... and years later, they both sobered up, and are now the best of friends.

Pfffft. Velomobiles and recumbents aren't even on the list.

We should be worth more just because we're so rare.

lol, I was thinking the same thing as I read that. The day I met Lance Armstrong on the mup!

How many times have I been on rides thinking "I'll take it easy today", then someone passes me and then I think "It's on!".
I'm only 49, but I hope to God that when I turn 70, I can still do this. I fear getting older. I really do. But I read stories like this and I hope and pray I turn out nearly the same.

Never underestimate folks. Someone can ride a clunker a be pushing years but he might have some racing background when young and then even if he left riding for some years and returned to it for fitness in later years, he can still surprise.

That behavior is weird but it happens, some folks don't like to socialize.

I think you can ride bike on decent level even past 70. Running never agreed with my knees but cross country skiing (even marathon distances) and biking no problem.

I'll be on the lookout for ya if Im ever riding in your location!

Joke is on you. He let you win. Now he’s reading this thread and laughing his ass off over how he got into your head enough to post the OED of threads trying to make him look foolish. Ask me how I know.

When I'm on my bent, I score myself like a road bike - naked if I'm just carrying flat repair, touring if I'm carrying all my rando crap.

If I had a velo, I don't think I'd know how to score myself. In most situations it would be a pretty pointless game. You're either going to win big or lose big.

One year Lance rode past me on an MUP the day before the U.S. pro road race championship in Philadelphia. I was tending to a mechanical. True story. Several years before I and a bunch of other rag tag locals rode behind the 7-11 team the day before the race. Late 80’s. They were spinning along and chatting at around 23 mph while we were hanging on for dear life.

I think he took it personally. Yesterday I was riding the same path. Making a decent clip at about 17. As I often do, I looked behind me for any bikes approaching. Nothing. A few minutes later I looked again. As I did, an E-biker was blasting around and past me. This was a full suspension 29er. The rider was dressed in khakis and a safari kind of shirt and wearing a full face motorcycle helmet with a mirrored out shield. I nodded at the rider. The rider gave no response.

Several miles down the path I saw the E-biker stopped on the edge of the path. As I rode past, I again nodded politely and was again met with non-response. A few minutes later I saw the rider coming from behind. I thought to myself that his bike might have been a Class 1 or 2 Ebike. At this point I had a decent tail wind, so I spun it up to 21-22MPH. He was going to have to work to pass me. Or so I thought. He soon caught me and moved past me with ease. I nodded as he passed. The mirrored shield remained motionless and aimed steadily forward. As he settled in ahead of me I noticed a familiarity in the build, the clothing, the unique posture, the arms and the steely coldness.

IT WAS HIM!

That sucker was not going to be bettered by me again.

As a completely unrelated aside, does anyone know where there are any good deals on Class 3 E-Bikes?

Good to know I range from six to ten, depending on the bike. You learn something every day!

Otto

I pass "legs", he gives me a blank stare.

"Legs" passes me. Still no communications.

I pass "legs" again, then proceed to drop him like a sack of oats. Even if it kills me, down he goes.

"Legs" has nothing left to do but buy an e-bike. "Legs" is an annoying individual and he knows it.

I think the plot of this thread was plagiarized from a Roadrunner / Wiley Coyote cartoon. When do we get to rockets?

LOL, never give up position...I don't care how old the other rider is. Great story

When I used to bike commute on a MUP and wasn’t feeling too energetic, I would dog it waiting for a faster cyclist to pass and then grab their wheel for a draft. Other days I would be going at 80%, feeling good, and a guy would pass me going just a touch faster and I would grab his wheel for a bit and then pass them to see if I could get them to jump me. If they did, I would grab their wheel again for a fast pull while I went back to my 80% and enjoy the ride until they turned off or blew up. Learned that riding a fixie during track classes at my local velodrome.

I’ve had a sorta similar response from another rider. This rider goes really fast in aero position out and back on the city/county MUP that connects to the state park rail trail.

On occasion I see him coming out when I’m heading back into town from a ride on the state trail. So, he’ll typically catch up and pass me on his return before I pull off the city trail at the feeder trail heading back to my house.

We both use that feeder route, so sometimes I end up almost catching back up because he seems to slow way down on the feeder route, presumably as a cool down, to a rate even slower than I was riding when he passed.

He must regard me catching back up at this point as some sort of a challenge, because as soon as I get in his vicinity, he takes off again at high speed for the last mile or so to the end of the feeder trail. I don’t think I’m imagining this because he has done exactly the same thing each time and not at a specific spot, but at the moment I get near, which varies of course.

No big deal, but, yeah, people are interesting!

Otto

These encounters make the rides a little less monotonous.

A true roadie would've let him pass, get on his wheel and keep there even if he slowed down, and outsprint him at the last 100 meters.

I bet he had a hidden motor.

Agreed.

Otto

That sounds like a Dual to me.

Why didn't you match speeds and talk a bit?

Maybe he was looking for a riding buddy, you guys seem fairly well matched, not a race.

When two sufferers of Dogncar Syndrome meet on a cycle path...

This is from the OP.

As I got beside him, I said "it's a gorgeous afternoon for a ride huh?" Stone faced, he continued to glare forward without so much as an acknowledgement. No nod, no smile, no glance over, nothing.

maybe they're afraid that you'll waive & they'll think you'll expect a gesture in return. The fear might be brought on by the thought of possibly crashing from the lack of grip. When in reality, they don't know that the hard pull is testing the weak cardio valving each time.

Different strokes for different folks.
YMMV