Race Wars

First, an aside. As I was riding home yesterday I saw a young lady who had one of the most enviable jobs in the world. At least I think so. She was employed by the National Park Service police and was patrolling the bike path on horseback. It was a beautiful afternoon, this part of the bike path runs right by the Potomac and she looked like she had no cares in the world. Of course, I am sure her life is far from perfect, but it did seem like an enviable job. Anyway.....

Recently, I put new tires on my bike. They are substantially thinner and do not have an aggressive tread pattern like my old tires. Also, I can inflate them to a much higher pressure. As a result, my bike is much faster. However, it is still a mountain bike with a front suspension and a beefy frame.

There is a portion of my ride home that involves some pretty good hills. I often pass people on pretty expensive road bikes on these hills. For whatever reason, this pisses some of them off. It then becomes a bit of a race. The pattern is usually the same, I can go faster up the hills, but on the downslopes the thin tires and more aerodynamic set ups make the road bikes a bit faster. So you get into one of those patterns where you are constantly passing/getting past. It is not that big of a deal usually. However, yesterday I had a guy who was just being an asshole. He was decked out in all the gear, had an expensive bike but was terrible on the hills. Even while standing on the pedals he was slow and I would pass him. He would pass by me when there wasn't really any room, usually on downhills and anytime we went up a hill he was constantly looking over his shoulder to see where I was. Luckily, he did not go very far and peeled off the trail. It was just bizzare though. I could understand if it was a race, but I guess it is a pride thing.

The other bizzare thing I see is one dude that I pass going the opposite way nearly everyday at the same location. He rides this super heavy duty bike and is loaded down with all sorts of gear like a tent, sleeping bag, essentially looks like he is bike touring. However, I strongly suspect that he is not, given that I pass him on such a regular occasion. The only other thing I can think is that he has no sense of adventure, but loves looking like he does!