Overtaking cyclists
Discussion
This scenario keeps happening to me anyone recognise it?
I usually just use my hybrid for everyday travelling, commuting, shopping etc I quite frequently overtake some roadie who is just dawdling along at 15mph or so. I am usually dressed in normal shopping attire with a back pack.
I inwardly groan when I do this as I know that 90% of the time the roadie will see this as a direct challenge to their manhood and will come past at some point in a full head down effort.
Yesterday a guy was out riding with a female rider. I was in a rush to get home so came out of a junction and overtook them both. About a minute later he came past me on a hill in a rush of effort and sweat to pass me. He had left his partner about 200M back just to prove a point.
It is the manner of the eventual overtake that tells me there is something in it as it is usually very close for emphasis.
Is this a case of a Ferrari overtaking another Ferrari gets a wave and a smile whereas a Focus overtaking a Ferrari gets obliterated on the next straight?
I usually just use my hybrid for everyday travelling, commuting, shopping etc I quite frequently overtake some roadie who is just dawdling along at 15mph or so. I am usually dressed in normal shopping attire with a back pack.
I inwardly groan when I do this as I know that 90% of the time the roadie will see this as a direct challenge to their manhood and will come past at some point in a full head down effort.
Yesterday a guy was out riding with a female rider. I was in a rush to get home so came out of a junction and overtook them both. About a minute later he came past me on a hill in a rush of effort and sweat to pass me. He had left his partner about 200M back just to prove a point.
It is the manner of the eventual overtake that tells me there is something in it as it is usually very close for emphasis.
Is this a case of a Ferrari overtaking another Ferrari gets a wave and a smile whereas a Focus overtaking a Ferrari gets obliterated on the next straight?
272BHP said:
I dunno.
I know that I have never overtaken anyone in the manner that I have been by some road bikes. I give a wide berth and I do so out of necessity, I certainly don't get within elbow touching distance with an aggressive pass.
Oh no, I always say hello too, if they are riding like that then perhaps you have encountered a micro-penis owner?I know that I have never overtaken anyone in the manner that I have been by some road bikes. I give a wide berth and I do so out of necessity, I certainly don't get within elbow touching distance with an aggressive pass.
I am always the lycra wearing one, but as i usually average 18-19mph i rarely get overtaken, yet i do it a lot and say hello too.
NEVER had that same cyclist try and get back past me, nor indeed draft me...except once on a long straight where the head wind was mega and i wished to god the guy would come back past and give me a break, "flicking the elbow" had no meaning to him.
I did once draft a guy near Bristol on my JOGLE route. i said hi from behind and he RANTED at me for scaring him half to death and JUST F*^"ING go past. i dropped back and kept quiet for about 15 mins until i met him at a traffic light.
I said sorry and it was never my intention etc; and he RANTED again at me for being childish and i should just grow the F*"* up. There was no placating him, lol
NEVER had that same cyclist try and get back past me, nor indeed draft me...except once on a long straight where the head wind was mega and i wished to god the guy would come back past and give me a break, "flicking the elbow" had no meaning to him.
I did once draft a guy near Bristol on my JOGLE route. i said hi from behind and he RANTED at me for scaring him half to death and JUST F*^"ING go past. i dropped back and kept quiet for about 15 mins until i met him at a traffic light.
I said sorry and it was never my intention etc; and he RANTED again at me for being childish and i should just grow the F*"* up. There was no placating him, lol
Edited by TheDrownedApe on Thursday 13th October 15:52
272BHP said:
This scenario keeps happening to me anyone recognise it?
I usually just use my hybrid for everyday travelling, commuting, shopping etc I quite frequently overtake some roadie who is just dawdling along at 15mph or so. I am usually dressed in normal shopping attire with a back pack.
I inwardly groan when I do this as I know that 90% of the time the roadie will see this as a direct challenge to their manhood and will come past at some point in a full head down effort.
Yesterday a guy was out riding with a female rider. I was in a rush to get home so came out of a junction and overtook them both. About a minute later he came past me on a hill in a rush of effort and sweat to pass me. He had left his partner about 200M back just to prove a point.
It is the manner of the eventual overtake that tells me there is something in it as it is usually very close for emphasis.
Is this a case of a Ferrari overtaking another Ferrari gets a wave and a smile whereas a Focus overtaking a Ferrari gets obliterated on the next straight?
I usually just use my hybrid for everyday travelling, commuting, shopping etc I quite frequently overtake some roadie who is just dawdling along at 15mph or so. I am usually dressed in normal shopping attire with a back pack.
I inwardly groan when I do this as I know that 90% of the time the roadie will see this as a direct challenge to their manhood and will come past at some point in a full head down effort.
Yesterday a guy was out riding with a female rider. I was in a rush to get home so came out of a junction and overtook them both. About a minute later he came past me on a hill in a rush of effort and sweat to pass me. He had left his partner about 200M back just to prove a point.
It is the manner of the eventual overtake that tells me there is something in it as it is usually very close for emphasis.
Is this a case of a Ferrari overtaking another Ferrari gets a wave and a smile whereas a Focus overtaking a Ferrari gets obliterated on the next straight?
Crushing those fragile ego's on your commuter hack, love it!
"On your right" / "Morning" as I pass usually makes it less of a challenge and we are all just going about our day - sometimes ive just started my ride whereas they are at the end of theirs.. it happens, dont be bothered by it.
But there are always some folks who feel the need to catch up / wheel suck.
A very fit female cyclist friend of mine tells me its even worse when she overtakes male roadies - they see it as a personal affront.
But there are always some folks who feel the need to catch up / wheel suck.
A very fit female cyclist friend of mine tells me its even worse when she overtakes male roadies - they see it as a personal affront.
mie1972 said:
"On your right" / "Morning" as I pass usually makes it less of a challenge and we are all just going about our day - sometimes ive just started my ride whereas they are at the end of theirs.. it happens, dont be bothered by it.
But there are always some folks who feel the need to catch up / wheel suck.
A very fit female cyclist friend of mine tells me its even worse when she overtakes male roadies - they see it as a personal affront.
Think it was Lizzie A/D who recalled finishing training rides and drafting off a leisure cyclist to finish off/cool down. They would turn around, see a women and then try and accelerate to lose her. But there are always some folks who feel the need to catch up / wheel suck.
A very fit female cyclist friend of mine tells me its even worse when she overtakes male roadies - they see it as a personal affront.
I’m always wary of overtaking anyone after I caught an old boy on an E bike he turned it up to 11 and left me for dust. If I do overtake anyone I always give a wave or a morning as I go past sometimes the rider will ride with me for a bit. Funny enough I’ve never had the situation described by the OP.
I overtook (about 10mph differential) a lady on a steep hill, who was wearing full-on GB gear a while back on some very nice bike. I was on my electric road bike which is (cough) quite fast, wearing old MTB gear etc. I was flat out as I only had 30 minutes free. I did feel like a bit of a tit, but I wasn't going to ruin my ride.
It was a few weeks later that I realised my stomping ground was part of the final route for the Commonwealth Games
It was a few weeks later that I realised my stomping ground was part of the final route for the Commonwealth Games
I'll admit to being a) a slow roadie, and b) being one of "them" who tries to catch/keep up with someone who has just overtaken me.
In my defense I'll say that I'm slow because I usually ride long days, and am doing it more for the exploration factor, rarely riding the same route twice. So I'm slow for many reasons, chiefly because I've either stopped concentrating on my pedaling and I'm enjoying the fabulous scenery, or because I'm keeping my eyes peeled for what I expect will be a tiny opening in a hedge to get onto a byway or bridleway in the hope of "bagging a new VeloViewer tile". When someone thunders past me I'm sometimes jolted from my semi-slumber and I realise I can grab a bit of a psychological "tow" to inject a bit of life into my lacklustre average speed. BUT. I'd never close-pass another rider, nor try to drop them, and if I can get close enough I'll speak to the other rider too. More often than not, though, my uplifted pace just means I can keep them in sight a little longer than I would if I'd just carried on at my original speed.
Although I did once get asked by another rider in the New Forest why I'd dropped back when I swooped down a hill and turned right onto another road immediately behind him. I'd caught him in the next village at another junction, and he'd wanted me to join behind him and "pair up" with him because it was gloomy and raining and I had on a hi-vis jacket, whereas he was in darker kit. I'd dropped back because it was gloomy and raining and I didn't want to be on a stranger's wheel not knowing where they might slow for a turn or stop if they didn't know I was there. Sometimes you just can't win...
Re: Electric bikes? I used to regularly get passed by a "London" commuter type when I was out on an after-work ride. He'd be on his eBike with a briefcase on the rear rack and wearing a camel coat and a smart suit, coming from Audley End station, I'd be in full lycra on my aluminium framed "racing" bike labouring up Ivy Todd Hill into Debden village. He'd breeze past me on the uphill, but as soon as we got onto the swooping slight descent on Thaxted Road toward Debden Green I'd easily exceed his assistance limit and "put things back in their proper order"...
I'd been grumpy about it the first few times he passed me, not realising it was an eBike (it was early days for the tech) but I spoke to him a couple of times and it turned into a bit of fun between us, to add interest to an otherwise unremarkable stretch of road.
In my defense I'll say that I'm slow because I usually ride long days, and am doing it more for the exploration factor, rarely riding the same route twice. So I'm slow for many reasons, chiefly because I've either stopped concentrating on my pedaling and I'm enjoying the fabulous scenery, or because I'm keeping my eyes peeled for what I expect will be a tiny opening in a hedge to get onto a byway or bridleway in the hope of "bagging a new VeloViewer tile". When someone thunders past me I'm sometimes jolted from my semi-slumber and I realise I can grab a bit of a psychological "tow" to inject a bit of life into my lacklustre average speed. BUT. I'd never close-pass another rider, nor try to drop them, and if I can get close enough I'll speak to the other rider too. More often than not, though, my uplifted pace just means I can keep them in sight a little longer than I would if I'd just carried on at my original speed.
Although I did once get asked by another rider in the New Forest why I'd dropped back when I swooped down a hill and turned right onto another road immediately behind him. I'd caught him in the next village at another junction, and he'd wanted me to join behind him and "pair up" with him because it was gloomy and raining and I had on a hi-vis jacket, whereas he was in darker kit. I'd dropped back because it was gloomy and raining and I didn't want to be on a stranger's wheel not knowing where they might slow for a turn or stop if they didn't know I was there. Sometimes you just can't win...
Re: Electric bikes? I used to regularly get passed by a "London" commuter type when I was out on an after-work ride. He'd be on his eBike with a briefcase on the rear rack and wearing a camel coat and a smart suit, coming from Audley End station, I'd be in full lycra on my aluminium framed "racing" bike labouring up Ivy Todd Hill into Debden village. He'd breeze past me on the uphill, but as soon as we got onto the swooping slight descent on Thaxted Road toward Debden Green I'd easily exceed his assistance limit and "put things back in their proper order"...
I'd been grumpy about it the first few times he passed me, not realising it was an eBike (it was early days for the tech) but I spoke to him a couple of times and it turned into a bit of fun between us, to add interest to an otherwise unremarkable stretch of road.
There’s a massive differential between a hybrid and a road bike. Whilst a hybrid will happily roll along whilst up to speed, given the weight difference a road bike would easily fly by on a hill.
On the competitive front, I was put out at the weekend to be over taken by a large guy on a ebike on a big climb, if I was on my own I’d have no other option but to drop him.
On the competitive front, I was put out at the weekend to be over taken by a large guy on a ebike on a big climb, if I was on my own I’d have no other option but to drop him.
Interesting perspectives.
As a retired runner I would consider it to be pretty odd behaviour to try and overtake a runner who has just passed you on a workout run. Runners tend to keep to their own workout pace after all.
It seems with cycling the bike and the clothing introduces an element of hierarchy and competitiveness maybe?
As a retired runner I would consider it to be pretty odd behaviour to try and overtake a runner who has just passed you on a workout run. Runners tend to keep to their own workout pace after all.
It seems with cycling the bike and the clothing introduces an element of hierarchy and competitiveness maybe?
cml24 said:
I dunno, I've overtaken a few roadies going up the zig zag to box hill on this setup with a four year old in a knitted cardigan sat on the back...
I'll admit it doesn't happen very often!
I'll admit it doesn't happen very often!
We don’t fill our sheds with carbon fibre, our wardrobes with Rapha and our bodies with Veloforte products for that to happen!
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