Men, aren't they funny...

[kermit]

and where I ride, if they pass on the hill, they say "hey baby good going"
"hey doll, you go", and any other series of expressions that show that THEY think they are admiring, but what they really think is that "women can't do this" that's why we need extra encouragement "go cutie" arrrg, it drives me up the wall, they don't say it to any men as they pass them...not even the one's who are struggling.

I don't get any of that, usually invited to jump in with the group. What is funny is next time you see that guy, he will be on a more expensive bike!

[papaver]

I don't get any of that, usually invited to jump in with the group. What is funny is next time you see that guy, he will be on a more expensive bike!

The younger guys always ask me to join them. That's how I met pro rider Gert Steegmans.

[Miranda]

If you passed him, you could have asked if he would like you to pull him a while? But, somehow I don't think that would go over too well...

I think if the guy (or woman for that matter) has some sorta complex, then the whole getting passed thing hurts their ego. I think that's one of the greatest things about being forty is that I don't care. If you can out ride me, out 'whatever' me, then--good for you! I mean that sincerely. Not sarcastically. Everyone has different levels and goals. If it's workin for ya, that's all that matters at the end of the day, or ride. Anyone who would disrespect or judge me otherwise for that is not someone's opinion that's of real value to me anyway. So, still not a big deal.

Glad you rode the hybrid and found a way to get out. My broken bone is still healing in my foot and I'm going looney.

[jodz1984]

i had a guy (left town a few days ago) that was funny about a women being better than him, he told me outright on my 2nd or 3rd ride that he doesn't like females beating him. then a few more rides later the bike shop owner started incouraging me to do some yellow sign sprints, anyway i started beating this guy, apparently the look of his face the first time i passed him and beat him was priceless. Anyway a few weeks later someone hands me a flyer about a grand final sprint between us before he leaves town. unfortuniatly it kept raining, but he however did go one time that i didn't and said that at the sign he was a certain speed, so next time i am at that area i will make sure i'll go faster than he did. I have also beat the bike shop owner in sprints as well, but he thought that was great and now is suggesting that i get into track cycling.

[Mr. Bloom]

...he told me outright on my 2nd or 3rd ride that he doesn't like females beating him.

Men don't like ANYONE beating them...it makes them face their mortality

Sprint/Interval training is truly awesome.

[redrhodie]

The younger guys always ask me to join them. That's how I met pro rider Gert Steegmans.

Did you do it?! Didn't he win a stage in the tdf?

I passed a guy on a mtb recently, and it totally irked him, so much so that he passed me while I was stopped at a red light (he went right into oncoming traffic, nearly getting hit). Of course I caught up to him after I got the green light. He kept looking back as I crept closer, but I stayed just behind him until he turned left. I once had a guy say something vulgar when I passed him. That's not common here, but it does happen.

[papaver]

Did you do it?! Didn't he win a stage in the tdf?

I passed a guy on a mtb recently, and it totally irked him, so much so that he passed me while I was stopped at a red light (he went right into oncoming traffic, nearly getting hit). Of course I caught up to him after I got the green light. He kept looking back as I crept closer, but I stayed just behind him until he turned left. I once had a guy say something vulgar when I passed him. That's not common here, but it does happen.

Yes, he won the last race of the tour de france last year.

[tandemrider48]

My husband and I ride a tandem. If you think you heard it all, try being the stoker...........and a woman...

Just last week, as we passed a "Lance wannabe" the guy on the bike would have told my husband "you have a good woman there".....

[Juiceflight]

One of my male riding buds refers to it as "getting chicked"

[Flybye]

As a female, I can honestly say that I don't like to get passed either - by a man or another woman. Luckily, I've never been passed by a child!

[Righteousbabe]

Papaver...thanks for bringing a smile to my face with your story! I always laugh about this same thing with my fiance ...and he even gets a kick out of watching it happen. I will be riding in front of him, and pass a male rider, and then he watches that rider struggle to pass me. And sometimes when I am having a really bad day...I will let them get ahead and then pass them like they are sitting still. I know that sounds childish, but I can't understand why, if a woman is riding her pace and she passes a man, that he has to pass her back. I get passed all the time...but I don't rush to pass that person back just to prove myself.

Last year I had a man even admit to me what he was doing. I was riding around White Rock Lake here in Dallas on my heavy steel touring bike...panniers and all. I passed an older guy, and he raced up along side of me and said "I cannot let a girl on a decked out touring bike pass me." I chuckled, and said "at least you admit what you are doing...most other guys do not." And then I left him.

This year I am turning it up a notch. I have a sweet Specialized S Works Roubaix...all black. I am adding a fuzzy pink saddle bag and a Hello Kitty bike bell. That way when I pass them, they can think "I cannot let a girl with a fuzzy pink saddle bag and a Hello Kitty bike bell pass me." It may just sting a little more

[Trek420]

What is funny is next time you see that guy, he will be on a more expensive bike!

That's it! Keep riding, keep passing guys. It's good for you, good for the enviornment and it's good for the economy.

'cause dude, if you've been "girl'd" it's got to be your bike.

[OakLeaf]

When I did that to a roadie while riding my hybrid, I don't think it was my fat tires, saddlebags, backpack, or Pilates mat that really got to him. I think it was my bunny-shaped squeeze horn.

[grey]

When I did that to a roadie while riding my hybrid, I don't think it was my fat tires, saddlebags, backpack, or Pilates mat that really got to him. I think it was my bunny-shaped squeeze horn.

Too funny!

There is always someone who gets grumpy when passed.

[Grog]

I don't understand the whole passing frenzy. Sometimes I pass people. Sometimes I get passed. Most of the time I try to say hello, whether passed or passing, unless I'm out of breath.

My dear partner and his father are both amazing cyclists. My dear partner, age 33, is particularly fit and a very, very strong cyclist; his father, pushing 65, still kicks my @$$ any day and is in great shape. They both have this issue about passing. They also get upset if they are in a conversational ride (together) and someone passes them without saying hello. But the worst is about passing.

When I ride with my husband, it almost becomes a problem: we are closing in on someone ahead of us who is obviously slower, but my husband slows down (causing me to break - which I don't appreciate, as I need all the momentum I can get to save energy when I ride with him) and just won't pass, even if we're riding 5-10 km/h faster than whoever is ahead. I think it's because he doesn't want to make anyone feel bad about being passed. Usually I get tired pretty quick and go ahead, passing whoever-is-ahead (saying hello) with my husband on my wheel. A few hundred meters later he'll take his position ahead of me again (phew!). As if guys being passed felt better being "chicked" than being passed by a fit man with a little woman on his wheel.

I don't put anywhere near as much thought into the psychology of cycling as they do!