I was cycling into town this morning with tired legs after a hilly ride in the Chilterns the previous day. I was recovering nicely on the smooth newly tarmaced Iffley Road. A commuter in lycra shorts came storming past me on a hybrid bike. I couldn’t resist jumping on his back wheel and following him all the way into town. It was a good wheel to follow because he was in a quite upright position and pedalling furiously away. He did notice I was on his back wheel, and he did look over his shoulder a few times. I wonder if people mind sitting on your wheel?
There’s probably some etiquette about riding on wheels – from a practical point of view, there is a risk of touching wheels causing an accident. Commuting is supposed to be about going at your own pace not slipstreaming your way into town because you feel like it.
But, if they are wearing lycra shorts, and cycling at 20mph, I think it’s OK. I only will leave a bigger gap than I would if it was a chain gang or road race, and a little to the side to keep an eye on pedestrians ahead e.t.c.
When the road became more congested, I left the slipstream and cycled past. Half apologetically, I said ‘sorry, I couldn’t resist sitting on your wheel’ Poor chap didn’t reply. He was probably thinking ‘bloody wheel sucker’
When I first met old Italian pro Flavio Zappi, every time he used to see me, he would ask ‘So when are you going to do a proper race?‘ A proper race meaning road racing (or in old man’s language a massed start race) Brought up in the old school British club scene, I had always thought proper racing was ‘contra le Monde; – ‘the race of truth’ – the time trial. – No wheel sucking, no tactics, no big beefy bloke from Staines shouting at you for sitting on the back. What can be a purer form of cycling than racing up and down dual carriageways in the drag of lorries to get a fast pb?
Well, actually hilly time trials on courses with little traffic really are a test of truth.
Does that mean I’m not tempted to join the dark side – the legions of wheel suckers, climbers and sprinters? Of course, that is the real cycle sport. A time trial may decide the Tour De France, but you can’t have 3 weeks of time trialling around the French countryside, it would be as boring as making crown green bowling a 12 hour endurance event. When I saw the Halfords Tour series in Oxford, I just wanted to be racing in the bunch. I think I would have been really happy to finish anywhere, just for the thrill of riding at that speed around the centre of Oxford.
It is road racing where you get the excitement, the combination of individual talent, self-sacrifice, heroism, team tactics, luck, and of course above all the ability to sit on the right wheels.
However, the problem with road racing is that you can be the strongest cyclist, but still not win. The thing I like about time trials, is that if I train really hard, I can be the fastest and win. With road races, you can be the fastest and end up finishing in mid bunch mediocrity.
My experience of road racing is rather limited. When I did do road racing I actually quite enjoyed it, though I was tactically naive, attacking too frequently and at the wrong time. I was rather annoyed that even in a Cat 3/4 race I wasn’t able to just ride away from the bunch a la Eddy Merckx in the 1969 Tour de France on the stage from Luchon – Mourenx/Ville Nouvelle. (Merckx added 8 minutes to his already existing lead of 8 minutes during a 140Km break.
Road racing was good fun, but I wasn’t drawn back. I like the dull predictability of time trialling. I like racing myself more than jostling for position amongst 60 adrenalin fuelled road racers and the headlong rush of motor cars coming in the opposite direction. When we were road racing, I was astonished at two factors:
- The pace – either incredibly slow so you had to keep breaking or really hard so you were sprinting to keep in position.
- The fact we spent most of the time racing on the wrong side of the road, with cars traveling at 50mph in the opposite direction, I though how can time trialling be more dangerous? But somehow statistically it is.
Great Wheelsuckers of the Past
During the 1970 Tour, Zoop Zoetemelk spent most of the race on Merckx’s wheel. Zoop Zoetemelk also had naturally fair skin and a popular joke said that he never acquired a tan during the Tour because he was always in Merckx’s shadow.
Cadel Evans also had a reputation of being a bit of a wheelsucker, but in the 2011 Tour, he put this well and truly behind him.
Covering the distances that i do , i often speed up to catch a single or group but always take position outside and to the rear until i am certain i know their foibles . Too often when i go to the front i am asked to slow as they do not wish to travel at the pace i was using to catch them .
Always delightful to find a lady that is able to run at a high pace and generally they are the ones who will make the effort to practice their english as you speed towards the destination or parting of the ways . Rarely find myself being used as a ” domestique ” but an increase in pace solves that problem .
Not too many buses in the Austrian Countryside but following a Tractor towing a trailor requires checking that all the lights are connected or being ready to pass on the outside in an instant .
Noticed this Giro that the Italian drivers’ attitudes are becoming as bad as northern europeans’ behaviour in respect of cyclists .
Great article and its one of those aspects of cycling that divides opinions. For starters, I am impressed that you commute and wheelsuck! When I live in London I used to commute from Clapham to Canary Wharf on a daily basis and I was so busy watching every car, van, pedestrian, kerb, parked car etc that the thought of keeping tight on another cyclists wheel terrifies me!
As for wheelsucking on group and Club rides – well yes, I’m guilty as charged. But I think we all do it now and then – there is always going to be the ride when you’ve overcooked it a bit or the legs are feeling heavy and a pull can help you recover and get you home without too much further discomfort.
In fact (and apologies to the late Victor Kiam here) I love wheelsucking so much I launched a website called wheelsuckers.co.uk, a dedicated social network site for road cycling enthusiasts – populated by wheelsuckers, non-wheelsuckers and wheelsuckers in denial.
Aware of the often derogatory usage of the word WHEELSUCKER in cycling parlance, we have attempted, somewhat successfully i think, to argue positively in its defence: ‘a Wheelsucker is someone who rides in the slipstream of the cyclist in front, thereby obtaining the maximum benefit of drafting, whilst expending the minimum of energy’. This we argue, is what members of our website will enjoy by engaging with other members of wheelsuckers.co.uk – metaphorically speaking of course!
On the subject of famous wheelsuckers – only this March, Simon Gerrans of the newly launched Australian GreenEdge pro team, won the Spring Classic, Milan-San Remo in a sprint to the line, just pipping the Swiss powerhouse that is Fabian Cancellara. Gerrans came in for some serious criticism as he wheelsucked Cancellara for the final few kilometres but the general consensus was that he played a clever game – letting Cancellara do all the work, sapping his strength, then striking at the death. Clever.
Oh, and less we forget, in the hands of an expert, wheelsucking can result in 20 stage wins in the Tour de France and the acquisition of the maillot vert, the rainbow jersey of the World Champion, a glamour model girlfriend and the title of BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2011.
So DON’T be ashamed, you are in good company.
I commute regularly, and I will often jump on a wheel – - especially if I am overtaken.
I do the same as you Tejvan, and assess the person i am following. It’s usually pretty clear if they are used to group riding, and therefore safe to follow fairly closely (indeed many times the person I am following starts to point out potholes).
I think the ettiquette is same as a club run — after a while be prepared to change places and do the work, and I have no problem with someone similarly following me.
It can be quite hairy though, commuting and riding closely – commuting generally means riding in busy traffic, which means there is always a perpetual risk of having to brake suddenly. So caution is needed.
Yes, sometimes you get a nice relatively traffic free run in Oxford, but it doesn’t last long
I enjoy the occasional wheelsuck on my commute (though I do keep the distance a little bit on the large size for safety and some politeness reasons).
Rule number one – always choose someone who cruises at 1 to 2 mph less than you – you definitely cannot wheelsuck if you cannot make a tour de France winning break near the end of it and hold the lead!
Rule number two – you cannot wheelsuck a shapely female – although far more pleasurable you are likely to be branded a perv and get a slap.
Rule number 3 – wheelsuck a bus – they do have break lights which helps reduce the risk element of not being able to see what is happening up the road and the slip stream they create is like you own little bit of heaven.
Please feel free to ask for any more dangerous tips lacking in etiquette – I am full of them!
Yes, I’m not sure about wheelsucking a bus brake lights or no brake lights!
I suppose it’s a bit like personal space on the tube. If there are just two of you in a carriage, it’s a bit weird if you sit next to the other person. Likewise if there were just two bikes on the road.
I wouldn’t have minded if you’d have followed me but if you’d have done it too closely then I’d have slowed down and hoped you’d have passed.