Do fast people slow you down?

dhope

Legs felt fresh this morning, left at 6.45, roads weren't too busy, lights were fairly favourable.

End of my road and a guy on a blue Focus goes past pretty quickly. I keep with them from Greenwich until they turn off at Tower Bridge. My normal pace is around 20mph, his was a few mph quicker I reckon, so I didn't attempt the pass as I knew there wouldn't be the difference to pull away.
Ended up getting to work in good time but not as quickly as I felt the effort deserved.

So, the guy was quicker than me but I reckon normally I'd have had quicker sections and slower sections and capping the quick bits made the run slower than it felt. Think that makes sense. Or is the solution to MTFU and try to pass anyway?

daviesee

One day i knew the shower at work wasn't going to be working so I took it easy so as not to be too sweaty.
I averaged 16mph on a leasurely enjoyable ride instead of the usual 18mph slog over 12 miles.

I wondered that day if it was worth the effort. Unfortunately i still have weight to lose, so yes.

notsoblue

It really depends on the traffic. In the mornings my overall average speed never really gets over 15mph. There are a few stretches where I can go flat out but not for very long because of traffic lights or having to filter. Any significant reduction in journey time would involve far more reckless and dangerous cycling. Its just not worth it really! Journey home through Richmond Park is far more interesting

Clarion

The effort's mainly in the stop/start.

dhope

Clarion wrote:

The effort's mainly in the stop/start.

Certainly around town
Point was more that because I was following someone that would normally be a bit faster than me I didn't want to breeze past at 25, fall back, go past, fall back, go past etc., so I mostly just kept pace.

UndercoverElephant

Let me get this right, you drafted someone for four or five miles without taking a turn at the front, and you claim it wasn't really worth the extra effort? The effort was not yours in the least, Sonny Jim.

dhope

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Let me get this right, you drafted someone for four or five miles without taking a turn at the front, and you claim it wasn't really worth the extra effort? The effort was not yours in the least, Sonny Jim.

Didn't draft Kept in sights but with traffic and lights tended to be around half a road behind until the top of Jamaica Rd where I said hello, rode alongside until Tower Bridge, then he turned off.

OrbitRider

There's one roady I've met on a couple of occasions, who's cruising speed is a few mph faster than mine. HOWEVER, his acceleration away from traffic lights is abismal. I've stayed behind him once or twice at lights because I know he's faster than me. However, when the lights go green, he crawls through the junction at walking speed and veeeerrrryyyy slowly accelerates to his cruising speed. In frustration, I often overtake him through the junction, knowing that 500m down the road he'll whizz past me. I think he's scared that if he applies more than a few microstrain to his carbon fibre BB it will snap.

---

prawny

OrbitRider wrote:

There's one roady I've met on a couple of occasions, who's cruising speed is a few mph faster than mine. HOWEVER, his acceleration away from traffic lights is abismal. I've stayed behind him once or twice at lights because I know he's faster than me. However, when the lights go green, he crawls through the junction at walking speed and veeeerrrryyyy slowly accelerates to his cruising speed. In frustration, I often overtake him through the junction, knowing that 500m down the road he'll whizz past me. I think he's scared that if he applies more than a few microstrain to his carbon fibre BB it will snap.

---

You haven't been following me have you? I always pootle fm the lights these days then rag it once i've got the weight rollin'

Clarion

I've found I'm faster away from the lights than most - whether on my fixed or my tourer, but I do top out at about 32kph normally. So if someone seems/looks to be faster than me, I'll normally give them a chance to get away first so they don't have the inconvenience of having to pass me. Of course, if they creep away, I'm going to go...