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Passing During the Bike Leg

jbird2131's picture
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started by jbird2131 on April 17, 2008

I was listening to an Ironman Talk Podcast and they went over an amusing topic. "What do you do when you pass someone on the bike leg". Do you taunt them in a discreet way? Do you clear your throat? Do you do nothing at all? Do you announce that you're passing? Racing etiquette aside, anyone have some amusing stories? Thought it would be an interesting topic.

TryScott's picture
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TryScott posted 11 weeks ago.

They're usually fixing their tire if I'm passing them. That would be a bad time to taunt.

swimmer52's picture
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swimmer52 posted 11 weeks ago.

I suppose it wouldn't be very curtious to make race car "zoom" noises as you pass...

"Whether you think you can or can't, you're right"

jbird2131's picture
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jbird2131 posted 11 weeks ago.

i prefer "slingshot: engaged"

-ricky bobby

TriSooner's picture
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TriSooner posted 11 weeks ago.

Someone passed me at IM CDA. He raised up out of his seat and pissed. I didn't drop back far enough.

Ironman Germany (July 6, 2008)

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rlauredo posted 11 weeks ago.

Last person I passed on a bike was a 10-year-old girl riding a pink LittleMermaid bike. I was nice and didn't rub it in.

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JDB posted 11 weeks ago.

I use baseball cards in my spokes to make it sound like I'm on a motorcycle and so anyone I pass (which is rare) will hear me coming. In all seriousness, I am never offended when I hear an "on your left" as someone passes me--I think it's the courteous thing to do.

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Nutty posted 11 weeks ago.

yeah id say "on your left" is the standard.

I was amused by a little bicycle bell someone had at a race i did last year. Bought one, but the old style bell doesnt fit around my frame. So i put that on my old schwinn and use it to be annoying as i pass coffee shops and bars when im tooling around on it.

Still trying to find one thatll fit my frame though...

-Alan

My fancy new blogitty blog.
http://therunningfridge.blogspot.com/

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catwood posted 11 weeks ago.

There's one local really fast woman that I race against frequently when I'm at home and she always zooms by me in the first few miles of the bike and yells "You go, girl!". It makes me happy.

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jsk85 posted 11 weeks ago.

I don't experience getting passed on the bike too much since I'm usually slow enough getting out of the water to give everyone the courtesy head start. I do the "on your left" as my passing notice.

My sister is a strong swimmer though and usually is up with the top AGers in the first portion of the bike, but like the rest of our family she is a slightly better than avg AGer so she has to get passed by a lot of people on the bike. She says most of them say "looking strong" or "strong work" or whatever, but occaisionally someone will ask if shes doing ok, which I think is a little rude, b/c when I cross paths with her later down the line, she never looks like shes bonking or anything, she just rides slower than the front-runners

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iamtb13 posted 11 weeks ago.

During an Olympic race last year (in the hot DC weather) I was hurting on the run. A guy passed me and as he did he said, "Come on, you can keep up with me." So I tried. I followed him for the last 2 miles trying to keep pace. When we got about .5 mile out he turned and said, "Let's finish this thing strong" and picked it up even more. I did my best to stay with him until the finish line. I finished 3rd in my age group. Not sure I would have survived without him.

I always try to make a point of saying something positive - if I have enough air to talk - that is.

There is one caveat to this. Several co-workers also compete so there is a lot of office trash talking. Since I am an older age grouper I tend to be in a later wave start. Thus when I pass them on the bike I usually just say "8 minutes" to let them know even though I passed them I just made up 8 minutes since they started before me. I have to keep the young ones in their place since I typically spot them 30 minutes for a Sprint race.

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krazyfranco posted 11 weeks ago.

iamtb13 wrote:
During an Olympic race last year (in the hot DC weather) I was hurting on the run. A guy passed me and as he did he said, "Come on, you can keep up with me." So I tried. I followed him for the last 2 miles trying to keep pace. When we got about .5 mile out he turned and said, "Let's finish this thing strong" and picked it up even more. I did my best to stay with him until the finish line. I finished 3rd in my age group. Not sure I would have survived without him.

Same thing happened to me, except in my first race. It is probably the reason I got hooked to tris.

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jsk85 posted 11 weeks ago.

I've been pulled to the finish before by another runner's encouragement and pacing as well. I made a point to find them after I got some water/turned in my chip, etc to thank them.

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Monash228 posted 10 weeks ago.

I was passed last year by an older gentleman who said "Keep goin' sugar". I was so irritated by being called "sugar" that I magically found my second wind and passed a bunch of people.

The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.
-- Vince Lombardi

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danpatgal posted 10 weeks ago.

Normally I just say, "on your left", on my stronger uphills ... followed shortly by their "on your left" on the downhill thereafter. I've done several iterations of this with other bikers in some races, it becomes amusing at some point (though I'm usually pushing so hard, I don't really laugh out loud).

When I was biking to school in 9th grade a kid passed me, probably on a downhill, in a move I thought was the equivalent of what you see in some running races where the inexperienced runners start out really fast, and die really fast. I was feeling sarcastic, so I said, "Stud!" as he passed me. In another 1/2 mile or so he did die, and true to my abilities, I passed him on an uphill, and, predictably, he returned my sarcastic comment (with even more sarcasm), "Stud!" My reply, of course, was, "That's right". Since then, because I felt kind of mean/stupid having such an exchange, I stick to genuine encoraging remarks.

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stewarba posted 10 weeks ago.

In my first tri, I was done about halfway though the run and had started walking. A couple of guys passed me and said two words to me "Finish Strong." Those words still stick with me and I think about them everytime I feel like walking.

Goals in writing are dreams with deadlines – Brian Tracy

2008 Sprint Tri A race goals
S: 500m in 10:00 – FS Stroke only
B: 22mph avg over course
R: 5K <= 25:00
Place top 50% for my age group

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jugg3rnaut posted 9 weeks ago.

well you don't need to say anything, if you're at the front..

but lets just say you're not, for some reason, an aero bell will do.

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azmojo804 posted 9 weeks ago.

My first sprint tri, I didn't have anything but my Mountain bike on a road ride. :) So, needless to say, I got passed a TON! :) I got a couple "on your left" but mainly was "good job" or "keep going, you're doing great" kind of remarks.

From then on, I've had a really positive outlook on it all and do the same. I just got my road bike 1 month ago and can't wait until my next tri in July to be able to say "on your left" or "keep it up!" or something since I'll be going a bit faster than on the mountain bike. :)

Sounds like a lot of people have had great experiences.

On my commuting to work, I do have to go through some poor hispanic neighborhoods with the people riding old bikes or cruisers, so I sometimes have to say "a la izquierda" (to the left) when I'm there, but that's about it. :)