Cycling UK Forum

It seems to happen every time I ride somewhere with hills these days.

There I am, happily twiddling up a hill and someone goes past me.

I've no problem with this...if someone is faster than me and wants to pass me then disappear off into the distance leaving me in their wake then fair-play to them.

No, it's not them that I'm talking about. It's the ones that seem to make superhuman efforts to go past me, then, before they reach the top of the hill, they appear to blow and I find that without any extra effort I reel them in pretty quick. Then I'm faced with either passing them and looking like I'm being competitive (and having them try to go past me once they've recovered over the top of the hill), or sitting on their wheel, slowing down and then letting them go on the other side. On occasion I've just pulled along side and started to try to chat with them but normally just get some wheezing back in return.

Dunno what it is that makes them want to expend all this energy that they don't have? Perhaps it's the sight of a middle aged bloke on a touring bike with guards and racks and luggage and an upright position that they can't take as they are on their super light carbon uber-racers (oh yeah, I also get a spraying of mud when they pull back in in front of me)? Perhaps some people just lead such competitive lives that they can't help but continue that way when on a bike?

All seems a bit odd.

Catch them up, pull alongside and start a conversation with them (about something trivial like the weather). Its cruel but satisfying to chat with someone when theyre red in the face and gasping on a hill

There has to be a certain etiquette to overtaking on a hill - must be done silently and efficiently as possible without getting out of you seat and thrashing your bike from side to side and with a cheery good morning / afternoon and with a word of encouragement. One must not appear to be like a fast track bully in the hill overtaking situations.

I particularly used to like tucking in behind a certain type of mountain biker who passed me on the road; they generally provide quite a lot of protection although the lack of mudguards is an issue in rain. The best bit was always when they glance round to see how far back you are down the road and you are about 1/2" off their wheel.

Unfortunately, it's a bit like the seven ages of man; no matter how fast a rider can climb at their peak, there comes a time for most when things get slower and slower. Most but not all of us. I did read an obituary in the CTC mag a few years ago - I think it was for the Iron Man, Dave Bedwell. On a club run at the age of eighty he had dropped everybody with a big uphill spurt. When the rest struggled to the top they found his body. I think the word is "Respect."

I can't follow that, TC.
My tales are tame.

I too have experienced catching someone up on a hill. Only a couple of days ago, climbing out of the valley - long difficult hill - I spied a cyclist ahead. I'd no idea whether he'd come right out of the valley like me, or started half way up, but I suspected he'd come all the way as I know all the neighbours.

He was 200yds ahead, and I counted the seconds between him and me at a lamp post - 75secs. Further up - 55secs, and still further 35secs.

At the top, the road levels out (a bit) and I continued to overhaul him. I wasn't being competitive or anxious to catch him, I just took my time and was interested in our comparative performance. At the top, he pulled over onto the pavement! I passed him easily and said "You'd be better off on the road, you know!" he just smiled and nodded.

Basically, he was doing well further down the hill, but ran out of puff near the top.

Amateurs!

I show them some empathy.

Comments like "It's quite a long hard climb, this one" or "It goes on forever, this hill doesnt it."

Anyone can misjudge how much energy they have in reserve.
They must have been going faster than you at some point, to get you in their sights.

I had a fast racer overtake me in Shrewsbury, I was sitting with the traffic and he took a pavement option. I spent 3 miles behind him the gap sometimes growing sometimes shrinking, then to my surprise I was catching him (I had already done 85 miles that day with luggage).
It was only when I was on his tail that I realised why. He was fiding fixed. I rode with him a while and then he had to speed up to take the hill while I settled back to a nice 24" gear.

Tight sods.

They might have just been doing some efforts and are having a rest at the top, probably been up and down the hill hundreds of times before you got there!

A weird experience is going up a hill and being overtaken by someone on an electric bicycle, sat bolt upright, making hardly any effort at all.

patricktaylor wrote:A weird experience is going up a hill and being overtaken by someone on an electric bike, sat bolt upright, making hardly any effort at all.

I nearly passed out with the effort of overtaking a ladee on an electric bike once. I'd cycled 15 miles to take place in a half marathon, run the race and was cycling back when I came across her. Not willing to be beaten I gave it my all and felt decidedly unwell by the time I got home.

Si wrote:Perhaps it's the sight of a middle aged bloke on a touring bike with guards and racks and luggage and an upright position that they can't take as they are on their super light carbon uber-racers

I've noticed a lot lately (like every weekday) that a male cyclist will overtake me and a bit ahead slow down again so that we keep pace. I think they find it hard to accept the fact that they were going the same speed as a woman who could do with being a bit lighter on a folding bike with a pannier and hi-viz waistcoat.

I get similar reactions when I overtake other cars in the micra - if it's being driven by a middle aged man I would lay good money on them suddenly speeding up.

If a man stayed behind you, would you start to wonder what he was watching? If he pulled alongside and cycled with you, would you wonder what he was after?

I am never sure what the correct protocol is, normally I just shoot past with a friendly hello.

meic wrote:If a man stayed behind you, would you start to wonder what he was watching? .

not if he were a cyclist - he would probably wondering what kind of tyres I have or is that seatpost so wide because it contains a pump.

As a recumbent trikist on one on the naked bike rides last year, the rear from behind and a foot below some people is a bit scary!

I did quite a big ride six or seven years ago, a big sweep around the Dales, perhaps 120m +, all hilly. I decided to come back into Leeds up Otley Chevin which is a fair climb. Near the top there is some false flat with a country park on the left. As I approached, a family on bikes rode out of the park. Dad had a fag hanging from his mouth and mum was so fat the entire saddle was out of sight. One of them, probably dad, had a child astride the rack. Fat tyres, under-inflated, all the rest of it. They left me for dead and I certainly hadn't put in any sort of acceleration.

More recently, with the angina, I was riding up Storr's Hill, signed 16% and IMO a lot steeper than that on the inside of the bend, with my load of meat from the farm shop. There were two young women strolling up not far from the bottom when I started the climb. When I reached the top after several minutes of labouring in 22 x 25 (24") I had just caught them.

Wildduck wrote:As a recumbent trikist on one on the naked bike rides last year, the rear from behind and a foot below some people is a bit scary!

and thank you for sharing that with us