When I overtake a fellow cyclist I often wonder what they are thinking. Are they thinking “What a jerk showing off?” or “I want to go that fast”.
After averaging some pretty ludicrous distances while researching the London Cycle Routes eBook I have definitely become a much faster cyclist. I typically cycle a couple of gears higher than I use to. It also takes a much tougher hill to slow me down. This, as you can imagine, is a great side benefit of the number of miles I’ve covered on pedal power. You might have noticed similar results after a few weeks of heavy cycling.
So, inevitably I find myself needing to do a lot of overtaking of fellow cyclists. But a small part of me thinks overtaking is a little rude. Perhaps I should hang back and just take it easy. After all I’m not trying to prove anything and I don’t want to make a fellow cyclist feel bad. However, this doesn’t help the situation as I like going fast. In fact I struggle to maintain a slow speed more than I do a normal speed.
This conundrum hit me hard last week when I was cycling back home from Camden. As it’s a short ride I was enjoying giving it some speed. At some point I came across a couple of fellow cyclists. The first was a must overtake as I can’t even cycle that slow. The second however was doing a decent enough speed. So I was stuck in limbo while the two voices in my head battled it out for what to do. (Does voices in my head make me sound crazy? Probably.)
On the other side, when it is me being overtaken I see it as a challenge. I find myself wanting to race up to that person and overtake them again.
What do you think? If you frequently overtake other cyclists do you ever wonder what they are thinking? Or if you enjoy going at a slow speed what do you think when someone overtakes you?
Overall I should probably start focusing more on life’s real problems rather than these silly thoughts!!
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I make a point of giving a clear, deliberate look over my shoulder when overtaking, hopefully giving the person being overtaken a idea that i’m fully aware of them and giving them room when I pull back in.
Think I’m aiming to show them that am not taking the mick and generally being considerate.
Overtaking is OK as long as its done safely. But, I hate being overtaken at the lights by a newbie having cut me off, only to have to pass them cause they cycle uber slow.
No problem with overtaking really. It is just the ebb and flow of the road. Like everyone pointed out above it has to be done safely – look over the shoulder, give plenty of space etc. and (my bugbear) not pulling in really tight in front.
I am a pretty average cyclist, I am overtaken as much as I over take. There are two things that drive me nuts though…
Cat and mouse, you know what I mean, the cyclist who jumps a red overtaking you and is so slow you have to get past them 15 seconds later only for them do to the same at the next set of lights. It is infuriating! Like a lot of cyclists I maintain a fairly good clip and on busy roads it can be difficult to pass safely. Cycling slowly is so much more painful than cycling fast.
Thing the second is undertaking. Particularly at junctions. I generally keep some distance between myself and the curb so that cars can’t pass to close, they notice I am there and I have some wiggle room when they inevitably do. Finding another cyclist in this space is more than a little annoying.
So the moral of this tale is… overtake whenever you need to… do it safely… don’t do it in a way which will piss off your fellow cyclist.
Re: Cat and Mouse – I hate this too so much!!! In fact I got so fed up of being constantly passed by the same cyclist at a set of around 5 red lights (I waited at every one, he ran all of them, and I overtook him again EVERY time…) that as we got to a long clear section, I overtook him for the last time, looked calmly over to him and said “You see, if you just learned to cycle faster, you wouldn’t have to keep going through all those red lights” and sped off (legally and safely!) into the distance. Not sure whether he was more surprised at someone saying it at all, or that it was a woman…
So true….
THANK YOU, YOU SAVED ME WRITING MY STORY!
Every rider has different limitations and a different level of fitness, confidence and experience. Cyclists normally pass a red to get a head-start on the motorised traffic not other cyclists. Unless somebody is riding selfishly or putting me in danger I can’t see what there is to get stressed about.
I have no problem being overtaken, although I do have a pang of “oh I hope he doesn’t think I’m racing him” if I overtake him (or her).
I have a question regarding cyclepaths: is there any etiquette for giving way to someone on a car-free cycle path, say when overtaking another bike or a pedestrian, or if the path gets narrow? Like in a car, if you have to overtake, do you give way to someone coming the other way, or if you are going downhill and the road is narrow, do you give way to the one coming up the hill? Or are you the aggressive “get outta my way Mrs Snail, let the dog see the rabbit” type?
I’ll always overtake if it safe to do so, and give a nod, and a how you doing as I pass. Don’t mind being over taken but will always try and chase them down, I find it’s good interval training chasing down faster riders.
Blimey. My thought processes are somewhat different when approaching another cyclist from behind. They can be summarised as follows:
If the other cyclist is male:
EITHER – “I wonder if he thinks I’m drafting him so I get a nice easy ride?”
OR – “How long can I stay here wheel-sucking before he notices?”
If the other cyclist is female:
EITHER – “I wonder if she thinks I’m staring at her bottom.”
OR – “How long I can cycle this slowly while admiring her rear before she notices?”
Please tell me it’s not just me who thinks like this.
haha excellent comment. Thanks Mark. Unfortunately I can’t agree that I share your style of thinking!
Ha! Love it…. yes I think exactly the same things… usually both of them at once!
It’s not just you mate
I hussle.
I go slow, then when someone overtakes, I explode and fly into the distance. It makes them feel bad, and that evil steak in me gets satiated (until next time).
I love when small groups of cyclists clump together. When they are going fast enough already, join on the back, keep up to the pace and hope someone else tags on the back of you! I feel slightly safer when cycling in a line with other people and I think it looks cool whenever I’m walking down the road and see loads of cyclists all come past together. Also maybe helps cycling awareness? Maybe!
Yeah! I like that too!
I usually overtake if I feel like I can maintain that speed and not get in the way myself! Although I did have a fun incident on the Mall on my morning commute where I decided to overtake a guy, and as I pulled up next to him he said “come on then, lets race” which we did and he won…just (I consoled myself by rationalising his bike was better and Im female..) but it was refreshing to see the playful side of human nature on the way to work!
I like that story! He sounds fun…
To the guy who I overtook down the A5 this morning in Edgeware at about 6:15am, who then raced me all the way to Brent Cross…
THANKS — I got a new personal best by a whole 2 minutes… loved the race.
I always have an urge to overtake cyclist who are faster, older or have expensive bikes.
Nobody goes past me. Well that’s not technically true – a strong rider had me on the downhill in Richmond park yesterday but I caught him on the hill and nailed him to the wall while he was running out of gas. Like I said, nobody! I’m not a commuter though so my angle is a little scewed here.
The important thing about overtaking is you have to make it seem likes its no effert. This is especially the case when overtaking an older rider! You can puff and pant and grind the gears all you like when catching up but while overtaking you need to whistle nonchalantly as if its no effert at all.
On a serious note, I’ve had a number of idiots racing me to work which is annoying because city centres are dangerous enough without some prat overtaking you when you’re trying to change lanes!
The problem I have is the last 8 or so miles of my training ride passes a school and depending on what time I set out, I usually end up battling with a number of school children on their bikes pedalling to get home. It doesn’t bother me where I am relative to them on the road/pavement, but I do always wonder what’s going through their heads when they see me on my road bike, dressed up from top to toe in my racing attire – here I am, barely able to make it up the hill from cycling a 60 miler and next to me, a 14 year old, just fresh out from school, full of energy, overtaking me on his chunky-wheeled, heavy-framed mountain bike, bobbing up and down and side to side, glancing over every second to see how far ahead of me he’s gotten. I usually just pace it, then nail it when I hit a flat spot.
Mucho’ satisfaction!
Cars do it all the time, so what’s the problem.
A late comment….I was knocked off by someone overtaking badly – just through the lights, narrow road, lots of potholes, lots of commuting cyclists & cars….I cracked a rib…he just said…oh sorry mate, did I cut you up…and cycled on his merry way. Having said that, I like overtaking – as long as it’s safe.