But I think slowing down and giving a "friendly" nod to somebody that's struggling up a hill could be misinterpreted too. After all, people on mopeds don't slow down and give cyclists a nod.

 

When overtaking it may be best we just keep on going and be careful not to look like we're showing off. But I know, it's definitely a little awkward riding past a cyclist. I think this is because we just know they're going to be looking at the back of us with thoughts like "Ugh?" "What just happened?" "Where did he come from?"

 

Maybe when ebikes are more common then being overtaken by an ebike wont be such a shock.

 

 

I was thinking along the same lines today on a long and boring motorway journey. The key is this "cheating" thing.

To be called a cheat in this case means that someone thinks that you're probably engaged in competition with them and not disclosing that you have an unfair advantage - aka an electric motor.

Competitive Lycra man does not consider a car or motorbike to be in competition with him because they're members of a different "race" and can't compete. However the ebike may be seen as competitive because it looks like another bike. Being overtaken thus damages the fragile ego of lycra man and questions the riders physical prowess since his own road bike is obviously so much better and faster than an MTB with 26" wheels. fat tyres and a heap of other clutter.

Thus when the truth dawns, and he spots the battery or motor, you get accused of cheating rather than the idiotic twit realising it's not a competition!

The message for me is don't acknowledge the existance of lycra clad road bikers any more than you would a car or a motorbike - just overtake them on the hills if you can and ignore happy in the knowledge they may have mistaken you for a normal bike.

"That's cheating"

"Have you ever seen a pro cyclist who doesn't cheat?"

 

Thats a point. I heard that during the Tour de France half of the population of Columbia went on holiday.... .

Perhaps he'd been overdoing it......

 

Steroids are also notoriously bad for your temper control.

 

Whatever, I'm over it now. Next time (and I'm sure there will be one) I'll sail on by and just leave it go....or perhaps I might start wearing earplugs .

 

If I see him in summer, I reckon I could have have him on my hybrid.......that would be satisfying...

 

Phil

That takes far too long, after someone I pass says "That's cheating" I have about 1.5 seconds before I'm too far away to be heard. I think I'll just have to adopt the simple and easily understood rasberry.

 

Yes your probably right. A snappier one might be: ''Well if it is you ought to try it, you might like it''

I don't say anything to cyclists that I pass on my commute because some of them can take it the wrong way, especially if they are having a hard time climbing a hill or going in to the wind.

 

Recently I passed a younger bloke on a steep hill and when I got on the level he pulled alongside, sweating heavily and very much out of breath, but managed to ask me if my bike was electric. He asked a couple of other questions then eased off never to be seen again. He wasn't antagonistic at all but obviously wanted an explanation as to why a 61 year old had sailed past him on the hill.

I have re read this thread and now fink, giving some one a jolly up while passing can easily be misconstrued as taking the pi** .......So probably best avoided.

I wonder what the vote would be for the best put down for ''that's cheating.'' Perhaps we all ought to adopt the best one as a standard reply.

To their comment of ''TC'', mine would be something like: ''Explain why'', they would then say, ''Well it's got a battery and a motor'', to which I might say, ''a motor cycle has got an engine, would that be cheating''?

 

My reply is normally, "..at what?"

 

John

I find it very hard not to overtake lycra clad types on my Kalkhoff Agattu Impulse and have had a few " Cheating" accusations. They really can't stand it when a 64 yr old, 17 stone, bloke on a big upright framed bike,heavily laden with panniers,passes them uphill. Even better,I managed to pass 3 of them together the other week and one of them asked me to "slow down , you're making us look bad".

I am trying not to do it though, because they chase me down hill, and along the flat, and will invariably pass me due to my bikes low gearing.

My response to the cheating jibe, is " Not as much as on my 750cc Kawasaki" which gets a smile. Another response I use is " They can't touch you for it". Some have been friendly but passing most lycra clads, uphill, gets up their nose - I must really stop doing it!

I've tried to justify myself after receiving snide comments but as already mentioned, there's just not enough time.

Recently after being told "that's cheating" I've taken to responding with, And Loving it.

Its usually enough to rase a smile.

Strangely, I was really peed off by the cheating comment coming out of the blue from a horse rider, there normally quite pleasant & chatty

:DMy big smile yesterday was passing a moped. There is a flyover I can top at 20 then accelerate down . Was doing over 40 past a lass on a hair drier.

She passed me after the lights on a hill soon after though.

Yesterday as I rode up my first long hill (3.5 mile 650' climb on a narrow lane) on my way home from work I passed a cyclist on a road bike about halfway up the hill. I have only seen him once before (over a year ago). The route is one I use twice daily, at regular times, so I'm guessing he's unlikely to be a regular commuter - which may be lucky for him - read on......

As I came up to overtake him, I slowed down and gave him a friendly nod and greeting. At first it was responded to with a smile, but then as he realised I was on an ebike his mood changed. 'You're cheating' he yelled followed by a succession of comments such as 'w**ker, cheating, lousy ba**ard' and a few other riper ones I won't bother with here. I couldn't believe I was hearing it. I had the sudden urge to stop the bike and deck the miserable sod, but by an effort of supreme will power managed to just turn my back on him and cycle on. I reckon he was at least 20yrs younger than me, but ironically judging by his pace up the hill on his road bike, I could still have trounced him on my non-electric hybrid, so I think his bluster was a triumph of style over substance. Whatever, if I had passed him on my motorbike, or in a people carrier, Land Rover etc. it would not have drawn such an attack of verbal abuse. It was totally inexcusable. I have encountered this sort of thing before, but never so severe or in response to an attempt at being friendly and conciliatory.

What is up with these 'lycra snobs?' - some of the most offensive people on the planet. They do the environmental lobby the sort of favours Pol Pot, Stalin and Mao's wife did for communism.

All I can say is if he does it again, I'll do the time for my actions and smile all the way through it .

 

Phil

here's a strange strategy that works for me - look rough, when I look particularly rough (I mean half a beard boots and hangover rough with the desolate air of a recent divorcee) I don't get any abuse at all, whereas when I look chuffed and happy its quite the opposite

I had quite a bizzare and very negative response from two road riders last weekend.

I had been out getting muddy as usual, but when I stopped for a cafe stop, I happened to bump into my cousin who was out on his road bike.

I opted to cycle the ten miles back home with him on the road, and along the way came across two road riders, one of which was sitting on the ground.

I was out in front, and stopped to see if they needed help. They both blanked me, and asked my cousin what he was doing out with someone from the dark side, whatever that is supposed to mean!

They continued to ignore me, and explained that to my cousin that the rider on the ground had broken a cleat from his shoe.

My pedals are both flat and clipless, and knowing that I had a spare set of cleats at home, I offered to remove one of my cleats and let him have it. Quite incredibly, and without even bothering to look up, the guy who didn't have the broken cleat, said that they would tape it up somehow. They didn't even have the courtesy to say thank you for the offer.

At that point, I just thought f**k you, and set off on my way, with my cousin following up behind saying what a couple of miserable tw*ts that they were.

Edited January 31, 201511 yr by EddiePJ

That's a real shame.

I have to say my only negative responses have been from Lycra clad roadies though I'm not saying they are all like that.

I once cycled the last four miles home alongside a Lycra clad road rider who had stopped to see if I needed help though I was only adjusting my front brake. Such a nice guy that he got tea and cake from my wife to help him on his way.

 

Dave.

What a pair of idiots! You were a real gentleman to offer your own equipment despite their rudeness.

I had quite a bizzare and very negative response from two road riders last weekend.

I had been out getting muddy as usual, but when I stopped for a cafe stop, I happened to bump into my cousin who was out on his road bike.

I opted to cycle the ten miles back home with him on the road, and along the way came across two road riders, one of which was sitting on the ground.

I was out in front, and stopped to see if they needed help. They both blanked me, and asked my cousin what he was doing out with someone from the dark side, whatever that is supposed to mean!

They continued to ignore me, and explained that to my cousin that the rider on the ground had broken a cleat from his shoe.

My pedals are both flat and clipless, and knowing that I had a spare set of cleats at home, I offered to remove one of my cleats and let him have it. Quite incredibly, and without even bothering to look up, the guy who didn't have the broken cleat, said that they would tape it up somehow. They didn't even have the courtesy to say thank you for the offer.

At that point, I just thought f**k you, and set off on my way, with my cousin following up behind saying what a couple of miserable tw*ts that they were.

at risk of saying the obvious, I think they were taking their bad day out on you, I see a lot of that somehow in dear old blightey - sad middleclass, often middle-aged souls, seethingly frustrated by the way nothing seems to be going the way it goes in American sitcoms, blearily eyeing everyone as if they are indeed from the dark side

I've stopped thinking of lycra's as fello cyclists a long time ago, the best I can do is regard them as just more road users !

I don't even think there quite the same species anymore, still human but with the humanity removed

I used to get a lot of stick from two lycra boys on my commute but now when then say "thats cheating" I usually reply "It's cheaper than EPO" or just mention Lance Armstrong. That tends to shut them up a bit.

I've had a few roadie TC abusers over the last year of eBiking. It used to wind me up but I just ignore them now and whiz past. On a downhill stretch or even on the flat with wind assist they pass me so if you give them a serve in the first instance you might cop a return volley later.

 

Over time the roadies will get used to eBikes and contain their irrational resentment.

 

In my dreams however I pull alongside, produce a large wet herring out of the pannier and smack them in their ugly chops.

 

Edited February 1, 201511 yr by byebyepetrol

 

 

 

That's quite an interesting and light weight looking bike. Any chance of more details about it?

 

.

It's a British thing. Cycling is a sport, not a means of transport. It is a view promoted by govermments and various sporting bodies (CTC, Sport England etc) which is why we spend fortunes on velodromes and TdF starts and very little on segregate bike lanes.

There was an interesting piece in the Guardian on cycing in Seville. Spain has a similar problem to Britain, but it can be changed. But it does rquire a lot of political will.

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/series/cycling-the-city

 

There was an inteview with Lance Armstong on BBC News a couple of days ago (has he got another book out?). I have put myself forward for a interview in which I will confess to an addiction to Watts, reveal how I secretly `charged my battery' during a daily commute, and how I arrive at work without raising a sweat. My agent will open negotiations at £5000. and i will want a power socket in my dressing room, just in case i need `topping up'. We cheats can prosper.

Hi Eddie,

Here's my thread on this rig:

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=64837

 

I hasten to add endless sphere is an awkward forum to use compared to this one.

 

 

 

Chris.

It's a British thing. Cycling is a sport, not a means of transport. .

 

That's an interesting explanation. I think it sounds deranged of the people involved, that they'd think the road this space of universal serious competition whose rules one voluntarily accepts or violates by riding on it. OK so if I compare academe, people do feel competitive with one another, it's a big driver. But there's something appropriate about that for students or researchers and something inappropriate about the road of all places taking that role. Key in all this is seems that the people involved invest the core of their identity in that role, i.e. cycling in this big road race and 'winning'. That would partially explain the bizarre disrespect and rudeness.

 

But there's something else strange because these 'race rules' don't sound like ordinary social rules (hence the abuse for just sharing the road). They sound actually like antisocial, pretty perverse givings-vent of hostile instincts by the lycra types. And you couldn't do that in a community proper - so it's as though the road isn't a community but it's a space in between where it's somehow 'ok' to be uncivil, un-amiable, shitty, aggressive - you'd never get away with that in your own community. If physical communities still exist in this digital age, that is :-(

 

I just wish people would be ordinarily courteous and decent on the road, and it not be treated any different from any ordinary community which ought to be about getting on somehow. The three same problems exist for me as a driver: competitiveness, aggressiveness, unaccountability (all on the part of others, of course). However maybe there's something extra involved in the biking example: ebikers often have physical disabilities, so the aggression takes on an additional tinge of 'strong' being hostile to 'weak' about which something the latter can do nothing about. That's pretty vile - and difficult to explain, but somehow familiar. Oh dear anyway back to contemplating my wise monkey figurines.

Edited February 1, 201511 yr by jonathan75

it's as though the road isn't a community but it's a space in between where it's somehow 'ok' to be uncivil, un-amiable, shitty, aggressive - you'd never get away with that in your own community.

 

I've always thought this is the case Jonathan, and the language often used in relation to roads tends to emphasise it, such expressions as fighting for road space, strugging with traffic etc., and this can affect all road users. Road rage is a very well known way in which this shows, "fights" are conducted by aggressive people.

 

I've posted in here many times that one's attitude to the use of roads needs the right foundation, we shouldn't think of fighting for road space, we should think in terms of sharing it.

 

That basis recognises the equal rights of others and promotes courtesy.

.

Edited February 1, 201511 yr by flecc

Just finished a round trip of 15 miles on the Alien and have to say apart from two morons on drop bar racers who wished me dead,the majority of cyclists I met today were courteous,and one pulled along side me and commented that with the saddle bags i had on the rear carrier- it looked like a normal bicycle. One thing i've only just figured out,the pedelec function works better in a lower gear- if I stay in the second chain gear set and bottom cog,it feels like someone is pushing right in the small of my back !

On rare occasions I've suffered the odd bit of abuse from drivers but have never had a single adverse comment from a lycra. Quite the opposite in fact, a few have shown lots of interest in my e-bikes and asked questions about them. On one occasion when stopped looking at a view a lycra stopped to ask if I was ok or needed any help.

 

Perhaps one reason is that a number of pro riders use the North Downs where I live as a daily training ground, which it also officially became during the run up to a Tour de France which started from London. Their attitudes have always been ok, and with their presence I think the amateurs might perhaps tend to a bit subdued in attitude.

.

I've always thought this is the case Jonathan, and the language often used in relation to roads tends to emphasise it, such expressions as fighting for road space, strugging with traffic etc., and this can affect all road users. Road rage is a very well known way in which this shows, "fights" are conducted by aggressive people.

 

I saw the following on another forum recently, in which attitudes and opposite comparisons were being drawn between the typical British cyclist, to that of riders from across the other side our little stretch of water.

 

This made me smile.

 

Amsterdam.

 

http://i973.photobucket.com/albums/ae217/eddiejefferies/bike26_zps9d019940.jpg

 

London.

 

http://i973.photobucket.com/albums/ae217/eddiejefferies/CYCLISTSONLONDONSEMBANKMENT_zps4e5573e4.jpg