Bike Drafting Etiquette - Training Ride

So it's just like driving a car.  I like this.

He should absolutely be asking you before gluing to your wheel, but I'm not a fan of this.  If he's even moderately close, a quick tap of the brakes will be enough to cause his front wheel to hit you.  Shouldn't be a problem for you, but this can likely cause a wreck for him.  As nice as the vindication would be, it's just as easy to pull to the side as have a quick discussion about proper ettiquite. 

That would be the perfect time to empty your nasal passages. That should help him peel off.

I would say if you don't know him, it's pretty weird. I can't imagine myself creepin' up behind someone I don't know and stealing their wind. Just ask him if he needs something and if not to please go around.

What? You don’t ride with a gun?

Seriously, I’m in the camp of,,, he is being rude, just come to an even stop and let him pass.

Try to muster-up some nasty flatulence...

I'm a big guy who can hold a good pace on the flats, so I often find people drafting un-announced.  I just try to ride them off my wheel. (I barely ever do, but it makes me try harder).. It doesn't bother me that they're back there, they must think I know what I'm doing...

I never mind when someone asks to join in behind me, especially if I am already in a paceline with some other guys I know. 

But I *HATE* when people draft unannounced.  Last weekend I was riding my tribike on the local paved path and I didnt even know it but some guy came in behind me and drafted me for 5 miles.  I had no idea he was back there as I had an aero-helmet on which covered my ears and at 22mph I couldnt really hear anything behind me anyway.  When I get to a pre-arranged stopping place where my group always pauses for people to catch up I start slowing down and just barely see the shadow of a helmet behind me.  I was about to hit the brakes hard.  Glad I noticed. 

The unannounced drafter passes by after staring at me... not even so much as a "thanks for the pull"...but worse yet he was on a P2 and in the aerobars...  Drafting unannounced in the aerobars is a good way to get EVERYONE hurt...

I hope this is a joke as somebody could get hurt.  That said, I expect someone to tell me if they want to suck my wheel.  If they don't I will politely ask them to take a turn and pull.  If they want to be a dick abouot it a snot rocket will go their way!

In my opinion, yes they should ask if it's ok.. The sneak attack is wrong.

I ride a very popular bike loop. There have been several occasions where someone has zoomed past me and then eased up or slowed to take a drink, and I have ended up creeping up on them although I stay a few feet to the left or right. I'm not trying to race them, so I just figure that if I pass them, fine. Or, they can speed up or slow down.

Was I riding their wheel?

One guy kept pulling away from me only to have me creep up on him again and again. Another time, the guy got a calf cramp and pulled over to the side.

You forgot the part where he gave the bizarre look after I commented that it would be nice to ask permission to suck wheel in the future.  He was a piece of work.  Shame you didn't notice it sooner and drop him hard.

It was sort of a "tap the brakes" joke.  In a car, you can activate your brake lights without actually applying your brakes and scare off a tailgater.  Not really easy to that on the bike though.

I was wondering this also!  I did a supported 50m ride last weekend (on my tri bike) just zooming along by myself.  Turn around at one point and see I am pulling 8 guys.  They "let me" pull for another 10 minutes until they stopped at one of the rest stops.  They never announced they were behind me or offered a turn at the front.  I am sure they didn't want me in thier pace line but they had no problem drafting off me!  Oh well...at least they did it when we were riding with the wind!

There absolutely is an established etiquette for this: When one rider catches another rider or a small group the established etiquette, as related to me by several coaches from the European system (Walter G at the OTC, Mike Walden, Michael R. Rabe, Pierre in Belgium), is to go to the front to assert your presence in the group. As the catching rider, you owe the group a pull at the front, even if you just go through the rotation once, to let them know you are there.

In an organized system, for a rider to catch a group and not go through the rotation is tantamount to throwing down the gauntlet: It's a declaration of war. It is saying, "I am here defensively to undermine your effort: ride me off your wheel or concede."

Now, on a training ride, it has other implications. The practical implication that you (correctly) allude to is that you may not be aware they are there. That's not necessarily safe.

If I catch a guy or girl on a training ride I likely will either go by them or, if I want to share the work, I may sit on briefly (30 seconds) then come through on the windward side to give them a little bit of a break as a courtesy and take a 30 second pull, then give them a flick of the elbow to let them know I am coming off and going to the back again. Most U.S. riders aren't familiar with this so it takes them a turn or two to catch on. Some are, and work together efficiently at once.

In a society of riders where the conventions of cooperative riding are deeply ingrained riders from several nations with verbal language barriers can ride together efficiently. In Belgium it was common to be in a group that spoke English, Russian, Dutch, French, Flemish and German. In a five man group, if the teams did their jobs, we had five languages. It seemed to work out since we were familiar with how to behave in a group. The gestures, rythms and expectations were universal. Men three generations before us made them up, and they communicated them down through the ranks.

In the U.S. we don't have that level of "society" in cycling yet- but constructive posts like yours help foster that process of understanding how to behave in the complex and subtle society of cycling athletes.