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Boy racers

AidyAidy Posts: 2,015
edited July 2009 in Commuting chat
Stopped at a pedestrian crossing on my way home to have a boy racer pull up next to me.

"Excuse me mate?"
"Yeah what's up?"
"You know you were doing, like, 30 MILES PER HOUR?!"

Awesome :)

If I'd've thought a bit faster, I had the perfect response:

"Yeah, I'd be going a bit faster, but it is a 30 limit"
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  • doog442doog442 Posts: 370
    part of my downhill stretch in a 30 mph limit still has the muppet motorist gagging to overtake me for no other reason than

    'He is a cyclist ...i must overtake'...repeat in robotic manner :wink:

    depite the fact i often knock up 32-35 on this stretch (downhill)

    this encourages me to plonk mysef in the middle of the road, usually there are loads of pinch points ahead yet they will still try and chance it
  • lost_in_thoughtlost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    Aidy wrote:
    Stopped at a pedestrian crossing on my way home to have a boy racer pull up next to me.

    "Excuse me mate?"
    "Yeah what's up?"
    "You know you were doing, like, 30 MILES PER HOUR?!"

    Awesome :)

    If I'd've thought a bit faster, I had the perfect response:

    "Yeah, I'd be going a bit faster, but it is a 30 limit"

    :lol::lol:

    Ah bless 'em. They do get impressed! I had two on a scooter tell me I was doing 25mph and they 'wouldn't want me to kick them' on the Chiswick High Street t'other day.
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • fossyantfossyant Posts: 2,549
    I had this a couple of years back......

    Out on a training run, in a rough area..... these lads pull up next to me...start shouting........"Yay...30mph......" gave me the thumbs up and they are off..... I nearly fell off my saddle.....I was expecting a load of abuse......... :?
  • fossyantfossyant Posts: 2,549
    A number of years back, I also out ran a Scooter on a night training run - left it for dead for about 4 miles on open roads...... pulled up at lights, the lady rider catches up....."you were doing over 30 mph"......I said..."yup"...... :D
  • jimmypippajimmypippa Posts: 1,712
    edited July 2009
    must wait for next C2W to get a proper bike...
    http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=6404
  • spasypaddyspasypaddy Posts: 5,179
    which ped crossing was it?
    BMC TM01 - FCN 0
    Look 695 (Geared) - FCN 1
    Bowman Palace:R - FCN 1
    Cannondale CAAD 9 - FCN 2
    Premier (CX) - FCN 6
    Premier (fixed/SS) - FCN3
  • graeme_s-2graeme_s-2 Posts: 3,382
    fossyant wrote:
    I had this a couple of years back......

    Out on a training run, in a rough area..... these lads pull up next to me...start shouting........"Yay...30mph......" gave me the thumbs up and they are off..... I nearly fell off my saddle.....I was expecting a load of abuse......... :?

    On the way home from work on a bright sunny spring evening pulled up at a red light and spotted a couple of lads with the windows down listening to the theme from Rocky with the volume set to 11. They very enthusiastically cheered me on as I sprinted away from the lights, made my week!
  • redveeredvee Posts: 11,922
    I have overtaken scooters in the past on my MTB albeit downhill and I guess the 'scalpee' was still restricted.
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • AidyAidy Posts: 2,015
    spasypaddy wrote:
    which ped crossing was it?

    It was a fair few miles out of London proper. North of Edmonton. I don't generally see other cyclists for the vast majority of my commute.
    I'll go find a map and work out which one it is if you really care.
  • spasypaddyspasypaddy Posts: 5,179
    ah no, just thought it might be somewhere i ride sometimes as i do occasionally ride the a10 all the way to edmonton. If it was past edmonton i wont have been there!
    BMC TM01 - FCN 0
    Look 695 (Geared) - FCN 1
    Bowman Palace:R - FCN 1
    Cannondale CAAD 9 - FCN 2
    Premier (CX) - FCN 6
    Premier (fixed/SS) - FCN3
  • gabriel959gabriel959 Posts: 4,227
    That probably only happens in London and very built-up areas, I barely overtake (probably because I go on 60 mph roads!).
    x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
    Commuting / Winter rides - Jamis Renegade Expert
    Pootling / Offroad - All-City Macho Man Disc
    Fast rides Cannondale SuperSix Ultegra
  • rally200rally200 Posts: 646
    redvee wrote:
    I have overtaken scooters in the past on my MTB albeit downhill and I guess the 'scalpee' was still restricted.

    can we once and for all get over the moped/scooter distinction

    some scooters are mopeds - i.e. the legal definition 50cc or under and limited to 30mph - I have seen children running up a hill alongside a Vespa 50 taunting the rider - beating a moped is literally childsplay.

    Most Scooters are over 50cc & therefore (legally classed as) motorcycles, whilst not worrying the boys on their Fireblades - a Vespa 200 will do over 80mph -
  • cjcpcjcp Posts: 13,345
    Harrumpf. I never receive any comments about going faster than traffic.

    <goes off to sulk.> :)
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • lost_in_thoughtlost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    cjcp wrote:
    Harrumpf. I never receive any comments about going faster than traffic.

    <goes off to sulk.> :)

    They probably think you've secretly got a motor on your bike somewhere.
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • lost_in_thoughtlost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    rally200 wrote:
    redvee wrote:
    I have overtaken scooters in the past on my MTB albeit downhill and I guess the 'scalpee' was still restricted.

    can we once and for all get over the moped/scooter distinction

    some scooters are mopeds - i.e. the legal definition 50cc or under and limited to 30mph - I have seen children running up a hill alongside a Vespa 50 taunting the rider - beating a moped is literally childsplay.

    Most Scooters are over 50cc & therefore (legally classed as) motorcycles, whilst not worrying the boys on their Fireblades - a Vespa 200 will do over 80mph -

    I've learned something new today! So a moped is limited and a scooter isn't... got it.
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • jongingejonginge Posts: 5,945
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    cjcp wrote:
    Harrumpf. I never receive any comments about going faster than traffic.

    <goes off to sulk.> :)

    They probably think you've secretly got a motor on your bike somewhere.
    *remembers comments from saturday, mutters grumpily*

    Once got told by a mopedder I had been doing 40 through blackfriars tunnel. Would have been nice but methinks the calibration of her speedo was a bit off.

    Edit: Rally200's QI fact may explain the above
    FCN 2-4 "Shut up legs", Jens Voigt
    Planet-x Scott
    Rides
  • Clever PunClever Pun Posts: 6,778
    jimmypippa wrote:
    must wait for next C2W to get 1/2 a proper bike...

    fixed that for you :lol:

    :cry:
    Purveyor of sonic doom

    Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
    Fixed Pista- FCN 5
    Beared Bromptonite - FCN 14
  • il_principeil_principe Posts: 9,152
    I've had a few comments from mopeds before, once at VB lights when I'd just done a scooter at 30mph plus and once heading uphill underneath Holborn Viaduct, I took a scooter at full sprint and he passed comment at the lights. "You should get a bike" I told him...

    ...they always offer the same sort of amazed expression people have when they realise that bikes can actually cost more than £150.
    2015 Canyon Aeroad CF SLX
    2020 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX
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    On the Strand
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  • HeadhuunterHeadhuunter Posts: 6,494
    I had a guy wave a pretend chequered flag as me and a guy from the club whisked along a road on the edge of London/Kent once but no comments yet...
    Do not write below this line. Office use only.
  • The RookieThe Rookie Posts: 27,804
    rally200 wrote:
    redvee wrote:
    some scooters are mopeds - i.e. the legal definition 50cc or under and limited to 30mph
    Close, they must have a design speed of 30mph or less, in practice this means engine power is restricted, but downhill they will still exceed 30mph and be legal.

    My first ever cycling scalp was at the age of 9 and was an invalid carriage, the parafin powered little pale blue 3 wheelers made by AC (yes the same company that made the Cobra!), they maxed out at about 20mph i think!

    Simon
    Current steed - Whyte T129, 2013 frame, mongrel Revelations, Giant dropper, Stans S1 wheelset. 12, Magura Trail Sport brakes, 1x11. 12.8Kg
  • oscarbudgieoscarbudgie Posts: 850
    Police often set up a speed trap on my street as there's a school nearby - went past once and the copper aimed his gun, gave me a thumbs and said '27 miles an hour - not bad not bad' Its on the flat too and I'd begun to slow cause I was getting towards my house. Naturally I told everyone who would listen, several times.
    Cannondale Supersix / CAAD9 / Boardman 9.0 / Benotto 3000
  • AidyAidy Posts: 2,015
    ... and today I was passed by a van, whose passenger yelled out:

    "27 miles per hour, go on son!"

    :)
  • rally200rally200 Posts: 646
    The Beginner wrote:
    [

    My first ever cycling scalp was at the age of 9 and was an invalid carriage, the parafin powered little pale blue 3 wheelers made by AC (yes the same company that made the Cobra!), they maxed out at about 20mph i think!

    Simon

    What a great image, 1977, Jubilee Street parties, and kids in flares, snorkel parkas scalping Invalid carriages on their Choppers and Tomohawks. you've made me quite bleary eyed with nostalgia :)
  • girv73girv73 Posts: 842
    I've got a thumbs up and a cheer from a WVM passenger for a 40mph road descent, and a round of applause from a group of lads for taking a series of 3 corners on a gravel path sideways on my MTB. Other than that, I'm not fast enough to be impressive :D
    Today is a good day to ride
  • DuduDudu Posts: 4,637
    doog442 wrote:
    part of my downhill stretch in a 30 mph limit still has the muppet motorist gagging to overtake me for no other reason than

    'He is a cyclist ...i must overtake'...repeat in robotic manner :wink:

    depite the fact i often knock up 32-35 on this stretch (downhill)

    this encourages me to plonk mysef in the middle of the road, usually there are loads of pinch points ahead yet they will still try and chance it

    +1
    ___________________________________________
    People need to be told what to do so badly they'll listen to anyone
  • FeltupFeltup Posts: 1,340
    A young lass having a picnic with her family in the Peak District said to her folks "how is he doing that? How is he going so fast?" I was doing 7mph............but it was up a 17% hill :D I paid for it later in the ride.

    I had it proven to me that the Specialized Singlecross has too much metal in its frame (damn heavy) when I was spinning like a loon down a hill near Overton and the flashing 30mph sign lit up. I actually shoulder checked to see if there was a car behind me setting it off but no it was the Singlecross - Kudos by signage!
    Short hairy legged roadie FCN 4 or 5 in my baggies.

    Felt F55 - 2007
    Specialized Singlecross - 2008
    Marin Rift Zone - 1998
    Peugeot Tourmalet - 1983 - taken more hits than Mohammed Ali
  • girv73girv73 Posts: 842
    Feltup wrote:
    I had it proven to me that the Specialized Singlecross has too much metal in its frame (damn heavy) when I was spinning like a loon down a hill near Overton and the flashing 30mph sign lit up.!

    Do those signs not work by radar? So it's more your ... erm .. cross section that counts rather than how much metal you're made of? Dunno, I may be wrong.
    Today is a good day to ride
  • FeltupFeltup Posts: 1,340
    edited July 2009
    girv73 wrote:
    Feltup wrote:
    I had it proven to me that the Specialized Singlecross has too much metal in its frame (damn heavy) when I was spinning like a loon down a hill near Overton and the flashing 30mph sign lit up.!

    Do those signs not work by radar? So it's more your ... erm .. cross section that counts rather than how much metal you're made of? Dunno, I may be wrong.

    I think they are radar but you need a decent amount of metal or reflective material i.e. not flesh to set it off. The Singlecross has very big tubes!

    edit: my Felt doesn't set it off btw.
    Short hairy legged roadie FCN 4 or 5 in my baggies.

    Felt F55 - 2007
    Specialized Singlecross - 2008
    Marin Rift Zone - 1998
    Peugeot Tourmalet - 1983 - taken more hits than Mohammed Ali
  • girv73girv73 Posts: 842
    Ah, so if I had my tinfoil hat on or was carrying a roast turkey I might set one off? Excellent, that's this weekend sorted.
    Today is a good day to ride
  • FeltupFeltup Posts: 1,340
    girv73 wrote:
    Ah, so if I had my tinfoil hat on or was carrying a roast turkey I might set one off? Excellent, that's this weekend sorted.

    Remember the roast turkey needs to be a large one.


    No reason other than all turkeys should be large and juicy mmmmmm
    Short hairy legged roadie FCN 4 or 5 in my baggies.

    Felt F55 - 2007
    Specialized Singlecross - 2008
    Marin Rift Zone - 1998
    Peugeot Tourmalet - 1983 - taken more hits than Mohammed Ali
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