ottawa_adam

Who cares if he passes you? How do you know he wasn't at the end of his warm up period and was already ready to step it out? Maybe it was just bad timing on your part. Why does everyone take it so personal when they get passed? Sometimes I feel like passing others, sometimes I don't.

tjspiel

He turned around and smirked? Not exactly classy.

Part of what's fun about a bike is that for the most part there is no speed limit. You go as fast as you want/can. These little races are going to happen but it's really not cool to speed up as somebody is trying to pass you. With any "race" there's the increased likelihood that somebody will do something stupid instead of paying attention to traffic.

Sirrus Rider

In my experience, fortunately no. Most seasoned commuters are pacing themselves to get themselves to their destination without turning into the "abominable salt monter". They may use another Cyclist for pace, but not pass with malice. Unfortunately, there are a lot of Newbies (and just outright deluded cyclists who have bought into the whole TDF fantasy the Bike industry has projected for years for the sake of continuing sales) around who might fancy themselves road racers who even on a commute delude themselves into thinking they are "Brian Summers" riding the Coors classic. (And are just as Dorky.)

tbannin

Really???? Really??? Come on you could have caught him.....slap a 55/13 on there and he'll think twice about passing next time. Aero on a 1200....and commuting at that? That's over the top...

Banzai

Whether you accept The Law or not...it accepts you.

I suppose The Law could be phrased even better as: There is only one Law of cycling; two men enter, one man leaves.

m_yates

I started passing a guy on a racing bike decked out in full lycra on the bike path the other day. He actually said "Oh, you caught me sleeping!" Then started hammering away to prevent me from passing. At that point, it became a race. Luckily, I won!

MIKEnDC

One thing human beings are very good at is rationalizations.

Note that I didn't say that those rationalizations are any good--generally they are NOT--but we sure are very good at making them.

For those of us that somehow need to congratulate ourselves on how much faster, stronger, better, whatever we are than the "competition," we might better spend that energy asking ourselves why we find doing such a thing necessary.

josephjhaney

I used to take every day last year and try to make it my fastest ride. I only had a little over 3000 miles total last year and I was not riding to work every day. This year, since Feb 15th, I have driven one day. I'm a lot slower this year, but I just pedal along and enjoy the ride. I sometimes ride after work as well, and those are the club rides with a stated pace, and for the most part I can hold pace with them easier than I could last year, so i know I've gotten more in shape, but you just can't go balls to the wall every day. Bottom line, some guys are riding their one ride for the week, and they fly, and are racing everything that moves. Others are regulars and just go at whatever pace works for them. I find myself in the second category most days, especially most mornings, I am NOT a morning person, so I'm always slow to get going in the AM.

Joe

lil brown bat

If it was a race, then you were racing too. Next time, just don't race. Problem solved.

mjw16

It just does.

chevy42083

I wear lycra, jerseys, and ride a geared bike part of the time.... a 25 year old Bianchi. Other times, I'm on my converted fixed gear, cargo shorts, athletic T-shirt, with a messenger bag, and if i stopped for breakfast, a jack-in-box cup in my bottle cage <rarely now, but once still had the clips/straps/vans>.... I wonder what roadies think when I pass them... it's geared for a comfy 21ish mph pace. Not flying... but faster than the regular speed of many of the roadies around here.

Oh yeah, it's easy to catch them sleeping with a deadly silent fixed gear

derath

Cause I am always running late?

-D

DataJunkie

I am usually racing against whatever goal I have set for that day (intervals, avg speed, total time, hrz, etc). If I happen upon another rider and he is wanting a race I will take advantage of the extra incentive and have fun. It is a good way to liven up a ride but it takes two to race.

girljen

My commute to work is not a race. It is a time trial, because I just cannot seem to get my lazy ass out of the house in time to ride at a relaxed pace. My bad.

DataJunkie

Sorry to break it to you girljen but a time trial is a form of a race.
AKA the race of truth.
In your case you are racing a clock while in an actual TT racers are racing a clock and each others times.

Nevermind me. Been watching too much cycling on tv lately.

jpdesjar

i am in no rush to get to work

spokenword

I reserve my races for cyclists who run reds. I figure that giving them a head start makes it sporting, and I like demonstrating to them the error of their ways.

bikemore 

I not beating anyone but the slowest commuters. At least when
I am out in the country. I could be wrong, but I believe that the faster
I go the more calories I burn. Having someone else to pace me helps
me get that done. Also, I have a 20 mile commute one way and 35
miles the other (use the train in the morning). The faster I get it done
the better. Having someone to help me go faster seems like a good idea.
I do my best not to do something stupid like passing and slowing down
and don't kill myself trying to keep pace.

lil brown bat

So, I guess when you catch them, they're supposed to think, "Oh no, wow, here I thought I was Mister Speedy and this law-abiding citizen who waited for the liight like I should have, just caught me! Gosh, I guess I'm not so speedy after all! I guess he showed me. From now on, I'm going to come to a full stop at all reds, put both feet on the ground, and not budge until the light turns green."

In reality, they're probably thinking, "I wonder if I can use that 2 for 1 Starbucks coupon in my bag, it got water on it and now it's kinda illegible, might as well try it, hmm on second thought maybe I better just get on to work and get there on time, wow, who's this gaper and what's he giving me the stink-eye for, oh well, guess he didn't get his full ration of bran this morning, hmm little squeak in the frame, have to look at that later..."

taser

It is a race, the key is to put the other guy in the wall.

Lauren Wallace had it right.

-Taser

jrockway

I take advantage of the racer wannabes. I get passed occasionally, usually when I'm riding into the wind (going slow makes me want to go slower, going fast makes we want to go faster). Anyway, they huff and puff to get ahead of me, and then slow down to however fast I was going (now that they've "won"!). I just stay behind them and use them as a nice windscreen, making my life easier.

They may have won, but I get the prize

cg1985

Meh, Always take it light heartedly. Why does Cycling have to be all srs bsns. When you get upset about it, then they feel they had an impact. If you just laugh and tip your hat, its much better. Life is 90% attitude.

One Bike is a commute, two bikes is a race. Does that mean it has to be malicious, and all, "I'M SO SUPERIOR!" no. But it's always fun to see if the other guy will try and catch you or vice versa. A little smirk is just a little gamesmen ship.

Take like too seriously and you'll just get worked up over something. Did that commuter ruin your morning? did you spend the rest of the ride being annoyed. Why? Who cares what he did.

ItsJustMe

It takes two to race. It's only a race if you let it be. I just crank at the same speed, and pass or get passed, I don't care. A couple of times I've overtaken people on race bikes (on my cheap hybrid) and passed them, then they passed me. A mile later they'd run out of steam and I passed them again. One of the guys passed me again, and I was catching up to him again when he turned off to another road. I sort of wonder if he really was going that way...
These same idiots probably do the same thing in their cars, can't stand anyone being in front of them.

tekknoschtev

I enjoy passing people as much as they enjoy passing me. I don't do it with malice, however. When I pass someone its genuinely because my average speed is faster than their average speed, and instead of ramming into their rear tire, I decide to pass them. I do my best to not be the jerk who passes and then slows down, requiring them to pass and beginning a seemingly perpetual cycle though.

I'm the same way. I seem to have it timed perfectly to get my rear out of bed, throw some clothes on, ride to work and get there at the same time every day. So, I have the consistency down, just need to move it ahead 30 minutes and maybe I can throw some breakfast in the mix every once in a while.

I find having another individual for pacing is great for motivation. One time down the path, keeping pace and switching leading/trailing with another guy, my average speed irked up close to 20mph. If I try to do that on my own, I wear myself out. But, with another individual around, the adrenaline and the desire not to slack off and show weakness (not that getting passed shows weakness but the primal "man" in me wants to show off ) helps motivate me to keep my speed up.

Sixty Fiver

I was on my way home the other day and after climbing out of the valley overtook and passed a fellow about my age (I'm 42) on a pretty nice mtb doing a good clip... he caught up to me at a light and with a smile said... "you are really making me look bad".

I was riding my extracycle with some huge paniers attached to the sides.

I have only had a few folks try and race me on the commute... I tend to ride pretty fast and my 10 mile commute used to be a ride that I could do in as little as 23 minutes... the body still isn't up to this yet.

I was coming down a really busy street and went to pass a young fellow on a fixed gear since I was moving along much faster (on my fixed gear) and when I came alongside he looked at me and gunned it so that he was staying directly to my right and preventing me from moving over.

It was a definite invitation.

I was taking it easy until this happened and decided that instead of dropping behind him (and having to pass him again) I would do the opposite so put the hammer down and left him like he was parked... I guess this guy thought his laps around the block and trips to and from Starbucks were sufficient training to school some old guy on a scruffy vintage fixed gear with paniers.

The old guy was riding over 1000 miles a month at the time.

I was riding with my little sister the other day and we came up behind three fellows in full kit making a show of it on a busy and well travelled street... I was on the longbike and she was on her mtb commuter and we just spun along behind them at about 30 kmh for a good distance until they realized they must have looked pretty lame with a couple of middle aged folks hanging off their back wheels.

When they really traded the show for go these guys were fast.