Overtaking Road Bikes

freehub

I hate being overtaken, it's rare it happens now but when it does the race is on.

Doombrain

some bloke skinned me a few days back, got ahead then i caught up with him about two miles down the road.

I didn't want to race because i just wanted to get out and get some miles in without hitting the red line so i had to slow down and wait for us to split.

he must of known i was there because he didn't look back once.

I don't know what the point of my story is.

rick_chasey

I thought the done thing was, once you've passed, gesture them to get into your wheel.

Then bide you time, before mustering enough effort to ride them off it.

oldwelshman

mat*46* wrote:

I did a cracker then other day..

Followed this guy but didn't over take, realised a big hill was coming and didn't fancy him coming back past me.. Anyway, got to the hill and flew past and didn't see him again, laughed all the way home.

Yes might have been a cracker but how do you know he had not just done a long ride and may have just been warming down ?
You would not believe how many times this has happened to me when I go over a couple of climbs a couple of miles from my home, and it is usually done by some guy who has just left his house for a long 10 mile ride in the afternoon after I have just done probab;y 90 mile ride
Thats ok, I would not mind but the ones that do this work thier bollocks off to catch me as I am in my lowest gear twiddling, then say nothing as they attempt to ride ahaed then usually blow completely 50 metre up the road.
It seems that anyone on a raod bike is a target for these riders to try and catch them to show how good they are But how come none of these ever go on any club rides or do any races or even sportves for that matter ?
I usually just ride back up to them, say hi, then ride off even if I only have a mile to go, then end up ruinning my warm down

Doombrain

I suggest screaming at the top of your voice "get out of the f***ing way you tool".

this works a treat on the welsh MTB single tracks at 25mph.

freehub

oldwelshman wrote:

mat*46* wrote:

I did a cracker then other day..

Followed this guy but didn't over take, realised a big hill was coming and didn't fancy him coming back past me.. Anyway, got to the hill and flew past and didn't see him again, laughed all the way home.

Yes might have been a cracker but how do you know he had not just done a long ride and may have just been warming down ?
You would not believe how many times this has happened to me when I go over a couple of climbs a couple of miles from my home, and it is usually done by some guy who has just left his house for a long 10 mile ride in the afternoon after I have just done probab;y 90 mile ride
Thats ok, I would not mind but the ones that do this work thier bollocks off to catch me as I am in my lowest gear twiddling, then say nothing as they attempt to ride ahaed then usually blow completely 50 metre up the road.
It seems that anyone on a raod bike is a target for these riders to try and catch them to show how good they are But how come none of these ever go on any club rides or do any races or even sportves for that matter ?
I usually just ride back up to them, say hi, then ride off even if I only have a mile to go, then end up ruinning my warm down

2 lads on a MTB tandem tried to catch me yesterday, good job I was doing 20 mph+ or they'd have ran into me whilst not looking as they rode into the middle of the road. The tandem must have being too heavy

I dunno what it is about overtaking but it does give abit of a buzz if you do it properly and depending who it is. If I overtake a roadie though I always end up tt'ing it for about a mile or so cause I get paranoid and think they're gonna hammer it and catch me up. And I don't appreciate randomers sitting on the back of my wheel.

Gypsum_Fantastic

Smokin Joe wrote:

nstevo wrote:

'don't ever have the disrespect to overtake me on that piece of sh1t again'. Should I not overtake other bikes?

You should have said, "That's the least of your worries son, I've just come from your house where I've shagged your wife".

Then winked at him and rode away.

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding We have a winner. Reply of the year 8)

juankerr

STEFANOS4784 wrote:

Anyhoo from what i can gather etiquette goes;

1. Spot roadie
2. real him in
3.Pass (this must be done with no look of effort on your face)
4.Stop pedalling, look back in a knowing way.
5. Blast off into the sunset.

Don't apply the below technique which I've had the tried on me twice in the last month when I was taking a breather / on a beer run

1. Spot roadie
2. real him in
3.Pass
4. Blast off for about a minute before realising you can't actually cycle at that speed for much longer and that guy is just behind you and doesn't look to be trying too hard.
5. Stop , get off bike and pretend the is some mechanical reason for your sudden decline in speed e.g. Examine pedal/ gears etc
6. Definitely don't make eye contact. Do not respond to cheery hellos or offers of help.

iain_j

Seanos I think you're mistaking me, I don't call myself 'awesome' these days, so certainly not on that day years ago. I wasn't gloating but it was disbelief and some irony that I found myself going past. I've ridden the Wild Wales twice myself since that day so I fully know what they were going through

amaferanga

Gypsum_Fantastic wrote:

Smokin Joe wrote:

nstevo wrote:

'don't ever have the disrespect to overtake me on that piece of sh1t again'. Should I not overtake other bikes?

You should have said, "That's the least of your worries son, I've just come from your house where I've shagged your wife".

Then winked at him and rode away.

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding We have a winner. Reply of the year 8)

Not if the guy doesn't have a wife. Then you'd look like twat of the year :roll:

amaferanga

Seanos wrote:

iain_j wrote:

I've just remembered. Years ago I was riding through Betws-y-Coed on my pannier-laden BSO, wearing civvy shorts and trainers, and I rode past dozen upon dozen of roadies who I later found out were on the Wild Wales Challenge ride. I couldn't figure out why they were ambling along so slowly but they must have been mighty disrespected

Perhaps they were just out to challenge themselves on a challenge ride because it was a fun thing to do and they didn't feel the need to spend 5 years training to elite cat status to do it? Maybe the fresh air, camerarderie, scenery and moderate exercise were sufficient? Maybe they were doing it for charity and hadn't done much cycling before? Maybe they were middle-aged guys out to lose weight and get fit? But maybe they just weren't as awesome as you?

I think a lot of people are mistaking 'roadies' with pro cyclists. The former are people who like to ride road bikes and in terms of ability have absolutely nothing in common. So when you are gloating about your roadie scalp, you might want to consider that whilst they might be ATGNI, they also could have been:

15 or 75
A newbie
Recovering from an injury
Finishing a hilly 100 miler
Out for a recovery spin
Heart rate zone training
Out for a leisure ride and enjoying the view
Just not very good but enjoying themselves

I like some road rivalry as much as the next man but I've always thought gloating about a scalp is just a bit crap, whether that's commuters vs roadies or vice versa. It only counts if you go up against people who have trained for the same event and even then bragging about winning isn't very sporting.

+1

There are obviously a lot of cyclists out there with issues. If you think you're fast then race. Overtaking a roadie proves nothing.

Ben6899

Some people have real problems.

If I get overtaken, then I just suck it up and put it down to needing to train harder OR the fact I'm on a Monday evening spin out after work (happened the other night when I was out with my dad - no problem).

I tend to overtake a lot of cyclists - commuters, tandems, MTBs, other roadies etc and don't really think much of it. They're either not trying, or they're recovering [from injury] or I'm simply a 'better' rider. Doesn't count for anything on a Saturday morning ride when the only real opposition is my highly critical self!

There was one guy (a roadie) - who I haven't seen this season yet - who I used to bump into and enjoy 'sparring' with... I would make the most of my light frame to take him on the hills and when it flattened out, he would use his superior power to go past me. I hope he saw it for the bit of fun I did... I got the impression he did when we spoke now and then.

Enjoy your cycling and don't worry about anyone else.

soveda

One thing I'd suggest for commuting (should probably go in commuting but hey) is to learn to whistle equally well on the in breath as the out breath. This means that you can ride your bike effortlessly whistling a happy tune however hard you are actually breathing (within limits). It's really useful if you ride on tow paths because it's advance warning of your imminent arrival and isn't as bad as a bell. If you can keep it up uphill it's most disconcerting for other riders.
You also get bloody good breath control!

Squillinossett

amaferanga wrote:

Seanos wrote:

iain_j wrote:

I've just remembered. Years ago I was riding through Betws-y-Coed on my pannier-laden BSO, wearing civvy shorts and trainers, and I rode past dozen upon dozen of roadies who I later found out were on the Wild Wales Challenge ride. I couldn't figure out why they were ambling along so slowly but they must have been mighty disrespected

Perhaps they were just out to challenge themselves on a challenge ride because it was a fun thing to do and they didn't feel the need to spend 5 years training to elite cat status to do it? Maybe the fresh air, camerarderie, scenery and moderate exercise were sufficient? Maybe they were doing it for charity and hadn't done much cycling before? Maybe they were middle-aged guys out to lose weight and get fit? But maybe they just weren't as awesome as you?

I think a lot of people are mistaking 'roadies' with pro cyclists. The former are people who like to ride road bikes and in terms of ability have absolutely nothing in common. So when you are gloating about your roadie scalp, you might want to consider that whilst they might be ATGNI, they also could have been:

15 or 75
A newbie
Recovering from an injury
Finishing a hilly 100 miler
Out for a recovery spin
Heart rate zone training
Out for a leisure ride and enjoying the view
Just not very good but enjoying themselves

I like some road rivalry as much as the next man but I've always thought gloating about a scalp is just a bit crap, whether that's commuters vs roadies or vice versa. It only counts if you go up against people who have trained for the same event and even then bragging about winning isn't very sporting.

+1

There are obviously a lot of cyclists out there with issues. If you think you're fast then race. Overtaking a roadie proves nothing.

Hit the nail on the head, I do enjoy a bit a silly racing, when you meet people when out, but when I have overtaken, or been overtaken, there have always been at least a morning or afternoon passed wither way!

I think people get too hung up on getting dropped!

mroli

Heh. I love cycling round Richmond Park - if you're doing a 3 lap blast, you're going a hell of a lot quicker than the bloke who is doing 15 laps for fitness. I think the rule of thumb is enjoy overtaking, but don't get too smug - there is always someone quicker/fresher/luckier than you!

Abdoujaparov

This whole overtaking / avoiding being overtaken malarkey can ruin a nice recovery ride! Getting better at letting people go when I'm taking it easy, but must admit I've turned a few easy rides into tempo efforts in the past! Not good for training at all (takes the edge off your next fast ride).

OldSkoolKona

skinson wrote:

Oooh, personal abuse. Nice.

Do it again and you're banned.

Ah well! you do what you have to do, Me I stand by original post.










P.S. don't make idle threats..put up or shut up.

I reckon Skinson is from the Department of Internet Hate(warning, language is a little colourful :shock: )

mcj78

amaferanga wrote:

Gypsum_Fantastic wrote:

Smokin Joe wrote:

nstevo wrote:

'don't ever have the disrespect to overtake me on that piece of sh1t again'. Should I not overtake other bikes?

You should have said, "That's the least of your worries son, I've just come from your house where I've shagged your wife".

Then winked at him and rode away.

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding We have a winner. Reply of the year 8)

Not if the guy doesn't have a wife. Then you'd look like fool of the year :roll:

Then you come back with "in that case I just shagged your burglar then..." there's always a comeback, then cup your hand to your ear & pretend you can't hear them back there - for added points produce victorian ear-trumpet & call them Rene in an old-lady style French accent.

tigerben

I was out yesterday on a long coast road with a decent tail wind... was happily cruising at 25 mph ish and got absolutely canned by another roadie doing probably 30 plus. I generally ride solo - but quite fancied the challenge so picked up the pace and followed the guy for about 10 miles or so... and overtook him about a mile before i was leaving the coast road... I had to hit max power to pass him and it probably was only a silly ego thing to show the guy that i could match his pace. Unfortunately he had another level in his legs and overtook me about 100 m later - and disappeared into the sunset. It amused me and depressed me in equal measure! (although in my defence i like to think that perhaps he had only just started out that day whilst I had riden 10 miles into the head wind - but who knows as he did not stop to chat.)

oldwelshman

tigerben wrote:

I was out yesterday on a long coast road with a decent tail wind... was happily cruising at 25 mph ish and got absolutely canned by another roadie doing probably 30 plus. I generally ride solo - but quite fancied the challenge so picked up the pace and followed the guy for about 10 miles or so... and overtook him about a mile before i was leaving the coast road... I had to hit max power to pass him and it probably was only a silly ego thing to show the guy that i could match his pace. Unfortunately he had another level in his legs and overtook me about 100 m later - and disappeared into the sunset. It amused me and depressed me in equal measure! (although in my defence i like to think that perhaps he had only just started out that day whilst I had riden 10 miles into the head wind - but who knows as he did not stop to chat.)

Fancied what challenge? Did he say? "try to catch me" as he passed you?
When you chased and followed him for 10 miles did you speak to him before you passed him?
If it was me I would have caught him and just mentioned I was going to try to keep up with him, not try to pass him, this is what pixxes people off, going balls out to catch him, suck wheel for ages, then try to pass before you turn off? Why wheres the challenge?

If you really want a challenge you should have asked him if it was ok to draft him and maybe even push through to the front and let him draft if you were so keen to pass him.
Maybe it is becuase you generally ride alone.

Bunneh

I got owned by a guy 13 years my senior and his wife who was a little older than him. Oddly I didn't feel even remotely bothered, I knew my limit and they'd been at it for years (cycling). I do around 20 miles a day, expanding that distance each time, so I'll soon improve and be as good as them.

Always gonna be someone faster

Personally I don't believe there's any point taking on anyone who's being insulting. I know people who deliberately insult to get a reaction then they can get into a fight (nout worse than 2 cyclists fighting - we've all seen the footage...).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwKaeWkYbqk

Add said person to the Idiot list and carry on.

tigerben

@ oldwelshman - the challenge was that he was a better rider than me so I wanted to see if i could push myself and match his pace. Which i did.

I never said I 'sucked' his wheel. I kept a good few lengths back for the majority of the way so had no advantage from his draft. There was a good tail wind so there was no need to get close.

As I said i overtook him about a mile before i turned off - giving him plenty of time to retake me before i turned off. I could have overtaken him earlier as he did slow at points - but did not as my aim was to try and match his pace and learn from him. only overtook at the end as a way of saying hello.

On the both occassions he passed me he had his turbo on and did not say a word. why should i act any differently and why should i expect him to act any differently?

It is not as if i was trying to prove i was in any way better - merely that i had kept pace. I did not try speaking to him as the only time i was close enough was when i was passing him (as i was not on his wheel). any attempt at conversation at 25/30 mph with a tail wind is most likley going to get lost in translation - and more likley than not get wrongly interpreted.

Chip \'oyler

Jeez there are some pathetic posts on here.

If you all like 'racing' people and 'overtaking' people when you're out on a commute or ride I suggest you pin a number on your back and do some proper racing.

If you haven't got the balls to do it then shut the fook up and stop gloating when you happen to pass a 'roadie'.

guilliano

I overtook some old chap who'd just left the pub on a BSO with flat tyres and a disconnected back brake earlier whilst out checking my bike was OK after servicing it. He must have been doing at least 4mph!!!

Am I a hero?

rake

no.

tigerben

Apologies - i was not intending to gloat or try and show off in my post.

I was just wanted to share a vaguely connected story trying to convey the postive buzz i felt from being able to match the pace of a better rider (allbeit only over a relatively short distance).

cheehee

nstevo wrote:

I'm a newbie to this biking thing and recently bought a Trek 7.5FX for my 11 mile commute to work. I'm reasonably fit, so can pelt along at a fair whack. I'm assuming that there must be some etiquette for people on hybrids overtaking lycra clad people on roadbikes - as I did it yesterday and the comment I got at the next set of red lights was 'don't ever have the disrespect to overtake me on that piece of sh1t again'. Should I not overtake other bikes?

Sounds like a load of b0llocks to me.

The same was posted in commuting

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... sc&start=0

Sad

:roll:

guilliano

Tigerben..... hope you didn't think I was having a dig. Just taking the wee wee out of myself

Stone Glider

I am a fat, old man. When the weather improves i shall be wearing lycra with the patterns of an old trade team (Liberty Seguros) or perhaps a KoM polka dot shirt. These items of clothing merely act, for me, as a token of esteem, or a joke. The vast majority of people who I pass will simply see a fat, old man in a brightly coloured shirt, riding a bicycle. It doesn't matter. Nor does the OP's set of assumptions (not that I believe the story) the world rolls on anyway.

Enjoy your time on the bike. You are not in a competition, except with yourself. That is the great thing about cycling.

milese

The thing with overtaking is that you know its a race before your victim.

If I see any cyclist up ahead, whether thats someone lycra clad on an s works or someone in a yellow highway jacket on a 1990's coventry eagle, I put the burners on a bit and hunt them down.

They carry on ambing along, much like I was before I noticed them in the distance, and dont know we're racing until I've got the jump on them and gone.

When I've been over taken I always make sure that I up the pace and cling on for dear life (with the attempted effortless look), so they know they only had me because I wasn't paying attention.