Drafting: an Informative Series

stuck on the road? feeling the burn of high gas prices? bored out of your gord? well kids, it's fab, it's fresh, it's Nate's lessons on drafting. following along as we take our first peak at this exciting new sport.

Part 1: understanding the principles of drafting

it's simple: the larger the object the more air it must 'push' in order to move around. the area behind the vehicle is a 'void' of sorts.... put your finger in a sink full of water, move it real fast in a straight line, see how the water moves around your finger and the hollow spot right behind it. sweet huh? well, it's kind of like that. the goal in drafting is get as close as you can to the biggest shit you can and ride along in the void. par example:

regular cars tend to bring teh suck. they just aren't big enough.



hmmm... tow-behind RV, good size, nice wind break. problem is you're going to speed-up/slow-down constantly for this asshole cause his taurus can barely pull this thing downhill... my advice: skip it.




big-rig... fricken huge, massive void, great wind break. similar problem as the tow-behind if he's all loaded down with cargo. unless you have a car with the new 'traffic-sensitive' cruise, this guy is no good either. one plus, this guy has a shit-ton of extra lights and shiny chrome. you can zone out watching the light-show or be like a moth to the flame and chase the shiny shit all day.



and NOW, The Holy Mother of all Drafting Situations:



big rig in front, big rig behind, and even one on the side to block and cross-winds. best way to do this is find two trucks that are traveling together. keep an eye out, often if they're the same company they'll be sticking together. so find these guys, then comes the ballsy part. just put your blinker on and pull right in between them. chances are they're already drafting each other so you'll have to squeeze in and make a little room. you're going to piss them off, it's kind of a guarantee... at first. once they realize you're down for drafting they usually fit you right in. so just get as close as your 'pucker factor' allows and don't get worried when all you can see if a bunch of chrome and the word 'kenworth' in your rear-view. take solace in the fact that you can accelerate, turn, or break way faster than these guys. and poof, all of sudden you car gets like 50 miles to the gallon, it's the new hotness.