Electric humiliation

[Tom B]

A few years ago when electric bikes were a bit more heath robinson and less common I was riding the long way home from having my hair cut. Spotted an old chap in the distance who annoyingly didn't seem to be getting closer. The competitive streak kicked and in and i set off after him. Slowly very slowly I reeled him in including up one of the bigger hills. I was out of the saddle sweating like a pig and confused as to how this 70yr old appeared to be barely trying. Eventually after a few miles I caught up with him at some lights blowing out of my a....

The lights turned to green and he just gently hummed away. Fortunately it was downhill shortly after and I was able to zip past.

Lesson learned.

I don't see it as humiliation any more than I do when any other motor vehicle passes. I see it as good that people are getting out on bikes in general.

On the flip side I do take great pleasure in zipping past the carbon bike castelli crowd with their aero this and that on my £500 Ali bike with a tee shirt and Matalan every day shorts on.

It does bug me though when they dont use the appropriate category on Strava. One bloke is even called "Ebiker Joe" and insists on uploading his ebike rides as normal bike rides. Probably just to wind me up and get me to flag them.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

A few years ago when electric bikes were a bit more heath robinson and less common I was riding the long way home from having my hair cut. Spotted an old chap in the distance who annoyingly didn't seem to be getting closer. The competitive streak kicked and in and i set off after him. Slowly very slowly I reeled him in including up one of the bigger hills. I was out of the saddle sweating like a pig and confused as to how this 70yr old appeared to be barely trying. Eventually after a few miles I caught up with him at some lights blowing out of my a....

The lights turned to green and he just gently hummed away. Fortunately it was downhill shortly after and I was able to zip past.

Lesson learned.

I don't see it as humiliation and more than I do when a motor vehicle passes. I see it as good that people are getting out on bikes in general.

On the flip side I do take great pleasure in zipping past the carbon bike castelli crowd with their aero this and that on my £500 Ali bike with a tee shirt and Matalan every day shorts on.

It does bug me though when they dont use the appropriate category on Strava. One bloke is even called "Ebiker Joe" and insists on uploading his ebike rides as normal bike rides. Probably just to wind me up and get me to flag them.

I have that missing in my gene pool that's why I don't understand some people

 

[Tom B]

I have that missing in my gene pool that's why I don't understand some people

On a bike I'm usually trying to hit a goal of my own making, a private competition with myself, perhaps it's monthly weekly elevation or distance, veloviewer squares or particular segments on Strava or whatever.

It's why I don't race.

That said if I see someone in the distance on a bike I can't help myself I just have to get after them. I'll sometimes even detour myself to avoid following another cyclist and chasing them down.

That said I hate being the chased. Once was on my way home from my mum's after a big Sunday tea as I started up a 2mile decent hill I passed some of the local triclubs starting off up the same hill. Determined not to be passed I set the fastest time I ever have up that hill. Almost spewed my tea up at the top.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I have that missing in my gene pool that's why I don't understand some people

I may have it somewhere but its expression was firmly switched off by games at school. I was profoundly crap at every sport there was so there was no point attempting to compete - other than in fierce competition with my fellow sporting failures to see how much and in what inventive ways we could either skive off or actively disrupt games lessons. Since then I've never been involved in any kind of sporting competition other than with myself.

 

[All uphill]

I may have it somewhere but its expression was firmly switched off by games at school. I was profoundly crap at every sport there was so there was no point attempting to compete - other than in fierce competition with my fellow sporting failures to see how much and in what inventive ways we could either skive off or actively disrupt games lessons. Since then I've never been involved in any kind of sporting competition other than with myself.

That was my experience too!

 

[DRM]

I’ve noticed one lad on what must be an unrestricted e-bike over a couple of weeks whilst going to work, it’s definitely traveling at around the 30 mph mark, down to one of the busiest roundabouts in the area, with 4 lanes going round it, along with exit & entrances for the M62, this particular idiot probably has a life expectancy of about a month, he went through 2 sets of red lights at the roundabout without slowing narrowly missing a tipper truck at the second set, then hurtling off towards Leeds having been in the wrong lane at least twice whilst going round the roundabout, cars and vans fly round there and regularly go through the lights on Amber & red, which whilst being wrong you don’t expect to be coming across this sort of contraption weaving from lane to lane to dodge other vehicles

 

[I like Skol]

I’ve noticed one lad on what must be an unrestricted e-bike over a couple of weeks whilst going to work, it’s definitely traveling at around the 30 mph mark, down to one of the busiest roundabouts in the area, with 4 lanes going round it, along with exit & entrances for the M62, this particular idiot probably has a life expectancy of about a month, he went through 2 sets of red lights at the roundabout without slowing narrowly missing a tipper truck at the second set, then hurtling off towards Leeds having been in the wrong lane at least twice whilst going round the roundabout, cars and vans fly round there and regularly go through the lights on Amber & red, which whilst being wrong you don’t expect to be coming across this sort of contraption weaving from lane to lane to dodge other vehicles

Like I said earlier, not really bothered if idiots like this end up under a truck, but it can cause endless trouble for the innocent drivers they may collide with and also emotional suffering if this results in serious injuries or death of the unlawful ebike rider!

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Like I said earlier, not really bothered if idiots like this end up under a truck, but it can cause endless trouble for the innocent drivers they may collide with and also emotional suffering if this results in serious injuries or death of the unlawful ebike rider!

I lost a friend in about 1979 when he hit a bus doing an estimated 130mph, the driver at the time about 40 year old never worked again & had mental issues for the rest of his short life.

 

[DRM]

Like I said earlier, not really bothered if idiots like this end up under a truck, but it can cause endless trouble for the innocent drivers they may collide with and also emotional suffering if this results in serious injuries or death of the unlawful ebike rider!

Exactly no one goes out in a motor vehicle to deliberately hurt or kill another, but this idiot will end up getting scraped off the road and leave whoever hits him with all the feelings of what could they have done to prevent it

 

[I like Skol]

I lost a friend in about 1979 when he hit a bus doing an estimated 130mph, the driver at the time about 40 year old never worked again & had mental issues for the rest of his short life.

Can't 'like' that post even though it perfectly defines my point. Was this a motorbike rider that hit the bus?
You don't say, but your post hints that the bus driver eventually took his own life, possibly as a result of the collision, and if so highlights the possible wider effects of these stupid and irresponsible ebike riders.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Can't 'like' that post even though it perfectly defines my point. Was this a motorbike rider that hit the bus?
You don't say, but your post hints that the bus driver eventually took his own life, possibly as a result of the collision, and if so highlights the possible wider effects of these stupid and irresponsible ebike riders.

The motorcyclist with pillion were going round a left hand bend, it is assumed he couldn't make the bend due to the speed, the bus was coming the other way on his correct side of the road there was nothing the driver could do, it was head on. I know he died about 12 years later, the rumour is that he took is own life but I don't know that for a fact,

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Did you nod though

 

[Landsurfer]

I have a work colleague, he is the same mass as me but about 4 inches shorter. He has an electric mountain bike which he boasts cost over £4k.
On Sunday he sent me a few pics of him and his mate .... similar age and build on top of a hill in the peak district.
We are 17th fastest on Strava for this climb he crowed ...but your on an ebike i pointed out .... the other 16 in front of you are human powered.
AAAH he says ... if you keep the speed down Strava it doesn't realise your on an ebike .....

 

[Ajax Bay]

I wonder how fast VP is, these days? She's 40 this year, which really shocked me. Tempus fugit

I suspect she really doesn't care how fast she is - that's sort of the point.
A double Gold Medal Olympian against all sorts of odds. BZ.

 

[matticus]

I wonder how fast VP is, these days? She's 40 this year, which really shocked me. Tempus fugit and all that.

Probably lost a lot of top-end, but at age 40 riders that are still training hard tend to be pretty close in pace to the "best".

A quick scan for similar examples; Kristin Armstrong won Olympic TT in 2012 aged 38-ish. Look-up her speed/time and report back!