Do cyclists race each other??

Dowee

Finally decided to stop just lurking on this forum and post something.

On my daily cycle home from Dublin city centre there is one guy who wears all expensive cycling gear and cycles an MTB (not managed to catch the brand) but the bike looks very out of sync with the clothes. Anyway I'll often see him from a distance off and will catch him up going at my regular pace and pass him out (I'm not racing him btw). As soon as I pass him he is on my ass for the rest of my cycle, until we part ways a couple of miles from home. Sometimes he is just drafting me and when this is the case I often slow my pace way down just to annoy him as I don't mind being drafted if the person reciprocates occasionally but this guy never does (does anyone else do this). When its not windy and he ain't drafting me I'll often blast ahead of him but he always bursts his lungs to catch me at the next lights and gets in front of me and takes off like a bat out of hell only for me to have to pass him again as his normal pace is just slower than mine. Have to admit it does brighten the cycle though.

DavyD_83

Ah yeh, helps keep the pace up. And sometimes its just so satisfying.
That said i'll race anything if i'm bored enough, generally cars and buses into town, they're totally dependant on how heavy the traffic is. Anb its so much better when they know exactly what your upto.:p

Dowee; that sounds suspiciously like a mate of mine, are you going from town out towards north wall by any chance?

Dowee

DavyD_83 wrote: »

Dowee; that sounds suspiciously like a mate of mine, are you going from town out towards north wall by any chance?

No, must be someone different I go southside, from town.

srdb20

Im always racing others on the way into and out of town (Bikes, Cars, Buses, Trolleys, anything with wheels), i think its brilliant, and i know secretly everyone does it, even the ones who say they don't.

The only thing is you just cant get enough to satisfy yourself (well me anyway).

Just keep chasing after the next bike etc.... its great for the fitness though.

Diarmuid

c0rk3r wrote: »

A Ive only got 700m to my house anyway but this guy doesnt know that. I accelerate to 40kmph(theres no way i could keep this up for long) He keeps up with me for about 200meters. I turn into my estate look back, heh hes huffing and puffing swinging his shoulders left to right. Hes exhausted and im home. Poor guy probably had another few km's until he was home.

haha. classic.

memorex

heh - there is nothing like a bit of a race to pass what can be a bit of a monotonous cycle up the N11 (on a grey tuesday evening). For me the only rule of engagement is that if you break a red light you're automatically disqualified from the race :-) It helps in particular when I've just been dropped by someone far superior who then goes onto sail through a red. I just think to myself, ah sure I won that one. Very sad I know :-)

Personally like it when there's a few people involved. Never having actually done any real racing it is the closest I get to a peloton!

cheers,
-mem

Andy-Pandy

When i was a courior i used to race cars. I once beat a ferrari fro the city centre to foxrock. It was stuck in traffic though, but still, i was faster than a ferrari. These days im not so fast.

flickerx

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

When i was a courior i used to race cars. I once beat a ferrari fro the city centre to foxrock. It was stuck in traffic though, but still, i was faster than a ferrari. These days im not so fast.

If some motorist gives me the horn or lip, then after I've given him the usual one or two fingered salute, I do my best to race and overtake him at least once when he's stuck at lights, and give him a nice big smile and a wave.

I raced another cyclist home yesterday. Overtook them cos they were going a good deal slower than I was, but once I overtook, they stepped up the pace and were constantly at my back! Got home quicker than usual - with a nice layer of sweat around my armpits and back.

rp

I dunno why anyone needs to even question this - racing other cyclists is just a part of commuting, it isn't intended as an insult, just a chance to quicken the pace. If I see a bike ahead of me, I do by best to pass it, with a friendly wave.
I suspect the people who don't like it are/were car drivers, where it seems to pass someone out is like giving them the finger: after all the speed and/or cost of your car is the only measure of your worth

AFC_1903

I enjoy it also, it can be a great way to cheer up your day. Personal favourite was a few years ago, 2 days running at the same set of light (top of South Mall, Cork, 7:50am), side by side with a guarda motorbike. 1st day I was half way down the mall by the time he caught and passed me, 2nd day he burnt rubber so as not to get embarrassed(again)! Also, on another occasio beating a Porche 911 [Carrera 4?] off the lights!

It make you feel good, so why the hell not! :-)

SerialComplaint

c0rk3r wrote: »

Behind me a guys storms up. We both jump up on the path and pass out the old lady. This guy is glued to my rear wheel, he wants a race. Righto im going to wear this fecker out. Ive only got 700m to my house anyway but this guy doesnt know that. I accelerate to 40kmph(theres no way i could keep this up for long) He keeps up with me for about 200meters. I turn into my estate look back, heh hes huffing and puffing swinging his shoulders left to right. Hes exhausted and im home. Poor guy probably had another few km's until he was home.

I did the opposite last week. I had been leapfrogging a guy most the way home up Dundrum Road and through the village. He got ahead of me about 10 meters from the turn off into my house, so as I came up behind him, I coughed noisily and clanked the gears to announce my presence on his tail. He stood up and hared off into the distance as I drifted on home. I wonder how long it took him to realise he was racing a ghost.

Freddy687

Lets face it. There is no more joy when cycling than trying to put other bikers in pain.:)
The crew that I train with usually travel at a good pace, but when they get a smell of a hill all hell breaks loose.

blorg

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

When i was a courior i used to race cars. I once beat a ferrari fro the city centre to foxrock. It was stuck in traffic though, but still, i was faster than a ferrari. These days im not so fast.

My best in this line was (marginally) beating a 31 from Howth to town. No traffic on a Saturday afternoon and he seemed genuinely reluctant to have to stop for people ;-) Traffic laws were observed throughout and I got a wave at the end.

blorg

If someone overtakes me on my commute I think they're fair game in terms of wheel-hugging and I'm not in a hurry to get back in front. After all, they overtook ;-) I'll never hug a wheel if I came up behind (although having overtaken in such a situation I have on occasion have found my continued position in front untenable.)

ba

maybe some of ye would indulge in racing strangers up howth hill? its a real test. sure i blew by a few folk today in an effort to catch a friend of mine, all before the rain came down. twas all good fun tho.

Raam

ba wrote: »

maybe some of ye would indulge in racing strangers up howth hill? its a real test. sure i blew by a few folk today in an effort to catch a friend of mine, all before the rain came down. twas all good fun tho.

I got soaked today in Howth. We probably passed each other at some stage. I did a lap with the GF, she was on her new Banchi, then did a few on my own.

I wish there were faster people using the Sutton/Clontarf path in the mornings/evenings. Sometimes there are fast guys. It makes it much more interesting.

ba

were you on howth hill a half hour before the rain came down? saw what could have been a couple on the hill, maybe that was ye?

Raam

ba wrote: »

were you on howth hill a half hour before the rain came down? saw what could have been a couple on the hill, maybe that was ye?

Yeah, we stopped at the top for a moment also.

bobtjustice

helimachoptor wrote: »

So today I was cycling in for the first time from citywest to the city centre.

Passed a mid 30's guy around the square. We were both doing a normal pace.
Then a couple of mins later he flies by me pedalling like a bat out of hell. I catch up a few mins later and then he does the same thing.

I think he may become my nemesis!

Do you guys race random strangers??

When I lived in town i raced a guy almost daily...in fact he's probably on boards somewhere...hahah. I think its because we were on the same bike, was like a test, I'm nearly sure he was a courier..(tough beating those dudes and gals) we had a monster race down O'Connell street about 2 years ago, just got the run of the lights and let rip... the son bitch pipped me at O'Connell bridge....in retrospect highly highly dangerous.....but fun

michaelm

Freddy687 wrote: »

The crew that I train with usually travel at a good pace, but when they get a smell of a hill all hell breaks loose.

That was one of the first things I noticed when I started cycling with a group - on the flat everything was calm and relaxed, good conversation, nobody out of breath, at the first hill as mentioned all hell did break loose as if there was a finish line at the top. When we all regrouped, red faced and barely able to talk everyone managed to pretend that they weren't trying to be the first to the top, and you know something - it hasn't changed since!