Road Cycling - Passed by a roller blader...

So we're all going down the hill on the trail, I had shuffled to the back of the group, coasting at around 28mph and I see this guy inching by real low... I mean his head was lower than my knee. My first thought was, "oh my god! it's the headless cyclist and he's got someone's head on a pike at the front of his bike!" But I turn my head and I'm like, WTF! There was this guy on roller blades, real aero, with a couple of blinkers around him, PASSING us, I mean he was cutting in and out drafting behind a whole group of us on road bikes going down the hill and he was passing us. He kept passing till he was now actually leading the group. We got to the end and there's a turn with a small puddle of water so we all slow down for it. He hops over it doing like 20, we all pass him and now we're sprinting to catch up cause the group gets scattered. I start sprinting and at one point, I went from 20mph to about 30mph, looked in my mirror and there he was, swishing back and forth on his roller blades... accelerating in my draft... from 20 to 30mph right behind me. My jaw just dropped.

WOW!!!!!!! :eek:

Sweeeeeeet!

Hehehehehe......I am not sure if he is hardcore or just stupid. I won't trust my life on a set of 3 inches wheels. :D If the pavement is any rougher he would be done for.

I can attest to this event. I was trailing the blader for a good half a lap. He was insanely fast

Last year, we had a guy blader meet with our club ride several times a week. He would either draft us or blade beside us and talk. We usually cycled about 18-20 mph. I didn't like having him behind me but he rode in our pace line without taking a pull.

you can't call it stupid! that's just awesome.

there's a stretch of road in a park right through NW washington dc and you can see whole pacelines of rollerbladers.

i've never seen anybody that fast though - i got passed once by a chick speedskater but it was because i was with a slow half-assed roomie on a hybrid at the time. at least that's what i tell myself was the reason =)

not as fast as your guy but i clocked at roller blader at 26mph in the park over the weekend. i notified him of his speed as i went by, and he didn't seem suprised at all. just smiled and said "thanks". it was pretty cool to say the least.

Insane is right. If he's not pro, he's real hardcore cause he was flying. I mean 30mph going downhill, fine. But I was acclerating on flat ground from 20-30mph and he was right behind me.
He had this huge mass of red and blue blinkers hung on his chest. Made it look like I was looking inside the reactor core of this robot on rollerblades.. and I think I was.

Wow
Thats what goes on here in stroudsburg pa , but its only between bikers . You know , people trolling for races or just not liking getting passed . You know who they are . Men , on road or mountain bikes and they allways stay on the road . Not the side walk surfers . Its really getting to be big here in the pocono pa area . I imagine soon we will have our own race . Very soon :) I ve even saw a women once who liked to pass . That was when I had a hybird and had an extra 25 pounds on . I just lost two more pounds last week , down to 218 . I ready for any street trolls :)
jar

I wish more people cycled around here (I mean on the road with helmet/lights).


You know , people trolling for races or just not liking getting passed

whoa... that might be weird to see... but awesome none the less!

Not to change the subject (I guess I am) but I clocked a small house cat at 17.6 mph for about 100 feet last week! And this cat did NOT wear any rollerblades!

Not to change the subject (I guess I am) but I clocked a small house cat at 17.6 mph for about 100 feet last week! And this cat did NOT wear any rollerblades!

what the... cat doing 17.6 mph??? clocked it with a radar gun?? whoa!

There's a whole group of speed skaters that meet in Central Park every evening and they're Fuicking Fast!


So we're all going down the hill on the trail, I had shuffled to the back of the group, coasting at around 28mph and I see this guy inching by real low... I mean his head was lower than my knee. My first thought was, "oh my god! it's the headless cyclist and he's got someone's head on a pike at the front of his bike!" But I turn my head and I'm like, WTF! There was this guy on roller blades, real aero, with a couple of blinkers around him, PASSING us, I mean he was cutting in and out drafting behind a whole group of us on road bikes going down the hill and he was passing us. He kept passing till he was now actually leading the group. We got to the end and there's a turn with a small puddle of water so we all slow down for it. He hops over it doing like 20, we all pass him and now we're sprinting to catch up cause the group gets scattered. I start sprinting and at one point, I went from 20mph to about 30mph, looked in my mirror and there he was, swishing back and forth on his roller blades... accelerating in my draft... from 20 to 30mph right behind me. My jaw just dropped.

We did an organized ride last year in georgia and there was a guy on rollerblades that did thh metric century. He was skating w/ a group of cyclists and keeping up.It was immpressive to say the least.

When I was holidaying (or better: suffering) on Mont Ventoux a couple of years ago, I saw a guy on rollerblades. It was on the descent; I couldn't bare to stay with him and watch him actually rolling downhill. :eek:

what the... cat doing 17.6 mph??? clocked it with a radar gun?? whoa!

No. I was riding on the path, and it ran alongside of me.

Was this in Prospect Park? Sounds like it from the description of the turn and the water at the end of the hill. I've seen at least one guy doing that over there.

I wish they could do something about the water though. I've seen the Parks people cleaning it out, but it just clogs again. There has been a problem there for at least 20 years. Its the low point of the park.

Was this in Prospect Park? Sounds like it from the description of the turn and the water at the end of the hill. I've seen at least one guy doing that over there.
I wish they could do something about the water though. I've seen the Parks people cleaning it out, but it just clogs again. There has been a problem there for at least 20 years. Its the low point of the park.

Yea I think by law they have to drain it cause flies and maggots are festering there. Almost makes me shudder thinking about the kind of sh*t that's splashing up from the water. It's disgusting.

Yea I think by law they have to drain it cause flies and maggots are festering there. Almost makes me shudder thinking about the kind of sh*t that's splashing up from the water. It's disgusting.

I had to clean the bb and the bottom tube yesterday. It was all sticking and stuff. They suppose to drain it because of the west nile season. mosquitos love the water

I had to clean the bb and the bottom tube yesterday. It was all sticking and stuff. They suppose to drain it because of the west nile season. mosquitos love the water

I still gotta wipe my bike clean, especially since I keep my bike in my room.

There are definitely professional rollerbladers that have organized teams that race just like the cyclists. At the World Criterium Championships they have here in Downers Grove, IL every year, they have a portion of the event for the rollerbladers. They all have teams, and they have their plans of attack, etc. It's very interesting to see how they organize their teams. It's almost like professional cycling with how they plan out their racing. On the path in Chicago, there are professional teams racing up and down the path. I see them sometimes in their jerseys, and they are about as fast as anyone I've seen out there. They definitely have some skillzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Koffee

what the... cat doing 17.6 mph??? clocked it with a radar gun?? whoa!
More off topic comments: I was in the vet's office a while ago(getting my rabies shots), and there was a poster on the wall that claimed the top speed of a house cat was 35mph.... Holy flucking snit!
I tried to verify this my chasing my cats on the bike, but they tend to jink around a lot, so it's hard to get a good pace on them. Also, they are indoor cats, so the maneuvering was tricky.

Ok, so that last part didn't happen. The part about the poster is true, though.

Hehehehehe......I am not sure if he is hardcore or just stupid. I won't trust my life on a set of 3 inches wheels. :D If the pavement is any rougher he would be done for.

Sorry about the sort of old topic, but man, I like rollerblading!! Biking may seem more sturdy, it is, but rollerblades require more skill in the beggining to use them, but they are amazing. My friend is like an amazing speed skater and he's only 13. He may look fat (he has rolls lol changeroom chat) but his legs are power.

Hehehehehe......I am not sure if he is hardcore or just stupid. I won't trust my life on a set of 3 inches wheels. :D If the pavement is any rougher he would be done for.

I had to weigh in...the new blades are good even on rough stuff...you can go wicked fast and be more secure than on any road bike

I was passed by a blader recently. I was probably doing 17-19, and he blew by me at a decent pace. BUT, my dignity was preserved when I realized it was a sprint; he couldn't hold that pace very long on flat. Still, pretty impressive.

I remember being on a ride 2-3 months ago when we saw some bladers. We were getting ready to stop and refill our water bottles at a local park when we saw these two bladers decked out in helmets and full leathers. They had just finished coming down the same road we had been on --- a 4 mile 1600-ft. descent with some wicked hairpin turns. Insane!!!!

and there was a poster on the wall that claimed the top speed of a house cat was 35mph....

obviously my cat didn't get the memo! Lazy cat!

I came up on a rollerblader that I clocked at 21 mph on flat ground and he looked as if he was just casually moving along, no racing format, no hard pushing, just gliding along seemingly effortlessly. I told him how fast he was going and he was surprised...I was surprised he could carry on a conversation without gasping for air!!!!

I was chased by a mountain lion once, fortunately I was going down the mountain when this bad boy gave chase. I got up to 42mph, but the cat only ran about 300 feet. Most cats have great acceleration and speed but only for a short distance. In Bakersfield Ca, there where several cyclist's who got chased by mountain lions, but none that I know of ever got caught; a jogger though was attacked, but he had something (I forgot what) he fought he lion off with.