A few stats about aero bars and elitism.

[Tim Kelley]

Any variance with results in how fast you got passed and where you were when you got passed? If you’re on the open time trial section and someone is doing intervals they probably wouldn’t want to slow to chit-chat.

[KLizotte]

I’m not so bothered if people don’t call their passes when I’m on my road bike; I wear a helmet mirror and always look before moving left. What frightens me is when I see people on the trail passing non-roadies without calling or slowing down. This was driven home yesterday when I was near Gravelly Pt behind a young girl on a mountain bike. She decided, without any advance indication, to pull a crazy Ivan by riding across the left hand lane into the grass to turn around. She did not look at all to her left or behind her to see if anyone was coming up behind. It’s quite possible that she would not have heeded a call anyway should someone have been trying to pass but it was another reminder to give folks who do not seem like “regulars” wide berth. I was also reminded of this when another novice rider came to screeching halt for no apparent reason or warning on a narrow bridge on one of the Anacostia trails; another reminder that it takes longer to stop on wood than asphalt. BTW: The Anacostia trail system is great – the paving is in good shape, lovely scenery, few ped/cyclists – unfortunately the folks who do use the trails seem to have no knowledge of trail etiquette. Lots of crazy Ivans, people walking on the wrong side, etc.

[mstone]

I think I may have gotten one called pass yesterday in a bit out over an hour with the family on the W&OD. First time I tried dragging the family out there. Wife, me, 3yo in weehoo, 6yo, and 9yo. You’d think people would somehow want to somehow announce that they were about to pass that circus to reduce randomness. I started calling “we’re about to be passed, stay right” based on the rearview mirror.

Anecdote related to thread topic: after being passed (without a call) by the third or fourth TT wannabe with aerobars, my daughter decided it must be cool and proceeded to try steering her bike by clutching the stem. I explained that she didn’t have the right equipment on the bike to ride it that way, so it wasn’t safe to do on the trail. I also noted that the people who did have the right equipment still shouldn’t be doing it on the trail on Memorial Day because they weren’t being particularly safe either.

On the up side, we got just about 12 miles in a little over an hour, and nobody complained about being tired. A good first trip, and the kids are ready for more next time.

[Dirt]

Crap! I’m doing it wrong. I either need to stop calling my passes and chatting with people or remove the damn aero bars. Sorry Dickie!

[Dickie]

@Tim Kelley 53286 wrote:

Any variance with results in how fast you got passed and where you were when you got passed? If you’re on the open time trial section and someone is doing intervals they probably wouldn’t want to slow to chit-chat.

Ha, interesting… didn’t realize there was a time trial section…. that makes a little more sense. Most of the passes occurred on Macarthur between the 495 underpass and the climb up to Falls road. I was averaging 20-22 mph in those areas so not hauling ass, but not leisurely either. I certainly didn’t expect conversation or chit chat, just an acknowledgment or even a look over in my direction would have sufficed for the experiment, and this could have occurred without the need to slow any.

[Dickie]

@Dirt 53300 wrote:

Crap! I’m doing it wrong. I either need to stop calling my passes and chatting with people or remove the damn aero bars. Sorry Dickie!

ha ha, I know you have aero bars on a few of your bikes and epitomize being a gentleman so seeing you yesterday would have screwed my stats for sure…. perhaps I need to grade on the curve… pardon the pun!

[dasgeh]

@mstone 53298 wrote:

On the up side, we got just about 12 miles in a little over an hour, and nobody complained about being tired. A good first trip, and the kids are ready for more next time.

Like the Kidical Mass Arlington ride on June 16? (Ok, that won’t be more than you did, but it’ll be more people, and therefore more fun)

[JimF22003]

FWIW, I’m not elite at all, but I very, very, very seldom would “call a pass” when passing somebody out on the open road. Trails are a different story, but not public highways. Just me, maybe…

[Tim Kelley]

@Dickie 53302 wrote:

Ha, interesting… didn’t realize there was a time trial section…. that makes a little more sense. Most of the passes occurred on Macarthur between the 495 underpass and the climb up to Falls road. I was averaging 20-22 mph in those areas so not hauling ass, but not leisurely either. I certainly didn’t expect conversation or chit chat, just an acknowledgment or even a look over in my direction would have sufficed for the experiment, and this could have occurred without the need to slow any.

One of the TTs: http://app.strava.com/segments/3957094

Also, Angler’s is one of the most ridden segments in the area: http://app.strava.com/segments/666601

[MRH5028]

Interesting stats. I was out yesterday as well, left Ballston around 8am for Mt. Vernon and back. Trail was sparse at first but on the return trip I saw several riders do no calls when passing families, and others that were very annoyed by the presence of others on the trail. But most called passes and seemed OK with the fact that the trail was more crowded because of the holiday.

[NicDiesel]

@KLizotte 53291 wrote:

This was driven home yesterday when I was near Gravelly Pt behind a young girl on a mountain bike. She decided, without any advance indication, to pull a crazy Ivan by riding across the left hand lane into the grass to turn around. She did not look at all to her left or behind her to see if anyone was coming up behind. It’s quite possible that she would not have heeded a call anyway should someone have been trying to pass but it was another reminder to give folks who do not seem like “regulars” wide berth.

I’m almost at the point where I won’t ride the MVT trail at all on the weekends unless it’s before 9am or after 9pm. Yesterday I had not one, not two, not three, but 10 different idiots almost crash into because they were either oblivious to the bell/world or that hadn’t bothered to adjust their seats at all to accommodate their height and were teetering on disaster. One in particular heard the bell and me say “passing on your left, excuse me” (she actually turned her head and saw me) and decided to turn directly into me right as I got beside her. Fortunately we were on a flat part so it wasn’t a total wreck but that was just dumb luck.

[Dickie]

@JimF22003 53308 wrote:

FWIW, I’m not elite at all, but I very, very, very seldom would “call a pass” when passing somebody out on the open road. Trails are a different story, but not public highways. Just me, maybe…

I call them no matter what, to me it’s just polite… but I don’t expect it in return on the roads. It was more the distribution that perked my interest and thus this post.

[mstone]

@dasgeh 53304 wrote:

Like the Kidical Mass Arlington ride on June 16? (Ok, that won’t be more than you did, but it’ll be more people, and therefore more fun)

We’ll be in the woods.

[TwoWheelsDC]

As Tim mentioned, my guess is that the aero-barred folks were training. One thing that seems to characterize many (not all, of course) triathletes–the main users of aero bars, generally speaking–is that cycling is just one part of their overall training regimen, and one that they seem to focus on less, so they may not be as attuned to the cycling “norms” as most people who ride as a primary means of exercise/transport.

[JeffC]

@4st7lbs 53313 wrote:

I’m almost at the point where I won’t ride the MVT trail at all on the weekends unless it’s before 9am or after 9pm. Yesterday I had not one, not two, not three, but 10 different idiots almost crash into because they were either oblivious to the bell/world or that hadn’t bothered to adjust their seats at all to accommodate their height and were teetering on disaster. One in particular heard the bell and me say “passing on your left, excuse me” (she actually turned her head and saw me) and decided to turn directly into me right as I got beside her. Fortunately we were on a flat part so it wasn’t a total wreck but that was just dumb luck.

You could not pay me to ride the MVT on the weekend, unless it is 100F so nobody is out there. I did that once because I had to, otherwise forget it.

[Author]

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