This morning's commute and other commuting stories

so I can get back to being pushed into the railings by builders vans...

Have you considered cycle training?

Does it involve stabilisers because frankly I think they're going to make a bad situation worse..

I had a dutchman in a tiny car tell me I had 'great balance' yesterday, halfway up the hill out of Camden when I trackstood (is that a word?) at some traffic lights. He caught up with me a bit further up the hill and leant out his window to tell me 'it stinks around here'.

Commute was otherwise uneventful except for all the traffic all the way up the A1010. Where were they all in the morning?

Chatting you up mate^

Hehe

no but seriously I hate that bridge cos it feels dangerous near those railings.

Classic pick up line, 'it stinks around here'

Ha! I'll take what I can get :)

The 'it stinks around here' confused me. I'm hoping he meant traffic fumes, although I had already sweaty profusely into that kit in the morning...

Don't have much german but I believe "ich schtinke mit rand hier" approximates "I'll go rimming with you here".

I can only think he was a keen cyclist and rimming is a colloquial dutch term for cycling.

Dutch people are usually direct enough to say to your face that you stink. Edit: Which means he didn't mean YOU he would have said.

And that your trackstanding rocks :)

I've had the same thing, once, on the way home on fUxbridge.

But 99% of people aren't as stubborn as I am so it must be pretty uncommon. They all get fed up and I can then pootle along at my heart's content gap and rush them with a fierce acceleration the likes of which London hasn't seen since V2 rockets.

Then punch them in the cock.

I had some Dutch guys complement me on my smoothness while turbo training outside my place some months ago. Maybe they're in-built to recognise cycling prowess?

Although smoothness does rhyme with ass, now that I think about it so perhaps it was something else.

Do you shave your legs? May be they meant them?

If I'm turbo training, I'm probably racing and if I'm racing I'm shaving.

But they were up on the balcony above so I don't think they'd notice shaved/unshaved from there. Must just be my beautiful "soup less".

Maybe I over-egged it. I was at all times a safe distance behind (i.e. a couple of bike lengths). He just wanted to be a macho man and blast off into the distance...

IMO, being annoyed by draggers and using cunning techniques to get rid of them is fine. But, @soul's story of causing a collision as a punishment and then leaving the scene is a total dick move.

Punishment pass followed by hit and run is the car equivalent. Not cool.

You can't draft from two bike lengths away. That's just following.

This guy was big! Felt like I was getting some respite from the headwind.

Two bike lengths is fine for drafting.

If you measure from the front of the front bike to the back of the back one.

I drafted someone last night on route to cross training. They came alongside at some lights and set off at near enough the same speed as me so I just dropped in behind. Not sure if they minded, not sure I'd have given a fuck if they had. I wouldn't have ridden at any other speed just because someone is a bit precious about not being the only cyclist on the road.

I don't see the issue.

The trick is to cycle so slowly that nobody drafts you.

the EC1 Collective mantra

Aerodynamics says you're wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PevpVXelq8A

The trick is to cycle so fast that nobody drafts you.

Fixed that for you.

That is amazing.

tl;dw: tight drafting gives 50% aero benefit. Drafting at 3 bike lengths gives 20%. Having someone draft you, gives you 4% benefit!!!

So, when someone tight drafts you on the embankment you should thank them.