I've been told that there are three types of people/riders [as discussed at length on a recent 4-hour road ride]:
1. Those who set achievable goals, but not so easy that they will always succeed. If they do succeed, it's through work and maybe a little luck
2. Those who set easily achievable goals - so easy, that they always succeed. The use dynamite when they go fishing.
3. Those who set impossible goals, and never succeed. They are the ones who will complain that they couldn't break the hour record on their mtn bike, and have a long list of excuses as to why they failed.
Of course, this doesn't apply rigidly to all people, but it does apply to a lot of the folks I ride with. Most are of the first type, but there are a couple who are type 2. I know one guy in particular who will only challenge people he knows he can beat. He complains about how slow we are and that we're holding him up and will actively try and drop us, but then wait at the top of the next hill with a smirk on his face. However, when a faster rider joins us, he hangs at the back and won't challenge. Now that we've identified his pattern of behavior, we largely ignore it. It's kind of funny. One problem though, is that he does this to his girlfriend, and she doesn't find it very entertaining.