circlesandsquare:

There can be a lot enthusiasm about Belgian cycling. I heard two good stories recently. A guy described how when he used to go to school in the morning a group of 40+ kids would meet up and ride. Everyone would take their pull at the front with the rest taking shelter from the wind. Those are some good skills to be picking up on the way to school. A girl told me how when everyone else switched from bikes to driving mopeds/scooters she still have to use her bike to get to school so she would spin along beside them or tuck into their draft. Motopacing on the way to school; not bad.

I no longer go to school, but I frequently motorpace to get to and from work, because the speed limit in the residential areas is pretty close to what I can usually push at 90% effort on my single speed (25-26 mph) and Americans like to buy big, fat, cars that block a lot of wind.  I definitely do it through the work campus as if you go slower than traffic they’ll probably run you down. We hire people because they can code, not because they can drive.