I had the pleasure of doing the bike leg of a team triathlon this weekend. I was riding with two strong guys who were leading the bike leg (they were racing as individuals, not on a team). There was no drafting, but given our relative strengths and weaknesses, i probably went to the front about 5 times before hesitating because i didn’t want to piss them off for constantly coming around them. Should i have even worried about it and just ridden my own race? I talked to them both afterward and neither of them seemed to mind, but i wondered if there was any written/unwritten rule or etiquette regarding this.
Ride your own race.
I don’t mind getting passed, but it does bug me when someone passes me, then slows down, forcing me to pass, then passes, etc. I’ve had this happen a few times, it’s annoying.
Reminds me of a scene form “the good, the bad, and the ugly” - Tuco is in a bathtub, a guy busts in and proceeds to give a long speech about tracking Tuco down, Tuco shoots him from under the bath water and says, “If you’re gonna shoot, shoot! Don’t talk!”
If you’re gonna pass, pass!
I’m a fish so I get passed a lot so it does not bother me. But being passed by the same person more than 5x would probably nerve me a little.
I am a decent cyclist and I always ride my own race. I dislike when I pass a rider in a race, pacing somewhat faster than he is, and then he passes me back only to slow again when in front, forcing a re-pass. I have no problem whatsoever with a rider who increases his pace and then re-passes me, or passes me if I should slow down, but the ones that seem to do it just for the sake of passing me are annoying.
IMHO, it is bad etiquette to do this. It is, however, perfectly within the rules.
I did a duathlon earlier this year. There was a guy I know and am friendly with, of about similar ability (well, he’s a better runner).
I caught him on the bike, then a few minutes later he passed me. Neither one was surging just to pass and then slowing down. He was pushing the downhills a bit more than I was, I was pushing uphill a bit more, and I was a tad faster on the flats.
Anyway, after I passed him about 3 times he passed me again. I was in position to pass a fourth time. Thought about not doing it because he might be annoyed, then said “Hell, its a race”. Passed him with a few miles to go and pushed as hard as possible, kept him from catching me (until a little on the run).
Afterwards, I ran into him. With a smile, he said something like, “Great attitude on the bike! Keep fighting back! Really made me push myself…”
clydesdales can’t help it. we get passed on the climbs, and pass nearly everyone on the way down. Hard to argue with Physics.
Ride your own race, and remember the sage words of Richard Nixon:
“Fuck 'em”…
I’m blazing fast on flats and downhills and can’t climb for sour owl shit. So on a rolling course, I pass and get passed by the same guys several times. If they don’t like it, they need to ride faster and drop me.
I don’t mind getting passed, but it does bug me when someone passes me, then slows down, forcing me to pass, then passes, etc. I’ve had this happen a few times, it’s annoying.
Are we talking about highway driving? 
It would if it happened and I’d work extra hard to see that it didn’t happen too much more.
So far this year I’ve only been passed by one guy. But to be fair I have to admit that I only race minis (sometimes called sprints). People that come out of the water after me are generally speaking just happy to be there.
It does bother me when people don’t drop back when passed as required by USAT rules. It goes thus: I pass, guy sits on my wheel, guy passes me and I drop back the required 3 bike lengths. Catch up and repeat as needed.
“It does bother me when people don’t drop back”
Amen to that. Of course given the scenario that I suck on hills, people usually pass me with enough momentum that I don’t even have to ease up. Same thing when I smoke past them on the downhill. At San Jose, I got passed by about a hundred riders climbing Bailey Hill, and all the way down the other side people were saying “holy shit!!!” as I blew past them at close to 50mph…
“It would if it happened and I’d work extra hard to see that it didn’t happen too much more.”
And THAT is the arrogant and independent spirit that makes this sport so great.
Thanks Cousin Elwood, I work equally hard at being arrogant too.