Coming down to earth

markp80

I went out on one of my first rides the other day and was rather pleased with myself having done 14 miles in just under an hour. The ride included a long steep hill (in my book) which allowed me to get up a fair lick of speed. Anyway I thought tonight I would do the same route but in the opposite direction to give myself a challenge up that hill.

So there I was, pushing hard, digging deep, legs burning, clearly in my world about to win king of the mountains (you get the picture). Then I heard a cheery "hello" and a guy came past me like I was standing still and vanished into the distance in the blink of an eye. I reckon he must have been 70 if he was a day.

So, that puts into perspective just what a beginner I am! Next time out I'll do that hill again then I'll go down and do it a second time. This bug bites hard!!!

Cheers,
MarkP

wishitwasallflat

I reckon I can trump that a guy about 70 breezed past me on a local hill on a folding bike :!: I have also been passed by someone on a MTB on the same hill :shock:

Still I console myself that I am old and fat but less fat than I was and will climb Alpe D'Huez before I die (unless I die climbing it

markp80

Ha ha, fantastic!

kojomojo

Haha I was in exactly the same position the other day, the guy was about 60, which is rather shameful considering I'm 20

navrig

Last year 3 of us were out for our usual Sat morning ride when we came across a guy on a hardtail MTB. We passed him but couldn't lose him. His bike had full nobblies, didn't look a good fit and we had a headwind.

declan1

Navrig wrote:

Last year 3 of us were out for our usual Sat morning ride when we came across a guy on a hardtail MTB. We passed him but couldn't lose him. His bike had full nobblies, didn't look a good fit and we had a headwind.

Same happened to me. A friend and I passed this kid on a MTB - flew past him. 5 mins later he was catching us up again! Was about to be a very awkward moment so I just sprinted down the rest of the hill to avoid it

Peddle Up!

kojomojo wrote:

Haha I was in exactly the same position the other day, the guy was about 60, which is rather shameful considering I'm 20

Why you little...

Bobbinogs

Heh heh, I was out on a ride with my wife a few weeks ago and was looking mint (RS80s on the bike, Castelli kit on me with some nice shades on too). I had gone about 100 yards off the front so was just freewheeling waiting for her to catch up...and then some elderly chap passed me on a pink bike, white shopping basket at the front and he was wearing big flappy shorts and flip flops. I have never been so ashamed in all my life

Frank pole

I had a similar boasting a year ago - thought I was doing ok , steady pace 20 mph then an old boy on a 80s Peugeot with a buckled back wheel and tescos shopping bags on each handle bar goes flying passed me - I put it down to performance enhancing drugs! Should have grassed him up!

ad_snow

I was out on a little jaunt with a friend last week on our single speeds.. just climbed a hill so were easing off slightly and some cocky little 15 year old came past on a MTB no handed eating sweets out of a packet.

Instantly we picked up the pace but took a good 0.5k to catch him up and overtake but it was so embarrassing!

Peddle Up!

My two-pennyworth.

I was stalked by an old guy (older than me!) on a charity ride who I couldn't shake off. When we met at a junction I realised he was on an electric bike good for 25mph! Riders d'un certain age might recognise the feeling.

Graeme Jones

Its a good thing it happens as it motivates me to get better, faster, stronger and fitter. I have a route I complete fairly regularly as it offers hills, flats, down hill stretches etc and some good scenery. There is one particularly tough hill in which I happened to record my best segment on strava and this chap over takes me doing a good 5miles per hour more and not out of breath.
I am going to keep pushing until that hill is nothing and I am looking for steeper!

biscuit959

Yeah I remember starting out last year and people would overtake me all the time, and I came on here and somebody said "one day, you will be doing the overtaking my young padawon, (ok, maybe I added the star wars bit for effect ) but you get the point - he was right, I don't often get passed now and if I do I always tell myself that it must be the bike the other persons riding haha.

So yeah, keep at it and you'll be overtaking people before you know it

markp80

Some great posts!

I'm simultaneously heartened that I'm obviously far from alone and encouraged to stick with it and things may improve!

Cheers,
MarkP

ricklilley

I once stopped at the top of short steep climb halfway round a route i was riding, just for a quick breather and a drink. In the 20/30 seconds i was stopped an old guy on an even older steel framed tourer, appeared from nowhere, asked me if i was ok then dissapeared into the distance. It was all i could do to keep him in sight, never mind catch him up.