Why does commuting have to be a race?
 

To help me get back into shape, I recently started commuting on my fixed gear to and from college summer classes. I was riding behind a guy on a Trek 1200 road bike with aerobars, but he wasn't using them. Like me, he was probably commuting from class since he had a backpack on and was wearing khaki shorts. Anyways, I was following him for a while waiting for it to be clear to pass since we were on the road's shoulder and he was going kinda slow. When it was clear, I announced my passing and went ahead of him. A 10 seconds later I see him zoom past me on his aerobars. He then looked back at me and gave me a big nasty smirk and hammered away like it was a huge accomplishment beating someone on a fixed gear and not even racing. Is this common to have commuters like this?

Sounds like an isolated incident where said fellow as trying to be a jerk. I wouldn't think much of it.

Commuting is about riding at your own pace.

Sorry dude but I just had to use my Aeros. Learn to fear my Aeroness...

People are people. Did you slow down after passing him? If you exerted the same effort chances are that you slowed down since you didn't get the draft effect (but not saying you did!). It's happened to me to get passed by a guy only to slow down in front of me; it pisses me off and I tend to zoom past him so he gets the message and doesn't try again. People do that in cars also..

It doesn't have to be a race, it just turns out that way.

Race that ******bag and win ... or else!!!!

You betta represent!!

Start training.

You might see him again.
Tell him he has nice legs.

It happens, but as long as he maintains his pace and doesn't slow you down further, no problem.

The problem is if he passes you then slows down to slower than you were going, forces you to pass, then speeds up again and passes you and then slows down again slower than you were going, forces you to pass, then speeds up again and passes you and then slows down again slower than you were going, forces you to pass, then speeds up again and passes you and then slows down again slower than you were going, forces you to pass, then speeds up again and passes you and then slows down again slower than you were going, forces you to pass, then speeds up again and passes you and then slows down again slower than you were going, forces you to pass, then speeds up again and passes you and then slows down again slower than you were going, forces you to pass, then speeds up again and passes you and then slows down again slower than you were going, forces you to pass, then speeds up again and passes you and then slows down again slower than you were going, forces you to pass, then speeds up again and passes you and then slows down again slower than you were going, forces you to pass, then speeds up again and passes you and then slows down again ... :twitchy:

Then it's a problem and you would be better off finding another route.

jack ass
 

Just keep a stick handy and jam it in his front wheel if you see him again.:eek:

Actually, you could ride in the drops or the top flat and crunch up in the same position as an aero bar. Assuming your gear was high enough you could stay with him then.

I'd just take the high road and let him have his ego boosting moment, who cares........really!:rolleyes:

This is also a huge problem with people going slower than you on MUPs who don't slow down, let alone stop, for stop signs. Along the Burke in Seattle there are stretches that have quite a few reasonably placed stop signs and many a time I have ended up stuck behind someone going a little slower than I would have preferred because I wanted to avoid leapfrogging with them for 2 or 3 miles.

I had some guy on aero bars blow by me like I was standing still...I was standing still at a stop light and it had just changed to green when he went by. I was tempted to chase him down on my single speed because, oh well, just because. I reminded myself that I had to keep my cool so I wouldn't get to work all sweaty. Maybe some day I'll pass him on the way home, or short-cut through a grass field, single track or horse trail...those kinds of detours are what makes the commuting fun!

anytime two cyclists are going in the same direction, it's automatically a race

:D

Hell yeah its a race. What fun is life if you can't make everything a competition. I would have raced his ass. (and lost BAAAD, but I would have tried.)

it's only a race if you win

whats the point of having a fast ass bike if you can't throw down.

at least he didn't spit at you.

Why does it have to be a race?

Don't you know the Law?

The Law of cycling is thus: If more than one cyclist is travelling the same way by coincidence on the same road, it is a race.

Now HTFU and win the race next time.

racists;)

I dropped this hot girl today going past the college.

My instinct to race was overpowering my will to get laid. I could have said Hi to her as we were sharing the lane, but i was stoked on the 85 degree weather and kicking ass!

It's always a race. But I also enjoy tailing road bikes that just overtook my foldie, never overtaking them back. The look of their face as they look back to see me still there is fun. Usually my blasting music is their first clue they haven't quite left me in the dust. Hahahaha!

It is permissable to drop a hot girl...but only after you've sat on her wheel for a while, and then only to prove that you have the legs to do so, since you have no chance at getting her phone number.

Hee hee. I know it's commuting, but *I* just have to go as fast as humanly possible.

Maybe I'm getting old. I'm getting dropped more and more by youngsters on MTBs. I can hear the hum of their fat knobbies approach me from behind, and I ease up on my pace to let them pass. But I catch up to them at stop signs and lights, and it occurs to me it's exactly the same thing in cars. All those muscle cars burn tons of fuel to accelerate past me, only to wait at the next light while I gently coast towards them to start the cycle all over again.

I keep a constant cadence from beginning to end and could care less about those that huff and puff.

I passed a couple girls on road bikes today on a highway. I wasn't racing, I was just going at a faster pace and we said hello as I passed.

:fight:
to each their own I guess?

:deadhorse2:Well like you guys with the girls, this thread isn't going anywhere.

I like to ride fast when I commute, except when I don't. Why race? I'm just happy to see another one out there on bike!

Who cares if he passes you? How do you know he wasn't at the end of his warm up period and was already ready to step it out? Maybe it was just bad timing on your part. Why does everyone take it so personal when they get passed? Sometimes I feel like passing others, sometimes I don't.

He turned around and smirked? Not exactly classy.

Part of what's fun about a bike is that for the most part there is no speed limit. You go as fast as you want/can. These little races are going to happen but it's really not cool to speed up as somebody is trying to pass you. With any "race" there's the increased likelihood that somebody will do something stupid instead of paying attention to traffic.

In my experience, fortunately no. Most seasoned commuters are pacing themselves to get themselves to their destination without turning into the "abominable salt monter". They may use another Cyclist for pace, but not pass with malice. Unfortunately, there are a lot of Newbies (and just outright deluded cyclists who have bought into the whole TDF fantasy the Bike industry has projected for years for the sake of continuing sales) around who might fancy themselves road racers who even on a commute delude themselves into thinking they are "Brian Summers" riding the Coors classic. (And are just as Dorky.):roflmao2:

Really???? Really??? Come on you could have caught him.....slap a 55/13 on there and he'll think twice about passing next time. Aero on a 1200....and commuting at that? That's over the top...

Whether you accept The Law or not...it accepts you.

I suppose The Law could be phrased even better as: There is only one Law of cycling; two men enter, one man leaves.