Competitive or not?

.blitz
.blitz Posts: 6,197
edited August 2009 in MTB general
Competitive: you are riding along at a reasonable pace when you spot another rider on the trail ahead. They are a fair way off and the terrain inbetween is not easy but the red mist descends and you have to hammer it until you catch them up, easing off only slightly as you sail past to make it look as though you ride like this all the time.

Uncompetitive: as above, but the other rider hears you approaching, cogs it up a gear and clears off. There's nothing you can do :(

Non-competitive: you ride at your own pace. You pass and you get passed. It's not a race 8)

Think I'm uncompetitive :) How about you?

Comments

  • lawman
    lawman Posts: 6,868
    if i see someone, ill go for it. if they come past me, which is rare :P ill not bother.

    i like overtaking people, i adds to the buzz and no one likes to to be stuck behind someone slower. so i just put my foot down and gun after them. so yes im competitive :D
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    I am off the bike, but on the bike, no.
  • paul.skibum
    paul.skibum Posts: 4,068
    On the road I will often try and catch people ahead of me or try to keep up with people who pass me. I like the challenge.

    Off road I try to go pretty quick and can get competative with my mates but generally I am just riding the speed I am happy with at the time.
    Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.
  • jay12
    jay12 Posts: 6,306
    if i go faster than someone then i'll obvieously overtake them but sometimes (because i'm 13) i like taking over people that are much older :D
  • Thewaylander
    Thewaylander Posts: 8,594
    I'm too lazy.. non- comp
  • On road I like to stay in the front group, sometimes I like to try to ride across the gap between me and a rider I see in the distance. Part Competitive, part Non-Competitive.
    Off road I like to stay within sight of everyone else....which doesn't always happen. Wish I could be competitive.

    Usually I just like to ride.
    jedster wrote:
    Just off to contemplate my own mortality and inevitable descent into decrepedness.
    FCN 3 or 4 on road depending on clothing
    FCN 8 off road because I'm too old to go racing around.
  • blister pus
    blister pus Posts: 5,780
    I like to chase cars

    otherwise I go at my own pace which is varied interval training a lot of the time.
  • Chaz.Harding
    Chaz.Harding Posts: 3,144
    I ALWAYS try and catch the person infront... 8)

    I can't help it! On road, I'll overtake anyone (or try!) that's infront of me! Sometimes, I'll set my self little targets too, like - overtake that cycling granny by the time she passes the next lamp-post, sort of thing.

    Off road I get bad too... If there's someone infront, I'll do my utmost to catch up. However, I'm polite, so don't force my way past. I LOVE toasting XC rigs uphills (my ride is a 36lbs Intense 6.6). Maybe it's stupid, and childish, but it's a laugh, and I have a good time too!

    It's what it's all about, right?

    8)
    Boo-yah mofo
    Sick to the power of rad
    Fix it 'till it's broke
  • MacAndCheese
    MacAndCheese Posts: 1,944
    When it's on my work commute it's serious competition time! Any other MTB will be laid to waste!!....until I'm a sweaty mess, grasping for air and thanking the heavens that the light turned red so that I could take a breather.... Have also learn that trying to beat the roadies on there home turf is very silly!

    Out on the hills I take a more relaxed approach with one exception: If someone sees me riding up a hill there is no way I am getting off that bike to push until:
    a) I've finished the hill
    b) they can no longer see me :oops:
    c) I've suffered a serious cardiac arrest
    Santa Cruz Chameleon
    Orange Alpine 160
  • VWsurfbum
    VWsurfbum Posts: 7,881

    Usually I just like to ride.

    Thats my philosphy (unless i'm in a race)
    Kazza the Tranny
    Now for sale Fatty
  • GHill
    GHill Posts: 2,402
    supersonic wrote:
    I am off the bike, but on the bike, no.

    Oddly, that describes me too.
  • xtreem
    xtreem Posts: 2,965
    Out on the hills I take a more relaxed approach with one exception: If someone sees me riding up a hill there is no way I am getting off that bike to push until:
    a) I've finished the hill
    b) they can no longer see me :oops:
    c) I've suffered a serious cardiac arrest
    +1. :lol:
  • delcol
    delcol Posts: 2,848
    it depends,
    if it's the urban commute race then i have to give it my all even it means bonking i have to catch and pass that spec in the distance.. even set my self silly challenges to like passing that line of traffic stck behind that slow moving tractor pulling his trailler full of straw..

    on my mtb sometimes i do sometimes i don't it really depends on my mood,. i like it when i get smoked on a climb then catch and pass on the decent especially if its a techy one....
  • I ALWAYS try and catch the person infront... 8)

    I can't help it! On road, I'll overtake anyone (or try!) that's infront of me! Sometimes, I'll set my self little targets too, like - overtake that cycling granny by the time she passes the next lamp-post, sort of thing.

    Off road I get bad too... If there's someone infront, I'll do my utmost to catch up. However, I'm polite, so don't force my way past. I LOVE toasting XC rigs uphills (my ride is a 36lbs Intense 6.6). Maybe it's stupid, and childish, but it's a laugh, and I have a good time too!

    It's what it's all about, right?

    8)


    Sounds very very familiar :D:D
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    im not at all competitive on my mtb, im so rubbish i avoid all other cyclists off road at all costs

    on the road i cant see another rider without trying to ave a go. i normally catch whoever i see but to be fair to those people, they dont even know theyre in a fight until ive gone past. i cannot bear being over taken though, it upsets me for the rest of the day! i got done by a tandem t'other day and i was thredders until i caught thm going up a hill an put the hammer down for the next mile to make sure they couldnt catch me, again, to be fair they didnt even know we were racing but we were, definately.
  • When it comes to taking care of my business I'm very competitive. Biking is a fun, relaxing hobby for me though, so I'm totally non-competitive. I couldn't give a shit if someone is faster than me, biking is the last place i feel the need to "prove" myself :)
  • dave_hill
    dave_hill Posts: 3,877
    Not at all competitive. I have nothing left to prove and like the man said - it's not a race.

    The older I get, the better I was.
    Give a home to a retired Greyhound. Tia Greyhound Rescue
    Help for Heroes
    JayPic
  • Hercule Q
    Hercule Q Posts: 2,781
    i'll bet everyone of you i'm the least competative and i'll beat you at it!!!!


    i do try and catch the person in front (hence i'm on crutches at the mo)

    pinkbike
    Blurring the line between bravery and stupidity since 1986!
  • beski
    beski Posts: 542
    They're a competitive lot over in the Commuting forum, they've got a Silly Commuters Racing thread...

    http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12575770
    Giant Defy 4 2014
    GT Avalanche Expert 2006
    Specialized Hardrock 1989
  • I just go at my own pace. Where I ride mostly I dont see other riders. I have miles of old quarries around my house and can cycle 4 mile loops with only about 20 feet of on public road covered. I have been to golspie once and I caught up with and overtook a family making there way down and I also manged to stay ahead of the guys with the DH bikes who said they would catch me up on the way down. I dont know how much of a head start they gave so cannot say that I was fast LOL! I dont know if I am fast or slow or average I just do my own thing and enjoy it, to add competitiveness to it would take the fun out of it for me. I do it for grin factor.
    AUT PAX AUT BELLUM
    My Kayaking Blog http://naefearjustbeer.wordpress.com/