Originally Posted by
upthywazzoo
We can both be right. OP and person in front can be elite riders--but that doesn't make it safe. If person in front does not know OP is there, then it is doubly unsafe.
This is my thinking. Having done a bit of group riding, I know that my behavior in a group is much different from when I'm riding solo. In a group I scrupulously hold my line, maintain the pace the group's running at, call out hazards, signal when I'm slowing, etc.
Riding solo, I might sit up for a stretch, weave slightly to avoid the bumps I know are there from riding the same roads on and off for a couple decades, spit, blow snot rockets. Sometimes I'll be pounding along in the drops into a headwind and I'll just sit up and say "T'hell with this!". None of this would I do if someone were behind me.