I need a sign

Upon realizing the same ****** has just drafted me across the I-90
bridge for the third time in recent memory, I decided to mention to
him that it was rude to draft without asking. As we reached the end
of the bridge he pulled up next to me and asked how I was doing.

OF = Other Fellow
Me: Fine. Just on the way home from work.
OF: Ah commuting.
Me: Yes. Err, you know it's pretty rude to draft without asking.
- OF gets offended look, starts to pull away.
OF: *something semi-intelligible like "well why were you racing me"

I decide maybe I was a bit harsh and decide to catch him and try and
talk to him.

Me: I don't mean to come off as a dick, but it's not safe for you to
draft me if I don't you're back there.
OF: Well, you know it's pretty standard to draft other people.
Me: Not really, and it's rude to do it without asking. Especially
if I don't know you're back there.
OF: Well you should keep aware of what's going on, pay attention. [1]
It just goes to show your in-experience cycling.
- At this point I burst out laughing. I'm not uber-cyclist, but I
only started seeing him cycling about May this year. I didn't see
him out in December and January.
OF: If you didn't want me to draft you, why did you pass me back there? [2]
Me: Just because I'm not out in pacelines, and I'm not a *club* cyclist,
doesn't mean I'm inexperienced. It means I don't do the same kind
of cycling you do.
OF: (can't remember) Something about me being (snobby ?) about club
cyclists I guess.
Me: You could have passed me any time you wanted, I kept to the right just
fine.
OF: *something about him being faster than me.*
OF: You should do some training, pick up the pace!
- At this point the light I was waiting on changed, and I didn't see
any point in hanging around and discussing it further.

If he's so much faster than me, why does he keep drafting me?

God he managed to **** me off.

[1] I actually was aware that he was back there obviously, but sometimes
the idiots sneak up on me. As for 'paying attention', I wasn't the
one with the iPod earbuds stuck in my ear.
[2] I'm not positive what he means here, I entered the bridge from the
trail-bit that goes past the ball-field, he entered from the road.
I saw him coming and decided not to wait for him to go first, but I
hardly think I cut him off or anything.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
Thus spake the master programmer:
"A well-written program is its own heaven; a poorly-written program
is its own hell."
-- Geoffrey James, "The Tao of Programming"

Dane Jackson wrote in message ...

[2] I'm not positive what he means here, I entered the bridge from the
trail-bit that goes past the ball-field, he entered from the road.
I saw him coming and decided not to wait for him to go first, but I
hardly think I cut him off or anything.

While I have been known to mix it up from time to time out of sheer boredom
with the same route all the time, generally speaking, the folks who go
around the lid instead up and over are wusses. The best reason to go around
is that it is a bit shadier on a hot summer's afternoon. This morning,
however, did not qualify. (It was raining, for those of you not local
reading this.)

As for making a sign: Rose and I rode Flying Wheels with a nice sign that
said, "Slow on Hills". This sign was written in indelible marker and was
made out of a half piece of craft foam duck-taped to the rear rack. Because
I am not as nimble as I'd like to be on the tandem, I personally don't want
to be drafted while on that bike, myself, but I realized at our pace,
there's no danger of it.

--
Warm Regards,


Claire Petersky
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referr*al/Cpetersky

So, do you think this guy will learn his lesson before or after he
drafts somebody else who doesn't know he's back there and turns / stops
/ swerves around a pothole, etc. without calling out anything?

This sig seems in order:
Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgment.

In article ,
Dane Jackson writes:

OF: If you didn't want me to draft you, why did you pass me back there? [2]
Me: Just because I'm not out in pacelines, and I'm not a *club* cyclist,
doesn't mean I'm inexperienced. It means I don't do the same kind
of cycling you do.
OF: (can't remember) Something about me being (snobby ?) about club
cyclists I guess.
Me: You could have passed me any time you wanted, I kept to the right just
fine.
OF: *something about him being faster than me.*
OF: You should do some training, pick up the pace!
- At this point the light I was waiting on changed, and I didn't see
any point in hanging around and discussing it further.

If he's so much faster than me, why does he keep drafting me?

With all his lame excuses, it sounds like he knew he
was being rude by drafting you without your permission,
and you had him on the defensive. I dunno why he couldn't
just say "Sorry, I didn't realize it was bothering you,"
and desist from then on.

God he managed to **** me off.

I don't think he'll bother you anymore, for fear of
being (as he probably perceives it) bawled out.

It's good that you got a chance to speak directly
to him about your objections to his drafting you.
I guess you don't need to clutter your bike with
a sign, after all.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Dane Jackson wrote:
Upon realizing the same ****** has just drafted me across the I-90
bridge for the third time in recent memory, I decided to mention to
him that it was rude to draft without asking. As we reached the end
of the bridge he pulled up next to me and asked how I was doing.

[snip]

I just sit up and wave 'em by. I don't care if I lose five seconds; I
refuse to be drafted. Pretty much the same position I took in 1968.

RichC

Claire Petersky wrote:
Dane Jackson wrote in message ...

[2] I'm not positive what he means here, I entered the bridge from the
trail-bit that goes past the ball-field, he entered from the road.
I saw him coming and decided not to wait for him to go first, but I
hardly think I cut him off or anything.

While I have been known to mix it up from time to time out of sheer boredom
with the same route all the time, generally speaking, the folks who go
around the lid instead up and over are wusses. The best reason to go around
is that it is a bit shadier on a hot summer's afternoon. This morning,
however, did not qualify. (It was raining, for those of you not local
reading this.)

It was actually on the way home yesterday afternoon. I'm not sure what the
name of that baseball field on Mercer is.

*a short google later*

Feroglia Fields

As for making a sign: Rose and I rode Flying Wheels with a nice sign that
said, "Slow on Hills". This sign was written in indelible marker and was
made out of a half piece of craft foam duck-taped to the rear rack. Because
I am not as nimble as I'd like to be on the tandem, I personally don't want
to be drafted while on that bike, myself, but I realized at our pace,
there's no danger of it.

I actually got an idea from someone mentioning that on one of the local
organized rides (might have been STP) they saw a Tandem with a sign that
said 'Not a Tow Truck'. I've been toying with the idea ever since.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
To err is human, to repent, divine, to persist, devilish.
-- Benjamin Franklin

Bob Dole wrote:
So, do you think this guy will learn his lesson before or after he
drafts somebody else who doesn't know he's back there and turns / stops
/ swerves around a pothole, etc. without calling out anything?

Probably not. I have a feeling that he's probably someone who does a
lot of cycling, but is not a general purpose cyclist. My guess is he's
a cat 4/5 racer who decided to get some extra miles in commuting. [1]

This sig seems in order:
Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgment.

That's so very very true. Nothing teaches us lessons as well as mistakes.
Particularly painful expensive mistakes.

[1] Judging (quite possibly erroneously) from his equipment and demeanor.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
BASIC, n.:
A programming language. Related to certain social diseases in
that those who have it will not admit it in polite company.

Tom Keats wrote:
Dane Jackson writes:

With all his lame excuses, it sounds like he knew he
was being rude by drafting you without your permission,
and you had him on the defensive. I dunno why he couldn't
just say "Sorry, I didn't realize it was bothering you,"
and desist from then on.

Yeah, I've told other people the same things and some of them got
offended also, but none were this defensive. Some of them took it
really well "Oh, sorry, didn't know that", I just say "That's ok"
and we go our separate ways.

God he managed to **** me off.

I don't think he'll bother you anymore, for fear of
being (as he probably perceives it) bawled out.

I saw him again this morning. I caught up to him because he was
lollygagging. I said "Good morning" when we got to a road crossing.
He just gave me a dirty look and took off. Shrug.

It's good that you got a chance to speak directly
to him about your objections to his drafting you.
I guess you don't need to clutter your bike with
a sign, after all.

Nah, I definitely think it's time. I'll probably put it on the bike
from May to October. I never have any problem with it any other
of the year.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"Benson, you are so free of the ravages of intelligence"
-- Time Bandits

rdclark wrote:


Dane Jackson wrote:
Upon realizing the same ****** has just drafted me across the I-90
bridge for the third time in recent memory, I decided to mention to
him that it was rude to draft without asking. As we reached the end
of the bridge he pulled up next to me and asked how I was doing.

I just sit up and wave 'em by. I don't care if I lose five seconds; I
refuse to be drafted. Pretty much the same position I took in 1968.

Sometimes I do that. Usually when I'm on the Burke Gillman trail.
The ride to and fro work is not really a good place to draft. There's
a lot of switching from road to trail, and lots of vehicle turnouts.
So, you kind of have to be aggressively clueless to draft in this area.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"Eagles fly; but weasels aren't sucked into jet engines."

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 19:00:06 -0700, Dane Jackson wrote:


If he's so much faster than me, why does he keep drafting me?

There's an older dude I see a lot on my rides. I routinely pass him as I'm
a bit stronger--no insult to the guy who's a strong rider in his 60s by
the look of things. He rides an Italian carbon job with all off the gee
gaws, with a terrible cadence to ruin it all. :P Anyhow, I've said hi to
him, as I always try to be friendly, every single time I've passed him.
Each time he's literally turn up his nose as if he was offended at my
lowly bike and said nothing. Then he proceeds to draft me for a few miles.
When we reach a downhill and I can't go faster as I'm on a singlespeed, he
passes me with a smug look. Something I'd expect from a snotty teenager,
but this guys retirement age.

Back to your question, your guy and my guy are simply assholes. That's the
short of it. Next time I'm going to give my particular fellow a piece of
my mind. You're right--it's a safety issue, no amount of carbon textured
bar tape can mitigate that.