do you find competition while commuting?
11-06-06, 12:25 AM
#51
Senior Member
Mooo, that is probably the coolest story I've read on BF.
My competition is the clock, and my ride partner is my shadow. There's never any other bike commuters out when I'm commuting, so I just pick a time and try to get from one place to the other in that amount of time.
My competition is the clock, and my ride partner is my shadow. There's never any other bike commuters out when I'm commuting, so I just pick a time and try to get from one place to the other in that amount of time.
11-06-06, 05:06 AM
#52
Senior Member
I need to confess...
Usually, if I can catch up with someone on my commute I'll try. There are few enough commuters that it's nice to see another one. Occasionally I'll slow down if I see someone coming up who seems more commuter than roadie. I've met some really nice people this way.
However, there's one guy in town... Three, four times I've caught up with him, said "Hey, how's it going?" and his response is invariably the same: grunt, shift, speed up.
What's my reaction?
What would yours be? - be honest.
As far as the drafting thing, if we're going that fast, I'll hang back about 10 feet. Close enough to get some benefit, far enough away to dodge something. This distance goes way up after dark.
Usually, if I can catch up with someone on my commute I'll try. There are few enough commuters that it's nice to see another one. Occasionally I'll slow down if I see someone coming up who seems more commuter than roadie. I've met some really nice people this way.
However, there's one guy in town... Three, four times I've caught up with him, said "Hey, how's it going?" and his response is invariably the same: grunt, shift, speed up.
What's my reaction?
What would yours be? - be honest.
As far as the drafting thing, if we're going that fast, I'll hang back about 10 feet. Close enough to get some benefit, far enough away to dodge something. This distance goes way up after dark.
11-06-06, 12:45 PM
#53
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a frustrating situation you describe: one that puts 'normal' commuters (if there is such a thing) at risk because of punks need to show off or demonstrate their cyclogymnastics or whatever. Sounds like a case of hormonal expression to me.
I live in a college town where 80 % of cyclists are students. Unfortunately these students seem to believe they are pedestrians on wheels so they blow through stop signs, fail to signal their intentions to cars, ride through a thousand students during class changes, etc. Puts the rest of us at risk because they know no proper riding etiquette and treat their cycles as 'toys' not subject to vehicular regulations. And worst, they generate resentment among drivers by their irresponsible behavior.
But obviously I'm an ol' fuddyduddy who has already worked through many of the issues associated with the kind of behavior you're describing. Guess it is easier to be through that and observing from the other side. I still resent having someone else ruin the perception by vehicular drivers that cyclists are not subject to the rules of the road.
I live in a college town where 80 % of cyclists are students. Unfortunately these students seem to believe they are pedestrians on wheels so they blow through stop signs, fail to signal their intentions to cars, ride through a thousand students during class changes, etc. Puts the rest of us at risk because they know no proper riding etiquette and treat their cycles as 'toys' not subject to vehicular regulations. And worst, they generate resentment among drivers by their irresponsible behavior.
But obviously I'm an ol' fuddyduddy who has already worked through many of the issues associated with the kind of behavior you're describing. Guess it is easier to be through that and observing from the other side. I still resent having someone else ruin the perception by vehicular drivers that cyclists are not subject to the rules of the road.
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11-06-06, 02:43 PM
#54
Sophomoric Member
Originally Posted by centexwoody
....
But obviously I'm an ol' fuddyduddy who has already worked through many of the issues associated with the kind of behavior you're describing. Guess it is easier to be through that and observing from the other side. I still resent having someone else ruin the perception by vehicular drivers that cyclists are not subject to the rules of the road.
But obviously I'm an ol' fuddyduddy who has already worked through many of the issues associated with the kind of behavior you're describing. Guess it is easier to be through that and observing from the other side. I still resent having someone else ruin the perception by vehicular drivers that cyclists are not subject to the rules of the road.
Do you also worry that young people hotrodding in cars "give motorists a bad name"? It sounds like you're pretty self-conscious when you ride. Relax --- I doubt if others are judging you as harshly as you're judging them.
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11-06-06, 07:38 PM
#55
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Originally Posted by Mooo
As far as the drafting thing, if we're going that fast, I'll hang back about 10 feet. Close enough to get some benefit, far enough away to dodge something. This distance goes way up after dark.
11-06-06, 09:27 PM
#56
Senior Member
Scary thing is, he almost bought it today.
I was on my way home, full of good will, and only slightly less innocuous than Mary Poppins, when here he comes... So I come up alongside, saying the usual stuff, like "Hey, how ya been" and "Nice day" and all that, but he just grunts again. No biggie, I'm in a pretty good mood and it'll take more than that to kill it.
This MUP uses a sidewalk along a busy street for a block. It does this to cross a creek, but first it crosses an entrance to a grocery. At this entrance are 2 cars waiting to pull out, and coming right at us are two more cars attempting to enter. I brake, my companion tries to sprint for it (!) then brakes hard. Misses by a foot. Goes on, likely very unhappy, leaving three very surprised looking motorists.
I wait until the intersection is clear.
The funny thing is that just a little later the MUP goes through a parklike area, and I see him riding through the grass. Maybe he was just really embarrassed?
I was on my way home, full of good will, and only slightly less innocuous than Mary Poppins, when here he comes... So I come up alongside, saying the usual stuff, like "Hey, how ya been" and "Nice day" and all that, but he just grunts again. No biggie, I'm in a pretty good mood and it'll take more than that to kill it.
This MUP uses a sidewalk along a busy street for a block. It does this to cross a creek, but first it crosses an entrance to a grocery. At this entrance are 2 cars waiting to pull out, and coming right at us are two more cars attempting to enter. I brake, my companion tries to sprint for it (!) then brakes hard. Misses by a foot. Goes on, likely very unhappy, leaving three very surprised looking motorists.
I wait until the intersection is clear.
The funny thing is that just a little later the MUP goes through a parklike area, and I see him riding through the grass. Maybe he was just really embarrassed?
11-07-06, 10:06 PM
#58
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I try to chase down anyone I see... just can't help it. Often I tell myself 'this morning you're gonna take it easy' but then I see someone and... we're off to the races. I'm usually on a 29er mtb, sometimes knobblies and sometimes slicks, so the real fun ensues when I see a roadie.
When I first started commuting I got passed all the time but now it's been several weeks since someone dropped me.
When there's someone I just can't catch I'm always sorry I wasn't able to tell them 'you were fast'.
When I first started commuting I got passed all the time but now it's been several weeks since someone dropped me.
When there's someone I just can't catch I'm always sorry I wasn't able to tell them 'you were fast'.
11-07-06, 11:19 PM
#59
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Originally Posted by Mooo
I need to confess...
Usually, if I can catch up with someone on my commute I'll try. There are few enough commuters that it's nice to see another one. Occasionally I'll slow down if I see someone coming up who seems more commuter than roadie. I've met some really nice people this way.
However, there's one guy in town... Three, four times I've caught up with him, said "Hey, how's it going?" and his response is invariably the same: grunt, shift, speed up.
What's my reaction?
What would yours be? - be honest.
As far as the drafting thing, if we're going that fast, I'll hang back about 10 feet. Close enough to get some benefit, far enough away to dodge something. This distance goes way up after dark.
Usually, if I can catch up with someone on my commute I'll try. There are few enough commuters that it's nice to see another one. Occasionally I'll slow down if I see someone coming up who seems more commuter than roadie. I've met some really nice people this way.
However, there's one guy in town... Three, four times I've caught up with him, said "Hey, how's it going?" and his response is invariably the same: grunt, shift, speed up.
What's my reaction?
What would yours be? - be honest.
As far as the drafting thing, if we're going that fast, I'll hang back about 10 feet. Close enough to get some benefit, far enough away to dodge something. This distance goes way up after dark.
Mostly, though, I'm not thinking that way, and I usually don't hear bikers coming up behind me because of traffic and because they wait until they are almost past me when they bother to say "on your left". It's the big-bad things I'm paying attention to. If a biker keeps going, I just smile and I might yell "yes". If s/he hangs a couple seconds I'll probably reply, "Great day for riding", with a touch of sarcasm if the weather sucks.
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