Foo - an observation

people who live around here must have a lot of money to spend.

i ride daily (religiously). i try to ride at different times of the day, different routes and different distances. even still, there are 1 or 2 other riders i pass regularly. however, most others i see are one-time only occurences. and i DO end up repeating previous rides quite a bit so i'm pretty sure those people are not out riding every other day or so.

here's what's interesting, i see all kinds of eye-candy on my rides. masi, cervelo's, lightspeed, kestrel, etc. the rider will be all decked out in a full kit and matching helmet. and i see them just once. while i love my bike, it pales in comparison to the ones i see out on the road. and here i am; a 39 yo guy who is 25 pounds overweight riding an entry-level cf bike every day. (and this is NOT a brag in anyway - i'm a pretty "weak" rider) i end up passing most of these tricked out riders on their $4500+ bikes. they pedal like they're on a sunday bikepath ride with the kids. again, i'm not bragging as i'm a total noob. also, some i pass may be on a recovery ride or on the cool-down part of their ride.

i guess i'm just jealous. the only way i was able to justify spending $2k on a bike was knowing that i ride every day. i can't envision having the kind of scratch to spend double that on a bike i ride half as much.

Reminds me of when I was at Mackinaw Island. I was 60 pounds overweght riding a real heavy Schwinn. Not one person that day went faster than me.

I guess a lot of people just aren't into it.

Reminds me of a story. About half of my old commute was on a parkway that had a MUP running alongside it (Cleveland Metroparks Valley Parkway). There was one hill that I used to attack on the way home just to push myself - the MUP avoids the hill. Anyway, I push myself up, hammering out of the saddle until I feel like I am gonna hurl. I get to top, drop a couple of gears and spin easy, huffing and puffing. Just as I pass where the MUP crosses the road, a couple of road bikes come screaming off the MUP and pass me, laughing at the "Fred" they are dropping. Wow, I was impressed - NOT.

kinda like a hummer. all tricked out an no mud to play in - or at least no driver daring enough to take their status symbol for a proper thrashing.

keep riding and ignore the product pansies!

All the bike in the world means nothing without a good engine. If you have a great engine, even a VW Beetle can be a screamer. (I know, we did it once, the thing would pop a wheely!)

I wonder how many of those bikes end up stuck in a garage because the owner thinks they were ripped off because the bike is still difficult to make go and they don't ride like Lance? ;)

kinda like a hummer. all tricked out an no mud to play in - or at least no driver daring enough to take their status symbol for a proper thrashing.

keep riding and ignore the product pansies!


Oh man I really cant express how annoyed I am at people who drive Range Rovers around the 'burbs and never ever take it into the wilderness. Its just so much lost potential. I know its none of my business, but I really just cant help but be a bit miffed.

I just dropped one of our local "pelotons" today, and I was pulling a trailer with about 60 pounds of groceries in it! Man, it felt good!:D

What I wouldn't give for a foto of that Tom!

What I wouldn't give for a foto of that Tom!
I wish I'd had my camera, I'd have shot video!

:p

To add insult to injury, I offered to slow down and pull for a bit if they wanted!:D

i end up passing most of these tricked out riders on their $4500+ bikes. they pedal like they're on a sunday bikepath ride with the kids. again, i'm not bragging as i'm a total noob. also, some i pass may be on a recovery ride or on the cool-down part of their ride.

i guess i'm just jealous. the only way i was able to justify spending $2k on a bike was knowing that i ride every day. i can't envision having the kind of scratch to spend double that on a bike i ride half as much.
Maybe you're gifted - who knows? I've heard several stories of top professional riders who first discovered their talents when they blew away the field despite having shoddy equipment. Maybe you have a latent gift. Of course, at 39, you won't go professional, but maybe you can be a threat in the Master's division in your local races. Give it a shot - you have nothing to lose but your pride.;)

you have nothing to lose but your pride.

lost that long ago.



thanks for the thought....but i average 16-17 on my rides whether i go 15 or 50 miles. i just plug along.

lost that long ago.



thanks for the thought....but i average 16-17 on my rides whether i go 15 or 50 miles. i just plug along.


nothin wrong with that.

It's very frustrating. Reassure yourself that anyone who spends that much money on eye candy they'll never use properly is
a) compensating for lack of fulfillment in their life
b) up to their eyeballs in debt

And every day they have to come out and look cool to show the world how awesome they are, all the while crumbling inside at fear of the repo man knocking at their door, or that one day they might be exposed for the fragile, sad toy junkies they are.

Why let it bother you? Cycling to me is about personal fitness and personal goals. As long as I'm making progress on my goals, I'm happy. Does that mean I don't perk up when I see a nice bike on the road/trail? Of course not, I always take a look. But it's because I want to check out the bike. I could care less about the rider and what "qualifications" they have to own such a bike. Just keep focus and accomplish what you've set out to accomplish.

I'm thinking it would be fun to get me a nice expensive bike, deck myself out in full team kit, then one morning/evening go trolling for envious commuters who wanna drop me. :eek: :D

^:lol:

people who live around here must have a lot of money to spend.

i ride daily (religiously). i try to ride at different times of the day, different routes and different distances. even still, there are 1 or 2 other riders i pass regularly. however, most others i see are one-time only occurences. and i DO end up repeating previous rides quite a bit so i'm pretty sure those people are not out riding every other day or so.

here's what's interesting, i see all kinds of eye-candy on my rides. masi, cervelo's, lightspeed, kestrel, etc. the rider will be all decked out in a full kit and matching helmet. and i see them just once. while i love my bike, it pales in comparison to the ones i see out on the road. and here i am; a 39 yo guy who is 25 pounds overweight riding an entry-level cf bike every day. (and this is NOT a brag in anyway - i'm a pretty "weak" rider) i end up passing most of these tricked out riders on their $4500+ bikes. they pedal like they're on a sunday bikepath ride with the kids. again, i'm not bragging as i'm a total noob. also, some i pass may be on a recovery ride or on the cool-down part of their ride.

i guess i'm just jealous. the only way i was able to justify spending $2k on a bike was knowing that i ride every day. i can't envision having the kind of scratch to spend double that on a bike i ride half as much.

So then when you go to the book store, do you just look at the pretty pictures on the cover to decide which book to buy? :rolleyes:

Why let it bother you? Cycling to me is about personal fitness and personal goals. As long as I'm making progress on my goals, I'm happy. Does that mean I don't perk up when I see a nice bike on the road/trail? Of course not, I always take a look. But it's because I want to check out the bike. I could care less about the rider and what "qualifications" they have to own such a bike. Just keep focus and accomplish what you've set out to accomplish.

+1

The one time riders tend to be the ones that rely on gear to get anything done.

Cycling is a physical sport, and like such requires a fit rider. Fit doesn't mean they have to look emaciated like most of the TdF riders do at the end of it....fit means they have the physical capability to complete the ride with the pack, nothing more, nothing less.

That said, I knew of a few big guys who kept getting discouraged because they got winded....thing was, they were just about as fast ans the people 1/2 or 1/3rd their weight...now I think I'm the only big guy left in the group (my attendance has been pretty crappy thanks to all the saturday work I have been expected to do).

The ones I saw that got the most discouraged were the ones with the biggest expectations....runners in particular....they see me get winded by jogging 50 feet, then get sad when I can hold my own in a club ride....don't get upset over it, it's a different form of activity, so it will work the person differently....I log insane miles (I think the last year was my lowest in the past 4 years, at approx 4,000mi, before that I was averaging about 10,000 a year).....I'll admit my biggest problem with weight is diet (I'm a junk food junkie).

Thing is, put down the miles, miles will make you fast...not the bike. It's just hard to get people to realize that, even the advocates in my area keep pushing the bike when it's the rider that matters most.

Why let it bother you? Cycling to me is about personal fitness and personal goals. As long as I'm making progress on my goals, I'm happy. Does that mean I don't perk up when I see a nice bike on the road/trail? Of course not, I always take a look. But it's because I want to check out the bike. I could care less about the rider and what "qualifications" they have to own such a bike. Just keep focus and accomplish what you've set out to accomplish.

doesn't bother me which is why i titled the thread "an observation." i could care less what others ride. however, i drool over higher end bikes like i drool over my neighbors '69 barracuda.

i wish i could justify spending that much $$ on a bike (or classic car).....as insidious as the "cycling bug" is, a lightspeed is probably not too far off into the future for me!

The ones I saw that got the most discouraged were the ones with the biggest expectations....runners in particular....they see me get winded by jogging 50 feet, then get sad when I can hold my own in a club ride....don't get upset over it, it's a different form of activity, so it will work the person differently....

hehehe.

i was talking with my neighbor yesterday. he said he ran miles the previous day. he knows how much i ride and thought i was joking when i said, "i couldn't run 1 mile, let alone 6."

one time my son forgot something when i walked him to the bus stop. i ran home, got it and ran back...about 2 blocks each way. i was sore for 2 days!

i told my neighbor, for me, cycling is to running what nautilus is to free weights. my body can't take the pounding and instability of jogging.

So then when you go to the book store, do you just look at the pretty pictures on the cover to decide which book to buy? :rolleyes:

um, you talkin to me or the ocp's i described? i ride an entry level cf bike.