so i'm commuting along chicago's lakefront bike trail as usual this morning, cruising along at about 22-23 mph - not killing myself, but moving at a decent clip none-the-less. then a lycra-clad non-commuter on his fancy cervelo catches up to me and passes me slowly going maybe 1 mph faster, and once he was immediately ahead of me and switched back into our lane, he broke his cadence, reached down for his water bottle and proceeded to rapidly slow down as he rehydrated, causing me to slow down as well. WTF? who would kill themselves to catch up to another cyclist, only to break speed immediately upon passing them and thus forcing the cyclist behind to have to slow down as well?

i gave him a little bit of time to pick it it back up, but after i realized that he was now spent from trying to catch up to me, i turned on the afterburners and buzzed right past him. this seemed not to sit well with him as he tried to turn it on to keep up with me, but after a mile or so, i could no longer see him behind me. victory for the commuter!

This happens on the highway in my car all the time too.

Ram him next time.

More testosterone than brains.

This old guy ( and I am 50) on a walmart hybird, no helmet etc, just kinda an eccentric old guy, passes me occassionally when I come to work a little early. He works his butt off to pass me then slows down drastically. It is obviously important to him so i dont have the heart to pass him back. Some guys just need that.

How do you know he was not a commuter?

cervelo?

He was fully lycra-clad riding without any panniers, back pack, messenger bag, etc.

unless the guy works somewhere with an EXTREMELY lax dress code, my best guess tells me he wasn't on his way into work.





the guy who did this to me this morning wasn't terribly old, maybe mid 40s or so, on a nice high end ride, fully decked out in his roadie kit. he may have "needed" to pass me for his own ego stroke (or to justify the buckets of money he had to hand over for his cervelo), but it seems to me that a guy riding his set-up would have had the good sense to keep his speed up upon passing me rather than set himself up to be repassed.






you've never heard of cervelo? carlos sastre won the 2008 tour de france on a cervelo bike.

https://www.cervelo.com/en_us/

I knew what it was, I meant that was a bit upscale for me/us.

Ok..........Wait for it.............An...........................................IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

^^^+1. There's something in some people's minds that makes them unable to handle the idea that they're not IN FRONT. I think it may have something to do with being forced to "line up" in elementary school, and the resulting desire to be at the front of the line. I have found this effect to be most pronounced with motorists in relation to cyclists; I can't count the number of times I've been passed by motorists while I was technically speeding in a 20 mph zone. It doesn't matter how fast the person on the bike is going - I'm driving a car and I have to be in front of that person on the bike - wouldn't be right for me, in a car, to drive behind a bicycle...blah blah blah... but I know many of you have experienced this too.

"You can be Gestapo but not Hitler or his staff."


Can I be Horst Wessel???

Lots of cyclists do this. Many of us enjoy little impromptu races, for various reasons. Training, motivation, competition, or just the enjoyment of passing someone. It sounds like your friend falls into the last category; just passing you is what's important to him, not so much staying ahead. See https://ItsNotARace.com.

I ride in cargo pants or slacks, plus a wool base layer top. I don't have panniers, a rack, pack, or anything like that; my sole cargo space is my Freddish saddle bag. I certainly don't look like a typical commuter, but then I make medical software for a living, so the company really doesn't care how I dress, so long as I make this damned WCF thing work. I would say the same might be true of your buddy ... but spandex is a dead giveaway.

Once or twice a week I ride a bike with a rack and panniers and bring food and clothes for several days. The other days I ride my road bike in cycling clothes with just a small saddle bag and change my clothes when I get to work. Many people do this.

He could have had a change of clothes at the office...

+1

I used to haul everything in one day using my commuter and then ride my road bike just wearing a kit the next day.

you can be anything you wanna be.

Part 1: Yep. Part 2: It's simpler and deeper than that.

My mom loves dogs, and has always had a few of them. When someone knocks on the door, or when my mother goes to let them out, it's like a group of Roman warriors running off to battle, jockeying for position at the front. Basset hounds are especially competitive about having to be in front (or, maybe fought harder because they were the alphas).

Cyclists who spend every bit of energy they have to get in front of other cyclists, then slow down because they're spent, are a lot like basset hounds.

I used to have a bassett hound. I miss her. I called her Killer. Thanks for bringing that up.

My labs do the same thing. Walking them together is flat out evil.
Cute dog btw.

fair enough, the guy could have had a change of clothes at the office for all i know. that part wasn't really the point though, the point was that this guy, with his fancy kit and ride, should have had the good sense to pass me and maintain his speed as opposed to passing me and immediately breaking cadence to slow down and rehydrate. wouldn't he know that by slowing down directly in front of me that he was being an obnoxious jack-ass?

Just another guy who wants to be able to brag about passing someone -------

Many of us are clueless.
However, I have done this exact same thing when interval training.

All you need to get a Cervelo and fancy kit is the money. No actual skills or etiquette training are required.

Be honest though, you were a bit peeved that he even passed you in the first place, weren't you?

Though there are plenty of people that can easily go faster than 22 or 23mph, I don't really expect to get passed (during a commute anyway) if I'm going that fast.

Eh, I got passed yesterday and it sorta irked me. Then again he didn't pass me with speed, he just passed me while I stopped at a light. Then I watched him blow through other stop signs, never signaling turns, etc.

I caught up to him on the big hill on my commute and passed him. Roadies may pass me but they slow WAY down on hills, so the touring bike wins!