Two scalps and a wheel sucker

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I don't often see other cyclists on my commute, no real reason that I can see but that's just the way it is! Tonight however, cycling along Eyebury Road in Eye on my way to Peterborough I passed a dawdling guy on an MTB, nicely lit up and wearing a hi-viz Sam Browne he was too. About 1/3 of a mile further along I realise the road around me is brighter than with just my light, so I glance behind me and see a bicycle light. "Oho" thinks I, "Mr MTB has seen me pass, decided to get competitive and hung onto my wheel" so my little competitive demon said "go on, see him off!" As I was not fully expending myself I knocked up to the next gear and increased pedal effort. Even having to wait for oncoming traffic in the single-lane section of the road approx 5 minutes later did not afford him the chance to catch up, leaving me feeling foolishly smug :blush:
About 1 mile further on, stopped at the junction of Oxney Road and Edgerley Drain Road to adjust the mag pickup on my Cateye another MTB passed me heading South, the direction I was going. Having finished fettling, I set off and saw he was not far ahead. "Go on" says little devil again, "have him too", so maintaining the same pace I'd set off at (normal, not idiotic lung-bursting must-pass-the-bike-in-front) I passed him as well.
I am aware that all I did was cycle past two bikes being ridden more slowly than mine, it was just nice to see other bikes out on the same roads as me. I have this ridiculous fantasy that this will steadily increase as time wears on and fuel prices keep increasing, daft I know but we can dream :smile:
 

BlackPanther

Hyper-Fast Recumbent Riding Member.
Location
Doncaster.
Satisfying isn't it? Just wait 'till you get your first 'hat trick'. It still amazes me at just how slowly many people ride, and I think it's usually that they're in way too high a gear and grinding away without making much progress.

If I'm just out pottering with the kids on a weekend then a sedate leisurely plod is o.k, but when commuting it's far more efficient to be in a lower gear and get a bit of a spurt on.
 

Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
I scalped about 30 lorries and 250 cars on the journey home from work last night. I can't believe how slowly one Toyota was being driven 35mph in a 60 with traffic backed up behind for miles. Then at a set of lights a BMW tried to get past me but I put my toe down and left it miles behind. It's very satisfying scalping other road users and getting to the destination as quickly as possible :wahhey: .
 

BSRU

A Human Being
Location
Swindon
I had a wheel sucker yesterday, a guy I've seen a few times and know I can loose easily without having to try. After I went past he decides to put some more effort into it and tries to grab my rear wheel, helped by the tail wind and the hill we were cycling down. He then decides on an undertake as he sees my move to the right of the lane as a weakness, only to abort his manoeuvre when he eventually realises there is a parked car with it's hazards on, hence my position change. When the downhill turns into a long drag he gives up trying to stay in my draft.
Previous to my overtake I had watched him ride with a death wish across a mini-RAB, from the gutter he just cuts across the mini-RAB with not a thought about looking behind at the traffic to see if it was safe, a candidate for a YouTube upload.
 
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