bsyptak

I love these stories about crushing a 1 cylinder rider with an expensive bike. We do it fairly regularly on our heavy commuters laden with rack, fenders and panniers full of junk.

Another humorous story: Last night the wife and I got passed by a guy on a carbon Trek. He then proceeded to slow down about 30 yards ahead of us (the little engine that couldn't) and ride there for the next 4-5 miles until our turnoff. We let him stay there Funny thing about it was that he seemed afraid to actually ride his bike. He would ride around the slightest cracks in the sidewalk. I think he thought that his CF bike was going to shatter into splinters. Makes me laugh. Wife was riding her Rock Hopper commuter and I was riding my 80s steel SS (commuter bike woke up with a flat).

Keep the stories coming.

ovoleg

I wont turn down a challenge or stand up to someone calling my bike a cheap POS. I have to admit that I rather be riding his bike(from the looks of it) but overall I like the style of this Univega. He kept pointing at my downtube shifters(that bastard ). I really thought this guy was going to smoke me so my whole plan was to drag behind him until he got tired and then pass him, but I was riding next to him with no problem and then started sprinting.

I just dont like the way he was looking at my bike and basicly pretending he was next to a Honda Civic while in his Porsche.

This guy looked around mid 20's. It's a shame that his parents did not teach him any respect.

It was a fun day off

'nother

That's a great story. I learned early on to look at the legs, not the bike, before getting cocky

Phantoj

Dubious...

Sammyboy

In a way, he was. It was just that your Civic had a Porsche engine, and his Porsche had a Civic engine.......

He was the equivalent of the kids we get in the UK, whose cars are slammed to the floor, with huge tyres, bean can exhausts, and rear wings, but underneath, it's still just a 1.2 Corsa. I used to love to smoke those kinda people in my old rear engine Skoda - priceless to see their faces. The bike is just the bodywork.

55/Rad

Please understand I am in no way trying to deflate what you've accomplished - I think it is great! But my feeling was - this guy wasn't worth the challenge. He apparently got to you emotionally - which is understandable given the situation and appeared to be his primary intention. In his mind, just by responding the way you did, he'd already won, regardless of the "race".

He had his excuses lined up even before you started. From a competitive standpoint, it's a no-win situation in that this guy (and others like him) will never acknowledge defeat or your superiority, even if only in the moment.

The good part - and this is certainly the point of the story - is that you got personal satisfaction from the experience. But as you've seen it here many times - the main message here is that it's not about the bike.

55/Rad

RocketsRedglare

good story. There are a lot of jackholes like that around here. I've put a few of them in their place too, but not as dramatically.

But the story almost seems like it should be in "penthouse forum". You should have included some lesbians or mother/dughter action in there.

VaBiker

A similiar thing happened to me on my Sunday ride, I was cruising to make my miles for the week and a guy on a 5k TT looking bike passed me on my 1980's Schwinn Tempo 25lb steel bike and me in shorts T-shirt and sunglasses. I just smiled when he passed me, because I was warming up, then I started keeping his pace (about 5 to 10) feet behind him, and he kept looking back and then he would step up the pace more and I'd keep the same speed(22 mph) smiling everytime he looked back, then we were at a long stretch of road and we actually respected each other and he said he would "pull" (which I didn't know what it meant) and if he dropped me it wouldn't be personal because he wanted to keep a pace(24-26mph) and speed....long story short he "pulled" me for a few miles and then he was tired so I "pulled" him for a few miles till his turn-off and he kept saying "nice pull man, nice pull" and I may ride with his group next week, his group was the same group last weekend that had a pace line of about 10 people and passed my ass going 28mph (I was going about 21 mph)and I tried to step it up to catch them and they were gone!

jbonus

Awesome story! It's not about the bike.

hi565

LOL!!

ovoleg

I dont have the legs and I dont shave my legs . He had lycra type pants(not sure of the name) but it didn't look like he was super fit. I dont think I had it physically but I was motivated mentally to win. I rode home really slow too, I think it would have been worse for him if we did some hills because I've been practicing on hills mainly and not too much on the flats. I generally do a 15-17 in general riding conditions.

I am getting pretty efficient at the full revolution with clipless pedals. After getting some good help from you guys, I've been practicing the motion and making sure to pull/push instead of just pushing like a madman.

I'm surprised that I kept that sprint as long as I did because I've never even achieved that type of speed on flats before. I "tucked" in and went crazy

Most people are pretty nice in my area and the only other encounters I get are with people passing me and I pass them back and so forth.

This one guy passed me once and then he started doing 13mph...I got annoyed following him so I passed him, a hill came and I got tired. He passed me and then slowed down to 9mph after the hill. I passed him and then tried to speed off and then hit a red light. He came up and we chatted. Very nice guy(Yellow jersey, blue shorts if your on BF ).

Id say this jerk was an exception to most people that are in the Valley We are nice people

55/Rad

San Fernando Valley? What area?

55/Rad

djgonzo007

Awesome post! Way to go! I too think it's ridiculous that some people insult others to make themselves feel better, what a low life.

djgonzo007

Agreed, but that guy knows he lost whether or not he believes his own excuse he was beat by what in his mind was an inferior bike.

CastIron

Ya know I've noticed two things this year: The riders on the Tour were remarkably gentlemanly towards each other. Then there is a certain number of, likely skilled riders, who are just mannerless asses. Folks like that might be as good as they wish if only they were better at being a human. That being said, I don't disparage folks who ride the bling-bling, so long as they ride it.

Louis

Too bad he didn't spend some of that bike money on counseling to improve his poor social skills.

Good story.

voltman

Does this mean a carbon Trek wouldn't be a good first bike for someone that could afford it?

Tarantula

It appears that you would be easy to psyche if I was racing against you. You seem to have a hair trigger on your temper and when the response that you needed is not given then you react negatively and seem to be distracted. It would be easy to goad you into making mistakes that would cost you a place or two in a race.
Get a little thicker skin and expect human responses out of people and not your Utopic view of what cycling people should be.
I'm off of my soap box now.

richardmasoner

Nice story.

The photo below was taken during a group ride. You can't really tell in the picture, but that's a moderate 2-3% grade. I was on my cheap 1987 Centurion steel bike that I converted to a fixed gear. I'm climbing seated and twisted around taking the photo, while these guys in team kit are out of the saddle huffing and puffing climbing this small hill. I didn't think about it until after I snapped the photo, but it made me feel pretty good I guess.

juf2m

That was an awesome story! Way to go!

Since I couldn't outride anyone, I would have just told him off for being a rude jerk!

UmneyDurak

Wish I could see that. Bunch of people in full team kits climbing 3% out of the saddle. I think 2-3% grades are considered flats here. Depending on who you ride with.

Anyway great story. Only thing is the title, makes a bad generalization.

rOOster14

thats an awesome story you are my hero of sorts.

tribe3

Yeah that

daytonian

Ovoleg - you rock dude!!!

Cycledoc

These days, I'd take the Honda Civic over the Porsche. Pretty soon, we won't be able to complain about all the cars (cagers, whatever ) trying to run us over if gas prices go much higher.

BTW, just because some jerks have carbon bikes doesn't make everyone with a carbon bike a jerk. If your bike looks nice, I'll compliment, regardless of frame material. One of my good riding buddies has a 1990 steel frame Eddy Merckx with downtube shifters. It has seen its share of wear. Regardless, he's a former racer and can kick my tail anyday of the week, especially up a hill out of the saddle.

If I would have been thinking clearly, I might have told the guy "yeah, your way too good for me. I could never beat someone as good as you with such an awesome, expensive bike." The whole time, I'd be grinning like a Cheshire cat. In reality, I would have blown a gasket and raced him to the death!