Related to The Game...

Like a lot of cyclists onboard here I have a tendency to see a cyclist in the distance up the road as a target to a degree and a bit of motivation to keep up a good pace - but only within a fairly comfortable range of riding effort. I've been struck recently by just how ridiculous some Game players look on the road - for example: yesterday riding home at about 7, with lights on in the evening dimness I round a bend and see a guy in long pants with bushy hair on an old racer (suicide levers and creaky cranks). It's obvious that at the speed I'm going I'm going to overtake him so I check over my shoulder a couple of times and when I get my gap between cars I go. As I go past he gives me a furtive glance and once I get back into the cycle lane I'm aware that the squeaking from his bike is louder and faster than it was previously. I glance back around and he's out of the saddle and getting ready to overtake me! He pulls back in front and SLOWS DOWN! Throughout all this I've kept a consistent speed up apart from backing off slightly before overtaking to get my gap in the traffic. As such I'm soon HAVING to overtake him again because he's slower than me. This time he appears to try to block my way by swinging out to the right as I am going past him! WTF??! Now I'm not saying he IS an 'out' member of the Game that dare not speak it's name, but it's pretty obvious that is what is happening in his head! I wanted to scream GET A GRIP! Instead I put the righteous hammer down just to get away from his dangerous behaviour.

I've also had to have a quiet word with a friend who is new to road biking and 'got the rage' after being overtaken by two girls - he channeled his rage into an uphill attack that has in turn led to him having to go buy a knee support and take some time off! He was also complaining about 'idiots on expensive bikes that don't go fast enough'!? I tried to explain that some of those 'idiots' will be much better cyclists than either of us who are keeping to a training schedule based on power and heartrate and others will actually be enjoying themselves rather than worrying about what he's doing! Not sure it's gone in...