Men, aren't they funny...

[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!

[7rider]

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!

+1.
However....I've learned to accept it, as it happens so often! (well...except the kid part)

[smilingcat]

my ultimate dream!!

ride a beach cruiser with a fat tire and pass a "train" (group of men doing the rotation).

My favorite past time used to be playing cat and mouse. Men just have to pass but don't have enough to keep on going so I have to pass. So I used to speed up as the guy would pass. He would look back and see that I'm not too far behind. No drafting. just far enough back. He then would have to speed up. I speed up to match his speed. We continue to do this until one of us blows up. I've had it back fire on me a few times. I'm just a meany at times.

One memorable experience was a climbing up Jamboree from Santiago Canyon side in Orange County. I just blew by the boys in my big gear 52x13, I think it was, and they were struggling in the lower gears. I did it just right so just as I crested, I ran out of gas but the faces on the guys were just so worth it. too precious.

Another memorable ride was climbing up El Toro from Irvine Blvd?? in Orange county. Some bozo guy said "This is where we separate the men from the boys" FINE YOU *&^* I'm a girl and I'm gonna kick your A##@. I waited for them at the top of the hill pretending to enjoy the view. Guys were arguing something to the effect of you made us look really stupid!! yeah you were...

ahh the glory days the good ol days. I can still gloat after 20 years.

[shootingstar]

In reading this whole thread over last few days, I mulled over my dearie who has never competed in any bike race, but has done some cross-country touring rides on his own and has done some group rides, where I know he was near the front of the group ride.

What he is now compared to what he was like as a cyclist when I first met him..over 17 yrs. ago., has changed. But even then, and even now, all along he has no hesitation to tell me of situations and stories where some fred-like cyclist passed him (keep in mind, he probably looks fredlike to many roadies ) or any woman passing him. To him, the greatest thing was simply to see people on bikes, regardless of their age, size or shape.

I'm wondering if also because he was never boy wonder athlete as a kid/teen, and the fact that he had a string of childhood illnesses plus his lifelong problems on tinnitus, sleep disorder, etc., makes him and other men (with similar health histories), who just know being on a bike, is a gift itself, makes them less upset when "passed" by another cyclist.

If a guy doesn't get upset on the bike, then perhaps he's just competitive or competent, in another sphere of his life.

It does bother me abit to get passed, but I also know for myself, one has to build up momentum to make it up a hill, etc. What I do dislike is that suddenly cyclist passes me very closely and I had no idea they were even around behind me because they did not warn me at all. I've had some close calls.

[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