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I was once motorcycle touring in the Wyoming/Utah/Colorado area with a friend who was riding an old, carbureted Suzuki dual sport that struggled with power at a
by dharmab 4y ago
I was once motorcycle touring in the Wyoming/Utah/Colorado area with a friend who was riding an old, carbureted Suzuki dual sport that struggled with power at altitude. We found we could significantly increase its top speed and fuel range by drafting it off the "bubble" created by my bike's panniers. Inside the bubble was like the eye of a storm.
- quietbritishjim 4y agoWhen I commuted by bicycle in London in my 20s I would often draft behind double decker buses. Not terribly sensible, for various reasons including their exhaust, but very effective. And with a profile that big you don't need to be very close to get a good effect.
- _Wintermute 4y agoThe delivery riders with electric bikes and huge backpacks also give a pretty good draft when you have to slog into a headwind.
- ben_w 4y agoOver half a lifetime ago, I did that once behind a delivery truck on the old Havant-Chichester road. I doubt I've ever gone as fast on a flat before or since (that particular stretch was probably a 30 mph zone, might have been higher but it definitely wouldn't have been lower). I'm amazed how risk-tolerant my teenage self was, in retrospect.
- abalashov 4y agoHa! Yeah, in lower-speed city environments, you'll sometimes see cyclists take off behind a slow-moving semi or something else risky for that reason. And every once in a blue moon you'll get a motorist in the middle of nowhere who "gets it" and motor-paces you up to a good speed before rolling away. That's taking one for the team. But as you say, it's all a bit perilous.
- newsclues 4y agoI ride my bike as a main form of transportation, and I want electric buses so bad, just to draft them without the fumes.