Here goes my second try to get on back on the bandwagon.... Sorry if it's a bit cynical :)
I've been having a problem lately...
A big problem..... My problem has been: Leeches... cling-ons... filthy blood suckers.... pests....free-loaders...parasites...scroungers
What am I talking about you may ask?
Short description: Middle-aged male cyclists that think it's cool to to draft off of me without asking.
With my time constraints lately, I've been doing most of my riding on the Mississippi River levee which is a 25 mile-long paved bike road. It's great for speed days, intervals, and is a 5 minute bike ride from my house. Despite the convenience, it's pretty easy to draft off of people because it's flat and fast.
In the past week or so, the leeches have been swarming. Many have tried to latch their jaws onto to me. After the first occasion, I simply shook my head in disgust at their bad cycling etiquette. After the 2nd or 3rd time I dropped the leeches like a bad habit. After the 4th or 5th time, it got ugly. I may or may not have dropped a few F-bombs or so to get a leech to un-latch. And-yes it worked.
Let this be a lesson to the leeches out there....
1. It's NOT OK to draft off of a person or group without asking or being invited.
2. If you do... you =LEECH
3. If you cause somebody to crash because of your leech-er habits, you should quit cycling/triathlon all together.
4. As someone passes you going a lot faster, IT IS SUPER NOT COOL to speed up and try to latch your jaws onto them.
5. It is definitely not cool to be a SILENT leech.
6. I can feel a silent leech latch on. I'm not afraid to call you and your leech-er ways out and EMBARRASS you.
7. Last but not least, I'm 5'5 and weigh a-buck-20 and ride 650cs... Do you honestly think leeching off of me is going to get you that far?
8. Dear Mr. Leech: Please stay away......
Thanks for listening y'all! Hope this does not apply to any of you :)
Ugh! I totally feel your frustration! The same thing happens on Pacific Coast Hwy out here every now and then. There's not much that frustrates me when it comes to the world of SBR, but leeches, the same type you describe, are one.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly the guys you're talking about. A couple weeks ago I was doing an interval on my bike and a guy jumped on my wheel (after I passed him). I told him I wasn't calling anything out and really didn't want him back there. He got quiet and then told me he was going the same pace as I was so he couldn't fall off w/o stopping (nevermind that I caught and passed him). Then a couple minutes later he asked if I wanted him to pull. I told him NO I was doing intervals. So when I got to the recovery he asked again. I just turned around and went the other direction.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I hate this. Especially the silent leeches.
ReplyDeleteOh girl, you have no idea how much i've been wanting to write a post about these leeches i like to refer to as wheelsuckers. It happens all the time at Flatwoods (the park you and i ran at last year) and it pisses me off like nothing else. One guy a few months back, made Joel crash and i barely missed the chaos in front of me. Come to find out, he wasn't aware we were pacelining and when the lead guy pulled out, he touched the guys wheel and lost it (Joel was behind him and I was behind Joel). We avoid him like the plague when we see him. Most never ask if it's ok to join you - they are sneaky. What irritates me most is it gets us off of our game plan. Thanks for posting this. I may still write up my own soon. It is a big pet peeve of mine. Glad you are doing well and can't wait to meet up soon in the Panhandle!
ReplyDeleteThat is just terrible.. seriously.. they suck :) Way to throw them off your tail busy girl!!! You're doing great.. hang in there!!!
ReplyDeleteI've gotten a bunch lately too. I just don't get it. Unless you ate practicing drafting, why? "I want a fast workout without any of the benefits of actually pushing myself."
ReplyDeleteDangerous and stupid.
Or maybe they just like the view.
I have got a story for ya. I am not a fast cyclist. It is only this year that I am even considering myself the least bit fast. A couple of years ago I was riding home from the Garden of the Gods. Most of this ride is uphill. A male leech latched onto me just as we were coming out of GOG. He hung all the way up the hills and up to the street where I was to turn off. Turns out he is was going to turn at the same place. He decided at that point to pass me and as he is passing says "Thanks for the ride home!" Nice dude! I just busted my ass to get you home and you pass me in the last 1/4 mile. Classy!!!
ReplyDeleteMy point, the leeches are every where so watch out!
At first, I thought you were really talking about leeches. It's not ideal, but I actually slow to a crawl where it frustrates them that they'll have to pass.
ReplyDeleteHard to believe that riding a bike is a lot like driving on the highway. With these leeches almost like tailgaters.
Funny post.. but frustrating! Sounds like it's time for a custom jersey with a no-leech warning!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts. I'm glad you're back. Have a nice day! interiors melbourne
ReplyDeletesomething I thought you may be interested in....
ReplyDeletesub10im.blogspot.com
awesome post - someone needs to make some quirky little saying about leeches (I am not creative enough) and print it on bike jerseys
ReplyDeleteoh my god I totally agree. I stopped riding one section of road entirely because of this! It drives me NUTS!!! seriously? I'm 5'1" how much are you really getting off me. its always guys that can't handle getting chicked too. half the time I'm doing intervals based on watts so I'm going slow then fast and I have to deal with getting them off my ass when I'm on an "off" period. Its kind of fun (albeit at times, workout destroying) to step on the gas and drop them though :)
ReplyDeleteUgh... the worst right? My biggest pet peeve... when a guy (and it's always a guy) sucks my wheel and then after I pull them for like 10 minutes, they come up to me and say "for a girl, you are a decent biker". Really dude?
ReplyDeletefound you through KC. LOVE your blog!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a newbie to cycling no one ever explained the leech concept but I figured if you have common sense you sort of get it. I am certainly guilty of drafting a faster lone cyclist when separated from the pack and unable to pass him, but you have to at least cough or sneeze or sometng to let the guy know you're there.
I had a guy once on one of our trails down here that apparently didn't think the same. I am mind-bogglingly slow, but he must have felt emasucalted by a short girl on a slick bike and felt he needed to bump his pace up to 18 and hang with me . . . in flip flops.
As he (inevitably) slowed down, I held my pace and re-passed him. I even called out that I was passing. He in turn ran me off the trail.
All because he couldn't handle the idea of being passed by a girl.
!*!&!*!
PS -
I want to be fast like you when I grow up:)
I guess that was really annoying. Well, I'm just hoping that they will realize it. Anyway, thanks for this story. Marie Greenhalgh
ReplyDelete