Good v evil- it's our duty to race

I know, I know, racing strangers is pointless and irrelevant but you need to pop a few more red pills if you can resist IMO
I feel however, it is our duty as MTBers to chase and ideally (maybe not) re-pass them to uphold the honour of the knobblies 😀

So tonight, just as I start a little dawdling, I get passed by a typically nonchalant-faced roadie. A few power strokes and my Scott Spark is on his tail and I’m doing my best to be stealthy.
Hand either side of the stem, road ahead just visible under my peak and my target firmly locked-on.
At this point, I’m probably using 50 more watts just to keep up and I need to downshift to keep my cadence up.
Bugger! He heard me!

Now, he’s doing that classic dark-side trick of accelerating whilst giving no visible signs of increased effort.
I uphold our honour for a mile or so and then mistime the approach to a set of traffic lights. A moments delay and he’s dropped me, two bike lengths clear.
Now, the critical time, must get back on before he notices. Well into the red zone, I try and close the gap. Grrrrr, he uses the slight right hand bend to cast a rearward glance and seeing he’s clear, turns on some more hurt (underhand dark-side tactic if ever I saw one).

There’s a couple of rolling hills approaching so I tuck myself right in and keep the gas on and sure enough, physics help me close in slightly. Goal has changed, I now just need to ensure I get through the lights in the next village at the same time as him as otherwise he’ll be away.
One more hill.
No guts, no glory, lets do this! Out of the saddle and giving everything that’s left, calves bulging and lungs burning, the gap is closing! I can do this! BANG! Nah, it’s all over. That push was the final straw. As I coast down the other side, I see his white jersey sail through the lights just as they change to red.
A victory for the dark side this time perhaps but I did us proud…..

…..and scored four cracking PB’s as a result 🙂

2 miles, 19.9mph av and 456 ‘Strava’ watts made it all worthwhile- I’ll get you next time Mr Pokerface 😉

*claps & nods*

I chuckled 😆

maybe you should just buy a road bike?

At that pace he was probably cruising 🙂

I think you may be reading too much into the whole “dark side” thing 😀

I do like the idea of some MTB riders behaving as though they have the reputation of the sport on their shoulders though 😆

Made me laugh

I do want a road bike but I’d be leaving all the moral high ground behind 😀

I’m hoping to do Ride London 2014 so will probably sell my soul to the biking devil in the Spring- unless I manage to get really really fit instead 😀

🙄

You’d have to give him a cheery ‘good afternoon’ when you passed him and then again 2 minutes later when he passes you, blowing out your arse.

@Crikey I’m guessing you haven’t heard the phrase ‘tongue in cheek’ 🙄 😉

Over active imagination and can’t sleep, read better than ‘I went out riding and saw another bike’ lol

I’m guessing you haven’t heard the phrase ‘tongue in cheek’

I am almost as familiar with that phrase as I am with the inane attempts to differentiate riding a road bike and a mountain bike.

Perhaps my post was a parody of those inane attempts???? Hmmmmmm

Am I allowed to claim roadie scalps if wearing baggies and stripy arm warmers on my cx (with slicks)*?

I’ve done it by kind of accident – he passed me, I jumped on tail and didn’t realise that I was putting out a proper lot of power, had to pass him so as not to run into his back and keep riding nonchalantly along at speed along the lines of ‘me, I always go this fast, you just caught me changing gear’. 😳

*Commute is 40 miles each way and I can’t do it in under 3 hours on a mtb 😥

Your NEVER allowed to wear stripy arm warmers 😉 HTH

mrblobby – Member
At that pace he was probably cruising

he was probably on a z1 recovery ride 🙂

Hehe, that’s good that is

I am almost as familiar with that phrase as I am with the inane attempts to differentiate riding a road bike and a mountain bike.

You use shoes for climbing and playing golf. They’re different sports too.

Hmm stripey arm warmers… where from?

i might have to break your gears again 🙂

maybe you should just buy a road bike?

Or ride off-road 😉

Or ride off-road

I was on my way to the Ridgeway I promise 😀

Sock Guy stripy arm warmers in fluorescent yellow and blue.

I find the fluro pink and yellow ones a little garish when worn with my fluoro green Jake the Snake

LOLZ, top bombing crosshair 😆

Cheers,
Jamie

Never see the point in racing someone on aroad bike when I am on the MTB even if you claim a scalp. It s not real as they are obviously crap or on a recovery ride.
That said good effort and amusing write up

I tend to just sit slightly ahead of them making them blow out their arse rather than just floor it so they give up straight away.
If you are as stupid as try you deserve some pain for your actions 😉

I used to race EVERYBODY*, then I stopped trying [post 9 month tour I think- just got used to trundling].

Nonetheless it started to get to me, commuting 8 miles each way and letting rodies actually just saunter past without so much as an attempt to catch them or hunt them down.

I want back up to speed. Thing is, I’ve got:

a) Srs problem with my achillies’
b) Lazy/slow
c) Freaking 2″+ Marathon XR’s on the Thorn for some reason..?!

I promise on the name of Joe Murray I will try to kick the next few roadies I see into touch nonetheless.

PS If you hear I’m dead from massive heart failure – that’s why.

*usually beat them too!

I was competing* in a road race once (*read hanging desperately onto the back of the bunch) when my mate appeared beside me – on his mountain bike – on the grass.

He then proceeded to accelerate past the bunch whilst chatting to me.

I’ve never forgiven him.

Great story, had me gripped!

Amusing. 🙂

Reminded me a little bit of samuri’s article about roadie vs MTBer in an old issue of ST.
I like doing that subtle “increase the power without looking like it’s deliberate” thing to get rid of wheelsuckers. The worst thing that can happen though is if they then overtake. 😳