Passing people during training

Triathlon Forum
1

Is this what everyone does during training?

During my bike training rides, I am constantly looking behind to see if another cyclist is approaching me. When I see someone, I speed it up so they won’t pass me. If they pass me, I really hate it when they ask me how “I’m doing”, like they are not struggling at all. I usually break my pace, slow down, and let them get far ahead.

If I see a cyclist up ahead, I do everything I can to catch them, pass them, and leave them far behind. I usually just say “on your left”.

If I am on a training run, and someone passes me, I stop to drink and pretend that I am taking a break.

If I see someone running ahead of me, during training, I try to catch them and pass them. I usually just say “on your left”.

2

I try to refrain from launching snot rockets while passing.
Occasionally a simple “How’s it going” or more likely “Great day for a ride, eh?” but usually nothing but heavy breathing.

4

If it gives you some incentive to go faster to try to chase someone down on a run or a ride, then that’s a good thing. But, otherwise, why don’t you worry about your own workout instead of what other people are doing or what they think of you if they pass you? If you really want to spend a lot of time looking out for someone or something else on your bike rides, then I suggest looking our for cars because they are out to get you and can kill you.

5

Do you think an “On your left” is more rude or less rude than a “Good morning”? You make it hard for people to catch you, but try real hard to do the thing you don’t want to happen to you. Do you think those may be issues?
When I was fast I could go weeks without anyone catching me, now I am caught all the time. In twenty years will anyone know or care?

6

When training, you gotta go at your pace and ignore others. No racing.

It’s ok to be reminded you may not be going hard enough and speeding up a bit when getting passed.

But you do risk ruining your workout if you turn every other cyclist on the road into a racing opportunity.

Key word: maturity.

And yeah, I have a hell of a time with this.

7

Save it for a race…! When you are “passing people” you assume they are doing the same kind of workout as you.

Occassionally on my Sunday morning long runs, I will be heading into mile 18 when I came back into a part of town where people tend to do loops. I always chuckle as you can tell the people that are working to catch or pass, they are in mile 3, while I have started in the dark and am finishing up a 2:30 to 3:00 run. I ignore them…

8

And yeah, I have a hell of a time with this.

I know I’m not the only one with this “problem”. Please are constantly trying to catch up and pass me on my bike rides and run. I ride in a fairly heavily cycled route, and I run on a looped course where a lot of runners run. There are two types of people in both situations: those that get passed because they are not competitive, and those that are passing (consciously) other people in a race like manner.

9

"If I see someone running ahead of me, during training, I try to catch them and pass them. I usually just say “on your left”. "

If you said that to me while I was running, I’d probably catch you and then kick you in the 'nads. Unless you’re running on a singletrack XC trail with trees on one side and a cliff on the other, that’s pretty freaking rude. I will sometimes say that whilst passing someone on the bike, but ONLY for the purpose of being safe and to ensure they don’t make any sudden movements that could cause us to collide. There is no reason to say that sort of thing on a typical pathway or sidewalk unless you are trying to be arrogant.

10

i always justify it to myself by saying, “I’m riding at least 5 times farther than that douchebag today anyway!”

lol
.

11

If you look at your speedo when the person passes you, it often happens that half a mile later the overtaker has slowed down below that speed, these are the people who get on my nerves who overtake and can’t actually maintain the pace, there just trying to boost their ego!

12

i personally only compete against competitors. i say a friendly hi or on your left when i pass people, but don’t usually try and fed people off or chase them down. they only akward situation i find is when we are both going about the same speed, aka they pass me, i pass them etc.

13

Sounds like you have issues. I don’t give a crap about what anyone else is doing for their training…I stick to my target HRs for that particular workout and leave it at that. I don’t care how fast/slow I go in training, I care about racing. I think fast racers tend to check their ego at the door during training, whereas slow racers feel they have something to prove each and every time.

14

There are two types of people in both situations:<<

You forgot the third kind: Those who get passed because they are doing their scheduled workout and don’t care what you are doing.

clm

15

You should have a plan for your workout when you head out the door. Once out the door, stick to that plan and don’t change it just because somebody is up ahead or somebody else is coming up from behind. That is especially true for recovery sessions.

Of course, if a fartlek session is on the schedule, then go for it.

When I do pass somebody, I usually just say “hi”, or “great day” or something similar. If I know the person, I’ll chat for a little bit.

Victor

16

Who cares what speed others are doing in training? I am doing my workout, not their workout. Suppose I am on my long ride and the dude ahead of me is doing intervals when I sight him? I blow my heartrate through the roof just to catch him? not frickin likely! My only weakness is trying to look like I am doing great no matter how I feel when I see a good looking babe. Can’t help myself on that one.

17

I am not saying I have never been egged on to go faster than planned, but usually I only worry about my own pace.
I have however been amused several times by folks who apparently make a huge effort to catch me or whoever I am with. Then shortly after the catch they blow up and die.

:slight_smile:

Herbert

18

Only time I’ll actually speed up during training to catch someone is if I see a beautiful girl up ahead of me otherwise I could care less what others are doing. As many of the posts have said who knows if they are doing the same type of training you are doing that day.

On a related note - I started out on a 5 mile run on Monday and passed a guy who had run past me during stretching and was coming back towards me - after I passed him the guy must have increased his mile pace by about a minute, seems he had the same mentality as the OP.

19

There are a lot of riders here and a lot of chasing going on. I see recreational riders chasing each other on the bike paths.

I ride with a mirror so I often observe them chasing me. A lot of times, when I pass someone, they’ll try to jump on my wheel. I accelerate, they accelerate, I accelerate more, and they accelerate more until they give up. I know they’re trying because I can see their maniacal facial expressions as they dig deep to try to close the gap.

Sometimes, when I pass a group, the alpha tries to chase me down. After defeating him, I guess I’m supposed to kill all lthe cubs and mate with all the females?

Some riders will give chase when I’m doing intervals and drop their buddies or even their wives/girlfriends before blowing up themselves.

It’s fairly obvious when I’m being chased by playing keep away. They’ll chase but if the gap gets too big they’ll sit up. Then I let the gap shrink and they think there’s a chance and they’ll dig deeper the closer they get to me, even riding with their heads down giving it their all.

One place where I train has a fairly large 1/2 mi hill that people like to hammer to the top of. It’s fairly wide open so you can see riders quite far ahead of you. A slow-moving rider heading up towards the hill is an almost irresistable target for most riders. They’ll give chase to see if they can catch the slow rider before the top of the climb. Of course, the slow rider often doesn’t know he’s being chased.

This happens to me about 50% of the time I go up that hill. I’m doing an easy day and going pretty slow and see some guy way behind me. An almost impossible gap to close no matter how fast he goes or how slow I go. But he digs deep and within 200 yds of the top is within a few bike lengths. Then I go ballistic and rocket up the remainder of the hill, much to their disappointment.

Today, some racer tried to pick me off before the top of the hill then chased me down the descent and across the flats as well. I had to do 500+ watts for awhile until he popped. We hit the turnaround point and he was no longer interested in racing. I passed him going up other side of the hill, said hi and was totally ignored.

I don’t chase other riders but I enjoy messing with those who like doing so.

20

I find that it’s mostly recreational riders who engage in that behavior. I think they feel the need to test themselves against others. Female riders almost never behave this way. Racers already know where they stand and are less inclined to engage in such impromptu racing.

21

I do almost all of my riding on a bike path and I always yell "on your left when passing people on the bike. It’s a safety issue.