Race to the ramp

[HJ]

On the way home I turned on to a road with traffic calming speed ramps closely followed by a car. The road was wide with no other traffic, the driver decided that he had to pass the cyclist. I was cycling at about 20 mph and just stood on the pedals every time reached a ramp and maintained my speed. Whereas the driver would brake sharply at each ramp, then zoom up along side my just before having to bake hard for the next ramp. It was highly amusing...

 

[Keith Oates]

Don't look at them but keep a smile on your face when you're doing it, it seems to really get up some peoples nose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[purplepolly]

oh no not another f*ck*ng cycylist slowing me down

must...overtake...him...screech......THUD

vroom vroom vroom.....must...overtake...cyclist...screech......THUD

vroom vroom vroom.....must...overtake...cyclist...screech......THUD

vroom vroom vroom.....must...overtake...cyclist...screech......THUD

vroom vroom vroom.....must...overtake...cyclist...screech.....why can't he get out of the bl**dy way...THUD

vroom vroom vroom.....must...overtake...cyclist...screech......THUD

vroom vroom vroom.....must...overtake...cyclist...finally...thank god...they should all be banned...don't pay bl**dy road tax...load of freeloading guardian reading liberal freaks

 

[thomas]

must...overtake...him...screech......THUD

It does make me laugh when people grind the bottom of their car on the bump to get past

 

[HJ]

It does make me laugh when people grind the bottom of their car on the bump to get past

I was hoping for that, but he kept braking just hard enough to avoid it

 

[Rhythm Thief]

It does make me laugh when people grind the bottom of their car on the bump to get past

I had a bloke in a Transit pickup have his ladders jump out of the back when he tried the same trick with me on a speedbump. That was funny.

 

[Molecule Man]

oh no not another f*ck*ng cycylist slowing me down

must...overtake...him...screech......THUD

vroom vroom vroom.....must...overtake...cyclist...screech......THUD

vroom vroom vroom.....must...overtake...cyclist...screech......THUD

vroom vroom vroom.....must...overtake...cyclist...screech......THUD

vroom vroom vroom.....must...overtake...cyclist...screech.....why can't he get out of the bl**dy way...THUD

vroom vroom vroom.....must...overtake...cyclist...screech......THUD

vroom vroom vroom.....must...overtake...cyclist...finally...thank god...they should all be banned...don't pay bl**dy road tax...load of freeloading guardian reading liberal freaks

That sums it up perfectly.

I've had this a few times, great entertainment.
Last time though, the driver did manage to get past, must have been going about 30 mph straight over the humps, I felt sorry for the poor child getting bounced around on the back seat.

As often as not, if they do manage to get past on a road like this, they get past you and then go over the rest of the traffic calming slower than you were cycling in the first place. It's like some drivers have a hard-wired mental speedometer that says 'cyclist - 5 mph - overtake under all circumstances'.

 

[BrumJim]

Any road with speed humps is automatically a cyclists paradise for this very reason. Sadly I only have one on my commute, but I always hope for a car to chase along it.

 

[BentMikey]

Loving it!!! The other thing nearly as satisfying is going through a speed camera at around 30mph, and passing all the cars who've just put on the guilty brakes. Oh, and one better modification is making sure your Exposure MaxxD is on low beam before you get there, and then turning it to flashing mode as you get to the camera. You can almost see the drivers ahead of you stressing out. Naughty, but oh so fun.

 

[Lazy-Commuter]

On the way home I turned on to a road with traffic calming speed ramps closely followed by a car. The road was wide with no other traffic, the driver decided that he had to pass the cyclist. I was cycling at about 20 mph and just stood on the pedals every time reached a ramp and maintained my speed. Whereas the driver would brake sharply at each ramp, then zoom up along side my just before having to bake hard for the next ramp. It was highly amusing...

On my commute, I have about a mile long stretch through a housing estate with ramps like this every coupla hundred yards. I often get the amusement of the situation you've described HJ. Eventually, they get fed up and don't brake for a bump, their car invariably making a comedy grinding noise as they launch it over the bump.

Course, if they don't do the same high speed bounce over the next couple of ramps I'm all over the back of them like Molecule Man said. If they do go for the repeated high speed bounce, they "disappear off" into the distance.

Until I invariably catch them up at the traffic lights at the edge of the estate, get off the bike, push it past them on the path, cross the main road that they're joining and head off down the bridleway over the other side.

 

[Lizban]

urm - if they want to get past this much (and there is a 1/2 mile streach of road where it often happens)

You know what - I just let them pass. I really don't want an idiot racing and slamming on the brakes anywhere near me.

 

[Lazy-Commuter]

Fair enough, Lizban, but it's not really a case of blocking them in any way. And if someone does get alongside me at a hump I'll often let em go 'cos they're not above swinging back left as they leave the hump - forgetting how fast I've been going over the previous ones - in that "I can't see the bike any more so it's not there" kind of way.

But if they're behind and can't keep up, that's fair game.

 

[HJ]

urm - if they want to get past this much (and there is a 1/2 mile streach of road where it often happens)

You know what - I just let them pass. I really don't want an idiot racing and slamming on the brakes anywhere near me.

The advantage of the particular road I was on is that is very wide, he has trying about 2m away from me and there was still plenty of space if anything had come in the opposite direction.

Normally I don't see much traffic on this road, and when there is someone behind me they just give up after the first ramp as they have the sense to realise that they are not going to be able to go faster than me anyway...

 

[Theseus]

HJ, care to share the location of this wonderful road. It might be worth the diversion.

 

[J4CKO]

I do this, there is one road I use that has the traffic calming, goes for about a mile and I set myself a target of keeping ahead all the way through, sometimes I even slow down a bit to keep it going, its good training and if some pillock in an Audi S Line (with rock hard suspension) leaves some key bits of his car along the route then all the better.