4 ms·
When 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 exhaus
by quietbritishjim 4y ago
When 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.