Been riding a "real bike" 1 week, and my have things changed!

I’ve been riding on the road somewhat regularly for a few years now.
I do a lot of commuting, and some weekend rides just to get out there,
usually when the trails are muddy or some other thing is keeping me
from the mountain bike. On my singlespeed roadbike I wasn’t quite as
fast as I am with the new race model, gears and all, but I got around
pretty well. I noticed on the beat up old singlespeed people would
darn near blow themselves up just to get in front of me, even if just
to maintain the same pace I’d been going all along once they got a
decent cushion between us. Some would even overexert to pass me and
then, clearly out of gas, pull off to the side of the road for a drink
or pull onto a dead end just to turn off so they didn’t get passed
back when they blew up. Granted, some of these people probably had a
scheduled water stop at that point, and were running hard up to it on
purpose and would have stopped there without me. And some of them
lived on the dead-end they turned onto after passing me. But not all
of them. No way. This stuff happened way too often.

Another event, less common but not unheard of, was the silent
drafter. Someone would come up fairly close, riding my draft I
assume, and maintain silence. As soon as I notice, they’re shifting
gears and blowing past. Never a word spoken.

Since I got the new bike I noticed people that passed me tended to do
it more smoothly, as though they were really just riding faster than
me. No thrashing of gears and huffing and puffing to get in front.
Granted, I’m averaging faster now, so maybe the people that are
passing me now are better riders. Anyway, they tend to pass smooth
and say hi, same as I do when I pass. It’s been kinda nice.

Yesterday afternoon on the way home I had a complete first. I saw a
rider who appeared to be moving slower than me coming toward me from a
road that merged into mine. It was apparent that if we both
maintained our speed I’d beat him to the intersection by a bit, and
continue to pull away. He saw me, and picked it up a bit. He wasn’t
far behind at all when we got to the intersection, and we nodded at
each other as I passed the intersection, right before he pulled in
behind me. He then drafted me for a minute or two, and then pulled
out and pulled alongside me, where he commented “Nice day, isn’t
it?”. “Beautiful!” I replied. “Gotta love it!”, he said, before
pulling in behind me. He then followed me another half mile or mile
until we got to the point where the main route turned and I stayed
straight into the burbs where I live. It was the first time I
actually enjoyed being drafted, as the guy was cool and let me know he
was there, saying hi and whatnot. I’d bet had I stayed on the same
route as him he would have taken a pull. Maybe I should have stayed
with him just for the experience – I’ve never been the drafter before.

Must be the new bike.

[snip] He then followed me another half mile or mile
until we got to the point where the main route turned and I stayed
straight into the burbs where I live. It was the first time I
actually enjoyed being drafted, as the guy was cool and let me know he
was there, saying hi and whatnot. I’d bet had I stayed on the same
route as him he would have taken a pull. Maybe I should have stayed
with him just for the experience – I’ve never been the drafter before..

Must be the new bike.

Were you dressed in regular street clothes or skin tight, muti-
coloured spandex?

On Jul 30, 2:08*pm, wrote:
[snip] He then followed me another half mile or mile
until we got to the point where the main route turned and I stayed
straight into the burbs where I live. *It was the first time I
actually enjoyed being drafted, as the guy was cool and let me know he
was there, saying hi and whatnot. *I’d bet had I stayed on the same
route as him he would have taken a pull. *Maybe I should have stayed
with him just for the experience – I’ve never been the drafter before.

Must be the new bike.

Were you dressed in regular street clothes or skin tight, muti-
coloured spandex?

Same garb I always wear. Normal looking shorts, sometimes basketball
style and sometimes padded but baggy - you really can't tell if
they're cycling specific or not. These:
http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...20for%20Summer
(or http://tinyurl.com/5hrc4p) and normal sweat-wicking athletic style
t-shirts, again baggy - like this
http://www.sportsauthority.com/large...p3085786dt.jpg
(or http://tinyurl.com/5hhb53). Same image I had on the old bike.
Baggy black or blue shorts, baggy white t-shirt. Even rocking the
same limited-edition headwear, for which I’ve regrettably been unable
to find a suitable replacement for the past year or so.
http://picasaweb.google.com/DanKMTB/...84619127874242 or
http://tinyurl.com/6rwvwq

Anyway, my image has not changed. Only things that changed are the
speed and the bike.