Ever see a bicycle drafting behind a truck at highway speeds?
Bicycle cruising
- Post author:Erich Vieth
- Post published:April 27, 2012
- Post category:Bicycles
- Post comments:3 Comments
Erich Vieth
Erich Vieth is an attorney focusing on civil rights (including First Amendment), consumer law litigation and appellate practice. At this website often writes about censorship, corporate news media corruption and cognitive science. He is also a working musician, artist and a writer, having founded Dangerous Intersection in 2006. Erich lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his two daughters.
Been there, done that…
Of course it was over 30 years ago, when I was a college student and my only vehicle was Ross ten speed touring bike.
I’m impressed . . . and aghast. That looks quite dangerous to me to be traveling one foot behind a truck on a highway.
I did a lot of crazy thing back then.
I recall how I did it. First the road need to be level or slightly downhill with a smooth surface. Second, the bike needs a wide range cluster with a high top gear ratio. And it helps if the road has a wide shoulder.
What I did was cruise along the shoulder until a truck came up from behind, then get the bike moving as fast as I could. As the back of the truck pulled past me I would dick in behind the truck, pedal furiously to get into the “pocket” with the front wheel inches away from the back of the truck. Then I could coast about 70 percent of the time, occasionally pedaling like crazy to stay in the pocket.
BTW, typical speed while drafting was in the 45 to 55 mph range.
Now that I think about it, it was dangerous and stupid.