I've been patient with you. I've been polite and I've tolerated your ridiculous behaviour for months now. But today was officially it. The beauty of blogosphere has given me a voice and it will be heard.
1. Oh hello. Did I invite you to sit on my ass?
I am not intimately familiar with the unwritten rules of drafting and, even if I were, I don't particularly care what they say. Hear me loud and clear weekend warriors - my back wheel is not a free ride. Notice how I am riding by myself? No friend, no group, no triathlon mates. Just me, my Garmin and my bike. Ever think there might be a reason for that? Well, here it is. I'm not on a weekend cruise, I'm not catching up with mates to discuss the footy or the kids on a 40km round trip to Black Rock. I'm on a training ride. I'm riding by myself so I can spend 3-4 hours focussing on my heart rate, cadence, speed, pedal stroke and nutrition. If, after all that, I have some spare mental energy left I might think about the race I'm actually training for and visualise what it would feel like to win it (just to keep the motivation high). Here's what I don't need to listen to while I'm doing all that - you and old mate chatting away about the deals at work, how your other old mate friend is going, how Max is travelling in Auskick and how you're looking forward to your coffee, all while being dragged along by my biking efforts and making little of your own.
Oh, and after I've dragged your ass for 45min, you're not kidding anyone by then having a crack on a straight where you sprint past me and feel like gun for "beating the chick".
2. See this bike? It's not like yours.
Notice that my bike is different to yours? Its a triathlon bike. That might not mean much to you, but I can assure you there is one important difference that will make you take notice if you were gulping off my wheel and there was suddenly an accident.
When I'm on aerobars, I can go faster. Thats probably one of the reasons your hanging off my wheel. However, one of the flaws with this design is I have no immediate access to brakes. This is of minor concern to me when I am riding by myself as I can sort myself out; it becomes a big concern to me if I have some lazy nugget on my back wheel, chatting and paying no attention. Let me be clear - I don't know you, we're not friends, your not in my club and I have no idea how many more of you are hanging off me. When I am riding on aerobars, I am thinking about my own safety. If there is an accident or if I need to swerve, change direction or something else happens, I will not be thinking about you first - and I will need another 3 seconds or so to get to my brakes. I don't need to added stress of knowing you and your mates are right behind me, ready to ride up my ass if something happens quickly. Notice how packs of riders don't ride together on triathlon bikes? Yeah there's a reason for that.
3. I'm sorry, are we friends?
I'm not out to have a chat with strangers during training rides. Don't sit on my wheel, then come up next to me and try and chat to me for the next hour like that makes it all better. It doesn't. Stop talking.
4. Wind sucks
Wind sucks. Absolutely it does, we all know it. Riding in wind is tough work. But that is what makes you a better rider. You know why your sitting on my wheel and not the other way around? Because I ride into wind all the time. Without sitting on people's wheels.
5. I'm not anti drafting
I get that there's benefits to organised drafting and group rides. It can be a useful training tool. What I am sick of, and I'm sure others are too, are people who choose to "go out for a ride" and do nothing but attach themselves to a rider - usually uninvited - and get sucked along which achieves nothing much more then wearing down your tyres. Here's a tip - if you are someone who is prone to attaching yourself to someone's back wheel, and that someone keeps turning their head to look at you - get off their wheel. You've just received the Beach Road Cyclist Code to f**k off. In the nicest, cycling friendly way possible.
6. For the love of god, wear appropriate lycra
With the number of online shops, there is absolutely no excuse for ill fitting cycling gear. I don't want to see your belly poking out from under your jersey; I really don't want to see your crack through the (often) beige or white knicks that should have been retired about 10 rides earlier. I've checked and sizes go up to something like XXXXL. Do us all a favour.
7. To all the men who do none of the above...
Thank you. Especially thank you to those who offer little words of encouragement when they see me pushing along by myself, who slow down if they see me on the side of the road with a puncture or some other problem. To those who say good morning at the lights or have a chat when you're refuelling. To the genuinely nice people out on Beach Road training, getting exercise and just going about their business without hassling other people. That is what makes the training rides enjoyable and, particularly on the tough days when the wind is bitching and the rain is falling, its nice to know we're all in this together.
Love it. Amen for the groups with road etiquette. "Riders" or "passing" is such a simple thing to say.
ReplyDeleteLycra should been made in dark colours only. That is all.