To pass, or not to pass...

...That is the question.

Two guys up ahead of me on the trail. Forty-somethings, by the look of
them. Not especially fast, not especially skilled, but then who am I to
talk? The thing is, though, they were going just a bit slower than I
wanted to go. But they kept looking back, and any time I'd start to
speed up to pass, they'd pick up the pace. Well and good, if they'd
manage to keep it up, but no... In no time at all, they'd slack back
off again.
Now, I've been in this position before. There's a mindset that I see
fairly often, that seems to feel that being passed by a 41 year-old
woman is tantamount to finding yourself in calculus class in your
underwear, taking a test you never studied for (in other words, your
worst nightmare).
If I pass, they feel honor bound to catch up and pass, never mind that
that they can't maintain the pace. Rather than put up with it, I'll
usually pull to the side of the trail, have a nice long drink, enjoy the
scenery, and let them get far enough ahead that I can ride my pace, they
can ride theirs, and I don't have to deal with anybody's issues.
This time, though, I was in a perverse mood. I decided to treat it as
an experiment. How well could I control the pace of two complete
strangers, from behind, with no verbal communication at all?
Quite well, as it turns out. Their "normal" pace was about 11 mph. I
could force them up to 15 mph just by speeding up gradually. As soon as
I'd slack off, they'd slow down as well, gasping and gulping. I kept it
up for nearly 5 miles, expecting them to put an end to my game at any
time, simply by pulling over. That's what I do (being a solitary and
antisocial rider, for the most part), when I have even the slightest
suspicion that somebody is toying with me.
But not these guys. Did they have any idea that they were being
deliberately herded? I'll never know. I finally turned off onto a side
trail, and up a hill, and watched as they looked behind them, looked
again, and when they saw the coast was clear, finally, and with every
evidence of relief, pulled over and stopped.

Kathleen
Playin' border collie on the trail...

"Kathleen" wrote in message
...
...That is the question.

Two guys up ahead of me on the trail. Forty-somethings, by the look of
them. Not especially fast, not especially skilled, but then who am I to
talk? The thing is, though, they were going just a bit slower than I
wanted to go. But they kept looking back, and any time I'd start to
speed up to pass, they'd pick up the pace. Well and good, if they'd
manage to keep it up, but no... In no time at all, they'd slack back
off again.
Now, I've been in this position before. There's a mindset that I see
fairly often, that seems to feel that being passed by a 41 year-old
woman is tantamount to finding yourself in calculus class in your
underwear, taking a test you never studied for (in other words, your
worst nightmare).
If I pass, they feel honor bound to catch up and pass, never mind that
that they can't maintain the pace. Rather than put up with it, I'll
usually pull to the side of the trail, have a nice long drink, enjoy the
scenery, and let them get far enough ahead that I can ride my pace, they
can ride theirs, and I don't have to deal with anybody's issues.
This time, though, I was in a perverse mood. I decided to treat it as
an experiment. How well could I control the pace of two complete
strangers, from behind, with no verbal communication at all?
Quite well, as it turns out. Their "normal" pace was about 11 mph. I
could force them up to 15 mph just by speeding up gradually. As soon as
I'd slack off, they'd slow down as well, gasping and gulping. I kept it
up for nearly 5 miles, expecting them to put an end to my game at any
time, simply by pulling over. That's what I do (being a solitary and
antisocial rider, for the most part), when I have even the slightest
suspicion that somebody is toying with me.
But not these guys. Did they have any idea that they were being
deliberately herded? I'll never know. I finally turned off onto a side
trail, and up a hill, and watched as they looked behind them, looked
again, and when they saw the coast was clear, finally, and with every
evidence of relief, pulled over and stopped.

Kathleen
Playin' border collie on the trail...


Excellent idea Kathleen. Personally I don't have a problem with being passed
by anyone young/old/male/female, sounds like these guys were a couple of
macho idiots but you dealt with them well.

Steve.

"Kathleen" wrote in message
...
...That is the question.

Two guys up ahead of me on the trail. Forty-somethings, by the look of
them. Not especially fast, not especially skilled, but then who am I to
talk? The thing is, though, they were going just a bit slower than I
wanted to go. But they kept looking back, and any time I'd start to
speed up to pass, they'd pick up the pace. Well and good, if they'd
manage to keep it up, but no... In no time at all, they'd slack back
off again.
Now, I've been in this position before. There's a mindset that I see
fairly often, that seems to feel that being passed by a 41 year-old
woman is tantamount to finding yourself in calculus class in your
underwear, taking a test you never studied for (in other words, your
worst nightmare).

They sound pretty clueless. I'd hope that they'd get passed a few times and
figure out the whole trail etiquette ... but who knows. I mean, there are
some clueless folks who stay that way.

(I know I had a lucky break ... the first "girl" who passed me was a NORBA
racer we all knew by reputation. I knew I wasn't going to keep up, and I
got over the "being passed by a girl thing" real quick.)

[snip]

"Kathleen" wrote in message
...
...That is the question.

Two guys up ahead of me on the trail. Forty-somethings, by the look of
them. Not especially fast, not especially skilled, but then who am I to
talk? The thing is, though, they were going just a bit slower than I
wanted to go. But they kept looking back, and any time I'd start to
speed up to pass, they'd pick up the pace. Well and good, if they'd
manage to keep it up

On behalf of 40-somethings everywhere, please find another phrase to use!

(No personal issue; just going for the easy quip.)

(Really.)



Bill

"Kathleen" wrote in message
...
...That is the question.

Two guys up ahead of me on the trail. Forty-somethings, by the look of
them. Not especially fast, not especially skilled, but then who am I to
talk? The thing is, though, they were going just a bit slower than I
wanted to go. But they kept looking back, and any time I'd start to
speed up to pass, they'd pick up the pace. Well and good, if they'd
manage to keep it up, but no... In no time at all, they'd slack back
off again.
Now, I've been in this position before. There's a mindset that I see
fairly often, that seems to feel that being passed by a 41 year-old
woman is tantamount to finding yourself in calculus class in your
underwear, taking a test you never studied for (in other words, your
worst nightmare).
If I pass, they feel honor bound to catch up and pass, never mind that
that they can't maintain the pace. Rather than put up with it, I'll
usually pull to the side of the trail, have a nice long drink, enjoy the
scenery, and let them get far enough ahead that I can ride my pace, they
can ride theirs, and I don't have to deal with anybody's issues.
This time, though, I was in a perverse mood. I decided to treat it as
an experiment. How well could I control the pace of two complete
strangers, from behind, with no verbal communication at all?
Quite well, as it turns out. Their "normal" pace was about 11 mph. I
could force them up to 15 mph just by speeding up gradually. As soon as
I'd slack off, they'd slow down as well, gasping and gulping. I kept it
up for nearly 5 miles, expecting them to put an end to my game at any
time, simply by pulling over. That's what I do (being a solitary and
antisocial rider, for the most part), when I have even the slightest
suspicion that somebody is toying with me.
But not these guys. Did they have any idea that they were being
deliberately herded? I'll never know. I finally turned off onto a side
trail, and up a hill, and watched as they looked behind them, looked
again, and when they saw the coast was clear, finally, and with every
evidence of relief, pulled over and stopped.

Kathleen
Playin' border collie on the trail...


Speaking for myself as a 40-something guy, I guess I can understand their
feelings. It is not particularly easy being raised to support a family, be
the pillar of strength, be aggressive in business and athletic life, and
then show our sensitive side when called for, not always be competitive ...

The guys I ride with, particularly those IBM riding partners, are called on
to be competitive at work and have been (and still are) involved in
individual and team sports. I have often heard many of us say something to
the effect "everything is a competition", and I think we really believe it.
It is that aggressive nature that has kept us moving forward in the
corporate world and has driven us to compete with guys half our age on the
basketball court and on the trail. Sometimes we do OK.

I am not defending myself or these guys, there is really nothing to defend.
It is just the nature of the beast, arguably unfortunate. I hope the
situation did not annoy you, it does not sound like it did. Bear in mind, I
am certain it was nothing personal, and probably nothing they have a lot of
control over, it is just (very often) the way we were raised.

(Maybe I'm speaking for others as well)

Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado
(remove .nospam. if replying)

Craig Brossman wrote:

snip

I am not defending myself or these guys, there is really nothing to defend.
It is just the nature of the beast, arguably unfortunate. I hope the
situation did not annoy you, it does not sound like it did. Bear in mind, I
am certain it was nothing personal, and probably nothing they have a lot of
control over, it is just (very often) the way we were raised.

(Maybe I'm speaking for others as well)

It didn't annoy me. I had fun with it. I could have put an end to it
at any point simply by stopping. Maybe it was a little... cold-blooded,
poking at them like that, to see what they'd do. But they had the same
options I did.

Kathleen

"Craig Brossman" wrote in message
et...

I am not defending myself or these guys, there is really nothing to
defend.
It is just the nature of the beast, arguably unfortunate. I hope the
situation did not annoy you, it does not sound like it did. Bear in mind,
I
am certain it was nothing personal, and probably nothing they have a lot
of
control over, it is just (very often) the way we were raised.


I (another 40-something guy) don't like being passed, but I know that's
about me. I don't have any hard feelings toward whoever passes me. I just
want to be fast like them. (OK, I _might_ want to be faster than them. As
soon as that's an attainable goal.)

If these guys are feeling agressive, they should be polite enough to let any
overtaking rider by, and then either hang with them ... or pass them back.

BTW, the second part of that story about being passed by the woman NORBA
racer (she might have been champion that year - late 80's) was that I saw
her on the road later. She was driving a Volkswagen van, and as I passed
her in my car I hunched over the wheel and gave her an evil grin. She
laughed, I hope she thought it was really funny.

"Kathleen" wrote in message
...
Craig Brossman wrote:

snip

I am not defending myself or these guys, there is really nothing to
defend.
It is just the nature of the beast, arguably unfortunate. I hope the
situation did not annoy you, it does not sound like it did. Bear in
mind, I
am certain it was nothing personal, and probably nothing they have a lot
of
control over, it is just (very often) the way we were raised.

(Maybe I'm speaking for others as well)

It didn't annoy me. I had fun with it. I could have put an end to it
at any point simply by stopping. Maybe it was a little... cold-blooded,
poking at them like that, to see what they'd do. But they had the same
options I did.

BTW, we had a Border Collie when I was growin up. I know exactly what you
mean ;-)

spademan o---[) * wrote:


Excellent idea Kathleen. Personally I don't have a problem with being passed
by anyone young/old/male/female, sounds like these guys were a couple of
macho idiots but you dealt with them well.

I don't know if macho is the right word. It sort of implies conscious
intent, and I'm not at all sure how aware these guys were of what they
were doing, let alone what *I* was doing. When they'd look back, were
they thinking, "Ah'm not lettin' no b*tch pass me!", or was it more a
case of being seized by some sort of vague, bone-deep, existential
dread? Maybe neither, maybe both, who knows?
The thing I try to remember is that nobody can *make* you play a game
you don't want to play. There's nothing wrong with playing along, but
it's more fun when you make it a choice, instead of just getting sucked
into it. If it's fun for you to make a race of it out on the trail, go
for it. I can either join in, or opt out. No point to getting rattled
about it.

Kathleen

We have a huge park with several miles of fireroads near town, and they
have a few long climbs. I see this sort of behavior all the time there. It
doesn't seem to be just when women riders are approaching, its with
anyone. I see guys start cranking wildly when they realize they're going
to be passed. Most of the "hills" take at least 10-15 minutes to climb
(several hundred feet elevation gain), so riders often burn out before the
climb ends.

Being passed is a bit of a blow to the ego, albeit a very minor one for
most of us. I imagine being passed by a woman makes the blow a little
harder. Personally, I empathize: I'm glad I have the helmet and glasses,
so the younger guys (who often aren't in half the shape they could be)
won't get so freaked out about being passed by someone twice their age.
And if the climb is nearly over, I'll just follow a guy rather than pass
him, even if he's slow enough that I could pass him.

Usually I just avoid those particular fireroads; there are much harder
climbs in the park that the vast majority of riders avoid, and where the
mountain (rather than someone else) is more likely to kick one's butt.
There are no ego issues there. Just pain.

--
-BB-
To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail address, at least)