I guess I didnt realize the uniqueness of the North Shore scene. This past weekend Three guys passed me and I jumped on their wheel. With the four of us total age probably exeeded 250 yrs. I allowed them to rotate the lead, I hung in the back. We were all similar build so I was getting an excellent draft. When they picked up the pace is when I tucked in close to the wheel in front of me to get maximum draft effect. I only ride on weekends so my conditioning is not the best. So riding really close can make my effort considerably less. And thats when I started thinking, hmm how close is too close?
Maybe its the abundance of riders with abundance of experience that makes it accepted to draft at will. Or maybe its the parade-like atmosphere. So many riders all with somewhat the same intention. Its just commonplace to jump in to any group that passes. From responses this is not the norm. Here in my neighborhood its just what we do.