Sneaky roadies!
 

That's three times this has happened.
I have a nice loop I like to ride on Sunday mornings. Its a short 28k ride out in the country and I always take my 88' Marinoni.
Uphill for 14k (into the damn wind) and then downhill home.
So I am cruising on the home stretch on the second last long corner and I get passed by another roadie, tucked in, areo bars and going. And its a younger female rider. Great. I can hear some shouting (male) behind me now and I know they are fresh as they began their ride at my turn-around point.
So I start riding again and they male rider never catches me. The female rider is now coasting like I was and I pass her 2 km from home.
Anyway, what bugs me is this.
Whenever I am going to pass another rider on the Trans-Canada I let them know. I was having a drink and cruising when I was over taken and to tell the truth it startled me. Next time you roadies pass an old man give a yell out! I would hate to go down on that busy highway.
But I will be watching my six now. :thumb:

It is common courtesy and a good safety practice to let people know when you are passing... my 9 and 11 year old daughter's know this.

My 9 year old usually sings the whole time she is riding so I always know where she is and she does this at speed and on climbs too. :)

Aero bars are the most obvious and certain symptom of triathlism.

There are few cures. The crankiness and bad manners that often afflict road cyclists are nothing compared to the over-training, aggro attitudes and oneupmanship of the victims of chronic triathlism.

The only athletically-induced personality disorder that has worse consequences for its victim and those around him (or her) is Adventure Racing. This abomination takes the evils of triathlism increases the ostentatious display of purchasing power by a factor of 4 and then adds abuse of natural habitats and conditioning its participants to completely ignore the beauty of the terrain they turn into a racetrack. These victims are most easily recognized by the kayak / bicycle rack atop their imported cars.

Oh, did I wander off. Anyway, aero bars = tri's not roadies.

I believe the proper terminology is "tri-geek", just to clarify.

Ok, sneaky tri geeks!
I have some very good friends that are tri guys so I can only say this here.

Usually it's beginner types, riding their fresh carbon wonders. Do more intervals, and no one will be passing you, you will be passing them! :speedy:

:thumb: True story, what the hell is so great about a triathlon anyway? ;)

Terrorathletes should be parted out.
So should their bikes.

Tree-Huggers meet bad cyclists.

I'm always reading articles in the news about some beautiful hunk of land, with endangered species dwelling on it, being run-over and trashed by these yahoos. Soon the yahoos are screaming bloody-blue murder that "eco-terrorists" have strung-up piano-wire between the trees and such.

Idiots like these cycling "Smash-the-Earth" types give us all a bad name. If you ride over pristine land and creatures - cut it out!!

To the OP, I just completed an event ride. Unfortunately, the courtesy of notifying another cyclist you're passing them is so rare, I startled some when I let them know "I'm on your left". Interesting , I let one guy know I was passing on his right, due to the weird traffic at that point, and sure enough, he turned right into my path.

You can't expect proper manners from people anymore.

As a cranky, creaking old triathlete, I say you are 100% right. Oh, yeah, let me generalize, for those to whom this may not pertain. there I go, writing like Winthrop again)

What drives a lot of them is ego, and they consider anything they pass as slower, less evolved, and non-elite. Their fetish for gear is much like a bass fisherman. It's fun, but "look what I brought," with none of the charm.

Many fail to realize is that at any given time, any rider can be passed, and many ticked-off C&V riders can blow their doors off, having "been there, done that" a long time ago.

Triathletes think aero is mandatory, despite anectodal evidence (getting trounced by C&V bikes) to the contrary. They can't draft in general, so they don't have an appreciation for the common courtesy of the road. "On your left" or "On your right" means nothing to them unless it's about the next open portajohn.

Somehow, while in an aero tuck, their brain suffers oxygen debt, sucking the very roots of courtesy from the depths of their conscious mind.

My experience is that they also tend to forget to use brakes, slow for corners, and let anyone know that they are going to suddenly sit up, stop, or hit the rock in the road and flip over. I've been on four group rides with the aforementioned trimoronic clingons, and all four times, riding the wheels of each other's PlaySkool toy bikes, they piled up themselves and redundantly, each other.

As such, when one blows by, I give him until the next hill, then it's "ON YOUR LEFT" loud enough to scare him into chain slap.

I am pretty ambivalent about it, as you can tell. Just don't get me started.

I stopped doing the "On your left [or right]" thing some years back. I started to realize that a lot of inexperienced riders, the ones for whom the warning is most necessary, will turn their handlebars to the right when I say "Passing on your left", even if I just sort of breathe it gently so as not to startle them. As car drivers, they think that this will make them give way to the right, but of course it merely makes them bank left into my planned overtake path.

So now, on normal roads, I pass slower riders on the left unannounced, with enough clearance to protect us both if the rider looks wobbly, and I keep a vigilant lookout. I'll nearly always say something like, "G'day", or "Hi-yah" as I draw alongside though -- as a greeting, not as a warning. Really fast riders I don't pass much anymore, but the ones that pass me I can usually hear coming well enough to keep my line to the right without any additional warning. Maybe I'm not *so* much slower (yet) that they blast by me or have to take evasive action. I think the less noise in the passing, the less the startle -- that's why we get annoyed at cars that beep at us, even if it's a little respectful warning toot, right?

I never ride on multiple-use paths, because the traffic on them is just too chaotic for any system to work safely.

Oh no. You can say it to their faces. All they'll do is defend themselves by explaining how much more rigorous and demanding their training schedule is. How they wake before dawn to do five hundred back and forths in the demented lap pool they had installed behind their house at a cost that could have bought a pool that people could actually enjoy. They'll explain how they set up the bike not for maximum cycling efficiency but to spare the muscles most necessary for running. They will say these things as if they were good things.

They will go out in public looking like this.

http://www.dkimages.com/discover/pre...844/810401.JPG

Truth is. The sprint tri is a great sport. It's short enough that a relatively normal person can train for it and have a relatively balanced and happy and athletic life. The speeds involved actually favor athleticism over how many hours of spare time you have. No exotic equipment is required, not even a special bike. It really is a good game. It's just that humans can screw anything up tri-geeks most of all.

Lots of threads in the road forum about this if you like to read whining about it.

I give people a wide berth and don't say anything until I'm next to them, and then I say hello. I pass at the centerline of the road. It's much less complicated and they don't have a chance to swerve into me. It's also the way I would want to be passed by any other vehicle that I can think of. Been doing that for 20 years without any problems, and lots of other experienced cyclists do the same thing. If you warn people without mirrors, they will swerve when they look at you. Very few people practice looking over their shoulder, and if you don't practice, you swerve. If the person has a mirror, they've seen you and there is no reason to warn. If they have an ipod, a warning will do no good.

I gave up "on your left" years ago as well, especially for walkers. Many people hear the word "left" and move left.

Now I pass people by one of two methods. If I'm going to pass relatively close to someone, where they may get startled, I slow down to near their speed (even if they're walking) and say "pardon me" as I ease around them. I'm usually biking for exercise when I'm riding at speed. A certain amount of braking and subsequent acceleration breaks up the monotony and adds to the workout.

If there's plenty of room, I move over and glide past them at speed with my fingers on my brakes for any emergency slowdown. Coasting past someone isn't as startling as furiously pedaling like I'm trying to beat them to the finish line.

Triathalons are great except for the running and swimming part.:)

I passed a group ride of CF/aluminum bikes on my 86 520, at a pretty good clip. One or two of them even laughed as I whizzed by in the next lane over. Looked like a bunch of beginners all geared up on their first ride together. Bikes, helmets, and clothing all had that "just bought yesterday" look. I ride with a bunch of balloon tire and ratrod guys on Sunday mornings. The company is good, so I don't mind using my lower gears and "hang out"with them. One of those balloon tire guys can really get a good head of steam going, and he's no Spring chicken, hehe. A 50/20 is a 50/20, if you can overcome the 45-50 pounds of steel under you.:D

Once in a while a single rider will blow by without so much as a word, and I make it a point that they know I can at least pace them, if I can't pass. It's all in good fun though. They're usually on older CF Specialized or Trek bikes, or the typical 250 pound guy who just spent $3500 on their bike a week or two before. Nothing evil about it, just fun of a very high degree.

I do what Unterhausen does. I used to say "On yer left" but gave it up when I realized that the majority of the time it startled the person I was passing and often caused them to veer.

I never "blow by" unless the person just "blew by" me. Call it trading blows.

To me, the safe distance is 3-4 feet on their left, ease up into the "awareness" area with a friendly word or two, compliment their bike, and slowly go by. 30-45 seconds is not too long to wait until there's a chance to pass safely, it just seems longer out on the road. And sometimes, like on the same group ride roccobike refers to, you come alongside a guy on a 1983 Centurion Elite GT, and you spend a few miles in conversation.

If the rider is in a aero tuck, there's a slight advantage because they are more likely to maintain their line, especially on a straightaway. If the rider is aero approaching a corner, I hang back because you just don't know when he/she will untuck and corner, or go straight. They rarely signal.

If it's a pace line in aero tuck, I hold back, approach slowly on the left a good 6' away (outside tumbling carbon fiber range) and say "looking good, guys." This feeds that ego thing, gives them a chance to rationalize why the steel solo rider is passing them, and you have a short period of inactivity in the pace line when you can generally go by. Of course, they will very likely catch you; I think it's written somewhere that they have to show you they can. By far, the most dangerous place to approach and pass an aero tucked pace line is descending, so I don't. Climbing is easier. As you go by, if you do, they will all look at your chain ring and rear cassette, to see if you're pushing whatever they're pushing. That gives you the chance to nod and move on, and face it, passing while climbing is not exactly a quick thing.

I've found 'passing on your left' to be much more effective than 'on your left'. i've yet to have someone drift in front of me when adding that extra word. i think it gives them a split second longer for it to sink in.

Anyone ever say "I'm passing on your left" and have the cyclist swerve to the left?

IME, if I'm going along at twice the speed of the cyclist I'm about to pass, it's best just to go on by without saying anything. I do give people at least three feet; I'm not going to buzz them.

Out in the middle of nowhere, if I approach another cyclist, I'll usually come alonside and say hello. We'll either have a short conversation or I'll keep going. But I'm a cyclist, not a tri-geek. I'm not always in race-training mode. (Well, not ever in race-training mode.)

My brother is a big tri-guy... but he won't let me be a triathelete. He says I pee in the pool too much.

I dont do much passing myself as a beginner but I prefer people who are passing at high speed to do so without saying anything. Seems safer for us both since the sudden break in my concentration may very well make me swerve unintentionally especially in the middle of no where when Im not expecting to see/hear anyone else.

I get passed occassionally, and when I do I don't want the person to say anything, just give me about 3 or 4 feet and move on.