[Closed] Commuting nemesis

I was going to comment that this has been done a few times but this

Excellent calf definition.

Steve, one day you'll be mine!

made me laugh. I approve of this unrequited homo-erotic love story.

while pumping up and down behind him for a period of time, staring at his butt tocks.

There's only one hill on my commute and I bury myself on it every time to stave of the tedium of commuting. Never been caught on it but passed plenty. My name is Steve.
However my calves look like string beans that would be rejected by Tescos for being too odd looking.

there's one guy on Bury New Road who I have nicknamed 'Tony Martin' cos he looks vaguely like him and he's fast (pretty sure he's a racer/tester or club rider because he's got proper style on the bike, upper body doesn't move, smooth high cadence)

probably 5kilos lighter and a decade younger than me, when he's on his fixed gear and I am also I can stay in contact but only just, when he's on his geared bike it's ultimately futile

been done a few times

Did have a scan for past posts, sorry for the repetition chaps.

I did think twice about commenting on his calf's but man, credit where credit's due, you could great cheese on those bad boys.

Hmmm, i think i should stop now.

No no, please go on.....

😳

Mine was called Pablo, again this may not be his real name. He was the only person that I used to see consistently and who I could never keep up with let alone overtake. He was about 6'8" on a spotless road bike and dressed in matching team kit. He was like some sort of euro cycling advert made human. Women wanted him and men wanted to be him.

Mine used to be Al Fairburn, I know of him as a friend of a friend, so I knew he's a bit of a beast.

I regularly got overtaken by him on an MTB, even on a long decent flat section of road you could clip along at 40kph, even then he still went past me, like a steam train on an MTB. Depressing.

pretty much everyone on my commute is faster and stronger than i am.

especially the **** on a (really nice) E-bike.

NCN627, Sheffield to Rotherham (or, vice versa from his point of view)

Only occasionally get overtaken uphill by a guy who has a e-bike rear wheel in a full sus mtb...so don't feel so bad. My commuting nemeses are generally cars.

My name is not Steve or Pablo, nor do I have any of their intimidating or fast qualities, my commuter bike is very practical with flat bars, puncture-proof tyres and is made of steel - BUT even so, I have a problem with snagging MAMILs on new, carbon-fibre bikes on my way home of an evening.

I've lost count of the number of times an example of this cycling species buries themselves to re-overtake me when I accidentally catch them on my way home. They won't chat, return a 'hello' or even make eye-contact. Can I get anti-MAMIL spray or something?

Though it is perverse fun if I've had a bad day at work - when they re-overtake to sit on their wheel until they eventually pop. Heh.

When I was riding in by bike regularly it was a bloke called Andy...

.......Andy Wilkinson -> [url= http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/andy-wilkinsons-dolan-time-trial-bike-29431 ]24hr record holders do it all bike[/url]

Still get passed by him even in the car!

Mr Il Balears (was written on his shorts, not sure of correct spelling) older than me on an old bike, clips and straps, old style saddle bag, usually just in shorts and jersey whatever the weather and really really quick. I very rarely road commute nowadays but did see him recently, my switch to cx bike and knobbly tyres hasn't exactly improved my chances to keep up with him.

When I am on the road it's normally cos I'm resting so don't really get into "commuter racing" anymore. Do chase a few down offroad but it's not really the same.

Though it is perverse fun if I've had a bad day at work - when they re-overtake to sit on their wheel until they eventually pop. Heh

[url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/anyone-in-the-surrey-hills-area-recognise-this-chap ]Hello dave :)[/url]

[i]When I am on the road it's normally cos I'm resting [/i]

[img] [/img]

Not found any regulars yet on my commute but I do enjoy spotting a target and reeling them in for an overtake, mostly as I am on a 24" bmx and they're on real adult bikes, I do like the challenge, though some are no challenge at all. The ones who take offence and proceed to try and beast back past me get a lovely "hello" or "morning" in the girliest voice I can muster to make them feel all strong and masculine again. 😉

This is probably what annoys me so much about my Ti commuter - the extra drag of the IGH, dynamo and belt means I have to work much harder to keep up with folk on normal road bikes who I would ordinarily be faster than.

I really should relax a bit and not treat every ride as a race 😀

Cheers, Rich

Steve here!

STTEEEVVVEEE!!!!

I may have a slight man crush on your calves. Dinner and a movie?

My 14 mile commute is mostly narrow, hilly, (and dark for the next 3 months) country lanes and I rarely see another car let alone a cyclist, some company, however brief would make a nice change once in a while. 😕

There's a guy who I see regularly riding home from work who attempts to trackstand at every red light and normally ends up halfway across the junction before it goes green. Fair play to him for trying, but he's been trying for about 3 years and not got any better so maybe it's time to move on...

Oh and there's the bloke who commutes in a full face, body armour over lycra on a hybrid. Haven't seen the guy on the unicycle in a while though.

Well, if you're paying... 😉

Orbea man. I used to be able to keep up with him over the FRB on the way home but once into the hill at Inverkeitheing I was just dust.

On one occasion we met on the morning run. It was blowing a gale and the FRB was "closed" to cyclists and I had turned back to get the train across when I met him. So we spoke, for the first time. "Are you going over then?" "Yes" "ok mind if I come with you?" "Yeah, sure." He then left me for dust.

His calves were nothing to write home about.

Ryan.
I know that's his name as I Strava stalked him.
Need to rekindle that race soon.

The ubercommuter though moved jobs so I don't pass him now but 1940s military bike 30 miles a day in all weather or his Ebike wheel in a Raleigh Mistang for 35 miles a day when they shut the railway crossing. Only once he's done me sat bolt upright laughing his socks off on full electric and I almost held his wheel to the top of the hill.

Was on my 17lbs Litespeed T3 doing a steep climb and was overtaken by a chap in his 50s commuting on a fixie. To be fair I was carrying a bag full of Sainsburys. Next time.

Oh and there's the bloke who commutes in a full face, body armour over lycra on a hybrid.

Along Victoria Embankment?

I've seen him...

There's loads of those in London.

Back in the day we sold what was then a state of the art DH bike (Cannondale DH SV4000 IIRC) to a guy for commuting (At his insistence I'll add), complete with huge gel saddle, slicks, crud guards, frame pump and saddle bag. He also bought a full face. Not sure about lycra though.

I just argue with myself over and over again, I need a nemesis that isn't myself.

Dibbs - Member

My 14 mile commute is mostly narrow, hilly, (and dark for the next 3 months) country lanes and I rarely see another car let alone a cyclist, some company, however brief would make a nice change once in a while.

This sums up my commute exactly. The other day I found myself wondering why there was so much traffic about, when the fourth car in 10 miles passed me on the way home.

I've got a really short commute so I'm everyone else's enemy- I'm that dude that charges up the big hill with fresh legs and makes you feel slow, then I turn off and the junction and you never get to see that my house is right there at the top.

I can't name him, but he does have a south American look to him (i.e. tans well, dark hair etc).

He lives near me in Longstanton, rides a selection of bikes, but most often his Specialised single speed. Always in full conti team kit, rides in towards Cambridge. Must be 20kg lighter than me, clearly fitter than me, but for some reason I think I should be able to stick with him on my commuter. I can't, I never can, I've tried and tried, now I just let him pass with a sense of resignation 🙁

It's Mondays and Thursdays I get pasted on my commute, which roughly translates to the day after a ride and my legs are spent.
I caught a colleague the first day he came on his Pinarello and held back enough to catch my breath on my singlespeed and then murdered past with a cheery morning!
I only use Strava for my flat commute to and from the seaside when there is an enormous tailwind just to up set the roadies at work.
But there is an oldish, short, slight chap on Giant Defy that has the most ridiculously high cadence that creams me. He has calves like a butcher's shop window.

I used to do a hilly commute through Bristol. The number of guys who would pull in front of me at traffic lights 'to make sure they are in front of the girl with the panniers' before we set off up the hill was hilarious - but I'd often get stuck behind them without space to overtake on the main road. They'd always be surprised to see me still stuck to their back wheel at the top of the hill 😆

I'm not faster than anyone, and the older I get the more I really am just trying to get to work.

But I do have one apparently rare skill, I can clip in *while turning the pedals*. I always get folk on highly expensive bikes pulling in front of me at lights, and then setting off and trying to clip like they've lost all feeling in their legs.

Theres alot of commuters that competitively pass me n boy when we walk back ftom his school. Sometimes you can see somethings 'on' as they approach so I'll shout 'go on! Drop him'! Like Im at a race heckling

I used to be a Steve but I've changed jobs so my commute has shortened. I now wear my work clothes so have to resist going too fast for fear of sweating.

I still occasionally bring out my inner Steve when someone presumptuously moves in front of me at the lights.

'flybywire' of this parish goes the same way as me and is definitely quicker, nice to draft him once he goes past though...

Best value going the other way (back towards reading) is Tuesday nights during summer when the triathletes are heading to training at the lake near pingewood, they only push silly gears (not very fast though), with a rucksack full of wetsuit and will race if you let them pass you then repass them, preferably on a hill, it's quite funny, as I'm going to be home in half an hour, while they're going to be knackered in the water, and then have to cycle 15 miles home... Ahhh, red mist...

OP - the way you describe your bromance makes it sounds like 'Brokeback Mountain Bikes"