When you see another cyclist, do you try and catch up to him or her?

[BurningLegs]

[QUOTE="Drago, post: 6136316, member: 22751] Indeed, anyone who reckons they roam the streets on a legal ebike looking for cyclists to scalp is either targeting geriatrics or talking out their arriss.
[/QUOTE]
Unless they’re prowling a local climb, of course!

When I used to commute I took great pleasure in trying to stick it to the e-bikes.

Now that I ride for pleasure I don’t see many e-bikes. In fact I can only remember one recently who was very apologetic as he cruised past me 2/3 up a local climb 🙂

 

[Rusty Nails]

The serious replies are that way ——————>

They're going too fast for me....

 

[pjd57]

I always look for the motor and the battery when people overtake me.

If there's none I'm quite happy to have them fly by.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I was being serious, but you had to take it too far!

It’s well known that if you do a wheelie you halve the rolling resistance and so accelerate from 15 mph to 30 mph in the blink of an eye...

 

[MartinQ]

It’s well known that if you do a wheelie you halve the rolling resistance and so accelerate from 15 mph to 30 mph in the blink of an eye...

Given that a blink is ~0.1 s, then to go from 15 -> 30 mph gives an acceleration of
(30-15)*1600/360 ~ 67 m/s^2
or about 7g.

You and your bike have mass ~80 kg, so that requires a force of ~5,000 N (zero air and rolling resistance) and a rough average power output of 50,000 W. That's about two orders of magnitude better than most pro cyclists, maybe Pogacar league?

Impressed both at your power output as well as your ability not to blackout.

 

[Illaveago]

I sometimes I do try to match their pace depending on how fast they pass me . I suspect now that a lot of them are lying in wait behind hedges waiting for the unsuspecting cyclist to pass by before leaping out and passing them with a sudden burst of speed . Once safely out of sight they will quickly nip behind a hedge again and collapse exhausted on the ground . They don't fool me .

 

[Moodyman]

I refer the OP to the famous Bikeradar 'silly commuting racing' hierarchy where you got points for each of your handicaps.

Link to the rules here:

https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/12575770/silly-commuting-racing

 

[gbb]

I must admit to getting pleasure overtaking electric bikes, they sure can take some catching though when you see them a mile down the road and into a headwind.

As a rider of an ebike through neccessity, i really respect someones fitness at being able to do so.

 

[screenman]

As a rider of an ebike through neccessity, i really respect someones fitness at being able to do so.

Trouble is sometimes when this 64 year old throws his leg over a bike he thinks he is 20 again. I never see it as a race just a target to fix on to increase my workout.

 

[byegad]

Don't be silly, but I have passed the odd aged pedestrian........ On a good day, with the wind behind me!

 

[BrumJim]

My son does. If there is someone ahead of him the gentle ride suddenly turns into a race, legs going like crazy and audible panting as he gulps as much air as possible into his lungs. Doesn't matter who it is or how old they are, if he can see them ahead, it turns into a race.

He's 7.5 yrs old. Hopefully he will grow out of it.

 

[classic33]

Given that a blink is ~0.1 s, then to go from 15 -> 30 mph gives an acceleration of
(30-15)*1600/360 ~ 67 m/s^2
or about 7g.

You and your bike have mass ~80 kg, so that requires a force of ~5,000 N (zero air and rolling resistance) and a rough average power output of 50,000 W. That's about two orders of magnitude better than most pro cyclists, maybe Pogacar league?

Impressed both at your power output as well as your ability not to blackout.

A blink is 1/3 of a second, not 1/10.

 

[MartinQ]

A blink is 1/3 of a second, not 1/10.

Ok divde by 3 then :-). So he is only 30 times as powerful as a pro cyclist. I'm still in awe . We're not worthy.

 

[steveindenmark]

I just assume they need to get somewhere quicker than I do. Its the same when I get overtaken in my car.

 

[postman]

The last thing I passed was a urine sample.