spdoran

Came across this gem earlier reposted by Peleton. Are we snobs? Does caring about our sport and wishing others would do the same if they would like to be involved make us mean? Can we really be vilified for joining a team and sticking to heritage?

Why does cycling attract so many snobs? - Telegraph

Also, I don't want grief for posting this here and not the road forums because this pretty adamantly calls out the road racer.

mattm

a) What's great about the top photo used in the article is that the next few frames show the guy crashing into the grass..

b) Bike racing isn't really mentioned in the article. A few pros are, but not actual races. Do "sportives" even count as races?

c) I got 41 answers but "yes" ain't one

gsteinb

'I came across this on a neat site called The Facebook. You guys should check it out.'

hack

snob

aaronmcd

Is it just a coincidence that that was your 41st post?

mike868y

i hate most cyclists.

then again i hate most people.

spdoran

You got me there... I admit defeat.

YMCA

Yo soy proud elitist, but no snob

UmneyDurak

I am going to go with No.

CharlyAlfaRomeo

They must have been going ridiculously slow if the author was able to hear them exhaust an entire repertoire of insults and then observe them trying to blow by other riders, all this while the author is stopped at the side of the road.

What a bunch of BS.

Creatre

41.

And there are a lot of snobs in bike racing. But who cares, there are a lot of snobs in life. The only thing I got from that article is that he is jealous he can't devote himself enough to get on a team and be a somewhat decent bike racer.

Moyene Corniche

So would Harley riders also be considered snobs since they greet one another but do not acknowledge riders on other brands of motorcycles ?
Some years ago around Monroe Ct I had one of those days where on a 5+ hour ride I suffered 3 flats, ran out of patches and had to walk the last 6 km to home. The only person that stopped and asked If I needed assistance was a guy on a Harley in club colors. Of all the pickups and SUV's that went by me, none were even concerned. I respect anyone on two wheels as long as they offer the same. I have always offered assistance to anyone whom I encountered that was in need. It's the normal human courtesy.
I actually was stopped yesterday towards the end of my ride, at the start of the climb to Mt Tom by this kid who was training but lost. He had been training/running with his Drill Instructor ( whatever ) and since he wasn't in shape to keep up, the DI had dropped him and left him to fend for himself. He was heading in the wrong direction, had descended about 4km but needed to go back to reach the log cabin where he wanted to go. He was OK, just tired and dismayed. As for that DI, he is clueless, you never let someone who doesn't know the route and is obviously not in shape to keep up get shelled and then leave them. Always have to make sure that person gets back safely.

In Cycling, snobbery takes many forms. Such as the jerks who insist on a hammerfest when it's a group ride. The etiquette is to designate wether there are other's who want to push the pace. If so it is declared before the ride starts and it is set to begin at a distance from the start of the ride. Whereas then it is fine to drop others who don't want or cannot keep pace.
Otherwise a group ride mans that the faster riders wait for the slowest riders to bridge, repeatedly if needed and wait for them to finish the ride as a group. A group ride is a social gathering, not a forum to prove how dominant a rider one is.
If anyone travels to France or Italy or Belgium and has the pleasure of being invited to ride with a local club. Beware of the above practice, you will be promptly asked to not return to ride for trying to prove that you can drop everyone.

I call snobbery on the wannabe's who wear all the regalia, poor riding skills, think they're all that and couldn't acknowledge anyone else might perhaps have a few more miles than they do. I took a detour yesterday to check out the bike path from Hadley to Northhampton.
Plenty of examples on that conduit. Especially lately the touring types. Riding with the full accoutrements of panniers and kit. This has happened multiple times, i'll nod or acknowledge them and will get a blank look in return.
I hope someday I can be so cool that I do not have to return a greeting ( not )

For crying out loud, we are all on 2 wheels, amazingly the hipsters and fixies are the most engaging. I'm not a fan of full tattoo regalia or for that matter a fixie, but when it comes to a group who are genuinely interested they are fun to hang with.

BTW, the snobbery is fortunately mostly entrenched in the sportives, recreational riders and lower Cats 5,4's, some in the 3's, but very rare in the 1's and 2's and especially rare with the Pro's or ex Pro's. Perhaps because they've proven to themselves just how difficult it is to reach the upper trenches and have no need to stroke their ego's by acting with an air of superiority.

Perhaps we'd get a bit more respect from the automobilia if the cycling community was a bit more cohesive.

grolby

I thought that, too.

"Are we snobs?" I don't know. Should I really be worried about it, though? I'm going to go with no.

merlinextraligh

I'd definitely agree that the snobbish behaviour the Author is complaining about is mostly in the non racer wannabe types, as oppossed to licensed riders.

I do find it however, being rather difficult to be snobbish as a Cat3, getting my butt kicked in P1,2,3 races.

spdoran

The author seems to think that the racers (team kits in paceline folks) are the ones picking on the non-racer wannabe types (wearing yellow jersey replicas while being slower than average). Although there is no need to blow by slower riders in what is essentially a highly organized group ride; can those who enjoy the sport, as opposed to the weekend hobby, be fussed at for wanting to keep some level of tradition and prestige in place?

Ygduf

Nah. C3 is the ultimate category. Better than freds AND better than no-life P12s who sacrifice other parts of their lives to devote so much time to cycling.

wphamilton

... the weekend hobby riders don't enjoy the sport? should we really look down on them as wannabe types for not caring about the level of prestige of a yellow jersey?

eja_ bottecchia

Ah, the British, they are oh so quaint.

Where I ride, people just ride and leave each other alone.

Maybe it is a So Cal thing, we just mind our business.

TMonk

personally i like to talk trash on people who talk trash about people who talk trash.

let them talk their trash for christsake!

caloso

I came here to post this. In my experience, the farther you go up the racing ladder, the less snobbery and pretentiousness. Bike racing requires a lot of discipline and riders who are putting in the miles and the hours in the saddle to be competitive don't have the time or energy to fret about having the perfectly matching kit on a group ride. You're expected to be able to handle your bike, be self-sufficient and know your way home if you get dropped, but people will gladly lend you a tube if you need one.

That said, I've never been on a sportive. Is that like a century or grand fondo?

spdoran

Weekend bringing out the bike is a hobby separate from putting in the countless hours it takes to race. People that drive sports cars aren't race car drivers. People who ride road bikes aren't road bike racers. You have to get to the starting line.

Personally I think that without heritage and common agreements between the whole we run into problems. Signaling when slowing down, turning etc. in a group would be considered tradition- what if a large portion of the sport said to heck with that like other traditions? Maybe we're not snobs, but we're just trying to keep everything from unraveling on us?

spdoran

Also, one of my first organized events was a gran fondo and at the time I thought some of the upper level guys that had showed up to ride with their S-Works/cervélo/etc. rides and smooth cycling talk were snobs and I even heard a guy let out a small chuckle as he passed me going up a steep climb. Looking back on it, I was probably just intimidated by these guys and felt like I was being held to an extremely high scrutiny. Maybe the issue is that new racers and hobbyists are inherently insecure when the big guns are around. Which is why the cat1,2,3 guys say they don't notice any snobbery in their ranks.

wphamilton

Ah, I think I get it. By "enjoy the sport" you meant "enjoy the sport of bike racing". Not just enjoying the sport of cycling.

So they're not really involved in the sport, and it feels like they're demeaning the traditions?

furiousferret

I'd mostly agree with this. One of things that turns me off about group rides is the pecking order of things. You typically have 3-5 pro's / ex pro's / studs, and then 20 guys trying everything to impress them. Some try to win their affection by being an enforcer or just an all around snob. Others do it by trying to race them which is silly, because most of the pro types see group rides as training sessions where they work on things, where Joe Local is treating it like his A race. The Tuesday Ride is the worst. Socializing with some in that group is like that scene in swingers where the girl ignores Jon Favreau because of the car he drives, except it's more like 'what category do you race?'

Moyene Corniche

I will assume that is just sarcasm.