Electric humiliation

[Shearwater Missile]

At the end of the day it is what you get out of the ride that is important. If you feel that you had a good workout then great. There have been plenty of times when I have been passed by some one fitter or younger than me, good luck to them. There have been times when I have passed people too and I hope that they did not feel humiliated, that would not have been my intention. Naturally aspirated I hasten to add.

 

[vickster]

How would you have reacted if it was an elderly gentleman and not a woman on the bike?

Lots of blokes on bikes seem to get offended if I pass them and just have to speed up and get past (presumably so their poor shrivelled manhood is restored)

Granted this happens less often than male riders passing me

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Only with self-proclaimed perfectionists

Is that where you feel your inadequacies stem from?

Sorry but I don't get all this I feel cheated, humiliated crap from 'real' cyclists, should I feel cheated & humiliated when I get overtaken by somebody on a road bike when I'm out on my MTB?

 

[I like Skol]

That's a modified e-bike in all likelihood, I hope the cops get wise to this before it gets out of control.

Good luck with that! They aren't interested. Now ebikes are getting more common and affordable(?) it seems the local hoodie type are adopting them as an easily available means of unlicensed and unregistered powered transport and I have seen more than a few e-fatbikes piloted recklessly along pavements at stupid speeds while weaving between pedestrians and crossing junctions and traffic islands without slowing or taking much time to turn their hooded heads and actually check if anything is coming.
I don't particularly care if it ends badly for them but at speeds of 20mph+ they will hurt a pedestrian pretty badly and it really causes trouble for any unfortunate innocent motorist they might collide with.
There needs to be some enforcement and there is none. The regulations are meaningless!

 

[DSK]

I just like the way it was written, paints a nice picture of a cyclist, with a smile that turns into a face of curiosity as a tiny little bike, being ridden by a woman in flip flops sails past ... You got over taken by a woman in flip flops....

I think others have said it, just let it be, focus on your ride. Who knows what E-bike gizmos people are running and to be honest, they will only get more common and faster as more and more of them are built and the manufacturers evolve them. Don't quote me on this but, I think there is a de-restriction kit you can get for typical over the counter E-bikes that allows them to get to around 25/30mph.

 

[BigMeatball]

Is that where you feel your inadequacies stem from?

Sorry but I don't get all this I feel cheated, humiliated crap from 'real' cyclists, should I feel cheated & humiliated when I get overtaken by somebody on a road bike when I'm out on my MTB?

Hi, may I introduce you to comedy? When you're ready I'll introduce you to her friend sarcasm.

When you're ready though, sounds like it might be quite some time for you

 

[MontyVeda]

some CC members also need to take a refresher course in how emoticons work

 

[Drago]

Normally I don't pay too much attention to most of the cyclists that overtake me when I'm out riding; most of the times it's people in good shape, with very good road bikes, good quality gear, good position on the bike. You can tell they mean business. They overtake me on the flat but fair play to them; my 105kg and my super compact 48t big front ring can't do much against their 70kg and 52t

But last weekend, I was out on my ride and I got humiliated not once but twice by a skinny little woman in crocs on an electric bike. She was riding a brompton style electric bike, very tiny wheels, and she was going at least 30km/h on something like 35-40rpm cadence, she was barely spinning the pedals.

First time I was on the flat, still warming up, I was riding at 24km/h, she passed me easily. I stayed on her tail to check her speed; she was in fact doing 33km/h according to my garmin. Never had I seen an electric bike so I was actually curious and shocked to see what they were capable of

Anyways, at the next traffic light, we part ways. After 10 minutes I'm on a little steep-ish climb, riding at 16-17km/h and out of the blue here she is again, going so much faster than me while barely spinning the pedals.

At the next roundabout, I checked where she was going and decided to take a different route; had she passed me another time I would have probably knocked her off her little bike and set fire to that devilish object. I would have had to catch her first, which was not at all a sure thing

That's about 20.5MPHish. She was either robotically powerful and grinding a big chainring, or was riding a derestricted ebike. I'm close to 120kg and have little problem toying with legal ebikes, but don't stand a hope against a moped.

 

[Dogtrousers]

That's about 20.5MPHish. She was either robotically powerful and grinding a big chainring, or was riding a derestricted ebike. I'm close to 120kg and have little problem toying with legal ebikes, but don't stand a hope against a moped.

Bear in mind exaggeration for comic effect.

 

[Drago]

blimey, don't you think I exaggerate enough as it is?

 

[wafter]

It's not humilation if you know they're cheating

As for getting passed; I've been rinsed by all sorts and as long as they're not a dick about it then fair play to them; it is what it is.

Can spot the ebikes a mile off on out max 12% hill - full-bore on the road bike I might manage 8-10mph up it, so those twice my age sailing up it that speed and more at a leisurly 60rpm stand out somewhat

 

[GoatBeard]

Nothing humiliating about such an obviously gimped contraption. What gets my goat is many of these road bikes are electric but incredibly subtle with it. I was pushing a hard 20mph and overtook a road cyclist. Some time later on the same long stretch I hear the sound of his freewheel ratcheting right behind me, then stopping, then again. Kept doing it to obviously be a prat. I was puffing away flat out perhaps losing a bit of speed and then suddenly he overtakes and just seemingly keeps accellerating like a UFO > 25 mph. By looking at him and his bike you wouldn't know a thing. Maybe he was Chris Froome after all?

 

[mustang1]

Some guy was on an e-bike and overtook me as I was cruising along then slowed down and went on his phone.

I overtook him and then he overtook me, slowed down and went back on his phone again. No sweat I thought so I overtook him once more only for to overtake me yet again and you guessed it, back on his phone after slowing down.

Tosser.

So I burned it to 35kph on a slight uphill to show him a clean pair of pipes then went into a high speed cruise around, remaining at 35kph on the flats.

Guess what. The guy overtook me again and then turned off. Either he was out of breath (I sure as heck was, and mildly sick too) or he really was going in that direction but wanted to show me up first.

Of course it was an illegal bike but at the same time I got a jolly good workout the I proceeded to tell the next cyclist I saw all about my mini adventure.

 

[BigMeatball]

It's not humilation if you know they're cheating

That's the thing: it was my first ever encounter with an electric bike, let alone one that had been pimped up to go past 20mph

 

[Ridgeway]

I love seeing an electric bike up the road in front of me as it gives me something to chase down.

Yesterday morning was one such case

Spotted a fella a long way up the hill (7-8% 1.5km long) and figured that was who i needed to pass to earn my coffee. About half way up i couldn't work out why i was only marginally closer than before, ok head down count to 50, keep going and then look up gain, getting closer. Finally caught him and realised it was an Obrea e-bike (road version), i was very happy to sail by and give him a "good morning" (if he only knew how long it had taken to save up the breath to say those 2 words)

Note to self: when passing e-bikes remember that they probably have some more power in reserve so when passing make sure you make it stick.

PS: happy to report this was at the very top of the climb so there was no way this guy was going to get near me on a 5km decent