Sometimes when I get passed by a roadie they say “morning”. Are they being nice or really saying “eat my dust”? Cos they never nod or do anything when coming towards you.
So this morning I get a “morning”. I ask him for a tow up the hill and sit on his back wheel. Then I think he might get upset with me stealing a ride so overtake to do some of the work.
Inadvertently I dropped him.
Should I have “morninged” him as I went past?

AWESOME

Dude, I Strava’d that motherf@*ker!

😉

He probably backed off knowing that he could never be as awesome as you. I guess he rode home dripping tears over his handlebars knowing he’s completely inadequate and probably jealous of you awesomeness.

And I was on a bike with full mudguards and a saw hanging off my backpack.
So any Olympic injuries, I am free Sundays and Mondays.(can supply my own bike as well.)

No, it probably means he was trying too hard to overtake you and had nowt left?

On the other hand I’m useless as judgeing pace in a group* so frequently take my turn at the front and fly off into the distance before blowing up, being overtaken and dropped 🙁 When this happens on solo rides, i.e. happen to bump into other roadies, I just take the tow and turn off the road ASAP rather than take a turn to save embarasment.

*I’m a fatty so have to try hard on the hills to match what I reckon the correct pace would be for a lighter roadie, if it’s a flat section it’s much easier.

what the **** is this post about? I don’t think i understand the sentiment?

You asked for a tow? (odd) then went on the front and **** off? (dickish)

wow.

zippykona you are Surfmat and I claim my £5!

Nowt worse than a wheel sucker and if I’d said hello to you and then had you hang on, I’d have backed right off to let you go in front. 😛

I iz confuzed.

was there lots of frantic elbow waggling going on in front?

Tracknico, is the “morning” genuine or not?
Asked a simple question then finished with an amusing anecdote.
A well constructed post,just to bring a little sunshine into an otherwise gloomy day.

His sister is even more awesome

Easy way to loose a wheel sucker, whack brakes on, skip rear wheel out sideways, watch knob flip over bars and land by your side head first in road, carry on as if nothing has happened….

Or strategically avoid large pot holes at the last minute with no signal. 😉

If you can’t drop a wheel sucker, don’t complain. They’re not making it harder for you to ride, they’re just making it easier for themselves. I had one last weekend who sat behind me for 5km before turning off. I didn’t try too hard to drop him because even if I had, it’s not like I’d be working less hard.

Not a roadie here as such, but generally offer a friendly hello to those I pass on the road just to try to keep things light and stop them taking it personally. Gets tiring when people see a fellow rider’s slightly faster pace as a challenge to their masculinity and take it as an invitation to race. A polite hello usually stops it before it starts.

So to clarify am I in trouble or not?
Can I expect to be duffed up at the traffic lights tomorrow?

I say morning, hello, etc etc to fellow cyclists (and people in my village whilst out and about), because I am a friendly person. Why be miserable to folk??

If you can’t drop a wheel sucker, don’t complain. They’re not making it harder for you to ride, they’re just making it easier for themselves. I had one last weekend who sat behind me for 5km before turning off. I didn’t try too hard to drop him because even if I had, it’s not like I’d be working less hard.

this thread is totally baffling…

the point is (for me) that if i drag you along into the wind for however long, while making it easier for you (agreed yes?) then you knock it down a gear and **** off into the sunset instead of taking a sensible turn in return, then you are a bit of a bell.

im not interested in dropping folk, just if you decide to ride with someone, you should ride with them, not leach off them then blow them away with your awesome camelbacked full guarded saw carrying mad man skillzzzz.

Can I expect to be duffed up at the traffic lights tomorrow?

You stop at lights…..

Did he doff his hat as he went by? did you? Bad form if either/neither of you didn’t/did.

Are you that polite in real life?

zippykona – Member

So to clarify am I in trouble or not?
Can I expect to be duffed up at the traffic lights tomorrow?

I think we need pics of the person and also find out how far they have been riding for at the moment you meet.

I know one chap who has 30+ mile one way commutes and I doubt he’d be interested in ‘racing’ the last mile or so.

Easy way to loose a wheel sucker, whack brakes on, skip rear wheel out sideways, watch knob flip over bars and land by your side head first in road, carry on as if nothing has happened….

Or strategically avoid large pot holes at the last minute with no signal.

People who say these sorts of things are unlikely to be fast enough to drop someone on their wheel and feel angry that they can’t. Either wind it up to hurt them or let them sit there. Don’t try to make them crash because you are too fat to drop them.

why?Asides from the simple fact that you BOTH go faster together.Obv there’s more advantage drafting than being drafted.Asides from that,what’s wrong with being a bit generous?
Once in a while,just to see what happens.
I remember drafting an old lady on a shopping bike,just to get home.I’d been on the road bike for 11h though.Rested a bit,felt better,went on.
Regarding ‘roadie’,as darwin says,no classification based on a single characteristic ever works.

I think being a tosser is a sign of a fragile ego.
false courage for weak men.

the point is (for me) that if i drag you along into the wind for however long, while making it easier for you (agreed yes?) then you knock it down a gear and **** off into the sunset instead of taking a sensible turn in return, then you are a bit of a bell.

I agree the bloke is a knob but what harm does it do to you if he doesn’t take a turn? Club rides where people don’t do their bit, sure but what’s the point in getting angry?

Don’t understand the post, but here is my way:

anyone I see on a bike I’ll say hi to, give or take 😉

anyone I catchup with, depending on their pace I’ll have chat with them before saying ciao, unless they want to do a bit of through and off.

Half wheeling is the worst thing though, caught a guy at some lights the other day, he was on a Cervelo so you can already imagine what he’s like (think Audi driver), he didn’t remove his headphones so couldn’t hear me when I started talking, he then just rode along side me pushing harder and harder with the speed getting higher and higher…clearly a fool

I remember drafting an old lady on a shopping bike,just to get home…Rested a bit,felt better,went on

I remember her post on here afterwards. She wasn’t happy.

People who say these sorts of things are unlikely to be fast enough to drop someone on their wheel and feel angry that they can’t. Either wind it up to hurt them or let them sit there. Don’t try to make them crash because you are too fat to drop them.

indeed. the thought of being knocked off road bikes just aint that funny to me.

i’m with atlaz on this bit. if you can’t drop em, suck it up.

Half wheeling is the worst thing though

+1

I was out with a couple of friends last night on a high paces through and off up through the bottom of a valley where I live. As we turned back home there’s a climb of about a mile with an average of about 10%.

As I’d pushed hard through the valley I decided to sit at the back up the hill. Unfortunately my awesomeness got the better of me and I had to test my legs about 3/4 of the way up. I thought they were going to kick with me but I guess I was to awesome for them and I dropped them.

I did wait for them at the top and apologised when they caught me. 😉 We all rode happily home together. 😀

I always say a hello when I pass folk. There’s nothing worse than passing folk who all of a sudden change their pace just because theyve beeb passed. I don’t know you and I don’t want to race you thanks very much.

Yeah, but did you KOM on that segment, if not why bother 😉

Bloody hell,im full of dilemmas now.
To be on the safe side I offer my humble apologies to each and everyone of you as well as taking a different route in tomorrow.

I would too, take the short route past the Girls sckool…

I will race you on my foldie if that makes you feel any better.. I’ll need to get in my lycra first though, so you may have a head start.

he’ll not remember you,he’ll remember the bike,change that.

Wheel-sucking without any chat before hand is just a bit lame imo.. nowt wrong with it really, but as soon as someone latches on I think a bit less of them ) solo riders should ride solo and face the wind? Or if someone’s a similar pace, either overtake and make it decisive, use it as a pace-motivator if you can carry it off, or chat and work together for a bit.

Beware of inviting others into your paceline on a windy day tho. We (5 of us) picked up an older (60s I reckon) rider heading ‘steadily’ into a sod of a headwind in France last summer. He joined at the back and sat in until his turn came – and then proceeded to smash us to bits ) a rest before your turn became ‘hold on behind the old guy at a painfully-high pace and then do a few mins on the front until you die’. We were fading from some long days and felt pretty chuffed with what we’d ridden, but even with fresh legs he would’ve dropped us. He turned off with a friendly wave about an hour later and our av speed pretty much halved.

Lesson – Never underestimate a grey-haired old-school roadie wearing a VC Menton top when heading onto his home patch. Especially once he knows he’s got 5 Rosbifs trailing in his wake )

I once had a guy on a TT bike draft me for a couple of miles

Eventually 🙄 he went past really quite fast so I sped up to get his wheel. Within about 5 seconds he braked to a stop (me nearly hitting him) and said “this is where I live”

Presumably he just wanted to beat me to some imaginary line, having drafted for 5 minutes rest (was before strava, so not that)

silly bastard – reminds me; keep meaning to go over there and torch his house

jameso – Guy I know here at the same issue. Saw he had some people behind him gave them a little while then waved them through to take a turn. It was only as each one came level with him that he realised he’d got both the Schleck brothers. He struggled along behind them for 10 mins and then gave up and turned off when he realised they were just spinning along chatting and he was going quite hard to keep up.