Coming home via the West Side bike path, I was taking it slow. An hour earlier I have a very nice Mexican meal. I was carrying my Easton EC90 fork in my back pack. I will be off tomorrow. Just enjoying my commute and looking forward to install my new fork. Spining on my small ring and going about 17 mph. Up ahead, I saw this dude on a MTB with slick tire and SPD pedals. I just rode pass him. 50 sec or so later, he was coming up on my left side. Mind you, it is a bike path. You just don't take up the entire path. Then, he rode ahead of me. Fine. The bike path got a bit crowded in some particular section. I let this dude just go. Well, it was like he was waiting for me. He slowed down again. And I passed him again. He did the same thing. Rode pass me on my left and got to the front and slowed down again. He looked back and to see what I was. This went on for 3 or 4 times. I got very annoyed. The wind was really kicking up. The next time I was behind him, I shifted into my big ring and on my 53 x 14. Stood up and attacked.

Ready for some wattage??? The first 30sec I was at 440w. Top speed hit 26 mph. About 1 minute later, I settled in to my TT pace and power output. About 5 minutes at 290w. 2 minutes after my attack, I looked back and, surprisingly, he was about half of block away. Since it was very windy, I knew he won't be able to get onto my wheel and he would blow up. I stayed on my TT pace for another 2 minutes or so. Looked back, he was 2 blocks down away. By this time, I was about to turn to Chamber street and up the Brooklyn bridge. I hope he wasn't too tired to work tomorrow.

You're such an idiot. Hoping the commuters will be impressed now since the roadies always laugh at you?

Hahaha....if he only minds his business and just riding his own pace, I won't have to drop him. Was he annoying......

Once again you have finished last in a 1 man race. Congratulations.

Yeah, whatever man. Just makes sure you don't pull that kind of **** on your commute to another rider decking out with a local team kit, added with a power tap wheel. And carrying backpack. You will expect the worst. You will get dropped. And come here crying about racers are snobs.

Perhaps you should add a "Fear This" sticker to your backpack. It might make those lame commuters (those not in team kit with a Powertap wheel, you know, the other 99.999% of people who commute by bike) back off and not mess with a Pro like yourself.

Did he give you the LOOK

You were hitting 26 mph into a headwind? Wow!

Shouldn't you be concerned that he was actually keeping up with you a while since he had a MTB and you have a road bike?

Not sure I would want to tell people I was pushed to really going flat out by a MTB...

I am sure a guy on a motocycle could blow you away, different equipment - different results. I am more impressed with the MTB rider. He is probably chuckling that he got you to really dig in. The fact you should be able to beat him is a little obvious, don't you think?

Shoot, if I can keep up with a car for a block or two I feel pretty good - if the car (or a road bike) drops me, well, sort of expected. Nothing for me to be ashamed of.

But imagine how you would have felt if he managed to drop you!

Why do people continue to bore us with their wattage?

Hmmm... Got me thinking.
Lessee... Last time I saw 26 on the old 'puter was racing some kids on BMX bikes. The fact that one of them got up to 25 impressed me to no end, and we chatted bikes for 20 min before I continued on home.
Once home, of course, I removed the offensive instrument, and am no longer tormented by illusions of peak speed. Much better this way.

Tough crowd.

I'm having fun imagining the ridiculousness of this post if this was a forum about commuting by car.

"So I Was driving my corvette in the middle lane on the freeway, but not going that fast. I came up on this guy driving in the right lane in a truck. Well, I passed him, and a little while later he passed me. This happened three or four times. Well, then I hit 2nd gear and 400HP, and I totally blew that guy away! He'll never catch up cause I'm a super badass! Woo me! Yeah! My corvette is faster than truck! Let me tell everyone I know! Woo!"

The real question is who had more blinkie, and did they have adequate amounts of it or not. Anyone can have a PowerTap rear wheel and still be completely noOb on their blinkie layout, you see that all the time.

Why, just today there was some guy on an R600 riding along with a PowerTap wheel and a carbon fork in his backpack and would you believe he had NO BLINKIE AT ALL. I made sure to pass him a few times so he could appreciate my superior visibility and maybe learn something (although the Nova isn't installed yet, but still). Then he went flying by really fast, and dropped a $50 bill as he was zooming away. I tried and tried to catch up and give it back, but he was going too fast, so I blew it all on pizza instead.

your writing style seems familiar, R600. reminds me of... ah heck, see for yourself:

https://www.y2khai.com

I dropped some puerto rican guy riding a shaved ice stand, man I just blew right passed him.

Then I waited for him and get one with strawberry flavor.

Cmon guys don't be so harsh on him.

At least he got out of his house with a bike.

*slaps forehead* ****! I can't believe I sabotage my own commute!

After dropping a 200 HP John Deere tractor with 4 wheels in the back, the farmer raised his fist and shifted into overdrive. Smoke poured from the stack and his hay baler began bouncing on the pavement. His challenge was clear. I was spinning up a 42% grade into a 45 mph headwind with 60mph gusts. When I saw the raised fist and the forward lurch of the John Deere, I shifted into my 53 ring and mashed down hard. As I approached the top of the hill, I was spinning at 28 mph. I think this was a personal best on a 42% grade. I decided that what I really wanted to do was to ride circles around the farmer so I descended the hill hitting 79 mph, screeched to a halt and did the climb one more time, reaching the summit just before the tractor, dropping it a second time. The farmer bowed in appreciation and respect and the two of us headed off in different directions. I wish I had recorded the watts. Must have been a lot them, though.

I actually liked this particular post, having been in somewhat similar situations on the very same MUP. If some dude pulled that #$!@ on me the way he did on R400W, errr, R600DA, I would have gotten annoyed and attacked too. I wouldn't be pedantically quoting wattage numbers, though.

See, whenever I want to drop somebody I turn my watts up to 1100. Since everybody else's wattage only goes to 1000, I have the clear advantage everytime.

Maybe it's just me, but I grew up on a farm. So, I guess I have a unique humorous perspective.

Now, my gut is thoroughly busted.

I didn't grow up on a farm and I found it hilarious too.

Thanks fmw.

Oh! Oh! I almost always leave every other bicycling guy I encounter and I almost always accelerate with at least 400 watts of power! And I can stay at that for about an hour!

Thank you all for a very entertaining thread.

And yet... still too chicken to race us. Plenty of commuters here in NYC to kick your ass. Come on, we've been calling you out for ages and you keep chickening out. Just one race, come on... actually one of the guys just made cat 4 and I'm a hundred bucks or so away from buying my own cat 4 license so don't worry, I'll be looking for the races you do, shouldn't be too hard beating someone who consistently finishes dead last in races so he has to brag about dropping commuters to boost his ego.

R600DuraAce,

I like you, you are not like the other people in the trailer park. Thanks for the chuckle.