bike manhattan

this ever happen to anyone else? somehow you find yourself racing somebody on the street but neither of you really acknowledge you are racing?

today on my way back from central park this slicked out guy on a 21 speed (or something) with spandex, bike shirt and mega ripped biking legs passed me. i thought nothing of it but by the next block i had passed him because in general i enjoying biking fast. i guess he took offense to this and within a block or two he passed me again really going at it and had this cocky "i am faster than you" look in his eyes. so in all good spirits i decided for ****s and giggles to speed up and pass him again, which i did and continued pedaling hard for awhile and could see him right behind me trying to close the gap, after 10 or so blocks of this i eventually got to my apartment (still leading!) i simply went in. we never said a word but it was definitly an unspoken race. was just funny to me, i got a kick out of it.

anyone else ever suddenly break into race mode when biking around town?

otismedina

I love pacing people after they pass me. I think it pisses them off.

Rodeo

Frequently. I ride in NOVA which includes a lot of bike paths. I commute 20 mi. round trip daily. Yesterday on the way home some toolbag in full lycra passed me and slowed down within 30 seconds three separate times. He wanted to race; I just wanted to go home.

maddyfish

Happens all the time. Part of the fun of riding. SOmetimes when I'm in the mood, I'll ride around at the bottom of the big hills. Waiting for prey. No fixed gear story here, as the local fixed gear guys all push their bikes up the hills.

Live2Die

Yesterday I had some spandex toting roadie (note I have no problem with this just setting the scene) pass me while I was on the way to a short little 1k climb to the top of a local butte. As I rounded the initial turn I spotted him a few hundred feet ahead and thought I'd have a go, beat him by about a minute. I bet he is thankful for all those useful gears that allow him to tackle such a monster climb in no time The only time it sucks is when the other rider doesn't respond and then you look like the tool, thats why I usually stick to roadies or someone looking for it.

NewYorkMantle

once in a while, the occasional hipster or commuter will pass me and give me THE LOOK. i usually don't speed up or think much of it; just wait until they run into a wall (aka traffic) ahead of me and calmly snake past them. it's funny how many people think they're awesome on open road, but the second some gridlock is thrown into the mix, it's nothing but hesitation and uncertainty.

shapelike

"Commuter Challege"

ADSR

Around these parts it's mostly college kids on beach cruisers, and they're not all that interested in going anywhere in a hurry. I imagine I'd get smoked in a hot second by the roadies I see in town.

ndnyc212

yep happens alot in manhattan, either central park or westside hiway where all the fake ass lances bike. alot of them fools have orbeas or some fancy shmancy $4000 bullshiz. they all try to draft you at first then they try to pass sometimes i let them, but most of the time they just run out of steam a few miles later.

im not even going to lie, most of these peeps are roadies thinking that theyre badass lance armstrongs but as someone said earlier, as soon as gridlock gets throw into the mix, its rest time for them.

peabodypride

on a mup it's all about holding a solid average. if you can hold 22mph on a flat mup for 12 miles that's pretty dang good. you will pass a lot of riders, fixed or cruiser or not. just screw people around you and get your ass in gear.

by the way, people in "spandex" (lycra) and with proper equipment (a brake or two, a helmet, etc) are not "roadie prey." They are wearing the right clothes for the job -- to keep a good average speed, climb fast and hard, keep hydrated, and ride long distances.

bike manhattan

see i disagree with this. one could also argue that gears are needed for "the right job", i bike for fun and to get around the city without being a slave to public transportation. i wear whatever clothes i have on that day when i get on my bike and ride my bike for the joy of it, not to be the fastest or go the longest or whatever. its cool if people want to do that, just not my scene. some of those guys kind of crack me up though, and yea, you never see them doing anything fun like weaving through cars in midtown

to each his own

bicycleptic

Probably the best race I was in was during a 62 mile bike club ride several years ago. I was going down a county road with a group of riders and from a farmhouse came out two of the largest Doberman I have ever saw in my life. We all set out at a dead sprint and I led the pack. As several of the riders caught up with me again several miles down the road they told me that I did a very good job of outrunning those dogs. I replied to that with, "Well, to tell you the truth I wasn't too concerned with outrunning the dogs." I was merely trying to outrun the other riders. How many dogs go after the fastest one of the bunch?

peabodypride

hi friend,

when I lived in the city I could suffice with risers and no brakes and wear whatever I wanted. I could ride from (realistic) edge to edge of a city in a half hour. Now that I live out in a neighborhood I am more interested in 40-100mile rides and not having a chamois and fitting clothes (much less a brake, bullhorns, hydration, and a hip pack) is asking for trouble. some of those MUP dudes are only riding it as a leg for a very long ride and need the gear. some of them are just pot-bellied filthy rich lawyers riding on zipps and carbon fiber. I would say in my first century I did not need gears at all and maintained a respectable 15 mph average over hilly terrain.

shapelike

I'm loving all the internet tough guys in this thread on performance hybrids (sorry, street fixies) who constantly drop roadies.

carbonjockey

no what the oblivious roadies apparently dont understand is that everything is a race! adn that they should feel bad about being passed by a kilo tt

Jabba Degrassi

Same here. In general I wear whatever's clean, or if need be, whatever's the least dirty, and just .

...



Except, besides riding my fixie (read: my only bike) as a commuter, I also ride it for fun and exercise, even when I don't have anywhere to go, hell, especially when I don't have anywhere to go.

I like riding, and I want to become a better rider, so I try to ride a lot. I don't like the feeling of soaking myself from head to toe in sweat, so I wear wicking shirts and socks and such. I don't like dehydration, so I have a bottle mount and use it. Furthermore, I really rather enjoy being able to achieve an erection, so I'm willing to wear lycra shorts when I plan on riding hard for hours. Besides, my girlfriend thinks I look hot in my lame-ass shorts, and I couldn't give two tugs of a dead dog's cock what most anyone else thinks, so lycra it is.

Oh, and a little more on-topic, I pass a lot of roadies, and a lot of roadies around here drop me like a sack of bricks on the MUPs. Generally, my unspoken "race" consists of seeing how long I can keep them in my sights. I have days when there's just a constant stream of stronger cyclists passing me and making me feel like a sloth who climbled down from a tree to clean off his moss-covered ass or something and wound up accidentally riding a bike instead. And I have days when I don't get passed once while riding for hours and feel like The ****ing Flash. At the end of the day I know it's just sheer, dumb luck.

desmo13

Seems everyone can smoke roadies. Wonder how some of them ever get to cat 2/3 being so slow in all with their lycra and "fancy shmancy $4000 bullshiz."

iansmash

what's a MUP?

patrickgh

I like to play the "try to keep up with the experienced city rider through downtown traffic" game.. I usually fail after two blocks though

MrCjolsen

I paced a guy in full kit coming back from his club ride the other night. I had a basket and a bell. We were on a mup going about 21 mph. Every time we'd come up on some dog walkers, kids, or pedestrians, I'd ring the bell.

I think it was starting to bug him.

He probably thought I kept up because I hadn't been riding all evening like he had. What he didn't know was I'd just swam over a mile.

operator

shapelike is just mad cause I dropped him on my $2 conversion

andrewro

When I saw the title, I thought this thread would be about space aliens who walk secretly among us.

lymbzero

This is the best game ever! But I usually just draft.

lymbzero

hahhah

shapelike

Whatever, Mr. NOS Shamals on custom-drilled Phils ...