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<div class="entry-content"><p>I was rolling up the bike lane on Eighth Avenue on my way to work recently when a man on a Trek roared past with legs pumping like Greg LeMond.</p><p>I didn’t think much of it as I immediately caught up to him ― with his casual office clothes and drop handlebars ― at a red light on 23rd Street. I cruised past as the light changed, but by the next block he had come charging back, outside the lane and in traffic this time, and zipped ahead of me for good.</p><p>Had I been defeated? Were we even in a race?</p><p>It is a question that often comes to mind in a highly competitive city increasingly filled with cyclists. Many commuters and casual riders admit to engaging in such unspoken competitions,[http://www.polorblphalaurenpascher.com polo homme],[http://www.ralphlaurenpasscherfrance.com <a href="http://www.ralphlaurenoutletitaly.com" target="_blank">polo lacoste]</a>, though it’s usually only in their own heads. <span id="more-254673"></span></p><p>Some have even coined a term ― “Cat 6” ― for these street-level, just-for-fun contests. It jokingly refers to a made-up sixth category of amateur bicycle racers, one below the five official levels.</p><p>For my part, I was not racing. Not at first. But when I failed to catch my ersatz competitor before reaching the office in Midtown, I was a little disappointed.</p><p>For Bryce Engen, 26, an Amtrak engineer,[http://www.polohommefemmebpascher.com polo ralph lauren],[http://www.outletgucciitaly.com borse gucci], the occasional spontaneous race with other bike commuters is just part of his ride to work.</p><p>“I can’t help it; they can’t help it,” he said. “It just happens.”</p><p>Since June,[http://www.jordanfr3.com nike air jordan], Mr. Engen has encountered the same group of Spanish-language cyclists about a dozen times on his nighttime commute between his home in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and Sunnyside, Queens, where he works the graveyard shift repairing Acela trains.</p><p>Though Mr. Engen says his Spanish is “poor,” he communicates in other friendly ways with the three or four men,[http://www.ralphlaurenpasscherfrance.com <a href="http://www.polorblphalaurenpascher.com" target="_blank">polo ralph lauren pas cher]</a>,[http://www.ralphlaurenoutletitaly.com ralph lauren], who ride battered mountain bikes and share a portion of his route along Greenpoint Avenue. “It’s an unspoken thing,[http://www.polopasqchere3.com polo femme],[http://www.asian-u.com/profile.php?user=cjd89b7tfs&v=comments polo ralph lauren pas cher Mao Zedong  Seeing Red],[http://www.poloralphlaurenpasscheres.com <a href="http://www.polofr1.com" target="_blank">polo ralph lauren pas cher]</a>,” he said. “Everybody just seems to race each other. Even if they’re not hustling to pass me, if I look back and I see them coming, I hustle.”</p><p> in Good magazine about competitive commuting has touched off lively conversation on cycling blogs and across the Web. Some cyclists cheered the notion, admitting to frequently speeding up to challenge others, while many,[http://www.jordancpascher.com air jordan pas cher], including racers and the die-hard all-weather commuters,[http://innovationrealisation.com.au/mw/index.php?title=User:Vrm88d7gzv#polo_ralph_lauren_pas_cher_polo_homme_The_New_York_Times_Sea polo ralph lauren pas cher polo homme The New York Times Sea], thought the whole notion was laughable.</p><p>But these sorts of impromptu competitions are as old as the bicycle and just as universal. For years, cyclists in London have been sharing anecdotes about such races on  and through  under the tag #itsnotarace.</p><p>In this way,[http://www.polohommefemmebpascher.com polo ralph lauren],[http://www.poloralphalaurenpascher.com <a href="http://www.polohommefemmee1.com" target="_blank">polo ralph lauren pas cher]</a>, Cat 6 is something like the “man date” of the cycling world: a common experience that few ever thought to give a name.</p><p>Commuter racing illustrates the essential and unique aspects of riding to work: unlike other modes, bicycling is perched between transportation and exercise. After all,[http://www.polorblphalaurenpascher.com polo homme], who worries about being passed by a hurried walker along Broadway or getting beat through the subway door by a motivated straphanger? There is competition here, perhaps,<a href="http://www.polohommefemmepascher.com">[http://www.polorblphalaurenpascher.com polo homme]</a>, but it is rarely athletic and never fun.</p><p>By contrast, bicycling in an urban environment,[http://www.brickcityboxing.com/index.php/a/2011/03/30/ borsa chanel <a href="http://www.polopasqchere3.com" target="_blank">polo ralph lauren pas cher] Media  The Great Deb</a>,[http://www.poloralphlaurenitaly.com ralph lauren italia], with all its hazards and potential shortcuts,[http://www.polohommefemmee.com <a href="http://www.polohommefemmee1.com" target="_blank">polo]</a>,[http://www.polopasbcheres.com ralph lauren pas cher], can be a kind of game that brings out a cyclist’s essential competitiveness, said Robert J. Bell, professor of sports psychology at Ball State University in Indiana. For better or worse, commuting by bike still feels more like play or exercise than a tedious slice of the daily routine.</p><p>“I think the majority of cyclists who bike to work are just more competitive by nature,[http://nationalcitizens.ca/blog/2011/12/15/kyoto-the-media-and-the-political-lefts-hysteria/ <a href="http://www.polofr1.com" target="_blank">polo lacoste pas cher] On the Radio</a>,” Dr. Bell said.</p><p>The common response from actual bike racers to stories of ad hoc commuter contests: Join a team and race for real.</p><p>“Riders who don’t race lack an outlet for their competitive drive on the bike, so a pass can be taken as a challenge,” said Andy Shen,<a href="http://computerarticles.net/choosing-the-blog-software-thats-right-for-you/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">[http://www.polopasqchere3.com polo femme] louis vuitton borse Ethics  For the Record</a>,<a href="http://www.polopasacher.com">[http://www.polorblphalaurenpascher.com polo homme]</a>, who covers professional and local amateur racing on .</p><p>“The odd thing about these ‘races’ is that the rider never makes eye contact,” he added. “The way to confirm that they’ve engaged you in a battle of wills is to gently ease up behind them and see if they speed up to stay ahead.”</p><p>If they do,[http://www.outletgucciitaly.com gucci sito ufficiale], it’s on.</p><p>But in these unofficial races there are no rules and there is no finish line. The best way to win, then, is to pull off the road the minute you take the lead.</p><p>So with that in mind,[http://www.polopasacher.com <a href="http://www.polohommefemmebpascher.com" target="_blank">polo ralph lauren pas cher]</a>,[http://mi.sh.se/medieteknik/mtawiki/index.php/User:Ypwmi7s8i9#air_jordan_NYTimes.com_Site_Licenses air jordan NYTimes.com Site Licenses], my brave Trek-riding competitor, if we meet again on the commuter race course to Midtown, I’ll know my finish is at 40th Street, and, in my head, I’ll race you there.</p><p>Only this time, I’ll win.</p></div>