Silly commuting racing

roger_merriman

Roastie wrote:

While sitting in my car idling somewhere near E&C I was pondering if one can be scalped by a rider ahead by not being passed.

I'd observed a dude on a hybrid + panniers stay away from a dude on a road bike + lycra + clipless + jeans and flappy non-cycling top for a very long time indeed - in fact, the whole of Nine Elms. The length of time the roadie took to pass the hybrid (given that at the start they were only 30m apart) was embarassing to say the least. A poor effort.

So, if, with a small gap, a lower FCN manages not to be passed by a higher FCN, can that rider claim the scalp? Is the lower FCN rider *obliged* to pass the higher FCN to retain unscalped status?

I think so.

I'd agree when pottering on the hybrid I would expect (bar pulling away from lights) for roadie to pass with ease if not I'm not sure i'd claim a scalp but certinaly a black mark.

TheBrogueadier

I'd say that merely keeping distance doesn't earn a scalp - But does entitle the higher FCN rider keeping the distance to revel in the warm glow of making the lower FCN behind you stew in their own juices of failure.

I'd personally suggest that all targets are in the direction you are heading -ahead. Riders behind you, unless they show the mettle of being able to overtake, are beneath consideration. Score wise at least.

UndercoverElephant

It used to get quite embarrassing when on my BSO, if the roadies just couldn't step up. My take was that if you're both really giving it some, and the big dog can't even attempt an overtake, then the scalp counts.

I had lycra-clad roadies near drafting me on a BSO knobbly-tyred MTB for several miles, whilst I was giving away 10 FCN points. That's a scalp in any language.

MonkeyMonster

if they don't overtake within a reasonable amount of time and you then turn off then I'd say it was a scalp.

GenevaCamper

Had my ass handed to me on a plate by a female courier on the way to work yesterday.

Her on a single speed, me on my hybrid in full work regalia desperately trying to look like I wasn't trying - we parted company at the end of the Mt Blanc bridge at about 45 kph - not sure what she said to me (in French) but was in no state to reply anyway!

biondino

Stuey01 wrote:

mkchu84 wrote:

Scalping hipsters/fakengers on roadies is especially fun when you're on a folder. It's even better when they RLJ because you get to do it again and again!

Hipsters/fakengers and roadies are two very different beasts. You wouldn't catch a fakenger with a geared road bike (i.e. roadie).

I don't think you're as "with it" (as I believe young people say) as you think, as geared bikes are much more popular among the fakie community these days. Usually 80s Peugeots and Raleighs and the like, cable a-flutter and 5-speed cassettes clanking.

Bassjunkieuk

At last some proper action on my commute this morning! Admittedly it tok a change of work location and a ride about 4 times longer then what I've been doing for the past few weeks but boy did I have some fun!

First cyclist I passed was on a slicked up MTB (I think) and it was right on the vicious little short n sharp climb that I hit about 0.8 miles from the house :-) He was already spinning away in a low gear so I decided the "nicest" thing I could do was to use a slightly higher gear, get up out the saddle and mosey on past with a cheery "Always a nice warm up this bit eh?".........as I ride past him

Next encounter was with one of those cheating bikes, I'm sure you've seen em, the one's with a stinky motor on! I was seriously comtemplating overtaking him on a descent and was just about to move round when some old women decides she needs to use the zebra crossing, cue much braking and loss of speed.....still I managed to avoid going up the tailpipe of the bike and kept some momentum to carry on down the road, thankfully it dips down again shortly after the crossing!

A pony tailed chap in Dulwich Dynamo kit put up far to little resistance through Dulwich and I got my best action in Caberwell thanks to a chap on a celeste Bianchi (about as original as a red Ferrari), a black guy on a black fixie and red hoodie (u on here?) and a rather nippy guy on a slicked up MTB. We all lined up by Coldharbour Lane waiting for the lights to change. Once they go green I'm off but finding that my fellow previously mentioned riders are also making good pace......I drop a cog and manage to pull out a lead only to be brought to a stop again at the next lights. Knowing that I've now painted a big red X on my back I know I have to put in a good effort again! Once again as the lights change the four of us go powering off up the road and I eventually manage to pull out a lead but not after fixie guy and slicked up MTB chap have put up a good fight!
It was along here I started to feel a slight lack of form as my lungs started burning as I trying to maintain the 27mph that I'd managed to pull to but could only watch as the digits on my Cateye started heading south.......lights ahead are red so I slow down and try to catch my breath a bit.

Bianchi and fixie dude get a better start at the lights having filtered round the RHS of traffic so I'm now chasing them towards the junction with Albany Road. This unfortunately was the last I saw of Bianchi guy as he jumped the lights there, along with the other 2! I did manage to re-take the fixie guy in Camberwell and did kept trading places with the slicker, courtesy of his RLJing, until he turned off for Southwark Bridge Road just after E&C.

Dropped a few roadies and had a nice tussle with a chap on a Boardman roadie up towards London Bridge, he was certainly "trying" but I lost him in filtering before the station and partly due to a tw4tty private taxi driver doing a 180 in his Ford Galaxy and nearly wiping out a scooter rider :shock:

And in 20 minutes time I'll be doing the whole thing again to get home! I can't wait :-D It's so good to be back in THE GAME ;-)

itboffin

GenevaCamper wrote:

Had my ass handed to me on a plate by a female courier on the way to work yesterday.

Her on a single speed, me on my hybrid in full work regalia desperately trying to look like I wasn't trying - we parted company at the end of the Mt Blanc bridge at about 45 kph - not sure what she said to me (in French) but was in no state to reply anyway!

Where should we send the flowers to?

bob-the-bass

Hi - I'm new round here, and to The Game -although its livened up my 5 mile commute to Oxford on many occassions. So I have a question - at the start of my ride home tonight I was overtaken by a tandem. I don't know its food chain number - what do you reckon?

It was road bike style with thin wheels, ridden by a guy and a girl in non-bike clothing - except a biking style cap. Flat pedals. They were obviously regular tandem riders as they were pedalling consistent and fast, and he kept looking back and chatting to the girl.

I followed on their trail for a couple of miles at a good pace before I had chance to overtake as the road opened out on an uphill.

Somehow I thought they were French, until we exchanged greetings and he was an Aussie.

After half a mile I sneaked a look back expecting to see them right behind me, but they must have stopped or turned into a field because they'd vanished.

My FCN is 10, MTB on slicks with panniers. But i reckon thats a good handicap...

Bassjunkieuk

Fairly un-eventful ride home but I do have to admit I couldn't bring myself to overtake one rider I found before my normal big climb..........I spotted a roadie up ahead when I was about 50 yards back and up the tempo a bit to catch him up. As it happened the lights ahead changed to red and I got a proper look at his machine..........oh boy was it some nice bike p0rn!!

First thing I noticed was the lovely deep section Mavic Cosmic Carbone wheels but then I moved upto the frame..........a fully carbon fibre Parlee, in a beautiful black/blue combo
I realized as I followed him up the road that I LOVE the hum you get from deep section wheels, it's the same whooshing noise that I can still remember from the first time I went out riding with IP on the Marlborough Loop :-D

Also I think today's commutes has been the first since Wales where I've headed out and back in over the "hills", which all of a sudden don't seem to "hill" like :-D

I'd also like to say thanks to a couple of drivers, first was the very patient coach driver who followed me down a good majority of Church Road in Crystal Palace before getting to a safe point to overtake as opposed to bullying his way past :-) Second is the older gent in the Fiesta who provided a nice draft on my last descent! He turned in ahead of me so it took a 40mph spurt to catch him but he was obeying the speed limit down the rest of the road so I took full advantage and sat just off his bumper :twisted:

greg66_tri_v2.0

fenboy369 wrote:

I never admitted to myself that I played The Game until yesterday morning. Of course I did play, but could never front up and say to myself that I was bothered. But....

<<It all goes cloudy and wavey as the flash back starts>>

Its Friday morning, 6.40am. I was up late and have put some power down to catch up time on my commute from Ely to Cambridge airport. About a mile and a half to go of my 17 odd miles and I've made loads of time. I'm just pootling up the A14 over pass from Waterbeach into Fen Ditton, no need to pedal hard, I'll enjoy the run down the other side and play with cars through the village.
And then some scoundrel on a dark metallic green late 80's racer with clanky mud guards and suicide shifters goes past me, trying to look like he's not trying. :shock:
Now I hardly ever see anybody on a bike round here at this time in the morning so I'm shocked. But he's scalped me. :oops: And thats not on, he's taken me unawares. :evil: So I give chase, I'm reeling him in and as he goes over the crest he has a look behind and see's whats happening. Now he is trying. Great. :twisted: I gain the distance back over the next 1/4 mile and he's checking over his shoulder all the time now. 50 ft away and I think I've done it. I've got the speed, I dont look like I'm trying, and I know I've got it in the tank to keep it down for the last mile into work and he is flagging.

Then he turns off. :shock: :?

Is this just?
Is this fair?
Do I have to face up to it and MTFU?

I coasted for the rest of the way in and ate Jaffa Cakes in the shower before making a cup of tea.

Alas, that is fair.

One of the hazards of going for the reel in tactic is that your fish slips off the hook and swims away before you can land him.

Always better to go for the cold swift execution, IMO, if you can.

UndercoverElephant

Agreed, he did you good and proper. Suck it down, this is what defeat tastes like. :x Next time you'll not be so complacent, and you shall smear his remains across the tarmac. :twisted:

tailwindhome

fenboy369 wrote:

I coasted for the rest of the way in and ate Jaffa Cakes in the shower before making a cup of tea.

Main thing is you took it well

cjcp

Yep. You were done all ends up. Brutal. I hate it when that happens.

Never had Jaffa Cakes in the shower, mind. :shock:

MonkeyMonster

All going well, should be back in the saddle tomorrow - though taking it easy as le chest infarction is annoying still present.

gbs

First time on the Embankment yesterday evening returning home to Fulham at about 1930 from Liverpool St after a day in Suffolk.

Made good time up to Plt Sq and beyond to Chelsea Bridge. Then chaos and gridlock. I filtered on the extreme R, ie the wrong side of the road, until I turned off via Lotts Rd.

Do you SCRers have to deal with that every day? There lies the way to madness and RLJ mania.

itboffin

This morning commute didn't even make it out of the garage seems i'm injured my knee more than I'd thought :?

So it's in the car for me today at least but rather optimistically i've put the SS on the carrier and taken a good handful of pain killers, i'd rather suffer agonising pain than take the tube.

greg66_tri_v2.0

cjcp wrote:

Tallest Man on a Bike on Embankment (he with the red Cannondale)

Saw this chap this morning. He is mass-hoos-ive. I reckon my eyes were level with a spot just above his elbow. And watching him pedal is like watching some giant arachnid unfurl and refurl its legs every few seconds.

He came by me between AB and CBm cheekily drafting a van. Hmm. Play the game, old chap.

I managed to nick him back opposite the power station. He outfiltered at the lights just past St Georges Sq, then I pipped him in the drag race off VB lights. Waiting at the lights to leave Pt Sq, he pulled up alongside, beat me off the lights on the drag up to Westminster Br, but then lost out on the drag to first lights on Viccy Embkt. Which he then jumped. :?

He's quite nippy. I wonder how much more he has in the tank though.

Greg T

gbs wrote:

First time on the Embankment yesterday evening returning home to Fulham at about 1930 from Liverpool St after a day in Suffolk.

Made good time up to Plt Sq and beyond to Chelsea Bridge. Then chaos and gridlock. I filtered on the extreme R, ie the wrong side of the road, until I turned off via Lotts Rd.

Do you SCRers have to deal with that every day? There lies the way to madness and RLJ mania.

No the embankment usually runs freely enough. It can get sticky just after Chelsea hospital but if it is jammers the wide pavement by the river is dual use ped/cyclist so you can bimble along that whilst the traffic stews.

DonDaddyD

My first proper SCR Battle in a long time.

Stopped at the base of Balham Hill by the light they go green and a bearded roaide on a grey/silver Lemond comes flying past me. With no desire to loose my scalp on my home turf I give chase. Momentum on his side and gravity against mine he gets up Balham Hill quicker than I do but not enough to drop me. (my Giant SCR can't climb)

Up and over the hill we head towards Clapham South trainstation and through the lights. My prey is still holding a decent cadence/speed with no sign of weakening. I'm not sure if he's up on his limit before sprinting so with Clapham Common to my left I give it some to test him, he was going faster than I thought because 'my giving it some' only had me overtaking slowly so I pressed my resevoir of power took him and held him off until I moved in the right lane to head towards Acre Lane and he carried on straight.

I was somewaht glad I turned off and with that I'm not claiming the scalp but calling it a decent defence of my own... 8)

Bassjunkieuk

Excellent run in this morning, seemed to be quite a few other cyclists around which meant a few more targets :-) Had a rather rapid chap and a dirty RLJing hybrid rider through Dulwich Village who where both engaging in their own little SCR war, thanks to their filtering/RLJing there where ahead of me as we passed the train station so I got a ringside seat for the spectacle! Roadie chap certainly had some good legs on him but I waited until the most painful point, the small climb up Sunray Avenue, before opening the taps and doing him!

Lined up at the junction with Camberwell New Road a bit further ahead the motorcyclist next to me looks sideways then says:

"Blimey, a cyclist who stops for red lights!"

I responded with "Yes a few of us actually do" as we both watched the other numpties edging through the junction

The run from E&C over London Bridge via Borough High Street was a right hoot, picked off a few roadies at the start and after filtering down the RHS whilst the other 2 roadies took the LHS/bus lane option I found myself in the ASL with quite possibly the most cyclist I've seen since the tube strikes! A collections of roadies/hyrbids/SS all eyeing each other up. Thankfully as I entered from the right I was lined up perfectly behind the fastest bikes - those with motors :-)Lights go green and everyone sprints off. Once I'm clipped in and get a couple of crank turns down the big group of cyclist are now looking at my backpack :twisted: Two of the more enthuastic riders caught up as I slowed for the next red and we had a clear road to play on but they proceeded to RLJ by the station and carried on over the bridge - the spoilsports!!

Bassjunkieuk

@DDD - Excellent work m8! I saw a rider on a grey Lemond this morning but she certainly didn't have a beard :-D

MonkeyMonster

DDD if you're on the giant isn't your FCN much higher anyway and roadies can't scalp you?

Bassjunkieuk

MonkeyMonster wrote:

DDD if you're on the giant isn't your FCN much higher anyway and roadies can't scalp you?

I think FCN 2-4 are allowed to claim scalps off each other TBH at that level it's all about pride, not that I'm suggesting DDD is in anyway compettive ;-)

MonkeyMonster

Thought his giant was an ex-mtb... Therefore well out of the 2-4 league.

Stuey01

DonDaddyD wrote:

(my Giant SCR can't climb)

riiiiiiight.

UndercoverElephant

MonkeyMonster wrote:

Thought his giant was an ex-mtb... Therefore well out of the 2-4 league.

I think the SCR is a road bike.

DonDaddyD

MonkeyMonster, my SCR is a roadbike, though less aggressive than I now like.

That said unless the guy is in team kit and no bag on the commute any time I see drop bars it's fair game as will be demonstrated on the Embankment soon, very soon, OH SO very soon....

MonkeyMonster

In that case MTFU and drag your sorry ass up that hill You obv need to be fitter for when I am back and healthy and scalping left right and centre on ye Olde Embankment Drag Strip.

Plus double confusing that your bike is called SCR in the Silly Commuting Racing thread...

DonDaddyD

MonkeyMonster wrote:

In that case MTFU and drag your sorry ass up that hill You obv need to be fitter for when I am back and healthy and scalping left right and centre on ye Olde Embankment Drag Strip.

Plus double confusing that your bike is called SCR in the Silly Commuting Racing thread...

:shock: Hang on a second, aren't you new? Dude I'm a veteran.... Old school! Not as old as Greg66, he was old when the Universe was young... legend has it that he was actually alive in the Universe that existed before this one... I digress...

Anyway you SCR youngling I'll be sure to learn you some schooling when our paths met at the Embankment...

What should it be? Pistols at dawn? Cage-rage? How about first person to the lights wins? If I should beat the lights and leave you standing.. well read my signature...

You are right though I should have dragged my sorry ass right up behind him and dropped him as we got to the tip of Balham Hill... :oops: