Cyclists going the other way

[Accy cyclist]

I was out on the bike last night and i saw what must have been about 40 cyclists in 2 and a bit hours,highly unusual which i'll put down to the nice weather. The thing is most of them were going in the opposite direction! I overtook 2 and was overtaken by one so there weren't many on my side of the road! Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[gbb]

Seeing a lot of guys on road bikes or old racing bikes lately...yes, they keep coming out of sheds (old racers that is) and most are still in very good nick.
Seems to be a lot of commuters, perhaps yours were too.

 

[vernon]

Last Saturday I saw 100+ cyclists. a couple going in my direction who overtook me silently and without acknowledgement and I allowed them to retain their dignity by not scalping them and the rest were in ones twos and threes travelling in the opposite direction on roads that I've used regularly without seeing more and a couple of cyclists cycling in either direction. I suffered the ultimately indignity of being overtaken by a duckling running in the gutter who didn't have the grace to give me a quack of acknowledgement so I scalped it by putting on an extra spurt and raised my speed to seven miles per hour and showed it a clean pair of heels - I mean how could I go home and tell my friends and colleagues that I was beaten by a duckling. It was the most bizarre occurrence on my ride along part of the route of Le Tour in the opposite direction to what the race riders will be pedalling in a couple of weeks.

 

[Markymark]

Um there will always be more going the other way as your probably close ti matching speed of others yiur way and will never see them.

Drive on motorway and count cars the other way as opposed to how many you overtake/overtake you. If busy both way you'll see massively more coming the other way.

 

[pauldavid]

If there were so many riders going in the opposite direction I can only assume that yourself and the three or four other nobbers were going the wrong way

 

[EltonFrog]

I bet non of them acknowledged you, waved, said hello, nodded, miserable gits.

 

[slowwww]

It seems to me that the warmth of the greeting or acknowledgement from cyclists on the other side of the road as I pass is inversely proportional to the value of the bike they're riding.

I always shout a greeting or at the very least a nod or a wave, and in the main get a nice response from most riders. However, I find the cut off point is about £2.5k. I never seem to get any response from the S-works, De Rosa, Colnago type riders irrespective of whether they’re in a group or alone. Clearly they take themselves very seriously and evidently think that I’m a nobber and are beneath contempt.

On Sunday I was on a short, quick 18 mile loop and was completely blanked by a guy of about 30 coming in the other direction on his S-works with deep rims and aero bars and full Sky clothing kit. I gave him a particularly effusive greeting when I then overtook him when our paths crossed about 8 miles later. Try as he might he couldn’t overtake again, and so I suspect the shame of being scalped by a 50 year old on a Halfords Boardman wearing cheapo (and uncoordinated!) DHB kit means that somewhere there an S-works bike up for sale and someone looking for a new hobby!

 

[Markymark]

We should do a thread on whether other cyclists acknowledge you when riding.

 

[Accy cyclist]

I bet non of them acknowledged you, waved, said hello, nodded, miserable gits.

No the opposite in fact! Far too many were waving nodding etc that i gave up in the end and cycled with my right arm bent and my right palm showing(Hitler style)!

 

[MikeG]

Um there will always be more going the other way as your probably close ti matching speed of others yiur way and will never see them........

Exactly. Those cyclists the OP saw going the other way will also have the same story: "I saw loads of cyclists going the other way, and virtually none going my way".

Yet another example of logic showing our instinct to be entirely wrong.

 

[ianrauk]

@ianrauk, they're doing it again.

Oh yes.

 

[vernon]

Try as he might he couldn’t overtake again, and so I suspect the shame of being scalped by a 50 year old on a Halfords Boardman wearing cheapo (and uncoordinated!) DHB kit means that somewhere there an S-works bike up for sale and someone looking for a new hobby!

There seems to be a lot of hairdressers riding bikes. I salute those of them who can scalp fellow riders and only hope that they create some semblance of tonsorial elegance as they pass.

 

[Tim Hall]

Reminds me of the bloke driving on the motorway. His wife rings him up to warn him there are reports of a motorist going the wrong way, causing traffic chaos.

"One motorist?" he says "There's bloody hundreds of them".