worldtraveller

For when your riding on the road for a long road bike ride. and you slowly are catching up to someone else in front of you, they are a far distance away.

do you feel you want and will speed up and push it to get up to them and pass them and leave them in the dust?

how do you feel in that situation and what have you done?

have u ever got up to them and draft them for a while without asking?

2manybikes

No drafting without knowing the rider in front and how he rides. Too dangerous. If you hit his back wheel he might be able to stay up. Not true if your front wheel gets hit.

tagaproject6

Where does this feeling of obligation come from? Do you feel this obligation yourself?

DEK

I feel no need to speed up to pass anyone. If I'm riding fast enough to catch someone, whenever I catch up - so be it. And don't draft anyone I don't know and considering I don't know anyone here, I don't draft.

Phil_gretz

I usually say "hello" or "how are you today?" as I pass. If it's taken a long time to catch someone, then that rider is putting out roughly the power that I am. In that case, I might attempt a brief conversation as I pass. But out of courtesy, if I sense that the rider doesn't want to talk, I move on.

Drafting off a stranger? Rarely. I can count a handful of times where I was familiar with the route and could tell that the rider was behaving predictably - and we had been chatting. Without asking first? Unthinkable. PG

rogerstg

Even if I'm just a bit faster on average, there is usually a bigger difference riding uphill or descending. I usually time my pass for those times to get it over with and reduce the awkwardness. Sometimes I speed up a bit as well. I try to be pleasant with the obligatory "on your left" followed by, "how you doin'?" or similar, but no chit chat.

Flaneur

If I see another rider in front, I will usually up my pace to catch him or her, if possible. I am always friendly and willing to chat, if the person wants to and I never draft strangers: I've seen too many accidents, when racers expect commuters to ride to their rules.

con

It is a sickness with me, I love catch’n rabbits. Back when I raced I would set a goal, if I was riding the coast solo on a weekend, of passing X amount of riders. It made the ride fun, kept me focused and made me work hard. I still do the catch and pass game.

As for drafting, I almost never draft a solo rider; I will join a group I catch that are in a pace line. I of course let the riders know I’m there.

BTW, rabbits are a lot faster nowadays…..Or could it be, I’m slower….Nah.

BlazingPedals

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question. If I'm catching up, it's a no-brainer that unless someone turns, I'll be passing eventually. There is no 'obligation' to pass; it's just something that's gonna happen. Sometimes I'll speed up for the pass itself, just to get by them with less interference.

dynodonn 

No, I just maintain my regular speed, and if the rider's speed is close to mine, I'll hang back at a safe distance and take a break until they stop or turn or slow their speed enough that I can make a safe pass.

DataJunkie

Obligation?
If I am tired and slowly gaining I tend to slow down while maintaining a fair amount of distance.
If I ate my wheaties I speed up and pass the other rider.

hueyhoolihan

don't like it when people pass me, ususally at what seems to be a decent speed, and then slow down in front. i guess they slow down because they exhausted themselves in catching up. sometimes they even keep looking back to see if they've dropped me. but i refuse to slow down, under such circumstances, so as to be dropped. i'll usually follow at a respecful distance (30-100ft) until our routes diverge. i sense that from time to time this frustrates the passer. but i suppose i could be imagining it...

BTW, i never draft. i think that would be rude. besides, it's too dangerous.

Thulsadoom

I don't suppose I feel neccessarily obligated to pass anyone. I probably will, and usually do, if I can, just to see who it is since very few people in general ride where I live. But it ain't like I feel any sort of obligation to pursue it.

I would never draft a stranger, it just seems dangerous and most folks wouldn't appreciate it.

bigbadwullf

Sure. why not? I certainly don't care if someone passes me. yup, don't draft.

stapfam

If I catch riders on the road- happens sometimes- I let them know I am there. Comes from me having too many fit young riders breeze past me just a bit too close and all I am worrying about is me and the traffic.


But once I saw a rider about 1/2 mile in front and started chasing him down. Took a lot longer than I thought and I had to put in a lot of effort. Caught him and passed him and........ What Have I Done? ? ? ? I am knac*ered and he wasn't going much slower than me and I now have to stay in front of him. Took 2 miles of sweat and tired legs before he turned off the road and I could collapse.

jbtute

The first bike race happened when the second bike was built...

Yes, I always try to catch another rider if I can. I don't really care much about passing them and I often slow down to stay behind them, especially if it is on a street with traffic.

FWIW I would not draft another rider, but I have no issues if someone wishes to draft off of me. So long as I'm aware they are back there, I'm cool with it. I might even offer to pull someone up a hill if I'm only going a bit faster than their pace.

hueyhoolihan

that's JUST the situation i try to avoid using my "don't pass unless i can drop them for sure" technique!

...had to laugh...

kenoshi

I've noticed people who pass me are either really fast, or about the same speed but for some reason felt like they had to pass me. The former I'll give chase, until I can't keep up anymore (good training!), the latter almost always start to slow down after a few minutes in front of me and I end up passing them anyway.

Personally I don't try to pass people unless they're going a lot slower than I am, e.g. if I'm going 20 - 22 and they're going 15...If its just a tad bit slower I usually catch a break and hang back a ways until we get to a light, and I'll usually pull ahead when the light turns green, etc.

Bianchigirll 

I agree with the Rabbit analogy. if I see a rider in the distance I will try and catch them. I never follow a stranger and hate when people do it to me.

years ago I chased a rider for about 10 miles out south of LA. I was riding pretty hard and could barely gain any ground. just when I got to where I could see them clearly (OH yeah them) I saw why they were so hard to catch. I was chasing a Tandem on fairly level ground.

jayp410

I don't like passing someone only to have them pass me later (or vice versa), so if they're going almost as fast as me I'll hang back a couple hundred feet and ride at their speed. I don't want to show them up (if they're trying hard) or for them to feel like I'm challenging them. But if they're going slow uphill, I'll pass them because I don't like grinding up hills at a low cadence if I'm able to climb at a faster cadence. If someone passes me, I may try to keep them in sight but not get real close to them.

Here in the rolling hills, sometimes in a group ride someone will keep passing me on the downhills or flats and then slow down to a crawl when climbing so I have to pass them on every hill, playing a game of leap frog. Tandems and recumbents are an example of this, but at least both parties are expecting it to happen. What's more annoying is when a single rider feels the need to keep getting in front of me on flats/downhills when I'm riding at the same speed as the group and have already passed them on a couple of uphills. I usually try to get away from that rider, even if it means going solo off the front (if I can) or off the back.

labrat

I agree with no drafting strangers. However, I will catch and hang several bike lengths behind an unknowing rider until I'm sure I have fresh legs and can easily drop the them. A short burst assures I'm by them before they can latch on and draft me. The pace returns to normal once I'm sure I'm back "in the clear."

caloso

Much less since I started racing. Just about never since I got a power meter and started a much more structured training program.

Pain

Seem like at least once on every ride I get passed by someone that is riding right at their limit right before a big hill, and then they totally blow up before they even get half way up and get in my way. They start weaving all over the road from lack of oxygen which makes it dangerous to pass. Don't feel obligated to pass if you don't have enough gas in the tank.

xenologer

yep, strong obligation to pass them, especially if they are on a road bike, wearing a helmet and lycra, and I've seen them roll though stop signs.
I'll be on my mtb commuter, wearing plain clothes and no helmet, and will be sure to fully stop at a stop sign while in plain view ahead of them before continuing to vanish into the distance...

rogerstg

Wow, you must be a really strong rider: especially since you have to carry the extra weight of that chip on you shoulder.