Being overtaken.

Shark Sandwich

It seems some people on this forum think that everytime someone overtakes them that the other rider is some kind of demon who is hell bent on personally humiltiating them. And they have to justify themselves to the forum (I was at the end of a 300 miler, he had just left the house etc). Do people really think like ths?

I don't like being passed but I have never really thought once that the other person was showing off or or deliberalty trying to prove themselves. And if were it wouldn't bother me, we are all at different levels. And a quick pass doesn't really prove anything

Maybe assume they are just doing their own ride before passing judgement! It might save you some stressing!

NITR8s

What I hate more is people moaning about people moaning about being overtaken.

You wait I bet a troll is going to respond, moaning about me moaning about, you moaning about people moaning about being overtaken.

With all seriousness you are correct, you are on your ride and dont need to prove anything to anyone else. The worst thing is the otherday my cycle computer was playing up, so I trying to fix it while cycling along. This guy comes passed and says hi, swiftly after this I fix my computer and get back up to speed and overtake him. I felt that I had to justify why I was going slow and why I was now overtaking him, so I cycled along side and moaned about my cycle computer before moving on. Sad isnt it.

simonhead

I think you have got it wrong, its not the being overtaken its the style of being overtaken, you are at the end of a long ride, pleased as punch with yourself and 2 miles from the end you get Mr All the gear bombing past you, that in itself is not a problem its the audible snigger that you hear as they go past or the fact that he races past and you catch him up again because that one turn of speed is all he can manage.

ilovegrace

If you have a competative streak in you it will bother you ,if you dont it wont.
Me? I have and it does !!

slowbike

Please - can someone come along and overtake me - not too fast - I just want to catch a wheel once in a while ...
it's not as though I overtake everyone else - there is nobody else riding (at the time I'm riding)

Stewpot407

I actually like to be overtaken. I see it as a bit of company... for 2 seconds!

chrisaonabike

I'd quite like to see an age distribution for this topic.

Like, is anybody that actually gives a sh1t about being overtaken while out for a ride, over say 25?

I mean seriously... IMO a) if you give a monkeys then you need your head examined, and b) if you imagine you can know anything at all about what goes on inside their head as they go past you, you need it examined even more.

I like being able to catch someone up, since it happens so rarely, and it means that I'm not (unusually) the slowest. When they all thunder past me on the hills, I think 'respect'. And if I catch them up again, so what? There was a much bigger guy came past me several times on the flat recently, then I went past him several times on the hills. Big deal, not.

And having a competitive streak is irrelevant. I'm plenty competitive, if I can compete. And if I lose when I should have won, it bothers me plenty. Mostly it's obvious when I stand a chance, and if I lose fair and square, it just reminds me I have work to do. It doesn't 'bother' me as such. I reckon that those that it bothers simply don't like being reminded that they're not yet as good as they'd like to be.

davep1

I must confess, after a ride last night, with a tail wind along Worthing sea front, I was doing 22 mph and feeling very smug and strong and like I was invincible...and a feller overtook me. He said "hello" as he passed and I couldn't help it I said "You bastard" !!! Not my finest moment of cycling camaraderie!

He did meet a large group at Worthing pier, was on a much better bike and I had already done 30 miles... :roll: :oops:

lakesluddite

Doesn't bother me in the slightest - it never happens!

Only joking - if I thought there were no better/quicker/stronger riders out there than me, I would be in for a massive shock. Just looking at the finishing times of the last Sportive I did would prove otherwise. As long as they say hello on their way past, as I always do whenever I overtake anyone.

shortcuts

I can't see what the problem is. I am always being overtaken. At my age it is expected. I get my own back when they stop for a roadside leak

Skinner2k3

I caught, passed and cycled away from a chap on a folding city bike. But not before he had a damn good go at keeping up judging by the gear changes and weazing I could hear behind me. Fair play though, he must have only had 20" wheels on that bike

No idea if it bothered him or not!

sloppyschleckonds

ilovegrace wrote:

If you have a competative streak in you it will bother you ,if you dont it wont.
Me? I have and it does !!

If you have a competitive streak in you, you probably already race and don't give a flying fcuk.

Unless its in a race.

navrig

DaveP1 wrote:

......

..... was on a much better bike ... :roll: :oops:

It's not about the bike, didn't you know that?

gpreeves

I really don't mind being overtaken, all it does is demonstrate how much scope there is for me to improve.

saprkzz

LakesLuddite wrote:

Doesn't bother me in the slightest - it never happens!

Only joking

You say "only joking"... I never see anyone behind me, I think the only people that have ever overtaken me are team/club mates or if i have been stood still, Not trying to make out I am "Leeeet", but I never have people close me down on my rides!.. maybe no one else rides in my area! lol :roll: :roll:

It wouldnt bother me if anyone did, and i certainly wouldnt chase them down.

slowbike

saprkzz wrote:

but I never have people close me down on my rides!.. maybe no one else rides in my area! lol :roll: :roll:

It wouldnt bother me if anyone did, and i certainly wouldnt chase them down.

Similar here - I'd love some company for my commute - but it's not to be ...
Although I did have someone overtake me on the climb last week (excuse time - I was on a CX with rack and panniers - he was on a roadie) ... after a quick "hello" I just asked if he minded if I tagged on his wheel for a bit ... which he said he was quite happy about ... it got me up the hill a bit quicker and 1/2 a mile down the otherside I overtook and pulled for a bit which he seemed quite happy about too (as there was a good headwind) - we then parted as he went up another hill - I was happy to recover on the relative flat!

chrisaonabike

Skinner2k3 wrote:

I caught, passed and cycled away from a chap on a folding city bike. But not before he had a damn good go at keeping up judging by the gear changes and weazing I could hear behind me. Fair play though, he must have only had 20" wheels on that bike

I got caught and passed by a chap on a folding city bike. I tried my damndest to catch him up but I couldn't.

I have to confess, that DID bother me a bit. :oops:

AchillesLeftKnee

I freely admit that I don't like being overtaken by large groups. They're the longest thing on the road, and like most long, multi-legged creatures, the brain's at the front end and the rest just follows it around rather mindlessly. On a par with horse boxes, I'd say.

antfly

I am over 25 and competitive. If someone overtakes you can usually tell if they are going their normal speed or trying to gain some kudos or prove a point, they are unfriendly for a start, in which case I will sit on them until they are exhausted and broken and have snot coming out of their nose, and are relieved when I pass. Then I look back and they have usually come to a standstill.

Bozman

It brings me back down to reality. I was on a mission the other week and travelling at a fair pace on the flat when this train of four guys passed me at an even fairer pace, there was a moment of depression quickly followed by a left turn and a trip into the hills, you won't improve unless you push yourself, then again I am 45 and not 25.

There will always be someone quicker.

chrisaonabike

antfly wrote:

I am over 25 and competitive. If someone overtakes you can usually tell if they are going their normal speed or trying to gain some kudos or prove a point, they are unfriendly for a start

How do you think you know enough about what's going on in their head to work all this out?

I imagine this sort of stuff myself sometimes, but I usually realise immediately that it's really all in my head.

There are times I've overtaken someone, then realised that although I could go a bit faster than when I was behind them, I couldn't stay ahead despite trying. So then obviously I've slowed down and they've gone past me, leaving me dying behind.

But there was nothing unfriendly or anything else in the original overtake. These days I'm a bit more circumspect about overtaking

antfly

Call it roadie's instinct.

chrisaonabike

antfly wrote:

Call it roadie's paranoia.

FTFY

djhermer

I've wrestled with this for years. I overtake more often than i'm overtaken now, but the latter still occurs. Last night for instance. I was practicing the first 5 miles of a local 10 mile TT, into a slight headwind, thinking i was doing OK, when someone came past me. It annoyed me. It's irrational, childish and pointless, but as i said, i've wrestled it for years and there's no point denying it or pretending it doesn't bother me.

It doesn't bother me enough to chase them back down and get into a ding dong of wheel sucking and taking the front for the next few miles (although it has done in the past), but it annoys me. Even if i'm on a recovery ride and i've 3 hrs in. It's an instinct thing - as someone said earlier, it's an innate competitive streak. I don't buy that if you're competitive you should be racing. I don't race, but i'm competitive in everything i do (sport, business, leisure). It's not always an attractive trait, but if it's there it's very hard to suppress. And that's just it, i've learnt to control it - i.e. not chase down, make myself look stupid etc. But it's still there. No point denying it.

On the flip side though, when i overtake, i do wonder if i've completely innocently narked someone - i.e. if that someone thinks like me. Makes me feel quite guilty!

Bikes, blokes, testosterone and competition. Would be daft if we all casually accepted being overtaken all of the time.

Jon_1976

You can't win on this forum. You're a bastard if you hang onto someone's wheel and you're a bastard for overtaking

I've overtook a few people, I'm the most uncompetitive person here. If I'm going at a comfortably sustainable and someone in front is just chilling out, what's the problem with overtaking? I'm not doing it to prove a point.

I've been overtaken a lot. Young, old, overweight, skinny, heavy bike, light bike, all have gone past me at some point. Doesn't bother me in the slightest.

RiderUk

I was over taken recently, the rider rode past me said “hello” wishing me a pleasant day.
About a mile or so later on a hill, I over took the rider returning the compliment.
Road cycling “ such a pleasant and good mannered sport”

Jon_1976

RiderUk wrote:

I was over taken recently, the rider rode past me said “hello” wishing me a pleasant day.
About a mile or so later on a hill, I over took the rider returning the compliment.
Road cycling “ such a pleasant and good mannered sport”

good stuff.

I had one where I went past on a bloke on a climb, said alright. Few minutes later, he went past and commented that I was being a wimp for using the small chainring I was at the end of a hilly (for me) 60 mile route and was too knackered to give a witty retort. All good fun

chrisaonabike

djhermer wrote:

It annoyed me. It's irrational, childish and pointless, but as i said, i've wrestled it for years and there's no point denying it or pretending it doesn't bother me.

This is all perfectly normal - perhaps I wasn't clear enough. It bothers me too in the sense that I wish I was faster. But that's about me, not about the guy that's just overtaken me.

However, what is not rational, or justified, is what I read so often in these parts, where someone that gets overtaken then imputes some kind of bad attitude to the overtaker - usually groundlessly. It's just pathetic, like a child whining "it's not fair" whenever anything happens it doesn't like.

In general folks - if you're overtaken and start wasting your energy thinking bad things about the guy that's just gone past, you'd be better off meditating on Rule 5 instead.

Trust me, I get overtaken more than most.

djhermer

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

djhermer wrote:

It annoyed me. It's irrational, childish and pointless, but as i said, i've wrestled it for years and there's no point denying it or pretending it doesn't bother me.

This is all perfectly normal - perhaps I wasn't clear enough. It bothers me too in the sense that I wish I was faster. But that's about me, not about the guy that's just overtaken me.

However, what is not rational, or justified, is what I read so often in these parts, where someone that gets overtaken then imputes some kind of bad attitude to the overtaker - usually groundlessly. It's just pathetic, like a child whining "it's not fair" whenever anything happens it doesn't like.

In general folks - if you're overtaken and start wasting your energy thinking bad things about the guy that's just gone past, you'd be better off meditating on Rule 5 instead.

Trust me, I get overtaken more than most.

You're right. I'm annoyed at myself. Absolutely. Not the person who's overtaken me. The key is channeling this into the continual will to improve and to keep going in the cold, wet, dark, windy months (all 12 of them then)..

amaferanga

On the subject of proving a point I've had a couple of weird ones. First was a guy who I passed, neither of us going particularly fast, who then upped his pace and when we crested the hill he suddenly appeared by my side to beat me to the top. He never said a word and dropped back straight after.

Then another similar one. Passed the guy, I turn of a mile or so up the road and I'm coasting along cos I'm nearly home. And he did the same - came along side me, got a wheel length on me, never said a word or even looked at me and then just dropped back.

Bit sad really. Both guys in their 50's. Maybe it's an age thing or a Lancashire thing?

silverpigeon

It's no use any of you pretending that you don't care.

It's a race.

You know it. I know it. And the guy that you've just overtaken/been overtaken by - knows it as well.