martinus

Sooo ...
Going over to my lady friends place, on my 20 yo. 25 lbs. bike . Dressed in casual summer "gear". ( sunglasses, t-shirt, short sleeved buton-down, cargo shorts, vans, I-pod in ONE ear, etc. ) ... taking the bike path, since there is'nt a lot of traffic in the AM ... doing about 18-9 mph. The limit is 15, so I'm forcing myself to go *slow* .
Now, the trail is ~ 5 mi. away, after about 8 mi. I hear a bunch of gear/dry chain noise & a buch of huffing 'n puffing. I look back, sure enough. Some dude, is drafting me. I look again, its some dude my age in a full spandex "kit", helmet, clips, etc. Comical, ( picture how it looks ) but the way I was raised, I keep my opinions to myself. I ask - " How fast you want to go ? " Him - " this is good ." ... so that, goes on for a couple of miles.
I guess he got all rested up, so he starts to pass. ( slowly, must only be doing 20-ish ) When he gets next to me, I say - " How is it going ? Nice day for a bike ride. " ... He grumpled something under his breath, and tucked down and tried to "hammer" away. Still only going about 20. Whatever ... he gets about 50 yards, ahead, then he slows, to my pace.
After awhile we are coming up on some "traffic". An older couple, out o their beach crusiers ... Mr. Personality punches it up to 20 again, and screams " LEFT ! ". ( I could hear, from where I was. ) After a while I reach the couple, who are going 13 ( not bad at all .) I know, since the path is narrow , & they are next to one another. I slow to 13, and say - " Hi, can I squeeze by here? " Them - " Sure ! " & They scoot over ... I accel to ~ 18. After, I pass.
I notice, I'm also catching Mr. Personality. ( who slowed down again ... ) Sure enough, he slowed to 15. It's okay, tho. ( there are some more, older people up ahead ... ) My hero punches it up again to 20-ish, & passes ... Then, slows again . ( My mood, is changing from to . )
There are some semi-"curvey" turns ahead. ( my fav. part. actually...) I'm still going, a nice steady 18. Waiting for my hero to clear out. When, I get to the fun part. I crank it up a *little*, to about 25. On the other side, of the fun turns , guess who's going 10 after the turns... So, I slow to 18, & pass - " Passing on your left. " I keep going 18, and after a while , sure enough. I hear, huffing and puffing & then " LEFT ! " Now I'm on the right, he's passing on the left. ( Going about 19. ) The kicker is, now theres some on-comming traffic. They, already went from 2 abreast to single file .. & we're still, not gonna make it. My hero, is still trying to pass me ... ( My mood is now ) I slow, ( to 5 ! ) ... & My hero, cuts over to the right. ( last sec. ) ... I get a " Thanks. " & " Thank you " from them... I try to get back to my cruising speed, ( from 5 !!! ) but someone is in the way ... I'm sick of this -fest ... and I ride up, beside my hero ( going 16 ) & ask " So, is this some sort of trainig drill ? "( as sarcastic, as I can be. Tone vise. )
Him - " What ? "
Me - " why do you pass, going all *fast* 'n ****, then slow to 15 ? "
Him - He cranks it up to 20 ...
Me - " Are you serious ? " ( going from 16 up to 20 to match ... ) " I bet, you're doing 15 in 50 yards. "
He , takes it up to 22. ( I'm, right there with him. )
Me - " You might want to slow down, I hate to see you walking in 50 yards. " as I accel ( out of the saddle ) to 25 ...
Mim - " You're a bad ass ! "
Me - I just shift, and sprint away. When, I sat back down & looked at the speedo, I seen a 31. The rest of the time I kept it above 25, when I got to my GF's place. We def went to the pool first & then, shopping . Not the other way around, like she planed.

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d2create

Pretty funny.

I've never had an experience that bad, but I hate when someone passes me and then ends up slowing down to my pace just a few yards ahead. Why did you even bother?

TryingMyBest

The guy is trying. Leave me alone.

guadzilla

Maybe he is a beginner and using other people as a motivation to push himself? As far as I can tell, he wasnt being obnoxious or anything, just doing his own thing. So what's the big deal?

V.

BillyD

I'm sorry, that's just waaay too much to read.

Where's the summary?

mustang1

That was friggin' hilarious!

On another note, yeah I too hate when someone passes then slows down. Like wise, I also hate when I'm going slightly faster than a rider who is clearly stronger than me and then *he* speeds up to match me (and stays in front) then slows down, forcing me to either slow down to his pace, or get by again, only for him to speed up again. I dunno if the stronger-than-me rider just wants to exert his authority by staying in front, but sometimes, I'm either training at *my* pace or just trying to get to work.

mustang1

fixed

DrPete 

This is kind of like the R600DuraAce "I have to drop you because you look like lance" thread, only not as amusing.

con

You both were pretty childish.

Why could you not let him just ride his ride? Could it have been for the for the same reason he sped up every time he approached someone; you know, to show he, or you maybe, were superior? ……….Just something to consider.

Dantebfd

I wonder what % of these stories are true. I never have these kinds of encounters in any area of my life.

Edit: Maybe I am that guy and I am just now realizing it. :yikes:

con

There are far worse things to be in life than that guy

Wested

I'm not sure what's funnier, the guy in the story or the size of your ego.

coasting 

i hate fast people behind me refusing to pass. it forces me to put extra effort in.

kgabike

Number one, I just wanted to say I really enjoyed your story. Too bad for BillyD that he can only get tickets from the Short Attention Span Theater.

I'm guessing (just a guess) that maybe the rider speeded up to pass people to minimize the crossover time, not to impress anyone. The faster he got by, the less time for something to go wrong, after which he returned to his normal speed. Other than that, he did sound like he didn't have a whole lot of riding experience or had been reading message boards a little too closely (LEFT!). But him speeding up when you talked to him was just a dick move.

gv1256

haha pretty funny story, was a good early morning chuckle

MONGO!

"I won the Tour de Fred!"

DrPete 

Pretty much. Nice summary.

bikeride

Is this another one of those "I dropped a guy in spandex while I was wearing street clothes" thread?

rangerdavid

That's just too funny!! read it having my sunday morning coffee, and it made my day so far!!

thanks....

RD

Red Rider

This is why I don't ride on MUPs or so-called bike paths.

Between the posers and the clueless dog walkers, I can't enjoy the ride.

Funny story, though, that your efforts left him gasping.

DrPete 

^^ This is why I train alone for the most part and only race at actual races.

hendrick81

yes

chevy42083

Yup, thankfully in my area, I can ride my road bikes on the road.

DScott

Are these BF speeds or real life speeds?

MONGO!

Fredstimates.