Cycling etiquette question....

[HeebyGeeby]

Seriously? Did you see this and what did you do, if you did anything?
And what was the police response?

I didn't see it, she was a few minutes ahead of me with her friend. They kept quiet until we met up for coffee, in case my pal and I went after him. Nothing to be done about it, she didn't have a description as it all happened so quickly, just "some older, fast guy in black lycra".
Small bruise on her ribs but it shook her confidence a bit as she could have been knocked sideways into her friend.
Horrible thing to happen to anyone but hopefully it's a one off.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

I didn't see it, she was a few minutes ahead of me with her friend. They kept quiet until we met up for coffee, in case my pal and I went after him. Nothing to be done about it, she didn't have a description as it all happened so quickly, just "some older, fast guy in black lycra".
Small bruise on her ribs but it shook her confidence a bit as she could have been knocked sideways into her friend.
Horrible thing to happen to anyone but hopefully it's a one off.

Blimey. Horrible for you all. Don’t lose any sleep over it. Unhinged individual and a one off like you say.

 

[Birdie]

I can only ever occasionally overtake other cyclists when riding my ebike, which is not much of an achievement, but i still try to feel smug about it anyway.
A deluded win is still a win in my book.

I'm not likely to overtake anyone either on my 60's 3 speed but I love the acknowledgment from my vastly experienced fellow cyclists with their myriad of gears as they glance sideways at my contraption! I think they're wondering how the hell I got up that hill!

 

[Kempstonian]

As a 23 year old, I would ride to work along the main road between Luton and Dunstable. Now I was just starting to get interested in racing then, so I used my 15 miles each way almost as a training run. Despite this I would regularly hear 'ping' 'ping' from a tiny bicycle bell, followed by a cheery "Morning!"... as Charlie Cole, who owned a bike shop in Dunstable, overtook me. Charlie was 63 at the time...

Was I upset? Was I embarrassed? Well no - but it did show me that I wasn't quite ready for time trialling just yet! lol

btw it is a very wide road and he always gave me plenty of room too. I think riding that road now, with the much increased traffic flow, would frighten me to death.

 

[the_mikey]

Toughie, sometimes you get stuck behind a cyclist who really is slow yet somehow comes to the conclusion that you're drafting him when in reality you're waiting for a safe passing place, sometimes it's best not to say anything, if I'm on the Bristol/Bath cyclepath I'll announce 'passing on your right' , on the road I'll say morning if I'm passing someone who looks like they're out to enjoy their ride, last week there was a guy dressed like a farmer, in his green coat and wellies maintaining a steady 30km/h on a hybrid bike whilst smoking a cigarette at the same time whilst going up hill on the road, I just kept my distance in amazement.

 

[ChrisPAmbulance]

I can only say that whatever you do, make sure the person in front knows you are there. I had the unfortunate experience of pulling up on a quiet deserted road only to have a(nother) shouty sweary cyclist come very close to slamming into the back of me. Apparently this was all my fault as I hadn't noticed he was there ???

 

[Dogtrousers]

There's a thing that people complain about that has never happened to me ... until today.

I was riding on a 10k flat stretch on which I often put in a bit of extra effort so I was going quite briskly by my standards - about 27-29 kmh (~18-19 mph) I saw a rider in my mirror and he was closing the gap quite quickly. He zoomed past but almost immediately dropped his pace to 26-27 kmh. I dropped my pace accordingly and followed at a distance. It wasn't a problem but it just seemed weird. He must have put in quite an effort to catch and cruise past me as fast as he did, only to slow down once past.

 

[Slick]

I think I posted in another thread about climbing a steep section minding my own business, pretty deep in thought but only spinning my way up and being overtaken by a much stronger cyclist. What he failed to account for was the next half a dozen miles or so were a fantastic slightly down hill very fast stretch that I always enjoy getting on the drops for but as he passed me so near the top of the climb he must have thought that I was annoyed at being passed but I couldn't have cared less other than the fact that it did spoil my usual effort on this stretch and I was quite pleased when he turned one way and I the other.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

There's a thing that people complain about that has never happened to me ... until today.

I was riding on a 10k flat stretch on which I often put in a bit of extra effort so I was going quite briskly by my standards - about 27-29 kmh (~18-19 mph) I saw a rider in my mirror and he was closing the gap quite quickly. He zoomed past but almost immediately dropped his pace to 26-27 kmh. I dropped my pace accordingly and followed at a distance. It wasn't a problem but it just seemed weird. He must have put in quite an effort to catch and cruise past me as fast as he did, only to slow down once past.

He slowed down so you could draft him, you were extremely rude to drop back.

 

[GuyBoden]

I usually have a chat with cyclists who are riding in the same direction, especially on midweek rides in Winter/Autumn on quiet country lanes, when most cyclists are usually not would-be racers and are in no rush.

 

[DSK]

Interesting thread, never knew about some of whats been mentioned within the pages of this.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I was descending a hill on Sunday with a bloke on a carbon super light bike with snug cycle kit on, and he was as low down on his drops as possible. I was accelerating past him (without pedalling) on my recumbent with lots of tinsel blowing in the wind. It was quite amusing seeing the superior aerodynamics even with lots of tinsel. The look on his face and got us chatting when we were stopped at some red lights further on.

 

[Milkfloat]

I was descending a hill on Sunday with a bloke on a carbon super light bike with snug cycle kit on, and he was as low down on his drops as possible. I was accelerating past him (without pedalling) on my recumbent with lots of tinsel blowing in the wind. It was quite amusing seeing the superior aerodynamics even with lots of tinsel. The look on his face and got us chatting when we were stopped at some red lights further on.

Not just a case of you being heavier?

 

[Gixxerman]

If am I a fair bit faster than them, I just overtake wide and give a short sharp greeting such as "Hiya" as I pass. If my pace is close to theirs I will just ride behind quietly to their right a bit so I have room to maneuver / stop if needs be. One thing to be careful of is flegg / snot rockets. If following, be aware that they might not know you are there and loose off and you get a face full. Same applies when being followed, before expelling your flegg, check that someone isn't following you.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Not just a case of you being heavier?

Nope far superior aerodynamics. It's quite significant and you get the same freewheeling along the flat or if coasting uphill till you need to pedal. I shot past all the uprights no matter how heavy their bike, rider or how aero they thought they were.