Soo... I'm new here, and I have searched around and seen this covered in various forms, but what the hell. I also got lectured for bumping an old thread, so what the hell.

What's your take on these people? I will be the first to admit that I'm a competitive person. I don't like being dropped, and I make pretty decent time getting to work, but I also feel like compared to a lot of people I see out there I'm a reasonably safe and law-abiding rider.

I don't make a point of showing up people, and there are a lot of faster riders than me out there, but if someone is plodding along in front of me I will take the next safe opportunity to pass them. It's not because I want to be some kind of hotshot. It's because I want a unobstructed view of the road and a chance to ride at my own pace.

Unfortunately, some people don't take it this way. The other day I passed a guy up a hill. There was probably half a block between us when I got to the top, and since I wasn't running that late this particular day I decided not to change over to the big ring and take it kind of easy down the other side. I'm cruising along minding my own business and do a fairly standard head check back before dropping into a higher traffic area.

I practically jumped out of my shoes when I saw this idiot RIGHT on my wheel - overlapping wheels in fact, on a 25+ mph descent. This particular area is bad enough dealing with cars and idiots stumbling out of Starbucks into the street without people pulling stunts like this. I guess I should also mention this was a bike lane with parked cars, and by sitting on my left like this he was forcing me way further to the right than I am comfortable with. If he wanted to take the lane for a second and blow by me, I would have been fine with that, but he seemed to be relishing having caught me and enjoying just hanging out there.

The other thing that bothers me is people who try to pass me when they're clearly not going fast enough to get by me quickly and keep up a pace that's sufficient to put some distance between us when they do. I'll slow down to let them by if I need to just to keep them from hanging out there, because they just don't want to give up. I don't want to speed up and drop them, because that will only piss them off.

What do you say to these people? I feel compelled to say something, but this being nicey-nice Seattle I'm afraid of it being taken the wrong way.

I understand very well your problem. I feel the same way sometimes. Generally I'm slower than most men and I really don't mind when someone passes me. But sometimes I feel they're angry at me for "being in their way" and just tailgate me way too close until there're no cars on the road and they can pass while giving me an offended, angry look. Other times I've passed a cyclist on horrozontal terrain but they've caught up with me up the next hill which ultimately has resulted in the same thing.

I haven't said anything so far. IMO nothing rude would have an effect. Maybe "you were following me way too close" or "don't ride so close near me"

They're not tailgating you to make you go faster. They're being lazy and sucking you're wheel. Best way to deal with that, hock a loogie without looking. When they get pissed, say "Oh sorry didn't see you sucking my wheel." I only get pissed when someone passes me when its obvious they had to work really hard to get past me which means they will crater up ahead. If someone passes me with little or no effort, more power to em, there's always someone faster.

It all depends on my mood and the circumstances but in general I think it's very bad form to draft uninvited and unintroduced. It's not only dangerous in many circumstances but impolite. When someone does it to me I slow down and, sometimes pretty sharply, say,"Please don't do that without asking permission." I then pull over and let them pass and they better be able to hold the pace. I sit back thirty feet or so and usually watch them struggle to keep from humiliating themselves. If they can hold the pace then all the better for them- I'll let them set the pace but do not draft them. If not, I patiently wait and watch for signs they are crumbling and when they do (and only when I am sure they have) I use it as an opportunity to work on my racing form (even though I haven't raced in years ) and as soon as I can safely blow by them I do.

Other times I just slow down, let them pass and say nothing. And a sense of humour and perspective is very useful in this situation as well. Oddly enough I've met more than one future training partner in one of these throw down the gauntlet showdowns where we wore ourselves out passing and repassing one another to the point of ludicrousness and we ended up laughing our asses off at how stupid we were.

ha, don't get too much of that really. but i'm usually timing the lights while i run thru the city, so i know when i need to speed up and when i need to slow down, just so i don't entirely loose momentum. one day i pass the usual biker (running the lights, stop signs, getting between cars) because i know i'm a little behind on the upcoming light and i want to beat it before it goes yellow. this dude starts looking at me like we're racing or something. like i really give a toss.

in any case, i beat him by a good 300 feet to cross as the light turns yellow and red just as i exit the cross lane. i'm slowing down, cause the next light is a bit away he passes me and says

"not today, man"

after that i see him crossing against the again cause really he isn't going that much faster then my normal pace. i'd catch him if i didn't stop as the law requires. he there holding himself between the road on cross traffic, which no doubt is freaking the drivers out. i figure he must not have that much to live for.

That happens in the path a lot, specially going to Manayunk. To my enjoyment some friendly competition happens amongst the early birds rolling towards Philly.

They drop me on the flats, but not for much.When they get to the 4% climb on Umbria street I drop them like goose poop. I do not have the opportunity of riding of flats too much, but the fixed is making me develop better climbing form.

Now I have to get used to the drop bars again. Got me a pair that fits me (alu. 12$) since I am tired of pushing wind with my chest from the horns.

yeah I know it, but that doesn't mean it still doesn't bother me. it's annoying to hear them shifting to lower and lower gear, closer and closer behind me and then watching them pass me angrily and agressively. i'm not slower on purpose and i've got as much right to the road as they do.

sometimes it's actually funny. a few days ago a cyclist caught up with me up a hill. I didn't turn but I could hear him. he actually had a few opportunities to pass me with no cars around but he didn't. I had to stop at a red traffic light. He stopped behind me and so I told him to go ahead and start first as soon as it turns green. Then he looked me straight in the eye and gave me this look of absolute and utter disbelief "you think!?" and shook his head. all I could do was smile when he wasn't watching

Helmet mirrors are useful for this stuff. No need to guess, or turn and look. Whether your goal is to torment your would-be overtakers by putting on a nice 30-second "turbo boost" juuuuuust as they're about to close up with you (one of my favorite forms of torment, on-road or off-road), or to orchestrate an opportunity for them to pass in a good place, or to watch for a nice gap in traffic to use for passing, being able to see backwards is helpful.

i don't know why those people don't just drive. they seem to have the tailor-made mentality for it.

I like to have a little race on my commute, especially coming home late at night when the young whippersnappers are riding around. But that's a mutually agreed event, nothing like you're describing. If a guy's that rude, just ride at the speed you like and don't worry about him. Say something if it makes you feel better, but it probably won't change the situation. Now if you're feeling fast that day--ask him to race to the end of the next block. Either he'll chicken out or you'll have some fun, win/win.

Exactly. These are the clowns I'm talking about. Maybe on a recreational ride I would have a more forgiving attitude with this kind of behavior (or be more willing to put the hammer down
and lose em' ), but when I'm tired and grouchy and slogging to or from a job I'm not that wild about I just want to smack them.

I take great delight in hunting punks who shoot red lights and enjoy the look on their faces when glide past on freewheel. I also race the sneering bike messengers on fixies because I don't take well to being looked down upon. Other than that London doesn't lend itself well to impromptu bike racing.

I did have one moment the other morning when I came off the lights rolled up behind another rider who was going just a little bit slower than I wanted to. I pulled out of the bike lane and started to accelerate and he starts matching pace. I give it a bit more and start nosing past and he does the same. Not really that fussed but we're now on a bit of an incline and if I start freewheeling to let him pass it's going to take ages and besides, he's acting like and idiot so I start laying it down and eventually scape him off using another bike lane user. He only drafted until I took a tight line through some horse poo.

I'm not enamoured of city-drafters. I'm not sure what leads them to do it as I don't look or act like a club rider. I have no team colours and tend to dance around potholes, manholes and the like. On one occasion, after telling the drafter in no uncertain or polite terms to get off of my back wheel, I decided to leave him to it and beat him severely with his own chainring if he caused a crash. Shortly after I took a gap and as he tried to follow he ended up bouncing off the side off a black cab. His bike seemed OK but I think his ego required urgent medical attention.

I agree. Sometimes, when someone passes me, it reminds me that I'm plodding too slow. I then try to keep up. But I keep a respectful distance and I never draft. I don't pass unless I'm confident I will continue at a pace faster than the other rider. I might stay a little closer if the guy passed me without saying "on your left" or ringing a bell.

One basic rule of riding both on the path and the road is never pass unless you can stay ahead.

On the rare occasion I am passed I like to wait a good bit, and then try to catch up and maintain a certain distance. Always pretend I am on horseback, chasing someone through the woods.

If someone is going slower than me I pass them (usually with a "Hello"). If someone passes me I usually say "hello". If someone is sucking on my rear wheel I say "hello" and if that person bothers me by getting too close, I slow down increasingly till they pass. I don't feel superior when I pass someone and I don't care what other riders are thinking especially about me. If you ride a bike on the road, it doesn't matter what brand or type you ride, it doesn't matter how slow or fast you ride, it doesn't matter if you wear brightly colored bike spacific clothes or your every day clothes. Its us against the motorists, were all in this together. That is, at least until the oil runs out.

I love doing this too

I'm pretty competitive (even for a newbie), it sounds like most of the culprits in this thread are just being jerks. If someone passes me, I usually treat it as a wake up call and speed up.
I don't like it when I've passed a slower rider, then they pull up right in front of me at the next lights, so I have to leave them behind when it goes green .
If I get to some lights and there is a cyclist there before me I'll either pull up behind them or alongside to say hi. Then if they look slower than me I'll move off the lights quick, if they look faster than me I'll let em go first, then pass when I get a safe chance if they are going too slow.

But I enjoy nothing more than hunting down and dropping riders who are antisocial / dangerous. Usually the guys who run the reds and generally ride badly aren't hard to catch.

Competitive commuting is beyond me. Just about tops on the list of why I cycle to work is avoidance of people. I could no longer tolerate the necessary often contemptuous, sometimes stomach turning intimacy of the crammed subway car, where all forms of offensive behaviour, and odors can be found right under your nose, where you always hate the guy pressing against you and chances are he feels much the same. The constant announcements to be watchful of terrorists, hell, the way I felt sometimes, I could *almost* understand wanting to blow up a train.

As a life-long NY'er I thought the packed rush hour train was a necessary evil, since my return to cycling I see it as an optional misery.

I don't know if I am passing others or if others are passing me by, it's likely the former because I feel so damn good, so liberated from the nauseating, infuriating grind of subway commuting, I'm super-charged. If it's the later, or if someones riding my wheel, I'm still smiling to myself, even if I'm threatening to beat the crap out of them.

I don't commute to compete with others, only against myself. If you're faster, that's cool, go ahead and pass. If I'm faster, I'm passing.

Nobody wants to ride my wheel uninvited, even if they think they do.

What makes everyone think that because someone passes them and slows down that its a problem? Unless they slow down in a way that unsafely obstructs you, pass them and get over yourself!

I admit that when I am riding and I am trying to push myself, if someone passes me I use it as a motivation to increase my speed until I lose contact with them... but if it's not another rider I simply try to beat the clock. If I see another rider in front of me, I do sometimes use them as motivation too and make an objective of passing them. I have no delusions that I can outrace anyone, it is just that I lose contact with cars too quickly to use them effectively for motivation.

If I pass you and you happen to be commuting, and you are in decent shape, I pretty much guarantee that you can pass me, I'm not delusional, I am just riding my bike in a way that works for me.

I passed someone on a rail trail that blew past me a few weeks ago. I passed for only one reason, and that is that they got off their road bikes to cross some tracks, and I rode right over them on my Sedona. It was six miles to the end of the trail, so I decided to try to stay ahead of them... I did for about 2 or 3 miles, and then by the time I got to the end of the trail they had loaded their biked onto their truck and casually driving away as I made it to the end of the trail huffing and puffing...

I know they weren't racing, and were actually not pushing themselves, but their presence helped me... So, if someone has passed you in the same way, then in the name of my fellow slow pokes, thanks for being a motivation!

And as far as drafting, I understand and share the concern, but you have nothing to fear from me, because for my comfort level (lack of drafting experience) I would rather be in the front than the back.

I did chuckle at a previous poster saying that this thread sounds like a bunch of cagers griping about bicyclists... it really does...

We all march (or ride) to different drummers, mine happens to have a variable rhythm.

I am not sure if you meant by this what I would. But, I wish this would fit on a shirt... I can just imagine someone trying to draft me, and then in frustration after a minute yelling at me to hold my line...

Of course, anyone who is skilled enough to draft behind me effectively could pass me like I am standing still anyway.

There is one interesting race spot on my commute. Coming off of the island at Hyde Park Corner onto the road down to Buckingham Palace is controlled by lights. Right now you get about six or seven cyclists strung out in a line just itching for the signal. The ensuing pedal mash is always quite enjoyable. It's a straight road on a clean, gentle downhill slope so good gearing is key. As it's close to work I get one last good thrash before parking up and chaining myself to the computer.

Or in small writing.

Racing, bring it on! my commute is my turf, I OWN it if you wheelsuck me I'll drop you like a bad habit, or die trying I don't go around challenging just anyone, it's pretty damned obvious that grandpa on his ancient 40 pound walmart special accompanying the grandkids along the MUP at barely walking pace isn't going to 'get it' when you give him the alpha dog challenging look and if he does he'll probably rupture his colostomy bag and die just thinking about it, but if you're wearing colors and riding carbon you better have rememberd to bring your legs & lungs with ya!

The great thing about it is that if you lose you still get a great workout that'll make you a litlle stronger next time, it's all good.

Didn't you get the memo, marqueemoon?

Its a race out there in commuter land.

I think most commuters need to get more used to riding in a queue.

The scenario you described about getting the squeeze is bad, though. If I get obnoxious or dangerous wheel suckers I take assertive evasive action.

Try some quick, darting dynamic lateral lane positioning.
Then, try the "brake-n-clear" method.
Last resort- think bike pump scene in "Breaking Away."

I've had an obnoxious roadie drafting me on my schwinn corvette, which is fine, the real annoying thing was him talking it up like he was a tour de france rider pulling in the leader... I just SLAMMED on the brakes, that kept him back after that. I've used this "brake-n-clear" technique more than once, its pretty effective.

Hocking lugies because you can't ride with someone on your wheel is just RUDE and if that's how some roadies show they're slower than the person behind him, you people suck.

Besides, the dance of the sugar plum fairies is easier with another bicycle than metro buses, isn't it? not a big deal to pass, and repass.

Or a little inadvertent drift