Being overtaken

Fursty Ferret

I don't mind being overtaken. I really don't. It's only logical that seeing as a large number of cyclists are faster than me, that it will happen, and who cares.

But if you are going to overtake me, what on earth is the point of straining every sinew to get past, knees pumping, out of the saddle, then immediately sit in front of me and go nowhere. It means that I now have to overtake you just to maintain my average, which makes it look like I want to race (which I don't) which starts it all off again.

This is not the biggest problem in my life, btw. Just like to reassure you of that.

rick_chasey

'tis very irritating.

Solution of course is to man up and ride faster so they can't make that initial pass .

declan1

If I catch up with a slow rider, I think VERY carefully about overtaking. I calculate (using a very complex algorithm) if they could catch me up again if I did overtake, and I decide whether I can overtake really quickly or not. I don't try my hardest to overtake everyone, as that would make me look like an utter ****.

hipshot

This usually happens on hills for some reason; they commit to the overtake; then get caught out by the gradient and drop into an easy gear in front of you. Forcing you to change right down or speed up and overtake them, which makes me feel like the worst kind of cyclepath hero.

Fursty Ferret

hipshot wrote:

This usually happens on hills for some reason; they commit to the overtake; then get caught out by the gradient and drop into an easy gear in front of you. Forcing you to change right down or speed up and overtake them, which makes me feel like the worst kind of cyclepath hero.

Agreed. Happened yesterday exactly like that. And seeing as my route was constantly punctuated by small but sharp inclines I kept having to back off to avoid looking like a prick. I suppose the logical thing to do is just stop for five minutes, have a drink and then carry on unencumbered by such worries. That's what a mature adult would do...

karlth

Doesn't happen to me. If the rider's on a MTB or hybrid I generally sail straight past them with no need to strain; if they're on another road bike they generally pass me without much difficulty. I must sit somewhere between the average speeds of each.

danowat

I get this when doing intervals sometimes, blitz past someone during the interval working hard and pushing it, and then they re-pass me on the recovery bit.

I'd imagine that gives a similar impression to the rider being passed........

ricey155

best to say hi when they go bye while there out of breath pumping hard

personally id go for the re overtake and sprint up the hill see if they have it

t4tomo

But do remember if you overtake or reovertake - never look back.

I went past a mountain biker up a hill and I could here him speed up and try to get on my wheel, took ages before I could legitametely spot I'd dropped him without being clocked for looking back.

On the plus side I set a cracking Strava segment time!

Mad_Malx

You are in good company: JRod has had the same problem with Bertie over the last few days.

thescouselander

I had a funny overtaking incident this morning. There's a hill on the way to work which is a bit of a slow burner. Its quite shallow but gets steeper near the top. Anyway, I was pootling along enjoying the weather when this guy on a mountain bike flies past.

Of course near the top he started to slow down while I maintained the same speed all the way up. As I caught up he had clearly over done it and looked as if he was about to die. I just gave him a nod and a cheery "good morning!" as I cruised passed. I think he was a bit embarrassed after that as he didn't seem to want to catch up to me as a waited at the red light down the road.

♠ChumBucket♠

I ride a MTB on road & I've had some funny ones!

Road bikers definitely DO NOT like being shown a good engine room!!

Passed one as I had no choice, I already had 30 miles on the clock too. 3/4 mins later, this same fat guy on his road bike came back past me, stood up, sweating, coughing, farting the lot! Thought he was going to pass out! As soon as he got passed me, he pulled right in front & pulled in to a side road to recover! WTF? :shock:

Another one passed me (I was day-dreaming) so I stayed with him (on his expensive racer, with full lycra set), he couldn't stop looking back & then started to conk out & again, he also pulled in to a side road! :?

There seems to be an air of utter shock when a MTB is involved, I see the utter panic kick in!!

Amusing though! :twisted:

springtide9

That is annoying. The simple solution is to ignore it and not let it ruin your day.

I've always thought that if you are going to overtake, you have to do it meaningfully and have enough in you to keep up the new pace at least for a few minutes, before settling into your preferred pace. If you don't have enough to do this, you should accept your new pace. Same goes if you've just been overtaken and they slow down.

I swear that wearing a Camelpak on a roadie increases the likelihood of this happening by about 1000%.

RoadMeridaBen

Stop riding so slowly, set a good pace and its problem solved :P

PlymouthSam

I dont mind if people overtake me, fair one if they are quicker and fitter but like you said to have to pass them is just daft. I havent had the roadie long enough yet to be in this situation but used to get it quite often on my MTB.

The worst one actually was my female general manager, i left 5mins ish earlier then her, she SHOT past me on a hill, and then hung back as she was hanging so had to take her lol

Paul E

♠ChumBucket♠ wrote:

I ride a MTB on road & I've had some funny ones!

Road bikers definitely DO NOT like being shown a good engine room!!

Passed one as I had no choice, I already had 30 miles on the clock too. 3/4 mins later, this same fat guy on his road bike came back past me, stood up, sweating, coughing, farting the lot! Thought he was going to pass out! As soon as he got passed me, he pulled right in front & pulled in to a side road to recover! WTF? :shock:

Another one passed me (I was day-dreaming) so I stayed with him (on his expensive racer, with full lycra set), he couldn't stop looking back & then started to conk out & again, he also pulled in to a side road! :?

There seems to be an air of utter shock when a MTB is involved, I see the utter panic kick in!!

Amusing though! :twisted:

Some people on road bikes have good engine rooms too you know, we are not all fat newbie shiny bike owners ;-)

NITR8s

How about this example of what happend the other day. I was trying out my local 10 mile TT so was cycling as fast I could, I noticed a guy going the otherway and after turning round at the round about I caught up with him at about mile 9 and he must at one point been a couple of miles ahead of me. I therefore overtook him and kept to the same pace as i was going at. He then draft me and cycled faster to overtake me just before I turned left and he continued on.

Now there is no way he stayed at the same pace as he tagged on to me and obviously pushed as hard as he could to overtake. I would have easily overtook him again, if I was still heading in the same direction.

This is an example of it working the otherway.

rolf_f

Paul E wrote:

Some people on road bikes have good engine rooms too you know, we are not all fat newbie shiny bike owners ;-)

Indeed. Besides, the bike doesn't make that much difference. 5 minutes in half an hour MTB to road bike. Chances are, if I can overtake another rider on my road bike, I'll still overtake that rider on my MTB.

Pross

It's a pain in the butt when they do that - similar experience here

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40088&t=12875586

springtide9

A month or so ago a guy came past me just after a traffic light junction heading in the same direction, looking young and pretty fit in his club outfit, where I had the dilemma that it was the start of my last interval (obviously a Strava segment)

He was going a decent pace, but obviously this was a 5 min interval so was obviously that I needed to race past him. You have to do what you have to do, so I sprinted past him at speed and he immediately decided to follow.

So we hurtled at speed down the segment, having to sprint out of the saddle over the crests of the undulating road, and I hear that had was following close behind me the entire time.
The segment/interval finishes at a set of traffic lights which always seem to be red, so we both pulled up at the lights and I was sure he was going to make a comment. Before he spoke I just said to him (while grasping for breath), "Sorry about that, last interval and Strava segment before home..". He laughed, and replied, "And that was a pretty decent pace.". As we pulled off I just said, "After you.."

Now it did make me wonder whether he thought I was trying to race him or whether he just wanted to join in the fun. The way I felt was that it doesn't really matter, neither of us had numbers on our backs so it was not an official race. He might have had 100 miles in his legs or might have just left the house. Similarly, I might have had 100 miles in my legs or been fresh.
It seems to me that if you are doing any specific training, you just do what you have to do and ignore what others think... but if there are natural stops, just drop in a hint that you are on a specific type of 'training ride' if appropriate (if you think there might be any misunderstandings of what's going on!)

DavidJB

Can't remember the last time I was overtaken

bottom_bracket

I pulled over the other day to check my front QR was tight and as I was setting off I noticed an MTB approaching from behind. About 200 yards down the road there is a crossroads where you have to give way, I stopped to see if it was clear and the MTB shot past me right over the main A road. Luckily for him it was clear and I started off again, only to see him repeatedly check to make sure I wasn't overtaking him. What a nutter!

slowondefy2

If I'm coming up on someone slowly I'll usually match speed and chat for a minute or two, then if I decide to go on ahead I usually leave with a friendly, "you'll probably catch me again on the next hill!". I do most of my cycling in rural regions so I pass relatively few people.

junglist_matty

Simple: Don't get overtaken

springtide9

DavidJB wrote:

Can't remember the last time I was overtaken

That must mean either...
a) you ride where there are very few clubs
Or
b) you are an elite rider.

slowbike

springtide9 wrote:

DavidJB wrote:

Can't remember the last time I was overtaken

That must mean either...
a) you ride where there are very few clubs
Or
b) you are an elite rider.

Nah - he just rides with his eyes closed so he can't see the overtake ....

Actually, thinking about it - can't remember the last time I was overtaken - but all the cyclists I see seem to be going the otherway ...

Pross

springtide9 wrote:

DavidJB wrote:

Can't remember the last time I was overtaken

That must mean either...
a) you ride where there are very few clubs
Or
b) you are an elite rider.

Or suffering from short-term memory loss! Last people to overtake me were an attractive mother and daughter riding hybrids when I was racing on Sunday (I had done nearly 200 miles at the time and was so knackered I would have even turned down a request off them to go into a field and be the meat in a sandwich had they made it!!).

wheezee

♠ChumBucket♠ wrote:

Road bikers definitely DO NOT like being shown a good engine room!!

Engine room? Is that a euphemism of some kind? :shock:

I can't believe what I read on here sometimes.

♠ChumBucket♠

wheezee wrote:

♠ChumBucket♠ wrote:

Road bikers definitely DO NOT like being shown a good engine room!!

Engine room? Is that a euphemism of some kind? :shock:

I can't believe what I read on here sometimes.

It's the bit where all the required power is produced.

Hey, I've no problem, I just ride my MTB equipped with road tyres. Some road bike riders seem puzzled by it! :P

bigharj

So it's not just confined to motorway driving!

Probably the same people but on 2 wheels instead.

PlymouthSam

I overtook my first fellow roadie yesterday, i was happy lol