geoffvsjeff

+1, although the flip side is, it seems like roadies are always doing a "recovery" ride or warming up or cooling down just as you pass them.

Seriously though, of course I have played this game. Back when I started riding serious miles, my only decent bike was a hybrid, and I used to think I was the s*** because I would pass road bikes. Then I got a road bike, learned a little about training, and realized there are reasons to not go all out, all the time, and it did make me fell a little foolish. Of course, I still loved picking people off whenever I saw someone up ahead.

Then I got a job at a bike shop, and that really just made me want to get people out and ride. These days, I still use the modivation trick of trying to catch some rider on the road to keep myself going, but the unspoken race game just doesn't do much for me anymore, and I certainly don't get into back and forth matches like I used to. I just don't care about competing against cyclists who might not know they are being challenged. Now cars on the other hand....

I love trying to get places faster than you could by car. It is my favorite thing about riding in the city. In college, I lived about 5 miles from campus, and I would time when I left my house so that I would start at the same time as the bus route going into the campus, and my goal everyday was to beat the bus.

I do get a little tired of the roadies vs fixies thing about who are better and/or faster cyclists. There are plenty of people I know in both camps who are completely awsome (as people and on a bike), and plenty of people I know in both camps that are complete d*cks. But they are on bikes. Even if they suck, that is a good start.