Would it be possible to draft off from their cars?

Question

I ride a “Trek Madone 4.5 WSD” road bicycle. Last year, I rode 4563 miles. She is a 50 cm carbon frame, with a Shimano 105 50/39/30 crank / Shimano 105 12-27, 10-speed cassette.
This might be a bit silly, as I enjoy pedaling; I often choose to try to keep up with my friends while they drive their cars. This is the best option, especially since I’m the only cyclist in the group. So, every time we have an outing, they will drive and I’ll ride.
As long as I could keep up with my friends’ cars, I would try to stay in line with them. Would it be possible to draft off from their cars?

Answer 1

I cant believe some of these answers!!!

THERE IS NO WAY ON GODS EARTH THAT A ROADBIKE CAN OUTBRAKE A CAR!!

I have done some stupid things in my time but I still have the odd brain-cell kicking about to tell me - NO!

It's like giving a 3 year old a box of razor blades to play with!
The worst that can happen WILL happen!

Dont do it!

.

Answer 2

Yes ... but would you really want to ride less than six inches off their back bumper at speeds of over 30 mph? There is absolutley NO WAY you can see anything happening ahead of you (or the vehicle) ... so anything like a rock or pothole that the car wouldn't even care about can have a big impact on your ride ... not to mention having them hit the brakes with no warning.

Some of the serious racers do this (even though it's really a stupid thing to do for the reasons I've listed above, plus a few more). Usually they're the ones with more testosterone than brains, though.

THe reason you have to be so close to a car (rather than a truck) is that the car is more aerodynamically shaped (usually). This means air flow is coming down over the top and the "sweet spot" is just off the back bumper. A truck, on the other hand, presents a much larger dead zone due to its less aerodynamic shape and larger overall area ... allowing you to ride further from the bumper and still be in the draft.

Answer 3

Of course you can but be carefull. I installer a roller onto two brackets old chev. van so when my front tire hit the rear bumber it spun the roller kind of like a speed up signal. With the split in the middle two rear doors were propped open side shields. The exhaust had to be extended to the top of the truck and turned outward. I built a speed bike 58 50 front sprockets could not find any bigger sprockets in 1974 and 13 to 17 rear cluster and 130mm crank arms and managed draft assisted speed of 70 miles an hour. Because it was a van people inside could reach out and hand you a feeder bottle and water or squirt me down over heating the rider was the worst part. We found if the driver and passenger opened there wing windows that made a difference.

Answer 4

Yes. You should get at least some assistance, even from Yin's Civic.( yes I checked out those pics). You will still need to put in a heap of effort though. Your going to need to get your cadence up around 120 rpm to do 40mph with your current gearing.

You would probably get a better draft off a motor bike or another cyclist but the help you would get off a sedan is better than none. Generally speaking the more fuel efficient a car is the less draft assistance you will get of it.

Just be careful. The isn't enough good looking female cyclists as it is.

Answer 5

You can draft off cars. Some racers call it motor pacing. The beauty of a car or truck is it provides an incredible wind break. As you are probably aware, once you are going over 20, or so, you are working harder to push the air from in front of you than to propel the bicycle. Drafting off a vehicle allows you to go up to 35-40 miles/hour. It is a great way to build your legs up by producing a very high pedaling cadence for extended periods.

Personally, I prefer drafting 18 wheelers and busses. They tend to accelerate slowly so you can hang with them pretty easily. Cars, pickups, etc. accelerate too quickly to hang with, especially if they know you are back there. Dump trucks are too likely to spill bits of their loads on you when they hit bumps.

Now, to the downside. Drafting vehicles is exceedingly dangerous. You must be at the peak of alertness at all times because if they hit their brakes, you are going to impact the vehicle at high speed. If it kicks a rock or debris up from the road, you are very likely to get it in the face.

Drafting vehicles is also illegal in most places I am aware of. In the dear, dead days of my youth, I was twice pulled by the police for drafting busses. That really bummed me out, for given the right bus, I could get to class in record time without breaking a sweat. Now, in my older, slower, more sober years, I ride in more rural areas and there is rarely an opportunity to catch a vehicle moving at the right speed to draft. Thus, I get few opportunities to attact police attention. Sigh.

So, be careful. Hope this helps you out.

Answer 6

Mr G has the BEST answer. In our youth we do a lot of dumb things, and you are welcome to find out the hard way. Experience will tell you not to draft any car, truck, or van on public roads.

Answer 7

Kate yes and no. You could, if you could keep up with them and if you could do that, then you'd probably be to close for comfort. What I mean is you might end up running into the back of them if they had to suddenly step on the brakes.

Answer 8

yes,I ride my Harley behind 18 wheelers and there is least wind resistance and you can enjoy the ride with out having the wind beat you in the face, expecially if it very cold outside.

Answer 9

Kate, go for it! I just had a synthetic oil / filter change and a tune-up done on my Civic. Call me.