Bike Creep
The other day I was enjoying the wonderful cool autumn weather on my ride home.
When all of the sudden I was interrupted.
And I realized there was something lurking over my shoulder.
I thought he was trying to pass me… but he didn’t.
I know drivers complain about tailgators. But they should consider themselves lucky that they can’t feel that stranger’s breath on their cheek.
I got rear ended by a tailgator today! I stopped for a pedestrian in a crosswalk and took him completely by surprise (why do you never stop for pedestrians, my fellow bike commuters of Boston?). He was very apologetic.
Few of my rules of thumb, partly inspired by comments, partly by original story.
When commuting, there’s this thing called announcing yourself. Saying “on your left” as you are preparing to pass removes “creepiness”, as well as makes it safer. Gluing yourself right behind somebody and panting/grunting is rude and definitely creepy. Just don’t do it.
If you pant and grunt to pass, you probably shouldn’t pass in the first place and you should keep reasonable distance instead. If it takes that much effort, you’ll have to slow down soon anyhow, so why bother passing in the first place? It’s also not cool to speed up just because your ego told you so when somebody else going faster is passing you.
Drafting often doesn’t apply to commuting. It just doesn’t make much sense to form fast moving and tight paceline with random strangers (races, large organized rides, training and/or long recreational rides are different thing). With people who may be totally inexperienced and said “yes” only because they didn’t want to say “no” (and should have really said “no”). Which brings us to the point that to draft behind somebody, you always have to ask first. As in using actual words. Never ever silently glue yourself onto somebody else’s wheel. It’s totally not cool. It’s dangerous too. I’m not going to signal hazards I see up front, because I don’t know you are in the back. And you won’t see those hazards, because you are in the back and can’t see them.
+1! There’s no excuse for gluing yourself to someone’s wheel on a commute. It’s dangerous, and just a little bit rude. If you have the steam to pass, then you can hang back a bit, find a safe time and pass cleanly with a friendly “On your left”. If you can’t manage that, you can’t manage a safe and respectful pass.
Even though drafting and many other things don’t apply to commuting, sometimes it’s not necessarily clear who is a commuter and who is out for a “training” ride. Yeah, the day and hour should be a clue, but that doesn’t necessarily apply.
I admit, I’m a bit competitive even when commuting. Heck, it’s about the only time I pick up the pace. I’ll pass others and keep it up because, yeah, who really wants to play leapfrog? If I get passed, I’ll stick back a few bike lengths and off to the side if I can, though more often the passer is usually going fast enough that it’s not worth it to try to hang on.
There’s only one other regular on my route who’s a bit overcompetitive in my opinion. We’re about evenly matched, but I’ll slow down and let him go ahead since he’s so intent on being ahead that he’ll run red lights and stop signs.
It’s not often that I need to take a while to pass someone. It only takes a short burst of power to get and keep ahead of someone. If the person I’m trying to pass also speeds up, I’ll let them go and keep to my original pace- usually our paths split relatively quickly anyway.
The only problem is when they’re struggling to keep ahead of me when I’m traveling at my usual pace. That’s when I get to take a little passive-aggressive pleasure in seeing them suffer instead of letting me pass.
I don’t think it matters. If you’re on the public highway, you need to act like you’re on a public highway. Commuter rules of stopping distance and space definitely apply. Want to ride in a peloton? Ride in a sanctioned event or on a velodrome.
Paul: It’s not all black and white. There are dad & daughter cycling to school side by side on no traffic at all residential street. There are groups of hundreds of cyclists in fast peloton. And there is everything in between those two extremes. A lot of gray. I rode both of those extremes (though, latter extreme only during large organized events when police is controlling traffic). Laws differ widely from state to state too. E.g. in California where I live, I don’t think there’s explicit “must ride single file” law. At least I wasn’t able to find one. There’s law that effectively says “must ride close to the curb” (CVC 21202 for those interested) which could be stretched out to be interpreted as also meaning “single file”, but list of exceptions for that law makes it not applicable on most roads (not applicable on sub standard width lanes, and in CA so many streets are sub standard width, and not applicable when approaching any place where “right turn is authorized”, so basically any urban street and more). However, I’m also not a lawyer, so take what I just wrote with a grain of salt.
You can also look at it from practical side. Vast majority of residential streets look like ghost towns throughout most of the day. Nitpicking about two cyclists riding side by side at 10mph and chatting? On a street that sees like single (and slow moving) car pass by maybe once per hour? Seriously?
Why do you bike so far apart from your boyfriend?
Also, I try to complain, but ultimately, even “bike creeps” (a rather ugly characterization on your behalf) are still people on bikes, and the more people on bikes out there, the happier I am. I am offended by red light runners but these “bike creeps” could simply feel more comfortable biking in a pack (even if it is a pack of 2) and I have no problem keeping them under my wing. If all they’re doing is biking (not checking you out, making inappropriate comments), it really shouldn’t be a problem. Have you seen how closely together strangers bike in Amsterdam? A whole bunch of bike creeps, apparently.
Interesting events – I read this yesterday afternoon (linked from a separate site) then on my ride home, I had the opportunity to be a bike creep.
Major construction is in process on one of the bike routes I use for commute and the detour follows a shared use path through a park. I merged onto the path from the road behind a girl; just before the path entered a narrow twisty section through the woods, followed by narrow passage under an expressway.
I am no timid noob. I am quite comfortable in a tight pack or line; and with passing in tight spaces – but we were on a multi-use path not a race course and I was commuting home not racing. I had little opportunity for a pass without being a jerk; and I would need to hover close to take that quick pass …so instead I followed a couple bike lengths behind and waited.
She kept looking back …annoyed? …nervous? I don’t know. So, I announced I was waiting for the path to open before passing. Don’t know that she heard me because she was still checking back. Eventually the path opened and I passed with all of my creepyness.
It’s a thing with shared use recreational paths; too many people seem to think the space belongs to them alone and their own little bubble of enjoyment. It doesn’t; the space is public and shared by many …that statement goes both ways.
This is the exact situation I’m referring to. What can you do? You’re make them uneasy simply because you are there, and all the reassurance in the world won’t make them feel better.