Cycling UK Forum

gbnz wrote:What's the most courteous way to overtake roadies?

...my 8.5 Hr's flat out in the pool,

No idea what that means. Some cryptic boasting that's too subtle for me.

gbnz wrote:

Spinners wrote:

gbnz wrote:
True, but there is a certain irony about the situation

Explain please.

We're all of different abilities. I'm really unfit at the moment but I went for a 50km ride last week and overtook 'roadie' cyclists and was overtaken by 'roadie' cyclists. I really don't see any point to your post other than bragging

There's always a certain IRONY in dealing with individuals who believe that by BUYING all the gear, they've MADE IT.

Whether it's at the gym alongside the pot bellied young men, with their protein shakes and special app's on how to lift weights - while the 78 year old bloke alongside is lifting twice their weight, or playing alongside incompetent musicans who struggle to complete the scale on a multi thousand pound musical instrument, while the young kid alongside demonstrates an astonhishing ability, on a knackered, old, borrowed instrument.

Full respect to the elderly woman who's cycled into town over the last ten years on a cheap bike, regardless of weather, or the local kid who's doing a 4 mile round trip to school every day on his bike. Difficult to identity with cyclists who've bought all the high speed gear, but neglected basics such as how to ride it at speed

Nothing wrong with people buy expensive stuff if it puts a smile on their faces. {FFE - family-friendly edit }.

I overtook a group of roadies today carrying two sacks of cement having just got back from a 1200km audax on my lead-framed six speed. I was going at least three times as fast, while humming Colonel Bogey's March

Did I mention I only have one leg?

Does anyone want to be LA now, or are you a bit out of touch with cycl€$port?
He has been persona non grata for a while

thelawnet wrote:I overtook a group of roadies today carrying two sacks of cement having just got back from a 1200km audax on my lead-framed six speed. I was going at least three times as fast, while humming Colonel Bogey's March

Did I mention I only have one leg?

I think I saw you, we'd just run up Everest and swam the channel on the way home...

I overtook some roadies so fast yesterday that I made time go backwards like superman,which was nice.

I don't pedal - the flapjack in my saddlebag is so dense, I just bend spacetime around it... (Am I doing this right?)

I mean, to a certain kind of driver we're all 'bloody cyclists', but I think there is a particular culture - more common in some clubs than others - that is quite insular; the kind of stuff that 'The Rules' celebrate or satirise, depending on your viewpoint. The unsmiling roadie is a caricature, but there is a grain of truth in there, at least in the responses I get to a nod and a wave on the roads round these parts. And if you're putting in the effort to be a competitive cyclist that's one thing, but, any with any other area of endeavour, if you've got the attitude without the achievement then you're setting yourself up for ridicule. Still, at the end of the day anyone out and about under pedal power is fine by me.

To answer the OP's question, the best way to pass is with a cheery 'morning'/'afternoon'/'evening'/'lovely day for it' as appropriate; if you have a bag of liquorice allsorts on you it is canonical to offer one as you pass...

Blast past them with the ‘Hornit’ on 140dBs.

Erm, if you're overtaking "roadies" doesn't that make you one as well?

thelawnet wrote:I overtook a group of roadies today carrying two sacks of cement having just got back from a 1200km audax on my lead-framed six speed. I was going at least three times as fast, while humming Colonel Bogey's March

Did I mention I only have one leg?

Yeah but I bet they were these modern 25kg sacks not the traditional 50kg.

gbnz wrote:What's the most courteous way to overtake roadies?

It's become apparent that the wannbe Lance Armstrongs et al are back on the road, now that springs arrived; the number I've overtaken in the past couple of weeks is quite incredible.

Nah - if that was the case and you passed them what on earth are you on? Any self-respecting wannabe Armstrong will be on some pretty powerful performance enhancing stuff

tatanab wrote:Of course you don't know if they are just finishing a hilly 100 mile training ride. Back in the early 1970s I was passed by a youth on a Raleigh Chopper - I was on the finishing circuit of a 12 hour time trial and feeling pretty grim.

I started racing at the end of 1977. I rode a 10 and a 25, and then ran out of season. My parents bought me some second-hand racing wheels, and there I was, keen as mustard but knowing nothing, with the Manchester Christmas 25 the only chance to try them out. I blew at 2/3 distance. The Cheshire Roads Club pottered past and offered to tow me to the finish, but I couldn't hold their very slow pace. Then three kids out playing came past on three speeds My club revived me at the finish. Later they told me that they never expected to see me again

But my favourite story was of the useful rider who was seen committing some minor offence by a bobby on a bicycle. Our rider thought, "Well, if I don't stop, he's not exactly going to catch me!" Sadly, the bobby was also a 1st cat

Okay, time to come clean, i'm a roadie and have been for, er, several years. Of course back in the mists of time you were either a roadie or tester, as I did both I think I was a roaster or was it a tedie? We didn't have lycra and The RULES were unwritten - there's progress for you!

OTOH, the bike and kit I ride/use this time of year tends to look a bit more utilitarian which doesn't stop me passing all manner of riders or for that matter, being passed by younger, fitter riders. Some times my mudguard and pannier laden bike upsets them and they quickly turn off after i've passed, I always give a greeting of course.

It's actually MTB riders that seem to get most upset when I emerge from a trail, on a 'road' bike with 23c tyres, that they seem to think you need full sus and 4" tyres to ride. Puzzling, guess they read the magazines.

I ride a lot and offer a nod or wave of greeting to all and sundry, its usually old curmudgeon, yes, with beards, that ignore my cheery greeting. I certainly don't treat 'roadies' any differently, well it wouldn't be PC to pick on a minority group would it?

mjr wrote:

tatanab wrote:I find it odd that the modern term "roady" is used in such a derisory manner on this forum. This has been used several time in the last few weeks but there is no comparable comment about any other type of machine or rider.

You've missed the recent posts criticising riders of Dutch bikes, three speeds and e bikes, then!

If you actually recall, the only criticism re Dutch bikes were that were considerably heavier than other bikes that were put forward in the discussion, not as flexible in use but that's factual not criticism and they weren't the 'perfect' every day bike in some people's opinion. So at least let's be accurate about what discussions went on previously shall we?

I find it odd that the modern term "roady" is used in such a derisory manner on this forum. This has been used several time in the last few weeks but there is no comparable comment about any other type of machine or rider.

How about 'Loady' for tourist/bikepacker.

I consider myself a Loady since there's usually a rackbag on the back.