Originally Posted by
wilfried
I'm not exactly competitive, but it's my instinct to peddle as fast as I can. Mind you, that's not all that fast, but I do tend to go faster than a lot of folks tooling along the bike paths. I find it really annoying if I come up behind someone. There often isn't room to pass, or I'm not going enough faster that passing makes sense. And if I do pass, all too often a block later I hit a light, the other person catches up, and we play the same game all over again.
I think I just needto learn to slow down and mellow out a little. Given lights, traffic, wayward pedestrians, etc. etc., pedaling faster doesn't get me to where I'm going faster, it just gives me more time to wait at the next light. I think I just hate the feeling of being penned in, and having to go someone else's pace, even if going my pace doesn't really gain me anything. On long open stretches, which pretty much means the greenway along the river or the bridges, I pass and get passed all the time with no issues.
You may not need to slow down, but yeah, mellow out a bit. A bike path is not a racetrack, so there is no sense in being annoyed by a slower rider - they're doing nothing wrong. Chill behind them for a minute then pass and pick up your pace. Think of it as an opportunity to practise self-management.
As for them catching you at the light, that shouldn't be an issue unless they run the light or postion themselves in front of you, forcing you to wait for another chance to pass them all over again. In that case I agree - that
is annoying!
I kill over that!!!
(not really)