I am a commuter, and def not a roadie. I wear bike shorts with gym shorts over them, a cycling jacket, and have a rack with bag/panniers. My helmet, bike, and jacket all match coincidentally, so I guess some could say I am a wannabe or something. I have been throwing down 100+ mile weeks lately (140 so far since monday), and I wouldn't say I am the slowest person out there. On Strava, I am usually in the top 1/3 to top 1/4 of any given segment. Anyway, I got shamed twice this week.

First was at the start of a 2 mile or so stretch of slightly ascending road. Not a massive hill, but enough of a grade to make you work a bit. I was waiting at the light before said segment and this guy rolls up past me and waits for the light. Kind of a dick move in my opinion to cut in front of someone waiting at a light, but whatever. There was even another guy behind me. So, the light turns and off we go. He is riding an older, vintage bike that was making a horrible noise like the rear wheel needed to be trued to the extent that a portion of it was rubbing the brakes. He is wearing cut off camo pants, backup, Ulock in his pocket, and some dirty looking T. I am behind him and gaining on him and about a mile in I pass. Another 1/2 mile goes by and I hear the squeaking of his wheel. I look back and he is coming up. He passes me but very shortly after he peels off into a shopping center, which due to the layout of this neighborhood, had to be his destination (There is an REI there and his dress would totally be inline with an REI employee). I felt shamed, but not too bad since he went full throttle at what appeared to be the end of his ride. I would have went full throttle too if I didn't have another five miles of hills to go before getting home.

Yesterday I was commuting into work, probably mile 16 or so of 20. There is this decent hill, about 6% grade but not entirely long (Otis St for all you DC locals). It really blows because there is a stop sign at the bottom, so depending on traffic, you really loose your momentum. The road leading up to it is fairly steep too, so you are already sucking wind. I slowed down quite a bit at the stop sign due to a car and once I started off a guy on fixed gear comes up. He had fairly small tires, but not as small as a folder, so I am not entirely sure what it was. Anyway, he had a little bit more momentum then I but he tore this hill up pretty good, and put some distance between us. It seriously looked like he had bricks implanted into the backs of his calves though. After the hill he peeled off on a different road but I ended up catching him on the trail (MBT) ahead. Rode behind him close and could have passed him, but I didn't want to start a dual.