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news
Video: Cyclist whizzes past motorbikers on descent ... and one of them isn't happy
Even if you haven’t ridden a long, snaking descent, you’ll know from watching the Tour de France and other races on TV that nothing is quicker going down one than a decent rider on a bicycle – remember Vincenzo Nibali’s winning attack in Il Lombardia last year when he zoomed past a couple of motos?
This video from Colombia shows the awkward moment when a pair of motorcyclists out on their bikes on a road near the capital Bogota were overtaken by a cyclist who’s clearly nailed his descending skills.
The biker in front is having none of it, though and gets back in front of the cyclist – not with the intention of giving him a tow, by the look of it – with the rider sensibly dropping back and expresses frustration to the other motorcyclist about his friend’s actions.
Of course, we couldn't mention a descent in South America without flagging up one of our all-time favourite videos - the Brazilian rider who drafted a lorry ... at 124kph.
Back to Europe, and here’s Nibali’s descent to win the autumn Monument last year.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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39 comments
The cyclist is a descending legend!
As an advanced motorcycle instructor I can tell you that the lines being ridden by the motorcyclists are completly wrong if you want to take those bends at speed. That is why he had to keep slowing down.
The cyclist was giving them a lesson in the correct line to follow. As for passing on the inside, he did it safely albeit technically illegal but the motorcyclist asked for it with that position.
On a left hand bend you want to be over to the right side and on a right hand bend you want to be over to the left. That way you get a wide arc through the bend and can take it quicker. You also use a technique called the limit point to determine just how fast you can go into the bend.
Easy when you know how and the cyclist obviously does!!
Rarely had any issues with motos. Have to admit that the worst time it was completely my fault, I was over the limit and didn't feel him behind me as I turned round. I was lucky that the guy had quick reflexes (and massive disc brakes). Every once in a while a moto rider passes me way too close way too fast, but much less often and much less dangerously than cars.
Just to add a bit of context, I'm pretty sure filtering and undertaking on a bike is legal in Colombia. What's more, as in many places, cyclists are obligated to keep right in motorways. The other contextual bit to add about Bogota is that pretty much all of the routes, bar one, in and out are fairly twisty. While a big chunk of the city itself is fairly flat. So some drivers and riders going out of the city for the first time would easily find themselves overwhelmed. And if that's where I think that is, then it's a excepcionally long, fairly fast descent. In any case, overwhelmed, overconfident and feeling pressure to act the part is a place where anyone, particularly young males, particularly on motorcycles, will quickly find trouble.
My experience is that many motorcyclists just don't get cycling. Although we both have two wheels, the two modes of transport are miles apart. My cousin is a motorcyclist and is always suggesting I get an electric bike. He doesn't realise I cycle partly for fitness. When I go for a workout ride he says I would get there so much faster on an electric bike. But it's not being at the destination that is important - it's the ride. It's like telling a marathon runner to get the bus.
Wow, your cousin sounds stupid. Why not just take the car!
Regardless of motorcyclists a typical senario is cyclist spots cyclist on the horizon and starts pedaling like mad till (usualy a he) overtakes thus padding out his ego. Untill at some point down the line he is overtaken. And so it goes.
Former motorcyclist here. Just to add to the chorus:
The guy on the lead bike is greener than his rims. Just look at the cornering from 23s on. Positioning completely wrong, and then freezes, fails to turn the bike, and almost doesn't make the corner despite barely tootling along!
Then takes it out on a cyclist who happens to come along. The cyclist undertaking the camera moto isn't an issue. Plenty of space, even bikers in groups will do that to each other without fuss.
Someone with money and ego who went and got a powerful bike, with no clue how to ride it.
As a motorcyclist and cyclist a totally echo those comments.
And me too, or three
Iv never been buzzed by motorcyclists but cyclists have just got to prove they're better and faster than the cyclicts in front of them. You just gotta laugh at the commuter would be racers. I got realy pissed off this morning though, a cyclist overtook me on what was prbably two thousand quids worth of titainam road bike whilst i was walking to work.
I've found that bikers are appreciative of cyclists keeping up with them. That's certainly been my experience descending Kirkstone, Dunmail Raise & Shap. Smiles & thumbs up, plenty of space, etc.
Harley riders tend to be arseholes with close passes. I'm guessing a Harley is the bike equivalent of an SUV or German car.
this chap gets a bit cross when overtaken by a cyclist too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYOz86G_oYU
vrroom vrrrom! My bike faster!
out in Hertfordshire last week, we overtook these guys out trotting (or their horses were) as we went down a hill, they gave us a wave and said that they would see us again going up the next hill ... whoosh, they came flying past ... all good fun, just turns out bikes go faster down hills, and racing horses go faster up ....
The undertake wasn't the cleverest maneuver by the cyclist but motorcylists do seem to have a massive ego (not all, my family has a long history of being bikers so I've been around them a bit), they're always the ones so damn keen to get past that they end up passing like an idiot - with a car coming or just too close. Honestly, per head the bikers are far worse than cars and trucks put together.
I've never seen a horse do more than 5mph on the road, are they even allowed to get into a fast gallop? I've never thought about it really, they're usually nicer than some motorists anyway.
Cyclist undertakes. Motorcyclist undertakes badly/dangerously. Really daft. As another poster points out, the motos need only wait until the next straight section and then they can show how fast they are.
I always inwardly applaud motorized vehicles when they zoom past doing 7000 RPM - "Well done mate, you managed to go faster than a guy on a bike with your 50K quid internal combustion engine powered Audi". Must make them feel pretty special I guess.
Here in Japan with our regular mountain jaunts we often have to deal with going faster downhill than the powered vehicles using the same roads. Most cars are pretty good and pull over to let you pass. One or two decide they need to show who's boos which is not very pleasant. Motorbikes here do take it a bit personal if you overtake them on a cycle but they know they will get you back on any stright section so tend to give you the sapce needed.
Having cycled & motorbiked around narrow, steep hills in the UK and on the big mountains in France & Spain, I think it's completely legit that a cyclist be faster on a descent than a motorcyclist. I feel much more confident on the pushbike - the lack of suspension helps me feel the grip available a lot better, and there's a lot less mass to slow down and worry about.
Specific to the video, the biker in front must be so green he still gets fed his tea by his mum. Awful awful lack of confidence in the turns. Aside from apparently getting the red mist about being undertaken by a cyclist, he just can't ride that bike safely.
As for comments about bikers overtaking cyclists at speed without enough of a space... fair shout. it happens too often. I'm known for getting salty with my mates for them doing that.
The cyclist must have really been struggling to pedal with his throbbing hadron collider after that move.
I have to say that in Monmouthshire where I do most of my biking, the motorbikes can be worse than car drivers- They all seem to be hell bent on getting into Mid Wales at warpfactor 10 and go past you with inches to spare and at idiotic speeds- No empathy with other 2 wheel users on the road it seems - Knobs with a capital K
Honestly the guy on the lead bike needs stabilizers. He is a danger on the roads. As for Nibali overtaking tv bikes. They have a man balancing on the back with a camera. Not exactly the IOM TT
that guy is crap on a motorbike, he should be ashamed of himself. my mum could ride better than that.
personally as a biker and a cyclist I wouldn't mind if I got overtaken, and if the guy was checking his mirros properly he would have seen him and should have got out of the way
Yep. Proper shite and I say that as an ex-motorbiker. That guy must have massive chicken strips on his tyres, I could have done him on a RG125.
Maybe the biker was getting some practice in for his next cycling moto job? The run yourself wide looked just the trick to cause an accident.
I was undertaken by a guy on a bicycle when I was on my motorbike some weeks back as I was riding up my own street. I was a little surprised because I was going slowly along the road as it has speedbumps. I was rather curious why the guy on the bicycle felt the need to show off to such a degree as he clearly had to nail it to get up the slope. I expect he couldn't resist overtaking someone on a sportsbike. But it can't have been much fun going over the speedbumps because he wasn't using the technique I'd use as a BMXer to lift the front, and which an MTB rider might use too, so he was just crashing into each of them on his fixie.
I thought he was a bit of a spoon to be honest as he was trying to make a point.
It works both ways. Some blokes are too egoistical for their own good.
If that cyclist had overtaken me on my sportsbike on that descent, I'd most likely have followed along trying to copy the rider's line. I don't know about you, but when I see someone with really good skills (whether on a bicycle, motorcycle or in a car) I try to figure out what it is that they're doing right and learn from that, rather than making a big deal about who has the biggest cajones.
Yes. The lives of other beings revolve around getting your attention and now that they have taken a few minutes of your time on the road, and on the internet, their existence has now been ratified.
It is not at all possible that other humans do things that are fun for their own entertainment. Such as this comment; it would not have existed, had you not been around to express your displeasure. To further the point, I'd like to ask what does the size of underwear have to do with ego stroking? In most cultures, it is the size of the "cojones" that are associated with contests of ego. A response from you would be the only reason for anyone to live their lives. Will you grace my internet with your platitude my kind deity?
Wow, my innocuous comment really got up your nose. I've no idea why but then I rather think that there may be something inside your head you need to deal with.
I can't help you with that.
I'm thinking that you've not ridden a fixie. You could sell tickets to watch someone bunny hop a fixie over a speed bump at speed, besides which, keeping the thing spinning is the key to getting up hills, hence why he would be nailing it.
Anyway, IMHO the finest example of descending a passing stuff is this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxXqQqAc2pA
Yep I've ridden fixies though they're not my thing. Yep I've seen people bunnyhop them. I do BMX racing and I can bunnyhop pretty well and I can also lift the front over a speedbump. He wasn't using either of these techniques and as I said, was just crashing into them. He was trying to make a point and made himself look a bit of a spoon.
Yep I've ridden fixies and a mate of mine is very adept at bunnyhopping them. He is a class BMX/MTB rider though.
This bloke who passed me was nailing it because he wanted to make a point and he also undertook me as well. I did spot him in my mirror as he came up the inside and I just thought he was a prat trying to make a point. Neither of use can see into his mind to know what he was doing but his overtake at least was risky as it was rather close.
I had the same descending off the Madeline last year and it was great overtaking Harley's eventually over took me towards the bottom and think a gentle wave good bye (good natured) great fun !
Cyclist undertakes and is in the wrong. Does that excuse motorcyclist's response? Of course not. Yet we cyclists wonder why we have a reputation for being idiots. Look no further.
Really? You're buying into that collective responsibility bullshit? Theres only one idiot, and theyre there every time you look in the mirror.
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