Is it wrong to enjoy overtaking people on the commute that are riding expensive, almost new road bikes that obviously cost a lot, whilst riding a 20 quid fleabay special Raleigh Pursuit with gaffer tape on the handlebars and a wonky back wheel?

If it is, I'm sorry, but doing that to the person on the Bianchi I overtook on the way back to the office made my day.

maybe they don't want to be too sweaty when they get to work?

inverted snobbery is quite ****

Of course it's not wrong. The shonkier the bike, the more smug points.

But then, some folk might just like to cruise along on a really nice bike, feeling smug about their wealth, whilst feeling superior to some oik on a shonky old piece of tat, desperately trying to prove themeselves….

you will not find peace in life while you compete with your neighbours.

He probably saw you coming and thought he'd let you past. Because with being a pauper and all, you probably dont get any other enjoyment out of your sorry little life other than overtaking rich people on expensive bikes.

Not if you're wearing Rapha shorts, look behind once you've overtaken or brag about it on a forum. All these render the victory meaningless.

The bigger picture though; a higher value bike purchased by a rider who's valued by his employers at a higher value than you are. Who's the winner?

People who 'race' you when you're just mooching along commuting are so lame. If you want to race, go race. 'Beating' someone who isn't attempting to compete with you is of zero consequence.

He probably doesn't have to rush back to work. Maybe doesn't have to work full stop.

Who's the winner?

Richard Branson on an Apollo with flat tyres, overtaking everyone.

I tend to force the poor on their badly maintained bicycles into the gutter where they belong. They are dangerous and need to be taught a proper lesson.

In life, we are _all_ winners! Or losers, depending on whether you count life as something to be enjoyed, or just endured.

Seanoc, You may have something there. I'm still trying to get a straight answer from work bout whether they are going to start doing the cyclescheme thing. So far the answer seems to be that it is too much hassle what with the paperwork and stuff.

the thing about overtaking people on commutes is that usually it is done by surprise, there isnt really much to feel superior about if you ride past someone who was unaware they were in a race 😀

I used to love overtaking everyone on my commuter converted mtb, but then I only had 3 miles to ride, everyone else might have cycled 10 by the time I caught them.
Is it really a race? Do you really think they care?

As an aside, people who turn themselves inside out to sprint past you, then 100 yrds in front of you suddenly sit back, pedal squares and gasp for air like a beached whale make my day.

I have a very expensive bicycle because I stole it from a rich man. All the quality, none of the cost!

You are allowed if they are sweating like badgers and obviously trying hard.

If they are out pootling on a recovery ride then it is acceptable to pass them with the customary nod.

Well im kind of with you on this one willard, not in the victory aspect because as stated you dont know the circumstances and he could have dropped the hammer and left you for dead any other day, but even after countless years of commuting i still pick up the pace if i'm being pressed by someone else or use people in the distance as a marker and often see if i can catch them ….of course often i get dumped by some bloke on a clunker with gears as mine has only one…..but i still get them on the hills. 😆

anotherdeadhero – Member

'Beating' someone who isn't attempting to compete with you is of zero consequence.

Wrong. It makes you a dick.

I overtake most people commuting AND I'm not trying hard 😉

(edit: just kidding)

I overtook some guy last Sunday who was drunk, he took great exception and when we came to a junction he cut straight across and into someones garden fence. Launched himself over the bars and into their garden. A family and myself stopped but the guy just lay on the floor abusing us so we just rode off. He was on an old Muddy Fox which looked in really good nick.

Life's a race! I feel more smug overtaking expensive cars stuck in traffic!

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/slightly-morbid-part-2

The car equivalent to this is a person in a 'souped-up' Corsa or similar, burning off from the lights in front of someone in an Aston etc. Then thinking 'yeah I done him'.

desperately trying to prove themselves…. 😯

Sometimes I like pootling along. Sometimes I like catching people. It depends on how I'm choosing to enjoy that particular moment. What anyone paid for their bike doesn't come into it.

Too much vitriol in a lot of the above posts. Chill.

May I refer you all to this:

http://www.itsnotarace.org/

The car equivalent to this is a person in a 'souped-up' Corsa or similar, burning off from the lights in front of someone in an Aston etc. Then thinking 'yeah I done him'.

That can be a bit different though. Sometimes……

There was this bloke driving like he owned the place, (from Camberly Tescos towards Farnborough, past Sainsburys if you know it?) Hot hatch.
Me and Mrs PP are in our 1.6 Focus Estate. I pull up next to him at the lights and decide to see if I can get the jump on him. I'd let him go at the previous lights….
Anyone can press the loud pedal in a fast car, but it takes skill and concentration to get off the line fast. A lifetime spent driving slow cars has taught me this. 😉
So, I'm all ready and as soon as the lights even think about changing, I'm gone. No wheelspin, just a nice clean takeoff. I take the car to the limiter in the first couple of gears and he's waaaaaaaaay behind me. I caught him on the hop, just for fun. So, I've had my fun so back off at 60-ish mph (70 zone) and let him come hooning past.
Now,the roundabout at the end of the dual carrigeway leads onto the M3 or underneath it and back into Farnborough, and it's a fast left hander that I usually take in the right hand lane (This is correct according to the markings) so I can see right round it, and get the widest, smoothest, fastest line. He's way in front of me, and as I pull out, he turns into the corner.

Too fast! Waaaaay too fast.
So he backs off….
And we all know what happens when you lift off in a front drive car don't we children?
Yup. Lift off oversteer.
Oops
One way, then the other, then back again goes the rear end before spinning him into the grassy central reserve backwards, up the kerb, in a shower of turf and tyre smoke, everything. And we have a front row seat for all this. Nice. He comes to a rest as I get close, facing me directly.

EPIC FAIL

I know I shouldn't have done but I tooted, smiled and waved as I drove past, then broke out into fits of hysterics.

If you're gonna act the 'Big I Am', have the skill to back it up, or at least know when to give it up as a bad job.

Hehehehee….

So basically you goaded him into driving like an idiot? Bit like the coppers on Police Camera Action shows, were you just know they prolong some chases (at considerable risk to everyone else on the roads) so they can have a good GTA style burn up. If they backed off, the 'perp' would eventually slow down instead of trying to escape. If you've got the choppers on them, they won't get away anyway, so no need to chase on the ground.

If someone had been killed, you'd be partly responsible, as by your own admission you were 'racing'.

Cup of tea, anyone? Biscuit?

Poddy – possibly wrong but a rather hilarious story!

Had a very lairy A5 (2.0TDI) try very hard to keep on on Tuesday. He so very very nearly stacked it on a slightly nasty bend behind me after probably almost blowing up his new engine. Not a happy rep.

As for overtaking people – what people? I rarely see another cyclist on most of my rides!

I agree that beating someone who doesn't know they're racing you is a bit of a hollow victory.

Some folk do seem to take umbrage though. I overtook an oldish guy who was riding quite a nice custom Condor in full lycra through Trafalgar Square. I was wearing work clothes and riding a clown-wheeled folding bike at the time. It wasn't a competition thing, he was just riding really slowly.

I reached the next lights just as they were changing, pulled up and then had to edge back literally a couple of inches to avoid a scooter which had overshot the lights and was reversing back out of the box junction. Didn't realize that the old buffer on the Condor had caught up and was right behind me (I'm talking cigarette paper distance) . My rear wheel barely brushed his front wheel before I realized. I apologized (as you do) but he then proceeded to go completely mental at me…. I'm talking a complete Gordon Ramsay, sweaty purple-faced fit at the thought of some "civilian" sullying his tyres . I thought he was going to have a coronary…

I politely suggested that someone so tightly wound probably shouldn't be cycling in London in rush-hour, which didn't go down all that well. Dropped him again when the lights changed mind 😀

After the success of "Street Fighters", I think we need a "Street Racers" thread that people can use to explain how awesome they are at driving. Peter and people could do it absolutely straight, and other people could quote arthouse films such as "Gone In 60 Seconds" and "The Fast And the Furious 7: Birmingham Burnout" and make sophisticated reference to retro computer games such as "Gone In 60 Seconds" and "The Fast And the Furious 7: Birmingham Burnout". It'll be wicked. 🙂

I agree that beating someone who doesn't know they're racing you is a bit of a hollow victory.

So my Mark Cavendish-like sprint to victory at the traffic lights this evening doesn't count? Arse 🙁

Loads of people overtake me on the way to work. Normally downhill, because the fixie is pretty slow on the downs. Most shout 'hello' as they zoom past me, but there is 1 fat girl with a horrible arse who gurns past like it means anything, then jumps whatever lights are on red in front of her.

Fair play to her if she is that desperate to get to work. I'd rather enjoy my commute.

(if the fatty is reading this – you're the one on a road bike that cycles through dudley, over castlegate and burntree then down the oldbury road. Fatty)

After reading said "street fighters" threaed I thought davidtaylforth was the funniest member on stw. However you sir

BigDummy – Member "The Fast And the Furious 7: Birmingham Burnout"

have just taken that crown. That is possibly the funniest thing I have read on here!

Iain

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12575770

over a thousand pages !!

The Fast And the Furious 7: Birmingham Burnout

If it's even half as good as "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift", then Oscar nominations are surely guaranteed.

"I agree that beating someone who doesn't know they're racing you is a bit of a hollow victory."

If they're not racing, they shouldn't be on a bike.
All victories count.

So basically you goaded him into driving like an idiot?

Nahh not really. He was driving like an idiot way before he came across me. I just poked him in the eye and ran off giggling leaving him to trip over his shoelaces as he chased me. Mischevious. Nothing more.

He just didn't have a bloody clue what happened but his missis was in the passenger seat and I bet he got earache for weeks afterwards 8)

You talk about his inadequacy in a condescending manner, yet you still felt the need to 'show him a lesson'. You could have simply ignored him and just pulled away normally, letting him disappear up the road. See the irony here?

Richard Branson on an Apollo with flat tyres, overtaking everyone.

No intention of getting involved in the rest of the thread, but thanks for making me laugh with this!