the hint..... pretty funny when we are going 10 MPH on a dead flat before they figure it out.
I now only race when there is a number on my back. Otherwise I stuck to the ride speed for what I am doing.... my commutes are training so I am either spinning or doing intervals between lights.

If you are going to draft.... speak up say "Hi and do you mind if I sit in?"

beth bikes! said...

thanks anon. i'll be sure to follow your advice from here on out, as i don't want to be rude or tacky. (unless it is decorating for christmas. then I am super-tacky!)

Anonymous said...

Oh, I forgot some more advice:

1) don't run with scissors
2) look both ways before crossing and
3) never ride your bike up Fruitvale during commute hours (or anytime really)

Have a nice day.

TreBone said...

drafting is good. whenever. wherever. on ANY wheel.

unless, it isn't.

in that case, run with scissors.

more advice:
1) don't drink on long rides.
2) don't carry spare tubes or a pump on group rides, because someone else will have them.
3) don't call out bumps, holes or debris in the road, because the noise will distract the person staring at your rear hub.
4) while racing yell "ON YOUR LEFT" all the time.
5) shoot snotrockets to the side, not down. the spray is refreshing for those behind.
6) pin your number on upside down.

= D

TreBone said...

oh... one last thing;

7) Stop bloging for a couple of weeks. Your faithful readers LOVE THAT!

whew, that was cathartic.
Thanks!

Itinerant Rick said...

I often get folks taking my wheel on commutes; if I don't want them there I spin up the pace ... if they can hang then I let them stay, if they cannot, well they are seeing me fading in the distance. And sometimes I cannot tell the gender (too dark), though it is generally male when I can tell.

Panniers are great for blocking wind, or picking up a tailwind. Ride down the coast with a tailwind on a bike with 4 full panniers; almost as good as putting up a jib.

chatterbox said...

As a commuter with an almost 6 foot frame, broad shoulders, and a nice, big saddle bag, I tend to collect wheel suckers. Though, a bit less so now that I am in 'base' training and riding REALLY slow.

I usually let them stay there, because I know I'm a good wheel. However, I get annoyed if it's really windy and I'm working hard and they are just content to sit in. And, I generally don't sit on other commuters wheels unless I know who they are. Most are not experienced with pace lining, so it poses some risk.