This Unusual Week of Commuting

The work on the freeway bridge crossing the Amsterdam Rijnkanaal, the one my bikepath goes under, took more time than expected, so all week (and last Thursday already) I had to find detours. My favorite was the big, empty stretch of asphalt on the other side of the canal in the recreational area of the new Amsterdam neighborhood (built, literally, in the lake) IJburg. Coming from Amsterdam, you get there by crossing the new Nesciobrug, actually a little climb if there's a headwind. It's odd to have such a wide road in an area where no car is supposed to go, and I think it was built for construction purposes when the IJburg project got underway. I think it's roughly on the old dike, beyond which the lake (and prior to 1932, the sea) used to start. In 1983, when as a student I lived in nearby Diemen, I'd occasionally run there, on days I'd do a 15 miler or so. (Those days are long, long gone). Today, it looks nothing like it used to there, it's all been run through the planning mill. Still, at the end, you do get on a bikepath that runs very nicely along the old sea dike for about a mile (with sheep roaming freely), until you emerge at the Maxis superstore, on the road to Muiden, where, on the way home, I'd head next. Then I'd go on to the Hakkelaarsbrug, near Muiderberg. I had a tailwind, the times I rode there this week, and thought I was going at a decent pace. Nothing remotely hard, just spinning the 39x15 or even 14, but compared to the pace I got used to last winter, it felt pretty good. But on two days I was passed by: one guy on a hybrid, also a commuter, riding fatter tires and softer shoes, and shortly after that an overweight guy on some kind of mountainbike wearing a pair of red soccer shorts. The latter also passed the guy on the hybrid, probably also to his surprise. Both were working, and I wasn't, but I have to admit to feeling a little defensive. Part of me wanted to accellerate and pass both of them, so as to show that earlier, I was just taking it easy. The third guy, yesterday, got to me even more. It was a tailwind again, and this time I was working a little, using the 39x14, probably doing something like 19 or 20 m/h. And there comes this guy on what looks like a regular bike. Older again than me, or so it looked. It was a nice bike, but with fenders rack, regular handlebars--probably one of these new, all decked-out, light-weight touring bikes. He had changed into something sporty, was pushing a big gear, and he flew by me. What the ...?? After following the bikepath to the other side of the road about halfway through I decided to speed up and close the gap--not pass him, just pull up behind him and let myself drop back again. He had about 200 meters on me when I started (keeping it in the same gear), and there was about one kilometer to my turn off, and I didn't quite get there. Am I getting enough out of my commutes? I thought I did, and the weekend performance seems to confirm it (also the way I feel at the end of the day). But there are definitely people out there with a different approach to riding to work. I'll just have to let them do it their way.