I don't see many cyclists in the morning, but in the afternoon there are roadies everywhere, at least during the good weather. I just ride my ride, if they pass me I say howdy, if I pass them I say howdy. They do tend to get peeved when I pass them though, and I can see why. What self-respecting roadie wants to get dropped by a big guy on a steel bike sporting rack, panniers, saddlebag and handlebar bag?

I cook my eggs with lard .... probably my flatulences can rust aluminum.

T-shirt slogan:
Caution: I Have The Intestinal Fortitude of Jan Ullrich

(look up stories of the 2003 tour if you don't get the reference)

I agree with you that racing is not for the MUP's but it is for the streets. I tried riding with a club but the politics and egos that dictated a 'pecking order' trying to hold me back on training rides so that weaker riders with 'seniority' in the club don't look bad. It seems that if you (or worse, your father) own a bike shop and sponsor a few riders you have a ticket to never have to take a pull, and not be dropped and made to look bad, what a joke. I hooked up with some B and C graders and we organised our own training rides which was really good for a while untill the rest of the club found out and the politics killed it.

Anyhow, my new bike is not UCI legal with the cowhorn bars and aerobars

nyegh, i don't know. okay if you want to do it and you pick someone else who also wants to, i guess. but lots of people are out there with no interest in jousting with anyone, and in most places the law sez they have to use the same streets you want to race on. i think you have to think of the streets as mup too, in a way - for all the different styles and reasons people have to be on a bike.

Doesn't matter where you go, we are surrounded by fools and dickheads.

BTW, where can I get a set of those nice bullhorns like yours?

Hawking lugies or ejecting personal fluids is just FOUL and RUDE. Do you do that when someone's standing too close at the movies? Or do you just spit on the ones you love?

Where did cyclists get the idea its okay to do this????

Can't people just TALK about things instead of resorting to snorting ganks at other riders? I'm not going to debase myself by clearing my schnozz in your general direction, thank you.

I think the brake-and-clear technique is a humane option. I'm not afraid of causing a pile up.

I can relate to this. There used to be one younger fellow on my route who, upon seeing me would do his hardest until he passed me. I can be fast when I want to, but I'm old enough to let someone pass me without feeling bad. I don't care that much. But then, this moron would slow down! His speed would fall off until it was not even a gentle commute, and would cause me to arrive at work late if I didn't pass him and pick up the pace. He did this consistently

One alternative was to pass him and fend him off. If I was determined to stay ahead, I could beat him and pull away from him. He would keep up the attack as long as I was ahead.

But I use commuting time to work as an attitude adjustment period, because that particular job was hellish. I wanted to enjoy the ride, not turn it into a daily struggle. I put him to shame every time, what did he want?

I finally decided the only way to deal with it was to change my route if I saw him. Just anticipating that he would be there was depressing.

Well, yeah... it takes two to tango.


Just tonight on the way home I had a bit of a bad experience. I was dawdling along at maybe 15mph when this guy blasts by me on a knobby tired full suspension mountain bike, he slows down, gives me that look, slows down enough that I catch up with him and as I'm approaching he cuts across in front of me waaaay too close and darts off again checking to see if Im in pursuit.... as indeed I was . He topped out at 22mph which was a major disappointment but I stayed back with him and tried to make comversation but he was quite adversarial, seemed he took it all a bit too seriously, he even thought we were 'neck and neck' (his words ). We approached a red light and he blasted through head down, not even a sideways glance! After the light changed I quickly caught up to him only because he waited for me, I thought he may have had enough but nah, he starts up with the torments again which I chose to ignore. We then approach another intersection and he blasts through again without looking, a car narrowly missed him. I caught up to him, again at 22mph, and told him that if he keeps doing that he'll end up dead and I wanted no part of it so when he's done riding like an idiot we'll race again and promptly accelerated away.

https://www.cecilwalker.com.au/category109_1.htm

I got the ones with the drop.

Just eat lots of hot spicy mexican food, you'll be farting mace at them!

Nope, ya just take a whizz in their direction

Just in case my posting suggesting these things totally shattered your faith in humanity, I should say I've never actually done either, seen others do it, or even hear about it as a technique. I just threw that in to mess around a bit.

I'm not against informal pacelines, but I think riding someone's rear wheel is bad form unless you have reason to believe it's OK because it's dangerous and forces them to modify their riding style. Commuting is not the best time to draft because the distances are shorter, you have to vary speed more than when you're on open road for miles and miles, and many riders are weighed down by stuff they don't normally haul.

Re Op's post, A similar stich happened to me last month. I spanked that guy's hide but good. He kept catching up at the light, he'd suck off my wheel as long as he could and then fall back frustrated, When the light changed, he'd finally catch up exhausted and woobling ...I kept a steady pace of 19-20... finally after 4.5 miles he turned off.

Gads, get a clue. Either pass or follow. Wanna race? Go to the velo dome.

Sometimes you try not to appear like you are racing (since your not) just to keep good vibes. I caught up to a cyclist, stayed well back as I knew there would be a red light ahead. As we approached the red light the guy just started coasting, much much sooner and far slower than I would. I could have blown past him and rode fast into the red light as I always do when alone (to better fit in flow of traffic, to have more time at stop to drink/relax,) but instead rolled up next to him and we chatted.

I know if I'd done my normal solo routine I would have looked like a total jerk to him.

Al

Agreeing with noisebeam, courtesy counts esp. when you see the same commuters.

There's one stretch of road where riders just stay in line. If a guy is doing a HRM/recovery/or just slow, people pass at a reasonable pace, but hail in a friendly manner.

You need to up your pace to about 25, then they just leave you alone. 19-20 effort on my road bike is 23-25 on my recumbent. Makes a great commuter, and cruises great at 25+/- on the flats. They don't try sucking a wheel at that speed, and if they do, you just ramp it up for a few blocks to 30.

So, would there be a market then for a button or badge that says: "Back off or pass, but GET OFF MY ASS"

Or something less abrasive, even?

As far as I'm concerned, when another commuter passes me, it is an invitation to take his wheel. If he really doesn't want me on his/her wheel, then all they have to do is crank up the volume and drop me. If they can't drop me, then, well, they should slow down, let me pass and attempt to stay on my wheel. If you really don't want them on your wheel, simply slow down and wave them by. No biggie.

If they insist on playing games by slowing down and then retaking your wheel, slam on the brakes and watch them ride into your crankset . . . just kidding there, hehe.

. . . careful, the Feds are listening. They're everywhere, I tellya.

Sounds like you get some real morons out there Cyclo, can't say i've ever had that happen on my route. 6 hours to Friday beers...

If I were on the bike trail, training or whatever (especially on a weekend), I'd probably agree. But during commute hours when dealing with traffic? I think not-- it's akin to tailgating. In unpredictable traffic, everybody needs room to dodge and brake. I don't want anybody drafting me on my way to or from work on city streets. And likewise, if somebody ahead of me needs to hit the brakes because of a stupid cager, I don't want to be eating his rear wheel.

If you want to permanently fix this "overlapping" problem, all it takes is a slight unannounced nudge from your back wheel to their front wheel. This happened to me once, and I'm cured of ever drafting like that again. Mind you, it was totally by accident, and I was with a friend, but since then he's learned to signal before a turn, and I've learned to back off in case he forgets. It took a couple of weeks for my a$$ to recover from the road rash.

(Note: I'm not recommending intentional injury to another cyclist. I'm just saying, if you did that, you'd only have to do it once.)

Yeh, you get 'em everywhere if you look hard enough It wasn't my usual route, I had to go into the city and I picked him up on the way home around Silverwater just after Silverwater Rd. I was on my way back to Parramatta via Homebush Bay.

5 hours to beer o'clock yaaay

Sometimes, it's fun to jump on someone's wheel and coast for a bit, especially if they don't know I'm there. <flame suit on> If they do see me, I'll either back off or pass them for good. I would never do this on a road ride, but slotting in behind somebody on the ride home for a block or two isn't the worst thing in the world. If somebody does it to me, well, that's okay too, as I'm fine just ignoring them.

Silverwater explains it all... City - Homebush - Parra, sounds like a nice ride. How far does that work out as?

4 hours till Beer o'clock for me - xmas party goodness