First Draft

I had this whole article on good reasons to not ride worked out. It was an excuse of sorts for having to take time off to earn a living. We have all been there and done that so I changed my mind and decided to write about drafting.

I know a lot about drafting, I had a drafting class in school. I drink draft beer. My mother told me to stay out of drafts (Boy was she ever wrong.) I was a champ in draughts, checkers for you red state people. Today we will set aside all these areas of expertise and stick to aerodynamics and tactics.

Everyone who rides in a group has attempted to draft at one time or another. Sometimes it is looked on as being smart, sometime it is seen as weak or opportunistic. Let us take a look at wheelsucking. In general drafting seems like a good idea. It conserves energy and can help a group be more efficient. It can allow an individual to stay with a group longer and a tired rider to recover. It can give a stronger rider a lead out to an awesome sprint. It can tame a vicious wind. These are all good things.

Now why does it get such a bad rap? People so seldom do it right. They abuse the privilege and take advantage of other’s hard work. Poor form is a culprit. Some riders are so desperate to find a sweet spot they over lap half a wheel or more and endanger the whole paceline. Other times riders will stagger out like geese and the last rider will be out in traffic. My pet peeve (One of them, I have many) is getting “Burned off my pull” This is when, after doing a hard pull on front, the new leader picks the pace up as you go back, forcing you to sprint to grab a wheel.

Some more on abuse. Drafting is a fortunate thing, a privilege indeed. A rider who sits in the back all the way out into the wind and then attacks on the way home is rotten. So are the riders who take up too much road to stay in the sweet spot. Drafting is not a god given right. Sometimes it is better to just not do it.

If it is a race situation then things are a little different. Working together is not always the best strategy for obvious reasons. However, if you watch the grand tours, there is a lot of cooperation until things get down to the wire and riders who don’t do their share of work get shafted pretty quick.

There are some solutions, good etiquette and protocols. Never overlap a wheel so much you endanger the rest of the group. Form a second paceline if the first one is all the way across the highway. If the conditions are bad, the road narrow, form a single file line and forget about drafting. It is not the end of the world if everyone has to work on the way out.

Do your fair share of the work. If you are hurting then by all means stay in the back. Just don’t attack on the way home. Keep the speed steady when you get to the front. If you feel extra manly then stay up there longer. If there is a crosswind, work on an echelon (a rotation). It is amazing how efficient it can be. I had the good fortune to be in a 30 rider echelon in the Katy Flatland 100 one year. We were cruising at 25 mph with hardly any effort.

With all of the wind we suffer through down here we don’t need to be making things anymore difficult. Pitch in and do your share. Be aware of where you are on the highway. Perfect your technique to be efficient and safe. Then, if you did all of this, by all means unleash the beast on the downwind and show no mercy in the final sprint. That’s what all the work is about, isn’t it?