Overtaking

[pepecat]

You can't know everything about the person you're overtaking. It's possible that s/he has cycled 50 miles and that you pass them on the last leg of their journey, when they're tired. For all you know, s/he could destroy.

A fact of life, in a very fundamental sense.

Good point....and one that i always think to myself as I'm being overtaken. I could be on my way home after 50 miles and that's why I'm so knackered. I'm not, generally - it's only about 20 miles - but they don't know that!
Ditto if I'm having a wee rest at the side of the road for a couple of minutes. I could have just done 60 odd miles. Fact that I haven't is neither here nor there, point is, they don't know that, and I don't care!

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Nothing wrong with it at all. I am overtaken on a regular basis on trails and on road (then by roadies mostly) but also pass other MTBs on the road and on trails. It is just part of riding. The only thing that would break some unwritten rule is if you did some Jeremy Clarkson style "Loooooser" as you passed.

 

[chillyuk]

I get overtaken with great regularity. I just wish the extreme roadies (you know the type, £2k bike plus £2k worth of clothing) wouldn't overtake so closely our shoulders nearly touch. Perhaps it makes them feel terribly superior and they are petrified I wont see them and marvel at their speed!

 

[exbfb]

Nothing wrong with it at all. I am overtaken on a regular basis on trails and on road (then by roadies mostly) but also pass other MTBs on the road and on trails. It is just part of riding. The only thing that would break some unwritten rule is if you did some Jeremy Clarkson style "Loooooser" as you passed.

Is this a bad thing to do ?

It's a moot point for me actually.
I've passed precisely three bicycles in the last two years and they were all pottling along.

 

[coffeejo]

I don't give a damn if someone overtakes me (which is lucky, as it happens a lot!!), but the ones who shoot past without acknowledging my existence annoy me. It's just rude.

 

[Jaristokraatti]

Basically I always feel bad somehow overtaking other cyclists.

Well I never!
But when I restarted my cycling some 6 years ago after about a ten year pause, it almost made me quit again when on a [then] major hill a young, cute girl on a mountain bike whizzed by me without a word. And the bitch was not even breathing heavily.

When I confronted her after a year and a half after a chance meeting in my local, she addmitted that she was really on her upper limit that day and could not perhaps have said a word.

After that I always make sure I have enough breath in me to smile happily and cheer the co-cyclist with something like: Would you like a push? or Please feel free to tuck behind me, I can pull you for the next five miles...

 

[MrHappyCyclist]

I'm not that fast, but I probably overtake more than i am overtaken, but that is just because I happen to be going faster than them. I do say "good morning" (or afternoon) as I pass people, but often I get the impression they hear that as "take this you weak legged wimp" and then speed up to pass me again (without even a greeting). I put the change in semantics down to some relativistic effect caused by the enormous speed difference, but I may be wrong. The annoying ones either come through up the inside, or pass me and then slow down so that I have to overtake them again to maintain my constant cadence and effort.

 

[lulubel]

How do some of you racers feel when someone like me on a short commute on an old MTB tucks up behind (but not too close) you to get a pull and up my pace for my little bit of their longer ride?

Without a word exchanged? It p's me off. If you asked, however, that would be a different matter.

Overtaking is just part of cycling. I overtake some. Others overtake me. I usually say "hello" as I pass, but if I've had to push hard to pass at a reasonable speed because there's not much difference in the speeds we're travelling at - what does feel rude to me is if you overtake someone really slowly, and then kind of hang around in front of them - I sometimes haven't got enough breath. I try to manage a smile in that situation, but it's probably more like a grimace!

One thing that does irritate me a bit is people who overtake you and then slow down, which tends to happen quite a bit around here.

And a funny thing that happened the other day ....

I was catching a MTB rider on the main road. He was doing a decent speed, to be honest, but it's hard to match speeds with a road bike when you're on a MTB. I was coming to a hill that I like to really attack and get over the top of, so by the time I passed him, he'd slowed down and I flew past him with a cheery "hello" as I passed. A few minutes later, I turned off for home, and had to slow right down because the road surface is so bad. Just before I got home the guy on the MTB went racing past me looking very pleased with himself. I don't know if he realised why I'd slowed down so much, or if he thought I just couldn't keep the pace up, but I figured he could have his victory if that's what he thought it was.

 

[Willo]

I am always a bit conscious but it's silly not to overtake, it's just one of those things. We all ride at different speeds and will be at different stages of our rides. I always say a good morning if passing or being passed and if in doing so others think I'm taking the p***, then that's daft and it would be of me to be offended if anyone overtook. I'm not really competitive, just enjoying my road bike to help keep me fit. However, I must confess to occassionally targeting a cyclist on the horizon to spur me on to make some more effort. More often than not though I ride at the pace I'm comfortable with on the day and if I pass or get passed, so be it.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Had a pretty fast ride today and passed quite a few people. Acknowledged each and every one of them. Only takes a second and makes me feel all the better.

 

[slowmotion]

As you'll know if you've ever had to ask for directions!

Ouch! You've hurt my feelings....