When overtaking another biker should you...

r3 guy

I always greet the person when i go past them but rarely do i get a response (i am mostly talking about commuting and typical weekend rides)

so i started thinking that maybe calling out pleasantries may seem to pour salt in the wound of the poor chap whom i have just overtaken.

What do you think?

Smokin Joe

Swerve across their bow and try and take their front wheel out.

Works for me :twisted:

Bronzie

It's most important (especially if you've just been breathing out of your sphincter in order to catch the other rider) that you breezily bid them "Good Morning / Evening" and make every effort to appear that you are not even trying hard as you pootle past them.

You can then have a relapse when you get far enough in front that they can't hear you.

Been a while since I actually managed to catch someone however, so my memory may be playing tricks. :oops:

2Fast4Love

Yea I make a point of making sure it looks like I'm putting in minimal effort despite absolutely flying past them.

No words are necessary. 8)

Lakesman

Always greet, but if they look vaguely fast tell 'em a bit's just fallen off their bike . It'll help open up a gap.

Lagavulin

I always greet someone I pass on the road. Not sure why. Probably due to it being such a rare event. :oops:

I passed a bloke just north of Whitburn late last year - who must've been in his seventies - on what appeared a lovingly looked after steel relic (albeit shod with red Conti GP4000). He genuinely doffed his cap as I passed and I even received a "Good morning sir" in return. That really tickled me for some reason.

chrisw28

Gotta love the old guys who give you a warm reply to a genuinely sincere hello! Had someone similar say hello to me last week, he sounded so nice I ended up riding with him for a few miles for a chat, lovely chap!

Don't know why some people seem to annoyed when you pass them, you can't expect to never be passed on the roads! It happens to everyone

r3 guy

lol some funny comments!!

I find that the worst thing about overtaking is too make sure that you have enough in the tank to make it stick, most times given half a chance they try and stick with you, not had anyone subsequently overtake me....yet (that would be embarrassing) :oops:

mr_hippo

When you overtake a cyclist, is he
1) Just starting off and pacing himself
2) Just done 100 miles+
3) Having problems
4) Just taking it easy?

rapid_uphill

i always say "hi" just to let them know im there, on a couple of occasions when people have passed me and said nothing i have almost sh1t myself.

singlespeedexplosif

make a whooshing noise, but make sure you start it from a bit before you get to them so that they get the full doppler effect.

blackhands

I think its much better to say something before you overtake them so that they are not shocked by you suddenly whooshing past. I usually say loudly "coming up" when I am a couple of bike lengths away and Hi when I go past - this gives the other rider time to respond.

I never bother when I am overtaken - its happenend too many times in my time on a bike.

softlad

I once ambled past a couple of 'mountain bikers' out on the road - I greeted them but they immediately took offence and jumped on my wheel - one of them even sprinted past me again at full CV. I told them I wasn't trying to race them, but they wouldn't have it, so in the end I just had to up the pace and get rid of them as I didn't particularly want them sitting on my ar5e..

Like someone else said, there could be lots of reasons for passing. Years ago, I once got over-taken by a couple of kids after I had blown up big time at the end of a 95 miler - I was so stuffed I hardly noticed...

ShaunL

morning or evening as I go to and from work.

If they want to have a bit of a race it increases the interest for my morning or evening 10 mile commute.

snakehips

I usually greet , but get a range of responses. Sometimes people hear me coming and look round in anticipation. Some ignore me. One guy seemed so upset he bust a gut to get past me then turned in to his place of work a few hundred yards down the road.

fuzzynavel

r3 guy wrote:

lol some funny comments!!

I find that the worst thing about overtaking is too make sure that you have enough in the tank to make it stick, most times given half a chance they try and stick with you, not had anyone subsequently overtake me....yet (that would be embarrassing) :oops:

I got overtaken by a cycle courier on Monday after 50 miles of hard riding on my own and tried to stick with him but I had bonked earlier and hadn't recovered properly....I tried to stick with him but he was determined not to give up and he bested me that day......We will meet again some day...hopefully when I am not at the end of a 50 miler.

Oh..by the way....I always try and say hi.

phreak

If I'm in the countryside then I will do but cycling around London I seldom do as you have so many cyclists on the commute you'd be talking rather a lot.

FJS

phreak wrote:

If I'm in the countryside then I will do but cycling around London I seldom do as you have so many cyclists on the commute you'd be talking rather a lot.

Exactly. This question made me smile quite a bit, being originally from Amsterdam....

But I appreciate the greeting of fellow cyclists here, and in the countryside mostly give others a nod or greet.

nasahapley

I cycled into work for the first time this week, which has lead me to ponder this exact question! I found that on the rural bit I said hello to everyone, but once I got into Leeds I didn't bother. I actually felt like a bit of a wally caning it past folks on their way to work - I've decided to use my commute as training so I'm always pushing fairly hard - but I must look like I'm trying to be a right 8am hero! I overtook one bloke who was obviously a proper roadie, then five minutes later he passed me at a junction (with a suicidal RLJ), then shortly after I repassed, then the same happened again - what do you say the second or third time?

rhext

Always say 'hello', but most important to do it in a way which makes it obvious that you're not working at all hard. Sometimes then get chatting at the lights - which I occasionally regret:

...like the time I was overtaken by someone who looked much faster than me. Subsequently managed to overtake back (yes, to my shame, I can be a bit competitive occasionally), only to find at the next lights that he had already covered 120 miles to my 8. A victory, but a very hollow one!

morrisje

You need to perfect the way in which you say Good Morning. The words are Good Morning but the meaning must be 'bit slow today aren't we'.

dodgy

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

make a whooshing noise, but make sure you start it from a bit before you get to them so that they get the full doppler effect.

Hahaha, my favourite so far

dodgy

Here's a funny thing, I bought a new carbon Dolan in summer last year and decided to turn my old Giant TCR2 into a winter bike, so I put full mudguards on it. It's amazing the amount of people who now want to take me on, perhaps they assume I'm automatically now a slower rider (not because the guards are slowing me down, but the perception of cyclists who have mudguards fitted)!

zero303

I tend to be careful about racing - while I'm not exactly slow, my bike tends to scream 'I'm up for a race' so I regularly get thumped by hardcore roadies looking to scalp me when I'm just an MTBer who happens to ride a road bike too... :-/

shane515

Hello all

I find keeping the front wheel about 2 foot off the ground, with one hand resting on my thigh and shouting good morning as loud as I can as I pass fellow riders normally gets a responce......especially uphill :evil: .............sadly my alarm clock sounds shortly after this.

I always say hi/ hello/ good morning as I am passed, all depends on how many words I can speak at the time :oops:

Shane

mark_oakden

i thought one was meant to sit up no handed, taking a drink with one hand and giving a cheery wave with the other when overtaking.

In fact, on the rare occasions I overtake anyone, I usually just say "Good day" as i pass - saves me thinking too much about whether it's morning or afternoon at the time.

chrisw28

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

make a whooshing noise, but make sure you start it from a bit before you get to them so that they get the full doppler effect.

Made me laugh How fast would you have to be overtaking though to get a significant dopper effect?! :shock:

rhext

chrisw28 wrote:

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

make a whooshing noise, but make sure you start it from a bit before you get to them so that they get the full doppler effect.

Made me laugh How fast would you have to be overtaking though to get a significant dopper effect?! :shock:

Seems to me there's two ways of doing this: you can cycle really fast, generating the whoosing noise from the speed of your passing, in which case the doppler effect will probably take care of itself.

Alternatively, you can make the whooshing noise yourself, in which case simply start high as you approach, immediately switching to low as you pass! Then speed is immaterial - much less hard work.

dennisn

Here in the States most people will give you an "on your left" shout out before they come alongside and pass. Of course, I'm assuming that if you live in that part of the world where they drive on the wrong side of the road you would be saying "on your right" .

Dennis Noward

Headhuunter

Never speak to anyone on the commute, in or out. It's the London way. On no account ever acknowledge anyone else in the sea of humanity which surrounds you except to swear loudly when drivers cut you up etc.

On the weekend rides through Kent though I acknowledge everyone I pass and everyone coming in the other direction, although I don't always get a response.

pneumatic

When I used to commute (I work from home now), there were a couple of my colleagues on the same route who were naturally very sociable.

The ideal for them was to find someone with whom to to ride two-abreast and chat.

If I caught either of them up, they would either drop back for a chat or allow me to pass them and then kick on so that I found them on my shoulder asking me chatty questions. I didn't have the lungs to ride and talk. It was a nightmare.