Commuter Racing....

[Nick]

I spoke to a few riders a few weeks ago concerning Commuter Racing and as Promised here are the rules hints and tips I managed to put together with help from other mebers of "Cycling Plus" Forum.


Commuter Racing
Rules, Points and Tips.

[size=150]Rules[/size]

1. Jumping of Red Lights NOT Allowed.*EDIT...BUT Opportunity should be taken to track stand as this invokes fear and wide-eyed suspicion amongst amateur commuters and creates distinct psychological gain. also lessens chance of them pulling alongside you at the next lights...EDIT*
2. No undertaking.

3. Races will go on as long as they have to.

4. You are not allowed to acknowledge there is a race on.

5. someone is obviously catching you, slow down and fiddle with bits of the bike like pedals, water bottle etc. Make it look like you weren't really racing. Not Allowed

6. To acknowledge existence of a race between yourself and your opponent... is to end the race and therefore nil points for the whole day.

7. No turning left (& pretending you need to make that turn)when you are totally stuffed & about to be overtaken

8. You actually need to be increasing the lead at the point before you turn off in order to count it as a proper win

9. No heavy breathing, sweating or any other discernable evidence of effort. Mouth should remain closed at all times, but no audible snorting through nose allowed.

10. Drafting double decker busses or any vehicles whilst passing the enemy results in disqualification, however this is permitted when in stealth mode when target is way ahead and you need the momentum to coast past them a 25mph with no discernible effort.

11. Rider must stay in a sitting position*

12. Rider must stay in an upright position*

13. Rider must have one hand on handlebars at all times*
*The above 3 rules are exempt when you are going for points under the Artistic Merit rule.

14. Look immensely bored, and then suddenly startled as you finish overtaking the peleton

15. You have to give a friendly, and not breathless casual greeting as you pass.

The No talking *This rule has been removed see revised rule in “TIPS” Tip 1.*

[size=150]Points[/size]

Basic points are as follows.

Clear win = 10
Bike length = 5
Wheel = 3
½ wheel = 1
*EDIT...Riders of a recumbent or a brompton gain 3 points automatically for their bravery...EDIT*




Although you can only win or lose, extra Points are awarded Artistic displays whilst riding in a safe and almost fair manner.

Whistling or singing whilst passing = 1

Take a drink from water bottle when overtaking=2

Passing while coasting = 2

Passing while coasting up hill = 4

Overtaking on a hill and staying ahead to top = 4

Passing while coasting uphill and staying ahead to top = 5

If the over taker is on a flat bared commuter bike with large panniers knobby tyres that are under inflated and overtakee is in full lycra on a Kevlar road machine = 7

For taking on a peleton of club cyclists =10 And smug grin .

The Win is still a Win even if you are gibbering wreck at the end . However, if someone needs to be a gibbering wreck to pass you and you remain Fresh and Oblivious you may Lose but you gain a Moral Victory .

Points for Artistic Merit are usually only awarded to Winners but can also be awarded to Losers in the case of a Moral Victory. This moral victory is at YOUR discretion so play fair.



[size=150]Tips[/size]

Tip 1. Good psychological warfare turn and engage the opponent (enemy?) in a conversation as you fly past and they are struggling to catch a breath let alone speak

As you overtake to prove how fast you are, fart as your doing it.

Overtake no handed and glancing around as if admiring the scenery rather than busting your backside to pass your protagonist.

Also if there are lights up ahead, make sure you have a sufficiently opened up gap between you both so you have time at the lights to take some deep breaths to allow your chest to be completely still by the time you are joined at your resting position.

If you really need to gulp a deep breath, just put one hand in front of your mouth and pretend to yawn.


Forcing a chasing pack into potholes, pinch points and traffic is fair game

Keep off the big ring?
Don’t point out the pot holes!!!

Don't try it on with a local cyclo-cross hero when on your pannier-laden commute home.

'MTB sucker racing' for a laugh- take it easy until you see someone latch on to the back, speed up gradually until you can hear them puffing, then put your head down and sprint away.....best not done with fancy road bikes, too much chance you will sprint away & find them still there, or the ultimate humiliation find they know how to race and draft you until you’re stressed then nip round

overtaking on downhill
you wish to include any thing drop me a line.

[Dr Frigo]

Ha, ha, brilliant!

"Passing while coasting" - love doing this!

Another favorite of mine is catching up with someone without them noticing, stay in their wheel and start coasting - my freewheel is super noisy, so most times I get people to look down at their own drivetrain to check what's going on


Also I enjoy catching up with people who jump red lights, they get ahead at the lights then I catch up, repeat times the number of red lights. I hope they're pissed off at not gaining any time by doing this. But sometimes it's annoying when you're having a good race with a decent rider, and then they just keep going at the red lights - happened this morning again.

[siwickm]

Oh how I miss the good ol days of commuting into London. I used to employ a fair number of these tricks within my ride to and from work. Mind you Sylvain is true to his word, he always used to sneak up behind me and then weave through the traffic and was gone.

The best one I had was actually undertaking a moped with a passenger going down the bus lane towards Brixton. They must have been shocked as I came flying by on the inside he had it on full throttle but with the extra weight of his pillion could not get over 30mph.

Cheers

Marek.....

[Dr Frigo]

[quote]The best one I had was actually undertaking a moped with a passenger going down the bus lane towards Brixton. They must have been shocked as I came flying by on the inside he had it on full throttle but with the extra weight of his pillion could not get over 30mph.

[Toks]

Great stuff Nick. By the way, where were you last Sunday?

[Nick]

What was last Sunday?
Toks

[Toks]

Eastway,the ACC Race

[Dr Frigo]

I just love the morning commute, especially when it's a nice crisp day like this week so far. And the more traffic the better.
More and more recently I've felt this urge, as I cross Vauxhall Bridge, to turn right towards Westminster, and just go riding all day in London like a messenger.
Yesterday the urge was too strong but I just went for a quicky, Trafalgar Sq/Tottenham Ct Rd/Oxford Circus/Picadilly/back to Trafalgar and to Victoria. It just flowed so well despite the numerous traffic lights and careless pedestrians. Slalom to avoid horse poo on Regent Street.
In the end it only took me an extra 1/4 hour, and I wasn't even late for work. Must do this again ...

[Grahame]

[quote="marco"]I think there should be extra points for freewheeling past someone on a fixed. You know with your feet up in the air!

[quote="Sylvain"][quote]The best one I had was actually undertaking a moped with a passenger going down the bus lane towards Brixton. They must have been shocked as I came flying by on the inside he had it on full throttle but with the extra weight of his pillion could not get over 30mph.

[Dr Frigo]

Please don't put it in the digest though ...

[Will]

Excellent set of rules!

The over thing I like to do when there is no-one worth racing (which happens with depressing regularity) is to count the number of people I overtake.

The usual number - during my run from Putney to Victoria - is around 20 to 25.

It adds a bit of excitement to the commute as it encourages you to chase down every single cyclist you see on the horizon.

It can get a bit stupid though as sometimes you may see a few ahead turn off in a different direction and you get tempted to follow

In fact, the other week, I was on a roll, and ended up taking a 3 or 4 mile detour up through Hyde Park just so I could blast my previous record into smithereens... It was mad through that arch at Hyde Park Corner (is it Admiralty?), I overtook so many I could barely keep count

[Dr Frigo]

Ha ha, never done that. Not sure I could top 25 on my route. Maybe by counting them twice or thrice when you overtake them again after they run red lights ...

But what I do all the time is race against myself. I mean by looking at my computer. Wind and traffic/ traffic lights play a good part on the time it takes (though my computer is set that the timer only ticks when you are actually riding) but I've done the route enough times to have my markers and know if I am doing well or not.

When I was in Vauxhall, 35" was average, 33" good and 31" excellent for the 17km. I knew I was in a bad way whenever I was doing over 40" ...

The best time I still remember, was a 29"45 - massive tailwind, several drafts behind lorries and good run of green lights. It got to the point where I was braking as late as possible at lights to avoid losing time - was exhausted when I arrived.

Now in Victoria I have to add about 1.5km and 3-4". Managed under 35" the other day. I was wondering whether I could run into you Will at the North end of Vauxhall Bridge - is this on your route?