When a commuter wants to race you ...

Caroline_ie

Something real strange happened last night. I was in the Phoenix park for a while doing laps and I headed home at around 7.15, through the Castlenock gate. I wasn't going particularly fast with the traffic, but I got stuck behind a commuter, trousers and a big backpack. I looked behind me, no car, I pass him, very safely and quite far from his right, as there were no cars behind. As I passed the commuter, i hear him shout like, if he was giving out. I had Tom Dunne in my left hear so I couldn't really tll what he was saying, plus I think he could have had quite a strong accent. After I passed, I still wasn't trying to break speed records but was still cycling at about 35k/hr. the man behind me strated speeding up on his city bike as if he was trying to catch up with me, off the saddle, I kind of got a bit scared ... I knew if wasn't trying to race me ... I mean why would you try to race me in your city bike, and your back pack ... I sped up through the lights ( green ) and went over the bridge, as I thought if i go through the Blanch village, there will be more people around if the man tried to hit me ...

What the hell was that all about!!! Sh*t I got a bit scared ... Was that the macho side of that man 'no women cycles past me'?

Ciaran500

Did you drop something?

Caroline_ie

Ciaran500 wrote: »

Did you drop something?

No I didn't and the man started shouting as I was passing him, not after...

mkdon05

Just sounds like a bit of a looney tbh

Bicyclegadabout

I had a guy on a mountain bike shouting at me and racing me a couple of Saturdays ago. He seemed in good form though.
And once I had a guy on a fold up bike try to clash wheels with me like we were on Roman chariots. Sometimes people are mentals, that’s all there is to it.

Now, I’ll race roadies all day long no matter what I’m wearing, there was a thread about it. But shouting? If anything it’s more of an incentive to beat them.
At any rate I wouldn’t worry or be scared about it.

bunnygreen

were you wearing a tiny pair of shorts?

Caroline_ie

bunnygreen wrote: »

were you wearing a tiny pair of shorts?

Hahaha!! No I was wearing black everything and it was not transparent.... maybe he just liked my bike then, I guess it is a really nice bike.

Hungrycol

A stong foreign or country accent? Sean Kelly has quite a stong country accent!

Seriously did you cause him to change his cycling line? He's probably just one of the many loons on the road. Be thankful he wasn't in a car!

niceonetom

Bicyclegadabout wrote: »

Sometimes people are mentals, that’s all there is to it.

never a truer word spoken. trying to get inside the mind of a loon is futile and potentially dangerous to one's own peace of mind. usually best to just up the pace and leave them to it.

franglan

Oh oh I'm thinking nice lady on a nice bike thoughts again...
Always let the cyclists on the ****ty bikes "race" you (at a reasonable distance!, if they are mental), then burn them.

Caroline_ie

Hungrycol wrote: »

A stong foreign or country accent? Sean Kelly has quite a stong country accent!

Was not 'uncle Sean' and the man's accent was foreign ...

And I was really careful when i passed him, wasn't even close to the man.

Yeah I guess he was probably a looney ...

bunnygreen

Hey Caroline,what kind of bike are you riding?

seamus

It's actually not as rare as you think, and I've had it happen no matter what mode of transport I'm using:

1. Walking - guy is plodding along, you speed up a little to walk around him, he sees you and then starts walking quicker, so of course you have to speed up to get in front of him so you don't look stupid
2. Driving - car is pootering along, even swerving a bit from side to side, so you overtake and drive off. Two minutes later he's driving on your ass, overtakes you, then slows down again.

I don't know, some people have this "How dare you overtake me!" attitude. Sure, I get a little embarrassed when a fifty-something man on a hybrid with panniers overtakes me at 30km/h, but I don't make a point of attacking or abusing him...

There was a guy on your back pannier with an axe...

Its a well known urban legend..

Caroline_ie

bunnygreen wrote: »

Hey Caroline,what kind of bike are you riding?

It's a Ruby Pro 2008 Specialized

Mint Sauce

i often raced other cyclists when living in london, it was never my intention to race, would start of by passing out a slower cyclist, no eye or verbal contact would be made, they would then speed up passing me out, giving a smile or a wave, with me sppeding up even more to keep pride, often took place along long stretches of road until one of us made our turn of it

dont think i ever had any cyclist say any thing to me when passing them, apart from the odd better luck next time if they won

the race from the lights is also a good unplaned event as well

kincsem

Very nice bike, Caroline. Its got a nice range of gears.

I'm an old ****, and on my 70 - 120 km training run commuter cyclists often try to race me. It happens in the first few kilometers. No way am I going to wreck myself (and lose). I'll wreck myself over the next few hours.

No shouting from cyclists / walkers yet, althought I was hit by a plastic bottle from a passing car once.

p15574

Did you maybe have a dangling cable or something that got caught up with his bike - i.e. he wasn't chasing, he was being towed...

milod

Caroline, I reckon the guy was a perv rather than a loon. My g/f has had a few encounters and whether or not you were wearing shorts, lycra cycling gear tends to attract unwanted attention Just last week, four tw4ts in a micra made detailed comments concerning the desirability of her rear...

Caroline_ie

milod wrote: »

Caroline, I reckon the guy was a perv rather than a loon. My g/f has had a few encounters and whether or not you were wearing shorts, lycra cycling gear tends to attract unwanted attention Just last week, four tw4ts in a micra made detailed comments concerning the desirability of her rear...

... too true ... I actually sometimes make a point in wearing a yellow hi viz vest that covers my rear without making me look like a construction worker ( really good I got it back home in France ...) It's a bit too warm for it now ...

And when there's a bunch of us ladies cycling together ... we get all sorts of honking and comments out of people's car ...

I don't like pervs ...

bobtjustice

He's was probably one of these guys that don't like being passed out by other cyclists. I've seen these guys on my commute to work, its rare I pass anyone anyway, a small asthmatic cat has a better lung capacity than me at the moment, but some guys I've passed have tried to race me, I've put it down to the fact they are on rubbish bikes and mines pretty ok, that they haven't been able to catch me!
Could be that he's annoyed that your twenty times fitter than him? And breezed passed him like he wasn't there when he was probably going full tilt.??
Put it down to the guy being a nutter and then if you seem him again put the foot down and go past him much faster than you did last time!

Chips Lovell

milod wrote: »

Caroline, I reckon the guy was a perv rather than a loon. My g/f has had a few encounters and whether or not you were wearing shorts, lycra cycling gear tends to attract unwanted attention Just last week, four tw4ts in a micra made detailed comments concerning the desirability of her rear...

Women in cars (and on foot) give grief to men too. It's happened to me a few times.

Caroline_ie

el tonto wrote: »

Women in cars (and on foot) give grief to men too. It's happened to me a few times.

... yeah ... we look but not in a perv way though ... :pac:

emty

el tonto wrote: »

Women in cars (and on foot) give grief to men too. It's happened to me a few times.

If you were wearing anything like what you had on last Sunday they probably thought you had escaped from a zoo!

cunnins4

Caroline_ie wrote:

When a commuter wants to race you ...

Let 'em. You always pass them again, and that's generally end of story:p

Your chap just sounds like a looney toon.

I usually just smile when they zoom past me on the lead up to the washerwoman's hill in glasnevin or similar. Then off i go, fly past them spinning away while they're up off the saddle grinding and panting.



Except for that one guy. Someday i'll take him, someday.......:mad:

E@gle.

Sorry couldn't resist

Caroline_ie

E@gle. wrote: »

Sorry couldn't resist

... I am afraid I don't have such a nice tan ( of course I am sure that's what you are referring to ... :pac:)

blorg

Caroline_ie wrote: »

... I am afraid I don't have such a nice tan ( of course I am sure that's what you are referring to ... :pac:)

Nicer bike though- yer man was probably just a Specialized fan and wanted to vocalise his admiration ;-)

milod

el tonto wrote: »

Women in cars (and on foot) give grief to men too. It's happened to me a few times.

Hmmm, the only comments I've received were from two lads emerging from the bushes near the Furry Glen... Perhaps I should consider waxing...

milod

Caroline_ie wrote: »

... yeah ... we look but not in a perv way though ... :pac:

Yeah you're right

The main difference is as follows:

When a man man talks dirty to a woman? Sexual harassment
When a woman talks dirty to a man? €2.99 per minute premium rate...

Bicyclegadabout

I must have passed 40 or 50 cyclists today and not one was able to offer me what the Spartans call “a noble commute”. It’s been ages since I had a good race.