Fishguy

So I got ran off the road today by a pack of cyclists on my commute home tonight. I was coming up to a fairly busy stop sign controlled intersection intending on turning left (after stopping at the stop sign of course...). I look back and a pack of about 40 roadies were coming up behind me so I signal my intention to turn left and start to move over...THEY CAME AROUND ME ON MY LEFT ANYWAYS and proceeded to blast through the stop sign and headed right. I was forced to pull off the road to my right and come to a stop (certain expletives may have been uttered). If I had swung over to the left I would have taken out the whole pack.

I have been commuting on these roads for 10 years and have never had an interaction with a motorist and then I get blasted off the road by a bunch of aggro roadies? WTF? Its bad enough for cyclists to piss off motorists...but when cyclists start pissing off other cyclists using the road responsibly? Unfortunately it is cyclists like these guys who give cyclists a bad image and wreck it for those of us who try to behave on roads.

Oh yeah I live in Boulder Co. Colorado...go figure. Not all of us here are like these guys BTW.

ParkingTheBus

I have brought up this kinda issue before on this forum and to cyclists/friends in real life and I always get blasted for it... There are simply way too many arrogant and cocky road cyclists out there. Whenever I call them out on it, they get pissed. It's the elitist mentality that bothers me. As a cyclist, I always make sure to respect fellow cyclists and pedestrians as we're the most vulnerable and often times victims.

I have encountered a few road cyclists and the attitude from SOME of them is shocking. I remember one time, my friends and I had planned to go for a bike ride along the lakeshore and called it an "leisure ride". They show up to my house all dressed up like they're going to a race. I asked, "What happened to the leisure ride we were going on?". They complained that there would be too many peds and slow cyclists on the route and changed up the whole day.

Off topic, but anyways you get the point. These people never know when to slow down and take things calmly.

Chris516

They are the kind of cyclists'. That make other cyclists' look bad.

tjspiel

Pretty bad behavior.

I used to do quite a few group rides and as a rule that kind of behavior was strongly discouraged. But you can't control who shows up for the rides and there are people that will do stupid stuff and have an attitude as well. I like the rides that have good leaders who lay out the expectations ahead of time. The people doing the majority of the pulling set the tone for everyone else.

tjspiel

Roadies often have a different view of what a "leisure" ride is. It's not really fair that they changed things up on you like that but I tend to agree that roadies doing a "leisurely" 15 to 20+ mph don't belong on a MUP unless peds are separated from cyclists and the MUP tends not to be very busy.

Mr IGH

I've seen a few large aggressive road packs out of Boulder and Fort Collins, to me they appear to be college age and really fast. I just yield as if they're a big oil truck, they pass by fast. Is it really that big a deal? Not to me.

ParkingTheBus

I'm inbetween. I mountain bike, commute, road bike and leisurely ride around MUP's on my hybrid so I can see things from different perspectives. It really isn't fair for cyclists to be bombing down MUP's with pedestrians around.. It really grinds my gears when I see some roadie all dressed up in spandex blowing by at 35 km/hr. I really like speed, but there's times when you need to tone it down.

Unfortunately, a lot of road cyclists think they're a class above the rest. I notice that the really cocky ones usually have the best equipment but the absolute worst cycling form and next to no endurance...

It's not that. It's the fact that the roadies as the OP described, blatantly ignored his hand signal and violated several traffic laws in the process. If it was a car that had cut/hooked them, you'd never hear the end of their complaining,.

Dave Cutter

I felt pressured to the edge of a bicycle path by a rather small group of cyclist. I think what bothered me the most was they were so much faster than me.

wagonfanatic

Making the roads safer often requires us to have frank conversations with other cyclists, not just blame everything on infrastructure or drivers. Bad cyclists are a serious problem, and they give many of us bad names. How we go about trying to ask other cyclists to please respect others rights is an important and difficult process..I'd say its really hard when there is a whole pack and a mob mentality. Its far easier one-on-one. I also think, like a parent, tell a fellow cyclist that you are "disappointed" because they are giving all of us a bad name *might* be effective.

LesterOfPuppets

Were they Pro? Maybe a couple of squads are staying in Colorado a while after USA Pro Challenge? Everyone knows pro racers are dicks. Ever seen Breaking Away?

I'm also curious as to your lane position. Not that the incorrect one would make it your fault, as it clearly seems to be the fault of the overtaking peloton. Just curious.

Rollfast

The language is getting too course and is not acceptable under Bike Forums rules. Please clean it up...

CrankyOne

And we wonder why cyclists and lycra have such bad names among non cyclists.

ItsJustMe

pmsleadership - spamming every comment thread on bikeforums is unlikely to win you any friends.

CrankyOne

He's likely about 13 or 14 years old. I'd cut him a little slack and offer helpful suggestions.

tarwheel 

I consider myself a roadie, but that type of behavior gives all cyclists a bad reputation. It's one reason why I seldom ride with large groups and club rides any more. To many of these groups, it's all about their average speed. They could care less about safety, traffic laws or ticking off other cyclists and drivers. Fortunately most of them seem to stay off the greenways, where I have been riding more and more frequently. However, occasionally a pack of them get on some of the longer MUTs and pull the same kinds of stunts. There are no traffic signs or lights to blow through, but they pass other cyclists, walkers and runners very close at fast speeds without saying a word or ringing bells.

bikecrate

Yeah, I'm not wild about large groups. I dread when I come across one, since the interaction has not always been positive. One time I got the equivalent of a "right hook". They all wanted to go right and I wanted to go straight. I had to stop suddenly to avoid collision. There also used to be a pretty regular paceline group that I would encounter that was pretty aggressive about pushing anyone in the way over into the gutter.

bikecrate

That was a helpful suggestion.

intransit1217

Am I a roadie if I'm wearing my club kit but riding my dual sport? I'm so confused.

Hypno Toad

Group (lemming) mentality is a bad thing - I've see this a number of times.

I recall a couple years ago, I riding through a construction area that was one-way during the road work. I was riding the correct direction, however a pack of roadies decided to ride against the one-way. They were riding through a strip mall parking lot to get past most of the one-way section. But they needed to get back on the road at the end of the parking lot. They came out of a driveway fast and blind, they turned really wide onto this narrow road, forcing me into construction debris on the right side, giving me a pinch flat. I swore loudly, but not one in the group looked at me.

I don't think any one rider in this group was bad, they just follow the wheel in front of them without thinking. So, when you're out on a group ride, THINK for yourself and don't be such a roadie. Thanks!

jfowler85

OP, this kind of stuff happens, don't get your panties in a bunch about it. I ride a very well known MUP to work every day, and pay local taxes which fund maintenance. Now that the fall semester is among us, kids from the local U are clogging up the path, running 4-5 abreast all the way across both lanes. They're literally pushing cyclists into the gravel shoulder which is a no-no on a crowned path...tends to suck one off the path.

What is a cyclist to do? Take another route. No need to complain to the local U coaches (like that would do anything), no need to get on BF and whine. **** happens, then you die. In the meantime, just brush it off.

mconlonx

There are self-absorbed jerks in the general population. There are self-absorbed jerks on bikes. Woah.

Hypno Toad

I doubt is was pros, I saw a group of pros in Minneapolis earlier this summer. We had a pro event in town and saw them on a training ride on the Midtown Greenway. This was the Optum team, they were very respectful.

gregf83 

The guy(s) up front probably didn't see your hand signal or didn't see it in time. Groups don't normally like to pass on the right so they started to go around you on the left. Once they start to the left even if they saw your hand signal it's difficult for a large group to change direction.

Most groups (and cars) will roll through stop signs if there is no oncoming traffic. You probably surprised them by stopping

Hypno Toad

Sorry, but I disagree, we should not accept this jerk behavior. Most local teams in Minneapolis make a statement on their site to the effect if you see our team breaking the law (or being a jerk), let us know 'cause we'll correct the problem. Since the group is riding with the sponsor's brand on the jersey, the team sponsor doesn't want this kind of bad publicity.

bmthom.gis

I'm a Roadie...lately I have been more of a commuter but I have been getting back into smaller group rides...I'm a non competitive Roadie though. I'll compete with myself and friends to a point, but not past the point of having fun. Anyways, here are a few things that poke fun of us...

https://youtu.be/GMCkuqL9IcM

From BSNYC's first book
[h=2]The Roadie[/h]The Roadie is, in a certain sense, the prototypical cyclist. Road racing is certainly not the oldest form of competitive cycling, but it does have a long history and it is by far the most popular competitive discipline. After all, even people who can't tell a road bike from a mountain bike have heard of the Tour de France. The drop bars, the jersey with rear pockets, the tight shorts and the diminutive brimmed cycling cap together embody the cyclist in the popular imagination.Because road cycling is steeped in tradition (and occasionally garnished with attitude), every single aspect of road cycling – from clothing choice to equipment choice to hand signals to which way to pull off the front of a paceline – is governed by rules. And like all rules, some of them have evolved out of necessity, and some of them are simply tradition for tradition's sake.
The negative view of the Roadie is that he or she is fastidious, snotty and aloof. On the other hand, the romantic view is that Roadies are the toughest of all cyclists and that their careful preparation and studied appearance is a natural expression of this mental and physical toughness. But there's a deeper truth. Beneath all the training and suffering and Lycra and embrocations, the fact is that all Roadies are freeloading cheats. I'm not talking about doping. No, Roadies are freeloading cheats because the true essence of road cycling is the conservation of energy. Naturally, the only way a bicycle is going to move is if a person puts energy into it and they do what they can to make their bodies strong, but there the effort ends. Beyond this, everything else is based on not making an effort. It's based on making things as light and aerodynamic as possible; it's based on slipstreaming behind other riders for as long as possible and it's about expending as little effort as effectively as possible.

And the Roadie's freeloading ways extend to life off the bike as well. Anybody who's spent any time in bike shops knows the Roadie is the worst kind of product-grubbing discount hunter there is. They have no loyalty to their shop; if they can find it online for £2 less, they'll buy it there. Yet they'll spend £1,000 on a wheel set if they think it might give them an edge, and if you lend them the money for it don't expect to get it back. Roadies are the junkies of the cycling world; they're skinny and untrustworthy, and they'll do whatever they need to in order to keep their habit going. The Roadie's life is full of disappointed people – spouses, friends, family – all of whom have involuntarily funded their depraved lifestyle in one way or another.
Why other cyclists don't like them: They don't appear to enjoy what they're doing and they don't appear to know you exist.
Compatibility with other cyclists: Have been seen at mountain-bike races, but are largely compatible only with their own kind.