Road Cycling - the chase down...

when I'm out riding and I see someone out ahead of me on a bike....I just have to give chase...there is something inside of me that makes me do it....I can be dog tired and i get a rush of adrenaline and off I go......Yesterday I'm about 8 miles into my ride and I see the prey about 100-150 yards ahead....I put the hammer down...I catch up...its a lady in her sixties on an old schwinn 10 -speed.......felt kinda stupid....but dammit I beat her......anyone else act this way...is it a guy thing????????





kern

when I'm out riding and I see someone out ahead of me on a bike....I just have to give chase...there is something inside of me that makes me do it....I can be dog tired and i get a rush of adrenaline and off I go......Yesterday I'm about 8 miles into my ride and I see the prey about 100-150 yards ahead....I put the hammer down...I catch up...its a lady in her sixties on an old schwinn 10 -speed.......felt kinda stupid....but dammit I beat her......anyone else act this way...is it a guy thing????????kern

:D guffawed tea-spray on my monitor :D
uhhhh yeah, the carrot on the string 100 yards ahead always gives me a surge of adrenaline too.
I have to exercise full restraint if I'm trying to take it easy on a stretch of my ride and hold back.
it's a great motivator when you're running out of steam and you see the rider small in the distance up the road, it can be just the ticket to pull out the resources and turn the ride from hard to fun.
I adore those busy weekend mornings when there are perfect increments of cyclists out. not to say I'm always that way, that would be bad, right? :rolleyes: :D (so I guess it's not just a guy thing)

anyone else act this way...is it a guy thing????????
kern

When I commute I'm often in a sluggish mood, just barely pedalling enough to get home.

Except last night.

I've seen this guy before. He's a few years older and riding a lightweight road bike, and running every light, stop sign, and school bus signal in sight. I get ahead of him on my slick-tired MTB, but after a few blocks of me coming to complete stops, he catches me, usually while I'm at a stop.

So I made it my mission to keep catching him.

At one red light, I saw him get ahead of me by about 4 blocks. I obeyed the 6 stop signs and 2 red lights between us and caught him again!

His response: "Nice day for riding". Then he jumped the red light and took off. He turned off a couple blocks later and the chase was over.

......anyone else act this way...is it a guy thing????????


This is the reason why I ride.

I love chasing "rabbits" especially the one's that make stupid comments or cut me off when they pass.
Words to live by : Never talk trash to someone you think can't catch you. - You'll get proven wrong more often than not.

Ok. ok.. I am NOT like that.. most of the time.. but last week..

We were riding in the bay area hills and it was quite windy and my friend and I take turns leading, making a hole in the wind.. when we get to a good long down hills he passes a guy who is straggling going fast down the hill (no helmet!) and I'm right behind him. I guess the guy doesn't like being passed and tries to catch up to my friend and sit on his wheel, but my buddy saw him and sped up to give me more room and left him about 20 yards behind us..

At one point we turn into a narrower road with bad pavement and slow down a bit and out of nowhere the other guy just passes us so fast, and so close to us I swear I could feel his shoulder touching me, kinda trying to make a point, which I didn't get...

So we continue, about 30 yards behind the jerk, and then we get to a short and very steep hill.. I am not your typical rider. I'm 51, weight lifter, weigh 210lb, 5'11", I leg press 820lb, so I have good legs but no staying power on long hills.. but this short hill I know so well and I know how much I can expand before I poop out. So, I bring it up a gear or two, and start cranking in the seat really hard, and I fly by him (very close the his shoulder :) ), and I can hear him behind me huffing and I can hear his gears crunching,, but he was toast.. when I got to the top of the hill I was circling around waiting for my friend to catch up with me, and just to make sure I can catch the jerk's face when he comes up..:) That someone twice his age just dropped him like a toy.. Now, if this hill would have been 1/4 of a mile longer Id be dead :)
Felt good though!

when I'm out riding and I see someone out ahead of me on a bike....I just have to give chase...there is something inside of me that makes me do it....I can be dog tired and i get a rush of adrenaline and off I go......Yesterday I'm about 8 miles into my ride and I see the prey about 100-150 yards ahead....I put the hammer down...I catch up...its a lady in her sixties on an old schwinn 10 -speed.......felt kinda stupid....but dammit I beat her......anyone else act this way...is it a guy thing????????


I used to do this more frequently. Then I started riding with a heart rate monitor. :( It forces me not to hammer to catch people I see in the distance. And forces me to swallow my pride when someone passes me. :o

But if I'm doing a hard ride, I love the chase. It's the same thing that often turns a "friendly group ride" into a hammer-a-thon. However, I've become more careful. Now, I catch up, and wait about fifty yards back until I get by breath back. Then I hammer on by when I get my breath. That way I don't immediately get passed back. :D

I often give chase not because I bear any animosity or want to race the person or anything but just because it allows me to concentrate on something in order to keep going. It's an extension to the "pick a point and try to reach it" way of keeping motivated. I do this on long or steep hills. When I'm suffering, I will tell myself, "all you have to do is reach that point" and then when I reach it, I set another distant point to reach. It helps keep me moving.

I often give chase not because I bear any animosity or want to race the person or anything but just because it allows me to concentrate on something in order to keep going. It's an extension to the "pick a point and try to reach it" way of keeping motivated. I do this on long or steep hills. When I'm suffering, I will tell myself, "all you have to do is reach that point" and then when I reach it, I set another distant point to reach. It helps keep me moving.
Don't get me wrong most times I'll use a "rabbit" to set a pace for myself and bear absolutely no ill will what-so-ever. I just make it a point not to let a bad deed go without comment.

I often give chase not because I bear any animosity or want to race the person or anything but just because it allows me to concentrate on something in order to keep going. It's an extension to the "pick a point and try to reach it" way of keeping motivated. I do this on long or steep hills. When I'm suffering, I will tell myself, "all you have to do is reach that point" and then when I reach it, I set another distant point to reach. It helps keep me moving.

yes, that was well put
I never bear ill will whether passing or being passed, it's all in fun
just glad to be riding

OK...so I'm not the only one....I am very competitive...heck I get all worked up playing board games...I just find it very interesting to feel that surge of adrenaline....I wish I had a button on my neck I could push to release it....one push for a short hill...two pushes for a big hill and ten to catch that girl in tight shorts ahead of me.





kern

It is definitely motivating in a lot of ways. Both good and bad.

Yesterday, a guy enters the main drag and pulls up behind me on the beginning of a 3.5 mile mild ascent. A few hundred yards into into it, he grumbles "on your left old man". Now, I think he's kidding but it pisses me off anyway. I move over and he pulls up alongside. Turns out he has the same bike so I try to make small talk. He wants nothing of it and takes off in front of me. Game on. He pulls to about 3 or 4 car lengths ahead before I get into the rhythm. We stay at that distance for awhile but I catch him at the midpoint...where we come together at a light.

Again, I try to make small talk and he wants nothing of it. No big deal. Then he grumbles something else and I've had enough - "first to the top for $20?" I ask - it's another mile or so and now I'm raring. "f-you" he replies and pulls out.

Now, I don't know if I could have taken the guy, but his whole attitude put me in a completely different place mentally. In retrospect, I shouldn't have gotten into it with him - but I get tired of "letting things go" in so many aspects of my life. This is why I ride - to get the competitive juices flowing in a constructive way.

55/Rad

I don't understand how people can even be raunchy when biking ... biking is probably the time of day when i'm in my friendliest and most cheerful mood ..... of course that's not to say I don't feel any competitive spark either, but I can't imagine why people even bike if all it does is turn them into a**holes

Not only do I give chase (it's a good way to push yourself) But if I see you gaining on me I'll make you work to catch me. Sometimes I get caught, sometimes I don't!

Man oh man, this is the only way I ride. Being 19 and all I am always looking for someone to catch and pass or try as hard as I can to catch em... so its not just you

btw I am totaly with you on catchen the chick in tight shorts :)

I used to do this type of thing more often. Since I've started doing a little racing (well, maybe the first half is a race; the second half usually turns into a training ride! :( ) and joined the club A-ride, I feel I have less to prove when riding by myself. So I don't feel the need to chase someone down and generally do what fits into my training goals.

SteveE

I often give chase not because I bear any animosity or want to race the person or anything but just because it allows me to concentrate on something in order to keep going. It's an extension to the "pick a point and try to reach it" way of keeping motivated. I do this on long or steep hills. When I'm suffering, I will tell myself, "all you have to do is reach that point" and then when I reach it, I set another distant point to reach. It helps keep me moving.

It's training pattern before the days of HRM (well even today I supose) called fart-lek (sweedish for 'speed play' ) It's an unregimented interval work out where you chase people, sprint hills, pick out a distant sign or tree ect...

To hell with people that get all ate up about it. I prefer to save the competitive edge for the races on the week end. In fact I'd guess that someone who is all worked up about the 'compitition' on there after work rides does'nt even race. Show up to a local race to get a feel for compitition and hang out with people who for the most part are out for some fun.

Farm Tractors... like today. They go about 40km/h... a good incentive. I just try not to let it get too far ahead on the uphills, and sprint on the flats

I do this too. It is why I race.

do you know how many bikers i've sworn i've seen up ahead only to have it be a mailbox as i get closer? (i eventually catch IT!!)

I like to try and catch green lights before they turn red. Not too many other cyclists out my way so it's the best I've got. Plus, I hate stopping so it's a nice bonus for getting there in time.

do you know how many bikers i've sworn i've seen up ahead only to have it be a mailbox as i get closer? (i eventually catch IT!!)
Only about every day. I feel really stupid when I reallize I've caught that mailbox before.

when I'm out riding and I see someone out ahead of me on a bike....I just have to give chase...there is something inside of me that makes me do it....I can be dog tired and i get a rush of adrenaline and off I go......Yesterday I'm about 8 miles into my ride and I see the prey about 100-150 yards ahead....I put the hammer down...I catch up...its a lady in her sixties on an old schwinn 10 -speed.......felt kinda stupid....but dammit I beat her......anyone else act this way...is it a guy thing????????





kern
Pass or be passed. It has to be that way. Consider that in the spectrum of fitness of all the riders on the road with you at any given time. It would be unlikely that any one is exactly at the same level of fitness as you. If fitness translates into speed, then with all other things equal, cyclists will be passing you or you will be passing them. How does this relate to this post, you ask? Well, if another cyclist comes into sight ahead of you, you have probably already demonstrated that you are going faster than them. If that wasn’t the case, you would have been going the same speed or losing time to them. In both cases, they would never have come into sight. Therefore, it is a foregone conclusion that you WILL catch them. You can turn on the jets just to make yourself feel better when you pass them but you probably don’t have to.

but dammit I beat her......

Beat any old ladies lately kerny??? :roflmao: :lol:

Riding is always better when you've got someone to sight on. I love it.

I used to do this more frequently. Then I started riding with a heart rate monitor. :( It forces me not to hammer to catch people I see in the distance. And forces me to swallow my pride when someone passes me. :o

But if I'm doing a hard ride, I love the chase. It's the same thing that often turns a "friendly group ride" into a hammer-a-thon. However, I've become more careful. Now, I catch up, and wait about fifty yards back until I get by breath back. Then I hammer on by when I get my breath. That way I don't immediately get passed back. :D

I think it’s a guy thing. Well, at least the guys I know. The gals who pass me or that I pass usually seem so much nicer I can’t believe that they are quite as competitive. BTW, if competitiveness is a disease, it’s certainly one I’m afflicted with. Does anyone know a 12-step program for it? I’m better now. There have been years that I would try to go all year without anyone passing me. And then I’d be devastated when they did. No kidding! It would ruin my ride. That would be all I’d be able to think about.

You can put a positive spin on that. I told myself that passing people or getting passed could work as motivation. That may be true. I did ride faster after I got “beat.” But still I can’t help but think this beating other riders is not what it’s all about. Each rider I pass is one less friend I make.

What do you think? Is it better to spend a few minutes with a rider before you ride by?

Actually, doing this always gives me a similar feeling to the one I used to get in cross country races as I was picking off other runners one by one. See, in high school, runners all have a tendency to go out too hard early on and let their pace drop as the race goes on. I managed to train such that I got the hang of constant pacing, so while I was towards the back of the pack a half mile in, by the time I crossed the finish line I had managed to move up to the top 1/3 or 1/4 of the pack. God I love that feeling. Makes my heart race just thinking about it.

when i chase down any cyclist i always thank them for the workout and say that i've been chasing you for 'X' miles, etc.

conversely, i dislike been chased, especially when i am on a recovery ride or something. it makes me NOT want to be caught.

Pass or be passed. It has to be that way. Consider that in the spectrum of fitness of all the riders on the road with you at any given time. It would be unlikely that any one is exactly at the same level of fitness as you. If fitness translates into speed, then with all other things equal, cyclists will be passing you or you will be passing them. How does this relate to this post, you ask? Well, if another cyclist comes into sight ahead of you, you have probably already demonstrated that you are going faster than them. If that wasn’t the case, you would have been going the same speed or losing time to them. In both cases, they would never have come into sight. Therefore, it is a foregone conclusion that you WILL catch them. You can turn on the jets just to make yourself feel better when you pass them but you probably don’t have to.


Well said!

Pass or be passed. It has to be that way. Consider that in the spectrum of fitness of all the riders on the road with you at any given time. It would be unlikely that any one is exactly at the same level of fitness as you. If fitness translates into speed, then with all other things equal, cyclists will be passing you or you will be passing them. How does this relate to this post, you ask? Well, if another cyclist comes into sight ahead of you, you have probably already demonstrated that you are going faster than them. If that wasn’t the case, you would have been going the same speed or losing time to them. In both cases, they would never have come into sight. Therefore, it is a foregone conclusion that you WILL catch them. You can turn on the jets just to make yourself feel better when you pass them but you probably don’t have to.


very true. good point. Unless of course the guy/girl just pulls out of another road or driveway. Something like that happened to me last week. I was doing a long recovery ride and I saw this guy a good way ahead. Then I was reall close, then he was gone. It was funny he must had been doing intervals cause I was struggling to maintain a slow pace but his pace completly threw me off.



I think it’s a guy thing. Well, at least the guys I know. The gals who pass me or that I pass usually seem so much nicer I can’t believe that they are quite as competitive. BTW, if competitiveness is a disease, it’s certainly one I’m afflicted with. Does anyone know a 12-step program for it? I’m better now. There have been years that I would try to go all year without anyone passing me. And then I’d be devastated when they did. No kidding! It would ruin my ride. That would be all I’d be able to think about.

You can put a positive spin on that. I told myself that passing people or getting passed could work as motivation. That may be true. I did ride faster after I got “beat.” But still I can’t help but think this beating other riders is not what it’s all about. Each rider I pass is one less friend I make.

What do you think? Is it better to spend a few minutes with a rider before you ride by?

12-step program: 3 months race every weekend. Thats 12 races in 3 months. You should race b/c that will truly test out your skills as a rider. You will come out with the pride of a winner should you win or you will be very humbled.

btw in speeking to a coach about this he said his favourite clients are older men or women b/c they do what he says and go slow when they are suposed to and don't wory about passing or bieng passed.

As a 19 year old Marine you can only imagine the competitive spirit I cycled with. Not many people road in the early 80's where I was stationed. I did a lot of solo rides. So, I chased buses and scooters when I could.
At 35 I still participated in the chase, especially mountain biking, because I had/have the technical skills, and it kept me feeling young and competitive.
Now at 42 and using a HRM I understand the "don't rush" concept. I'll sneak up on someone if I can, if not...let em go, do your ride. No telling if they're doing a recovery ride, fast ride and they just turned it up, at the tail end of an endurance ride.
The only chance I have of still playing the chase is one day a week when I ride hard for 25 miles. I will stalk, then attack so I'm not in Lactic Land when I make the pass.
I still laugh at myself when someone rolls up on my left without announcing and says, "good morning". It almost always startles me. Then I wonder how long have they been stalking me. Sometimes I'll make them work for it.
Maybe that's why I so enjoy charity rides over 50 miles, because you just never know what's up ahead.
I have no idea what I just wrote...

Once again, I would like to point out an excerpt of the lyrics to Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen.


Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

I call it getting blood on the top tube. I love putting the hammer down when someone is ahead of me. They look back..... I stay in the saddle, then they turn and look ahead thinking no way that guy will catch me. I get out of the saddle and sprint towards them then sit back down and again they look back. Next thing you know you have them , your locked on and attack and take them. As they try and keep on your wheel you drop them like a used tissue. Man I love it! Except when it happens to me!