Silly commuting racing

cjcp

Addition to earlier post:

Last night in the Park, I'm on my final (of two ) laps and I'm catching a chap giving it some on a Cervelo. Unlike me, he is sans heavyback and probably hasn't got 40 miles in his legs already. I decide to see how much there is left in the legs. Not a great deal, as became apparent.

I'm about 10 yards behind and a yard further out when he spots me and applies more effort. I do likewise and continue to gain. He checks back and spots this, so he spins the legs faster. I continue to gain. I nudge past him with about half a mile to go in the Park and stay ahead, at the same time trying not to show that I'm close to a massive systems failure/engine overheat. Judging by his shadow, he's right behind me, so try to maintain some sort of poise.

Lovely bike. I would have told him so, if I could breathe. :oops: Had I been turning up Dark Hill, like him, I wouldn't have been so bold, but fun all the same.

Citizen Smith

So...rolled up to the VB lights on Embankment just before 7pm last night. As usual an absolute gaggle of bikes including a couple of lycra'd roadies, hybrids et al are infront of me. Game on. I think I've (not) been playing this game for so long now that that I have cultivated an innate ability to FCN size up people in a blink of an eye. I recognise in this motley bunch there are a couple of potential scalps and contenders.

Lights go green and I slowly wind up through the couple of cogs to one below warp drive (I'm pretty much always on the big ring in town unless the pain generators are at DEFCON 2), I stay on the right of the left hand lane and pass the chasing bunch including a guy on nice looking Spesh but he's spinning like a mad man....and now I'm gaining on the leaders...it is at this point, it's guts or glory time, if the lights stay green, there's a great run all the way thru the former DSC thru to Battersea Bridge and I know if I gun it I will need to hold it so....big Armstrong-esque gulp of air and I'm past the lead roadie as we enter the DSC.....

I'm properly hacking it now and in my mind's eye can almost hear the thoughts of the lead roadie..."a hybrid? No way sonny Jim", and I'm thinking they must be trying to latch onto my wheel. Through Claverton Street lights and I'm up to 28 mph, up the small rise as we pass the Power Station. I'm approaching the 30 mph mark and I'm thinking this feels too easy, surely I have another gear back there but alas I'm at max GI....

No-one's made a move to as I pass through Lupus junction and approach the incline to Battersea Bridge, I allow myself a chance glance back...no bikes to be seen...all been blown away by my wake into the Thames....I turn left onto the bridge and wave their scalps at them and tell them to MTFU!

Roastie

Cafewanda wrote:

Roastie wrote:

Tho' I must admit that I was about to make the same request to Wanda myself...

:roll:

Aw, don't be like that! Immitation is the greatest form of flattery .

Roastie

Citizen Smith wrote:

So...rolled up to the VB lights on Embankment
...
....I turn left onto the bridge and wave their scalps at them and tell them to MTFU!

Epic! I love it!

Christophe3967

cjcp wrote:

Addition to earlier post:

Last night in the Park, I'm on my final (of two ) laps and I'm catching a chap giving it some on a Cervelo. Unlike me, he is sans heavyback and probably hasn't got 40 miles in his legs already. I decide to see how much there is left in the legs. Not a great deal, as became apparent.

I'm about 10 yards behind and a yard further out when he spots me and applies more effort. I do likewise and continue to gain. He checks back and spots this, so he spins the legs faster. I continue to gain. I nudge past him with about half a mile to go in the Park and stay ahead, at the same time trying not to show that I'm close to a massive systems failure/engine overheat. Judging by his shadow, he's right behind me, so try to maintain some sort of poise.

Lovely bike. I would have told him so, if I could breathe. :oops: Had I been turning up Dark Hill, like him, I wouldn't have been so bold, but fun all the same.

Bet he was pleased to get a breather in There were some fairly rapid guys out in the park last night enjoying the sun. :oops:

cjcp

Christophe3967 wrote:

Bet he was pleased to get a breather in There were some fairly rapid guys out in the park last night enjoying the sun. :oops:

Yep, one of them was a club mate, who breezed past me up Sawyer's Hill while I was trying to see through the sweat pouring off me. I hauled him back to within 10 yards, which I'm pleased about because he's normally a good bit stronger than me, but I didn't half feel the effort and then got separated by traffic.

I also pursued - successfully - a chap on a Cervelo TT machine.

jedster

must be an absolute nightmare riding round RP on a TT bike. Every roadie in sight is going to be after your scalp

Porgy

lost_in_thought wrote:

Porgy wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

Big fella squares up to you. Slowly and deliberately dismount. Look him square in the eye.
Then suddenly switch to looking at something in the distance over his right shoulder. Go wide-eyed, point over said shoulder, and shout "Wow! Look at THAT!"
As he turns, take a half step back, then swing forward with a still-rising-as-it-leaves-the-stadium kick to his left shin. When he jumps onto one leg to cradle said shin, push him over. Then stand over him, and say with authority "Not such a big man now, are we, what what?

Wow :shock: - does that really work? I've seen James Garner do that several times on the Rockford Files - always thought that no-one would be so stupid to fall for it in real life.

Mind you - what normally happens is that Rockford gets a severe beating in return later in the programme.

How big are you Porgy? Go find G66 and see.

He'll be easy to spot, he's the one dressed like a) a smurf or b) cartoon lucifer.

Quite big - but not that stupid, I hope. :?

il_principe

jedster wrote:

must be an absolute nightmare riding round RP on a TT bike. Every roadie in sight is going to be after your scalp

There were a load out on Saturday. One group looked like they were on a stag do - given the clothing one of them was attired in. Some serious bling in that group though, a Cervelo P4 and one bike equipped with a lightweight disc rear and lightweight front.

You never see any of the TT/Tri guys really shifting it though, or at least I never seem to.

jonginge

Il Principe wrote:

jedster wrote:

must be an absolute nightmare riding round RP on a TT bike. Every roadie in sight is going to be after your scalp

There were a load out on Saturday. One group looked like they were on a stag do - given the clothing one of them was attired in. Some serious bling in that group though, a Cervelo P4 and one bike equipped with a lightweight disc rear and lightweight front.

You never see any of the TT/Tri guys really shifting it though, or at least I never seem to.

No. See loads down on the tribars going at 15mph. Hello, that just trains you to go at 15mph on the tribars :roll:

greg66_tri_v2.0

Porgy wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Porgy wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

Big fella squares up to you. Slowly and deliberately dismount. Look him square in the eye.
Then suddenly switch to looking at something in the distance over his right shoulder. Go wide-eyed, point over said shoulder, and shout "Wow! Look at THAT!"
As he turns, take a half step back, then swing forward with a still-rising-as-it-leaves-the-stadium kick to his left shin. When he jumps onto one leg to cradle said shin, push him over. Then stand over him, and say with authority "Not such a big man now, are we, what what?

Wow :shock: - does that really work? I've seen James Garner do that several times on the Rockford Files - always thought that no-one would be so stupid to fall for it in real life.

Mind you - what normally happens is that Rockford gets a severe beating in return later in the programme.

How big are you Porgy? Go find G66 and see.

He'll be easy to spot, he's the one dressed like a) a smurf or b) cartoon lucifer.

Quite big - but not that stupid, I hope. :?

<stands nose to nose with Porgy>

"Who you calling stupid?"

<Suddenly switches to looking at something in the distance over Porgy's right shoulder>

<Goes wide-eyed, points over said shoulder, and shouts>

"Wow! Look at THAT!"

... 8)

blu3cat

No. See loads down on the tribars going at 15mph. Hello, that just trains you to go at 15mph on the tribars

Ah, but an aerodynamic 15mph, think how much energy they are saving by using tribars at that kinda speed :roll:

Roastie

cjcp wrote:

Christophe3967 wrote:

Bet he was pleased to get a breather in There were some fairly rapid guys out in the park last night enjoying the sun. :oops:

Yep, one of them was a club mate, who breezed past me up Sawyer's Hill while I was trying to see through the sweat pouring off me. I hauled him back to within 10 yards, which I'm pleased about because he's normally a good bit stronger than me, but I didn't half feel the effort and then got separated by traffic.

I also pursued - successfully - a chap on a Cervelo TT machine.

Quite an eventful night out in The Park then!

greg66_tri_v2.0

JonGinge wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

jedster wrote:

must be an absolute nightmare riding round RP on a TT bike. Every roadie in sight is going to be after your scalp

There were a load out on Saturday. One group looked like they were on a stag do - given the clothing one of them was attired in. Some serious bling in that group though, a Cervelo P4 and one bike equipped with a lightweight disc rear and lightweight front.

You never see any of the TT/Tri guys really shifting it though, or at least I never seem to.

No. See loads down on the tribars going at 15mph. Hello, that just trains you to go at 15mph on the tribars :roll:

You've obviously never read Mr Myagi's Guide to Bike Training. It was a spin off from The Karate Kid.

"Wax on, wax off. Wax on. wax off."

And then, as if by magic,* it all comes together on race day.

*magic is an important part of this "training" regime.

cjcp

Roastie wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Christophe3967 wrote:

Bet he was pleased to get a breather in There were some fairly rapid guys out in the park last night enjoying the sun. :oops:

Yep, one of them was a club mate, who breezed past me up Sawyer's Hill while I was trying to see through the sweat pouring off me. I hauled him back to within 10 yards, which I'm pleased about because he's normally a good bit stronger than me, but I didn't half feel the effort and then got separated by traffic.

I also pursued - successfully - a chap on a Cervelo TT machine.

Quite an eventful night out in The Park then!

Oh yes! I was spent when I walked through the door. Come to think of it, I did actually have to sit down on the kitchen floor.

cjcp

Il Principe wrote:

jedster wrote:

must be an absolute nightmare riding round RP on a TT bike. Every roadie in sight is going to be after your scalp

There were a load out on Saturday. One group looked like they were on a stag do - given the clothing one of them was attired in. Some serious bling in that group though, a Cervelo P4 and one bike equipped with a lightweight disc rear and lightweight front.

You never see any of the TT/Tri guys really shifting it though, or at least I never seem to.

Every now and again, I see someone on a TT bike who's going like the clappers. A couple of months back, a chap from Ful-on-Tri did a u-turn on Broomfield Hill as I was going up (he was heading back up too). By the time he got going, he was about a bike length ahead of me. He got some momentum up and off he went. Try as I might, I couldn't catch him before I arrived at Kingston Gate r'about, and I was down on the hoods, snot and spit starting to flow.

funckchicken

biondino

Roastie wrote:

Cafewanda wrote:

I thought you had perfect vision. You can't see that? :shock: :shock: I'll upgrade the font size next time

I reckon that you probably just have a better screen than sme of us ! The 7pt font is fine on my laptop, but completely illegible on the my company-issue machine...

Exactly the opposite for me! Work monitor is a several year old 17" CRT; home laptop is a brand new 1680 x 1050 16" flat screen and everything's so tiny on it!!

LiT wrote:

Get it together, Blindie...

Laugh out loud!

Bassjunkieuk

One of the guys I was sparring with on the ride on Sunday had tri-bars. I obviously couldn't tell if he was using them when behind me but certainly switched to them in town, I sure as hell wasn't going to let a little bit of an aerodynamic advantage let him get the better of me - as I said on the other thread tho, damn shame he had to spoil the fun by consistently RLJing - it's just not the kind of behaviour you expect from a serious cyclist.

Anyhow.......I got tooted on the way home this evening!
I'd already encountered said driver a bit earlier in the ride as I *almost* swerved under into him as I was shoulder checking on my approach to some lights. Thankfully being in a minibus he was paying attention and stayed in the middle of the 3 lanes towards the lights and I went into the empty lane 1 to line up for the green.

Lights change and I'm off pushing a slightly harder gear then normal and have to swing round the buses as they approach the stop ahead. I nip just in front of mini bus man and make a run on the car ahead. I'm gaining on them quite quickly so do a quick speed check.........32mph!! No wonder I'm catching up Unfortunately I was catching up with the "Worlds Worst Driver" and he hesitated on changing lanes meaning I had to scrub off some speed :-( Thankfully once the bus lane changed into the car park filter lane I got past him and stomped on the pedals again. It was then that I heard a "beep beep" behind me and I looked back. It was the mini bus driver :-) He was smiling and the few kids in the back just stared at me as they went past, I of course saw this sign of respect (I think) as a bit of a challenge so ignored the burning lungs and set about trying to catch them up again. I managed to pass them again and make it stick but only because we hit traffic. Whilst chasing him down tho I did spot a chap on a Cervelo but frankly I was to interested in chasing the mini bus to worry about him.

redvee

Seems they give driving licenes away in cereal boxes nowadays, met a holder of such a licence this morning and the strange thing is he let one cyclist past him then pulled out in front of myself and an equally fast commuter who aplologised when I gave the driver verbals to which I said you're not at fault, it's the tw@t in that car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOSWmvH1-jY

Bassjunkieuk

redvee wrote:

Seems they give driving licenes away in cereal boxes nowadays, met a holder of such a licence this morning and the strange thing is he let one cyclist past him then pulled out in front of myself and an equally fast commuter who aplologised when I gave the driver verbals to which I said you're not at fault, it's the tw@t in that car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOSWmvH1-jY

What a prize c0ck, it amazes me sometimes how some people think they can properly take the pi$$ when it comes to cyclists. I prefer to think it's because they see cyclist and automatically assume that they have plenty of time to get out of the junction as they expect you to be only doing 10mph.

Kieran_Burns

Had an amusing version of that this morning - a lady crossed the road in front of me pushing a pram. She'd seen me coming and thinking she had time she strolled across. Then she did a double, then triple take (which was utter class to see ) and then launched herself across the rest of the road apologising as she went.

I was actually only doing 21ish at the time (normally I'm now up to 25-27 on that little stretch) and I did say as I went "it's okay! I'm faster than I look, which ain't hard!"

She waved and laughed

Jay dubbleU

Greg66 wrote:

Porgy wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Porgy wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

Big fella squares up to you. Slowly and deliberately dismount. Look him square in the eye.
Then suddenly switch to looking at something in the distance over his right shoulder. Go wide-eyed, point over said shoulder, and shout "Wow! Look at THAT!"
As he turns, take a half step back, then swing forward with a still-rising-as-it-leaves-the-stadium kick to his left shin. When he jumps onto one leg to cradle said shin, push him over. Then stand over him, and say with authority "Not such a big man now, are we, what what?

Wow :shock: - does that really work? I've seen James Garner do that several times on the Rockford Files - always thought that no-one would be so stupid to fall for it in real life.

Mind you - what normally happens is that Rockford gets a severe beating in return later in the programme.

How big are you Porgy? Go find G66 and see.

He'll be easy to spot, he's the one dressed like a) a smurf or b) cartoon lucifer.

Quite big - but not that stupid, I hope. :?

<stands nose to nose with Porgy>

"Who you calling stupid?"

<Suddenly switches to looking at something in the distance over Porgy's right shoulder>

<Goes wide-eyed, points over said shoulder, and shouts>

"Wow! Look at THAT!"

... 8)

Alternative ending

Porgy kicks box away - Greg lands on a*se

Porgy looks down 'Not so big now are you'

cjcp

funckchicken wrote:

biondino

God, don't encourage it, Chris.

Quite a lot of people got my ire up today, the worst being the tosser on a bike who RLJed on Piccadilly as I was turning onto it from St James's Street (isn't the bus lane on Piccadilly for buses only, as well? I called him a tw$t twice, I was so annoyed.

I'm not riding again until Sunday!! This makes me feel genuinely anxious, but it's unavoidable. Not that that's a bad thing, since the Focus is out of action and the fixie is gradually sawing through its own seat stay... I'll just call it tapering before Sunday's sportive, I think.

itboffin

Mmm beers x many = good
cycling 11 miles in work clothes with no padded shorts = ouch

not looking forward to the mornings rinse & repeat

Tom Foolery

Riding home from work yesterday, I'm on my dodgy old rigid ss mtn bike with nobbies, wearing sneakers, baggies and business shirt, I start catching up to a guy on a road bike. As I get closer I see he's in full lycra and riding a decent bike.
I start to think I might have a little SCR on my hands, but I gain on him quickly, ruining the fun. Before I know it I'm passing him, very closely as he's veering all over the road. He mumbles sorry something as I pass. At this stage I'm thinking what a newbfag. I pedal on for a few hundred metres and as I turn a bend I glance back, and hes waay behind me. No worries, that was too easy, but I don't want him to catch up so I keep the pedal down and I maintain a comfortable fast speed. Well as fast I fast can be on an ss mtn bike wearing sneakers. After about 2kms I round another bend and think its time to check where he is. I haven't checked yet because I don't want to look like I'm keeping tabs on him, I'm far to noncholant for that. Why would I care? Anyway so I turn my head slightly, the fucker is drafting me! How long has he been doing this for! Jerk. He's so close that when I glance back I only catch sight of his rear tyre. I should've just maintained my pace but I instinctivly pedal harder, even though this guy is clearly toying with me. We come to an intersection and he goes left, I go right.
I arrive home a sweaty mess., I'll need a fresh shirt for tomorrow.

cjcp

Welcome TF! and good story.

The drafting gets on my wick as well.

No action on the way home tonight. Surprisingly, I did see one bike, a hybrid, and gave him a quick him a raise of the hand in acknowledgment of the fact that we seemed to be the only two bikes on the road, but that was it.

grantstats

Morning everyone,

Was almost squeezed between the pavement and a garbage truck this morning.... can understand if it was my fault if I was filtering up the left side, but no, he was overtaking me at speed to get through a traffic light so he knew I was there. He pulled away at the last second when he casually glanced in his side mirror.

Not a pleasant experience.

Other than that an uneventful but easy ride in.

Christophe3967

redvee wrote:

Seems they give driving licenes away in cereal boxes nowadays, met a holder of such a licence this morning and the strange thing is he let one cyclist past him then pulled out in front of myself and an equally fast commuter who aplologised when I gave the driver verbals to which I said you're not at fault, it's the tw@t in that car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOSWmvH1-jY

The sad thing is that this type of thing seems to be standard behaviour for some drivers now - only a few days ago when I was out with my 11 yr old, a guy deliberately pulled out in front of us to turn right from a side road and gave me a 'so what are you going to do about it?' look. Often its not that they haven't seen you - they just can't be ar$ed :x