commuter races

petethedrummer

ba wrote: »

i wish there were racing commuters out my way. particularly as you pass 5lamps, up and over the canal bridge into fairview then clontarf.

I go 5 lamps to Fairview but turn up the Malahide road. I'm either on a Giant SCR or a '58 High Nelly Raleigh. I've yet to be dropped on either. it's nice dropping Mountain bikes and hybrids on the raleigh, there seems to be no other roadies though.

You're welcome to have a go if you think you're hard enough:p.

Jonnykitedude

petethedrummer wrote: »

I go 5 lamps to Fairview but turn up the Malahide road. I'm either on a Giant SCR or a '58 High Nelly Raleigh. I've yet to be dropped on either. it's nice dropping Mountain bikes and hybrids on the raleigh, there seems to be no other roadies though.

You're welcome to have a go if you think you're hard enough:p.

Pete I cycle that way but i work shifts Only back in the saddle from a 5 year break!!

Ill keep an eye out for ya, but your right everybody keeps going straight out the coast road and not up the malahide road:(

Lumen

Note: scrawny man on hybrid with Look pedals = sandbagger.

Am now sitting at my desk in an unsuitably sweaty condition.

fletch

Had a great race with some dude on a gorgeous Focus carbon bike this morning through the Phoenix Park....fast bike and rider!

Raam

Raced this guy all in black this morning. Black hat, jersey, shorts, bike, the lot. Sometimes he was ahead of me, sometimes behind. We kept trading places. The fecker was even underneath me a few times! :eek: He had an uncanny ability to change size also!

Chips Lovell

fletch wrote: »

Had a great race with some dude on a gorgeous Focus carbon bike this morning through the Phoenix Park....fast bike and rider!

You weren't on a hybrid with Look pedals?

Lumen

fletch wrote: »

Had a great race with some dude on a gorgeous Focus carbon bike this morning through the Phoenix Park....fast bike and rider!

Did it look like this, except with white bar tape? Was he (by any chance) wearing white shoes, beige shorts, white t-shirt and a blue backpack?

Man, that dude is fast. :pac:

fletch

el tonto wrote: »

You weren't on a hybrid with Look pedals?

It does..

Lumen wrote: »

Did it look like this, except with white bar tape? Was he (by any chance) wearing white shoes, beige shorts, white t-shirt and a blue backpack?

Man, that dude is fast. :pac:

Yes it did have white bar tape....and yeh all those clothes!
I was gona comment on what a beautiful bike it was but didn't....will do the next time I see ya

Lumen

Good effort fletch, your flat bars get you the moral victory!

45kph+ on a hybrid is impressive.

Raam

Lumen wrote: »

Good effort fletch, your flat bars get you the moral victory!

45kph+ on a hybrid is impressive.

Get a room, you two.

Chips Lovell

Lol, second time two boardsies have been racing eachother to work. Think it was a year or so ago that unionman and Gavin discovered they'd been racing eachother.

Lumen

Raam wrote: »

Get a room, you two.

Pot, meet kettle...

Raam wrote: »

The fecker was even underneath me a few times!

Raam

Lumen wrote: »

Pot, meet kettle...

I'd be on my own when the lights go out.

fletch

Lumen wrote: »

Good effort fletch, your flat bars get you the moral victory!

45kph+ on a hybrid is impressive.

I was tailin you though so that kinda helped me along.

Must watch out for you again, think we met in Coolmine, you went down the Clonsilla Road and I went down the Delwood Road and we met back up in Roselawn...this could be the start of something very special lol

blorg

Lumen wrote: »

Note: scrawny man on hybrid with Look pedals = sandbagger.

Am now sitting at my desk in an unsuitably sweaty condition.

In fairness, the Look pedals should have told you something.

Raam

So, who actually won?

Lumen

Raam wrote: »

So, who actually won?

Difficult to say, depends on where the finish was.

We need some rules for Phoenix Park races. First past the Zoo on the way into town suits me (I was ahead at that stage ).

fletch

Raam wrote: »

So, who actually won?

I'd have to give it to Lumen as he was out in front for most of it.

fletch

Lumen wrote: »

Difficult to say, depends on where the finish was.

We need some rules for Phoenix Park races. First past the Zoo on the way into town suits me (I was ahead at that stage ).

Yeh difficult once ya hit the quays what with lights and traffic etc..

Raam

fletch wrote: »

I'd have to give it to Lumen as he was out in front for most of it.

Well done, Lumen! You were gifted a race

fletch

Well I'm going to use the excuse of still nursing a sore ankle and a slight buckle in the rear wheel

fletch

To the guy on the white Cannondale going through the Phoenix Park this morning....impressive stuff! Not a hope I could keep up.

Captain Havoc

fletch wrote: »

To the guy on the white Cannondale going through the Phoenix Park this morning....impressive stuff! Not a hope I could keep up.

That sort of attitude won't win you commuter races. You should have stuck to his wheel or died trying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fletch

jerseyeire wrote: »

That sort of attitude won't win you commuter races. You should have stuck to his wheel or died trying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lol wouldn't mind but he was about 20years my senior! :eek: I did catch up but only as the traffic lights were in my favour.

Jawgap

fletch wrote: »

lol wouldn't mind but he was about 20years my senior! :eek: I did catch up but only as the traffic lights were in my favour.

Amateur!!!:)

Your strategy was all wrong.

First, in that situation you catch up with him at the lights. Then when the lights change you belt off as fast as your lungs and legs will carry you. Then after 100m or so, with you leading, you pull up stop and get off your bike like you've arrived at your destination. Race over, you win!!:)

You could also turn off, but the danger is the opposition might make the turn too. It's been known for dedicated racers to deviate or detour from routes or pass their destination just to catch a fellow racer!

Donny5

Jawgap wrote: »

You could also turn off, but the danger is the opposition might make the turn too. It's been known for dedicated racers to deviate or detour from routes or pass their destination just to catch a fellow racer!

I lost my job this way.

dario28

This is hillarious - I have only been cycling into work the last few months and have noticed so much of this going on

I'd ride a road bike at an average speed and ya get these people nearly killing themselves to catch up once they are overtook mostly just as the lights go amber they put the foot down and look back -muppets

I have my own rule that if you are ahead when you are still 50mtrs from the lights thats a win, as anthing further would be the safe slowing down area in my opinion - coming up to Connolly isnt included

Best so far was just turning up onto malahide road after fairview lights changed and starting to get moving when this guy dressed in full wet gear (lance armstrong shades) bearing in mind its about 18 degrees smokes me on a mountain bike, thats fair enough but the look he gives me makes mr competition come out , game on - he was hammering it even though there was a savage head wind, I couldnt understand it -how could such a gimpy chap on a gimpy bike go so fast , anyway with all my huff and puff I manage to over take him at the fire brigade training center and kept on cycling , red lights at parnell park and i stopped few mins later he pulls up beside me and he was actually on an electric bike - i was fairly wrecked but a good victory none the less -havent seen him since

petethedrummer

dario28 wrote: »

coming up to Connolly isnt included

I do a similar route and also stop racing at this point. The top of the bridge on the north strand road after fairview park is the finishing line. I had to learn a guy on a MTB there this morning, after him taking me over twice going down hill on the Malahide Road (I ran out of gears).

christeb

I come from the Howth Rd myself (on a white Scott hybrid), my mission now is to not let anyone finish at that bridge in Fairvew / North Strand ahead of me, thank you for clearing up the exact finish line!

dario28

christeb wrote: »

I come from the Howth Rd myself (on a white Scott hybrid), my mission now is to not let anyone finish at that bridge in Fairvew / North Strand ahead of me, thank you for clearing up the exact finish line!

If I see someone punching the air madly just on the top of the bridge then I'll recognise ya

actually, I dont have mirrors on my bike so that prob wont happen !!!!

tomasrojo

It there an etiquette for making it clear to someone that, while you did overtake them when they were ambling along, you didn't intend to throw down a gauntlet of any kind and would be happy to let them pass, now that they've suddenly decided that they'd like to go faster?

ROK ON

No one beats me on my commute into work in the morning.

But then, at 6.45am there are very very few cyclists in the park.

Lumen

ROK ON wrote: »

No one beats me on my commute into work in the morning.

But then, at 6.45am there are very very few cyclists in the park.

You've just painted a target on your Rapha-clad back.

WithCheesePlease

Love this

petethedrummer

christeb wrote: »

I come from the Howth Rd myself (on a white Scott hybrid), my mission now is to not let anyone finish at that bridge in Fairvew / North Strand ahead of me, thank you for clearing up the exact finish line!

It gets too tight after that point with buses and what not.

Donny5

petethedrummer wrote: »

It gets too tight after that point with buses and what not.

Sounds too tight, alright, too tight for a loser.

leftism

I used to have great fun racing my dad into the city centre. He was commuting by car to Dawson St. and i was cycling to Trinity college. We'd leave the house at exactly the same time and door to door took roughly 50 mins. It was great because i would pass him several times at different points on the route with the traffic and then he'd beep the horn as he passed when the cars were back moving freely.

If traffic was light he'd beat me by a minute or so. If the traffic was heavy and i had a good ride, i'd beat him. First one to get the text message sent on arrival at work was deemed the winner (although there were occasions when i suspected he sent a prewritten text while parking his car).

petethedrummer

Donny5 wrote: »

Sounds too tight, alright, too tight for a loser/I].

Rod brakes are not conducive to emergency stops.

Donny5

petethedrummer wrote: »

Rod brakes are not conducive to emergency stops.

Excuses!

petethedrummer

Donny5 wrote: »

Excuses!

I'll give you a go on them some time.

Donny5

petethedrummer wrote: »

I'll give you a go on them some time.

Are they that bad? If so, why are you using them?

petethedrummer

Donny5 wrote: »

Are they that bad?

Pretty bad, but made worse by the sandpapering effect of rusty rims. I'm sanding them down at the moment and I'll order new brake blokes once the rims are smooth enough.

Donny5 wrote: »

If so, why are you using them?

They came with the bike and I only tend to go hard uphill, so they're grand elsewhere. Rest of the time I just amble along.

Donny5

petethedrummer wrote: »

They came with the bike and I only tend to go hard uphill, so they're grand elsewhere. Rest of the time I just amble along.

Fair enough, so. I tend to be a lazy cyclist until someone tries to overtake me, then it's best effort all the way.

Jip

Anyone here involved in the commuter race this evening in the Phoenix Park heading towards the Castleknock gate near enough 5.15/5.30, it was fun to watch from behind.

I joined the cycle lane on Chesterfield Avenue at the American Ambassadors residence and spotted someone on a road bike giving it hell for leather, out of the seat occasionally, trying to catch someone with panniers. The pannier guy was eventually caught but he was having none of it, he immediately got of his seat to catch the wheel of whoever just went by him, and both were giving it socks, neither willing to give in.

Anyway, they must have knackered themselves as I caught both and sailed on by them without either taking my wheel. How does the point system operate in the case of poaching another race

blorg

Jip wrote: »

Anyway, they must have knackered themselves as I caught both and sailed on by them without either taking my wheel. How does the point system operate in the case of poaching another race

Moreno Argentin did the same to Stephen Roche and Claude Criquielion in the 1987 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, neither of them were willing to start the sprint and Argentin came up from behind and sailed past them over the line. Roche recounts it in his autobiography and accepts full responsibility. Clearly these two lads were not paying attention! Enjoy your win, you deserve it.

My commroute has changed so I'm now going through Rathmines, over O'Connell Bridge and right towards the Point. Have noticed someone fast on the route (he's a RLJ) with a white Lapierre. Haven't been able to get a good stretch of green lights yet and he's a bit too quick to catch up with when my lights go green.

seamus

Dónal wrote: »

My commroute has changed so I'm now going through Rathmines, over O'Connell Bridge and right towards the Point. Have noticed someone fast on the route (he's a RLJ) with a white Lapierre. Haven't been able to get a good stretch of green lights yet and he's a bit too quick to catch up with when my lights go green.

Passed a RLJ on a white Lapierre this morning - single-sided SPDs and a ballygowan water bottle. Didn't look like a serious rider though, so probably not who you're talking about.

ROK ON

Jip wrote: »

Anyone here involved in the commuter race this evening in the Phoenix Park heading towards the Castleknock gate near enough 5.15/5.30, it was fun to watch from behind.

How come this never happens when I am cycling home.

I would have thouht given the lack of traffic i the park now, that it would be a cycling mecca. There actually seem to be fewer cyclists IMO, thus less opportunity for general craziness and fun.

Jip

blorg wrote: »

Enjoy your win, you deserve it.

I did, it was probably the most enjoyably 'race' I had due to the absence of things like traffic lights and other traffic and the fact I could see it all play out ahead of me. I must admit I did grin a little as I went on by. Of course I didn't look over my shoulder until came near the gate, I didn't want to make it obvious I was racing too !

ROK ON wrote:

How come this never happens when I am cycling home.

I would have thouht given the lack of traffic i the park now, that it would be a cycling mecca. There actually seem to be fewer cyclists IMO, thus less opportunity for general craziness and fun.

The mornings seem to be very quite alright, think I only came across one other cyclist that morning in the park but that may have been due to the weather, in the evenings there seems to be a little more activity on the race front. I had another one last week, this young whipper snapper on a mountain bike racing me from Kilmainham and into the park. He was just infront of me for most of it (the road surface on South Circular Road coming over the N4 is not good for anything bar mountain bikes) and as we entered the park gates he had a look behind at me, stood up and sped off. I caught him at the bottom of the Kyber Road, he had got off to push his bike up the hill, whimp.

Lumen

ROK ON wrote: »

How come this never happens when I am cycling home.

I would have thouht given the lack of traffic i the park now, that it would be a cycling mecca. There actually seem to be fewer cyclists IMO, thus less opportunity for general craziness and fun.

On early commutes through the Phoenix Park, as I approach the last roundabout at the bottom I have to suppress the urge to bunnyhop the roundabout flat out, Menchov-style.

Am I alone in this? What's the worst that could happen? The grass looks nice and spongy.