Nachoman

I recommend EPO. Then if possible, hunt Johnny Wad down and inflict some pain.

eduskator

Well, doesn't look like OP was doing a group ride...

Iride01 

This happens in all facets of life. At least for me.

Back when I was a charter and corporate pilot, no matter how big or fast the airplane was I flew into a little podunk airstrip, someone else in a bigger faster airplane would soon pull up on the ramp next to me. Similar things too after getting on with the airlines.

tagaproject6

Drope that hammer!

Random11

I feel your pain. (I fly a Cessna 172.)

taco2ewsday

I got passed by an older white haired dude on a geared beach cruiser looking thing, I have no ego

eduskator

The only ego I have when I ride is to finish my ride. If I set a 100km goal, I know I won't be able to see the finish line if I start racing with random people at the beginning of my ride or even half-way through.

caloso

Exactly. I've had people jump on my wheel while I'm out doing intervals and I didn't realize it. When I sat up at the end of the interval, the wheel sucker nearly took us both out because I guess he thought I was going to pull him indefinitely. I've also had people who didn't know I was doing intervals and were trying to be helpful and do their share of pulling. It makes it hard to maintain your target wattage when you're now stuck behind someone. And then finally, I had this situation where I kept catching up to a young woman rider and I wanted to let her know that I wasn't creeping on her

downtube42

On a 1200k like PBP the fast guys on the front suffer by choice, finishing with no sleep in 43ish hours. The real, brutal, life changing suffering happens at the back. People just barely making the time cutoffs, fighting sleep deprivations, physical, and mechanical issues for 90 or more hours. The most gut wrenching stories are the out of time finishers.

Faster just means faster.

spelger

i got a chance to do that in zwift one night after a workout. I saw this guy, seemed like a hundred miles ahead, took that long t catch up. Wound up getting a kom on that ride. (Must have been a slow night)

woodcraft

I got passed by a kid on a skateboard today.

Going 15mph up 1%. He seemed to be holding a clicker -type thing in his hand.

justonwo

It's not junior high. You don't have to care about what other people do or think. Ride for yourself.

Ilbiker

The older we get, the slower overall we get. Fact of life. And there’s going to be someone faster, stronger, more endurance etc than you out there somewhere. Won’t be seeing any AARP members winning the TdF, Boston, Kona anytime soon. Age group competitive yes, overall winner, ain’t gonna happen.

But, that doesn’t mean you still can’t be competitive for your age. I run/ride my own race.

downtube42

The older we get, the less raw athletic potential we have. Most of us recreational athletes have so much headroom to our potential, we can stave off significant performance loss for a long time. Eventually, sure, that ceiling comes down hard.

guadzilla

There's a term for people like that - Freds.

one4smoke

Used to do that all the time, now it just depends on if it's one of the good days or not.

grumpyoldguy

The great thing about being an old geezer (I'm almost 70) is that they don't get any satisfaction when they see who they've passed.

ncracing72

i remember racing as a junior in France and getting to train with a few pro tour riders. These guys were domestiques for a team called RMO. I can't recall their names, but I can remember that they were so strong that they simply annihilated me without even trying to do. Pretty humbling considering I was at the top of my game at the time at the time, even competing at US nationals. Quickly learned then that (a) these guys had freaky genetics (b) I wasn't going to become a pro and (c) riding is for fun, at least for me. I always chuckle on group rides when people boast about their times and how they beat so and so. I get it, I used to complete. But it's all very relative...

thehammerdog

so very true. of most things.
🙂

downtube42

Cycling buddy of mine was an Air Force vet. He would say "jets are fast, bikes are slow".

Then there's the story of the space shuttle captain who stepped in on some radio conversation about current velocity.

Relative for sure.

WhyFi

Blackbird, not space shuttle.

355Mono

I just yell "Showoff!" It does bug me a bit. I have to remember my age, fitness level, and keep pushing.

johnd01

I have two stories that kind of fit this. I was about 65 for both of these. I Ride the American River Bike trail almost exclusively.

Story 1. A young, 14-16 girl passes me. I jump on her wheel just before a short steep downgrade. She speeds up. I can tell she is working hard to stay ahead of the old man. Four miles later, I die climbing up a grade to the bridge where the bike trail crosses the American River. I stop in the centre of the bridge and pant as she keeps going. My time was faster than any woman time on that 4-mile segment.


Story 2. We do a moonlight ride that is 50 miles, but I ride 16 miles there and 16 miles back home. We have dinner for about an hour and a half in the middle.

The ride starts at mile 0. On my way home about mile 5, a big guy on a bike passes me in the dark. I jump on his wheel and manage to keep up with him until mile 12.5 where he turns off the trail. I am kind of glad it ended that way, I saved face and was dead again if he would not have turned I would have lost him.


Story 1 was going downstream, and story two was going upstream, but in both cases, I have not been able to establish a new personal best for either segment set more than 6 years ago. I have tried. There is something about motivation trying to keep up with a faster rider that makes a lot of difference. It is more than just drafting.

caloso

Wow. Please don’t do that.

Viich

Rule 71. https://www.velominati.com/

Not that I'm normally into that stuff, most of it's mostly nonsense. But - don't worry about anyone you're not riding with. Achieve the goal you set out for the ride you're doing. Don't get distracted.