Cramic

Ok, so I get this point and agree with it more than the “never snot rocket” crowd, but do you not think a cyclist who drafts unannounced bears some responsibility?

I believe I missed him because he was so close and had probably drifted into my 7 or 8 when I looked over my right shoulder. I was not expecting somebody to be where he was and it’s seemingly poor etiquette to draft strangers without saying so.

Or are you saying you’d check 360 of your position before letting fly just in case someone has latched onto your wheel?

woodway

If I am riding by myself, with no expectation of anyone around me, I am going to air blow away. If someone gets on my wheel unannounced, then they will get the full experience of riding behind me when I think I am alone. Their problem, not mine.

mschwett 

yes, there’s no way i would launch a snot rocket not knowing if someone was behind me. but i also can’t imagine not knowing someone was on my wheel! it’s not like bikes are totally silent, and i look around while riding. different styles i guess.

1989Pre 

...and you really expect us to believe that someone did not punch you in the face?

livedarklions

It does happen precisely because your bike is not silent either. If the bikes are so close together, it's very hard to sort out the competing sounds of the two bikes.

Anyone who wheel sucks assuming the person ahead knows that they're there is a fool.

And it is an unusual enough occurrence that only in 20/20 hindsight could someone be blamed for not checking for the possibility before blowing their nose.

I have discovered that someone was drafting me when their bike hit a bump I somehow missed. I had no idea how long the person was there.

livedarklions

What I really find annoying about the "you should've known" bit is that the person behind me is putting me at risk if I have to stop suddenly. They're knowingly taking that risk, but I've been involuntarily recruited. An unintended face full of snot seems quite a fair consequence for not announcing their presence.

Cramic

Is there any other walk of life that people would be so understanding of another person following an inch or two behind them?

Imagine someone walking an inch behind you for ten minutes? Or whilst jogging/running? And as speeds increase, so does the risk. Anyone drive behind a car so close?

I wouldn’t knowingly blow a bogey on them, but it does seem they’re the ones acting poorly. I know if I were to do it I wouldn’t expect them to know I was there if I didn’t announce myself and would risk the consequences.

And sometimes I hear another bike, if braking or gear changing, but bikes aren’t exactly known for their loudness. (Hence the need to ring a bell when passing.) Most of the time there’s significant wind noise as well.

unterhausen

I'm definitely in the "natural consequences" camp. Of course, spitting and snot rockets can be done in a way that the products just go down, not back. But that's for when you know you are in a group.

If it's so easy to figure out if someone is behind you, racers wouldn't check between their legs to look for a wheel. This assumes racing distances. But if someone is 2 meters back, they aren't really sucking your wheel.

One time I passed someone on a climb (when was the last time that happened?) and then started fiddling with my shoe so they re-passed me. It took me a while to catch them again and just before I got to them they let loose with a big ball of spit. Fortunately it missed, but they were really embarrassed. That much spit is something to be proud of.

308jerry

I could be wrong but there has been more than one occasion when I blew a snot rocket on the road while riding, versus when I've used my handkerchief to blow into. Seems like soon after blowing the rocket, I picked up speed vs putting my handkerchief back in the frame bag. Could the difference in weight really be that much to make me faster?..... Sorry if I hyjacked yer thread.....

livedarklions

No.

308jerry

Maybe it was after the second snot rocket..... Lol

Chuck Naill

Around where I grew up, this was called the farmers nose blow. When I used to compete in road races, it was common and needed to blow your nose or spit. It can be done easily by aiming downward.

What this thread reminded me of it how often biking is a group activity and the late Jim Croce.
"You don't tug on superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off that old lone ranger
And you don't mess around with Jim"

livedarklions

My serious answer would be that you slowed more while getting the handkerchief and putting it back than you did just blowing your nose, thus you had to expend more energy to accelerate after the fact in the handkerchief scenario. I suppose you could be throwing out lead loogies, but it's really hard to believe they weigh enough to notice.

tomato coupe

We need to know your snot velocity to answer your question. (I think Garmin has a data field for this.)

UnCruel 

They do, but you need to be using their nose sensor.

UnCruel 

It occurs to me, and I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet, the rider behind you probably assumed that you saw him when you turned to look, and that you snotted because you saw him there.

308jerry

I believe it's close to terminal velocity or the the speed of sound.... Or am I thinking speed of light?

urbanknight

Oh, a PhD!

Totally possible, but I wouldn't worry about silly assumptions made by someone rude enough to put me as risk.

Spoken like somebody who hasn't aged enough to have limited mobility in their neck. Lucky for me, I simply don't blow snot rockets, but those who find it necessary to do so and continue riding into their 70's and 80's may not be able to abide by your rule here.

coffeesnob

i worked for a small little factory 40 years ago. The owner used to walk through the floor and wherever he wanted he would do a walk and blow. He didn't care who was around. I took it as him telling us we were dirt bags as he did treat us as such.

livedarklions

[QUOTE=urbanknight;22666309][QUOTE=rsbob;22665893]
Please fix your quotes. I didn't say that.

urbanknight

Wow, that's some kind of weird glitch. Fixed it now.

Milton Keynes

I've got one even more disgusting than that... my wife's grandfather (old farmer) used to blow his snot rockets on the kitchen floor.