The Chainlink

Passing Another Cyclist on the Road, Then Having that Cyclist Catch Up to You at a Stoplight and Come to a Stop In Front of You or In Your Path

Does anyone else find this a little frustrating, a little lame, and sometimes a little unsafe? (You know, because you have to pass them all over again; this time from a stop with more bunched traffic.)

I wish folks would generally line up behind the stopped bike that's in front of them at a stoplight -- especially those who were just passed.

I was curious how y'all feel about this? Maybe I should be less grumpy about this sort of thing?

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heather stratton said:
Interesting... I have always thought this was a gender thing, since I have only ever experienced men doing this. .

Wrong. Maybe a slight majority of bikers who've pulled this crap on me have been women. The people that do it are not being competitive, they are just clueless. Usually, they are pushing hybrids or cruisers and ride much slower than average bike traffic. They must think that gaining 5' at an intersection will cut down their travel times. And since they are so slow, they never have to pass anyone and realize that it can be a hassle in heavy traffic.
Okay here is my thing, people should be friendlier, more aware, make more noise "on your left" or bell-ringin'or what have you, and everything would be a lot cooler. Also, understand that some people do not stop at reds when not necesary because their bike is heavy and slow and hard to get going-it probably doesn't have anything to do with passing someone who chooses to wait for red lights, and more to do with how unfeasable it is to constantly be stopping when you are riding a big heavy clunker...like mine.
Also when I do stop at reds where another biker is...sometimes I stop in front of them and to the side I always look at the other biker and give them the full go-ahead, sometimes even saying "go right on ahead, I know you are faster than me on this ol' thing". I notice most people on the road have lighter bikes and sometimes I don't think they understand this major difference of experience.
Spit right, pass left.

If you don't like people passing you, ride faster. It's not a competition.
The bitch-fest continues....
I agree totally annoying. If I didn't pass them and the come up behind me, I give the benefit of the doubt. If I've passed them and they ride up in front of me, I like walk my bike up next to them and just calmly say "excuse me." Then I just ignore them and wait for the light to turn. How's that for passive aggressive? Yeah!

Homebuilt said:
When that happens to me, I pretend I didn't see them coming from the left (where they're now running a 2ND red light) and yell "watch out!" as they come at me from the right.
Passive agressive, I know.

envane x said:
Yup, this is annoying as hell.

Also, when they ride past me through a red light (I stop at almost all red lights) and then I have to re-pass them when the light changes.

Also when at triple intersections where, while waiting at a red light, they cross the road to the right to get a little further across the intersection while waiting for the light to change. That is not so much annoying as just silly.
Really? Not to take this off topic, but I think there's a legitimate reason to cross ahead on the right at a six cornered intersection. Often there's a bottleneck of parked cars and moving traffic before the bike lane or sharrow picks up again after the intersection-- it's nice to make it through before car traffic gets there.

envane x said:
Yup, this is annoying as hell.

Also, when they ride past me through a red light (I stop at almost all red lights) and then I have to re-pass them when the light changes.

Also when at triple intersections where, while waiting at a red light, they cross the road to the right to get a little further across the intersection while waiting for the light to change. That is not so much annoying as just silly.
Running someone into a parked car seems also to be rude behavior.

cutifly said:
Spit ???? That is so so so so rude, and usually the male attempt to prove ones ego. I get it all the time. I hate that more than anything. I hardly spit ever and If I do I make sure no one is looking. If you get a picture this guy I will make sure to run him into some parked cars and I will spit on him (for both of us) ...

Lisa yeah said:
funny to see this up here today. Something happened this morning on my way up California. There's this guy I see almost every morning and evening with a super fast bike, who always passes me up somewhere along the way. This morning he passed by me, then turned to look at me, and the spit a giant loogie right in my path. I have no idea why! I've never gotten in front of him or paid much attention to him at all.

Rob Kowalczyk said:
Ah yes. The side-by-side. That's what I mostly get, which I like and am totally cool with. Chit chat is always a nice bonus too. Recently, I've just experienced a few more of the scenarios I posted about above. I just had to get it off my chest. In an online forum apparently...
Just keep riding pass them they will eventually get tired of watching you leave them in the dust.
I like to push it and ride fast, sorry to anyone i pass and i try to be polite. But i like to keep up with faster cyclists, it is a sport and not just commuting to some. I we are in traffic and safety is very important, i feel the safest in front of traffic. I know the type tho, flashy fixie pulling up to show off his/her aerospoke....ha ha ha then they get passed by the mountain bike with panniers. Hate Hate Hate
I've been having this occur a lot in hte last several days. as a matter of fact, yesterday, myself and another biker passed one guy who was going pretty slow. We gave him enough room as we both passed and as we were waiting for the light, the guy came up and crusied by us going into a three way intersection, causing a car to come to a schreeching halt. The other cyclist and I just shook our heads. we then proceeded to pass the dude again a half a block later. *sigh*

If you are riding slower than someone else and they pass you, let them stay in front of you. It's just rude to ease in front of them and then make them wait behind you until it is safe to pass (again). I can easily see why some people whip around to the right to get by people. What's even more frustrating is when said rider also gets to lollygagging and swerving and slowing down without rhyme or reason.
This happens a lot when I pull a trailer with an electric assist bike and it doesn't bother me at all. If I'm running late and I've got the juice to spare I often cruise at a fairly high speed. But at intersections I tend to hang back more than other cyclists due to less agility and needing more space.

In general I try to be polite to other cyclists and take a car lane when passing them, not pass when approaching a stop light and to leave them room to pass me back when I have to stop at intersections. Just because I choose to stop I don't want to impede others who may be able/choose to continue on.

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