I was going to start a thread something like this but with a bit of a twist.

I get passed, a lot. Especially on weekdays, when commuting, when, I think, mostly "serious" riders are out. Veteran bike commuters blow by me, and in the evenings, there are always groups out training. When fast group rides and race clubs pass me, they are going so much faster than it's just like they live in another world. I always say to myself, "Those guys/gals are just playing a totally different sport than I am." I just can't figure out what planet they visited to graft on the alien DNA that makes them so much faster than me.

On the other hand, on weekends, when lots of folks are out for their once-a-year-ride, or riding for the first time, or just struggling to get fit, I can be just cruising along at a very comfy speed for me and I blow by them. Without even trying or even really noticing -- at one minute they are there, the next minute they are gone.

Again, my speed is pretty pitiful to a real rider, but fast to them. I wonder: are they saying to themselves, "That guy is just playing a totally different sport than I am?" Does someone riding a steady 15mph look like an alien to them?

I'm not really bothered when I get passed, nor impressed with myself when I pass someone. I guess my point is that the speed differences are so huge that it really does seem that we are "playing different sports." The racers who are fit, trained, and perhaps even genetically blessed are doing something I'm just not able to do. And if you ride 100 or miles a week, as I do, you're going to be in a position to comfortably motor along a lot faster than someone who just dragged an old bike out of the garage.

I don't know if I have a point, except that -- everything is relative.