Advocacy & Safety - WOW! I thought we were supposed to encourag biking...

Saw a big group of road cyclists riding a road run today. My wife and I were out riding our converted Mt. Bikes for fun and recreation. We went by the ending spot or a rest stop for the touring group. We wave and say "nice to see y'all out riding. How long is the ride?"

Stone , blank stare. Not just ignored, actively snobbed and dismissivley stared down.

I guess our khaki shorts and t-shirts do not rank us to be addressed by the royalty in their nice, colorful uniforms. Nice way to encourage riding.:D

Shoulda bared your bottom to em.

should join the club and buy a real road bike and lycra

should join the club and buy a real road bike and lycra

I hope you're joking. I don't care what they were riding or looked like there's no excuse for this kind of snobbery. Why would they want to "join the club" after being treated like this?

I considered a road bike, but for my commute and the riding I do with the wife and kid, the Mt. bike with semi-slicks made more sense.

Besides, if they would have me in the club it isn't worth joining.

jethro, Aaaah yes, the dreaded `elite` riders. I`m afraid yours was not a rare encounter. No matter how friendly you are, if you don`t look `serious` you`ll not be given the time of day. It`s a matter of fashion. Nothing more. That`s about the sad state of things. Keep on enjoying the sport in whatever way you choose. Cheers.

Ugh. Jerks like those are why I'm in no hurry to join cycling clubs. The moment one cyclist starts thinking s/he's better than another because s/he rides a more expensive bike or wears colorful spandex, that cyclist does more harm than good, and is one karma strike away from being run over. See my sig.

Since when is it the duty of road cyclists to "encourage cycling"? I don't recall signing any evangelical literature to save the masses when I picked up my road bike. Is this expected in other sports? Are golfers and downhill skiers supposed to be encouraging their sports? It sounds like you enjoy riding why do you need the encouragement of complete strangers to validate your experience? Did you ever think they might be tired or enjoying the company of their friends and didn't feel like being cycling ambassadors?

Hey, when I was a young guy, that stuff might have bothered me. I'm 44 now. I have a life I am satisfied with. I get to ride my bike to work this year. Play around a little on weekends with it and just enjoy the fun. I laugh off snobbery in any circles, not just biking. I prefer to spend my energies in more positive ways.

Since when is it the duty of road cyclists to "encourage cycling"?

I suspect by "encourage", Jethro was simply referring to the customary behavior in polite society to acknowledge the salutations of others, rather than to ignore such well-mannered exhortations in favor of actively staring down people in rebuke. In other words, the ability to behave, if for the briefest of moments, like something other than a group of lycra-sheathed buttholes would have sufficed. Yet somehow, even this was too much. : D

Oh, and I didn't mean to offend the roadies who think I am saying they d
should be ambassadors. I just said that where I was raised when someone says hi and is genuinely being friendly, you at least nod back.

I suspect by "encourage", Jethro was simply referring to the customary behavior in polite society to acknowledge the salutations of others, rather than to ignore such well-mannered exhortations in favor of actively staring down people in rebuke. In other words, the ability to behave, if for the briefest of moments, like something other than a group of lycra-sheathed buttholes would have sufficed. Yet somehow, even this was too much. : D

that chip on your shoulder must weigh like 50lbs pounds. how do you live with that thing on there?

the way your talking, maybe these people should be strung up and hung to death. they obviously don't even deserve to be alive in "your" world.

should have rang your bell at them

the way your talking, maybe these people should be strung up and hung to death.

You can keep the strawmen. Basic politeness shouldn't be anathema. Hopefully these and other cyclists will realize that someday. : D

Basic politeness shouldn't be anathema.

Couldn't agree more. Have enough f'n common courtesy to at least acknowledge someone for chrissake if they offer a greeting.

Your big mistake was saying hi and being genuinely friendly, how could you not know that "serious" roadies would rather ride aluminum and wear helmets with less than 26 vents than acknowledge your existance you khaki-shorted, t-shirted noob...next time, avert your eyes as you walk past, and mumble your apology for being married and with children...when we adopted a 1 yr old girl 5 years ago, I could sense my former riding buddies discreetly moving away from me when I showed up to the evening fitness rides, I was no longer worthy...

This issue of roadie snobs comes up often. Just let it go.

I've met many more friendly cyclists than unfriendly cyclists while out riding. Roadies included ;).

i run into them every now and then theyve been a lot more respectfull on the mup ever since they got served by the local off road rift raft.

last one i saw i said nice bike and he snubbed me so i told him and a "**** you to you too" and rolled off.

i've had the same thing happen plenty of times, in the bike store, on the road, at the USA Pro Championship.

I rode in the Jackrabbit Stampede Saturday. It is one of these charity rides that bills itself as a race. Of course, 90% of the people there aren't even trying to race, but some do.

Anyway, I'm riding a cruiser bike on the 40 mile route. The 62 mile route makes an extra loop and then comes back down that same route. So being slow, sure enough, after a while, I get passed by a couple of guys just flying like the wind, who presumably were in the lead on that 62 mile route. As they came up on me, they said "On your left", I shifted slightly to the right and they said "thanks" as they zipped on by. It was another five minutes or more before anyone else came by.

I thought it was neat that the two fastest guys out there could and did speak, but a lot of the guys behind them didn't bother.

In the OP's case, maybe this was a foreign bicycling tour group that didn't understand English? :D

yeah, most I have met are pretty cool about everything. This was just not a friendly group I guess.

True story: I am 50 years old. I met a guy here on the Forum, who is about 23 yrs old, and we now are good bicycle partners. He recently has returned from riding across the US with just one other friend, and no support vehicles, and camped out most of the way from NC to CA. He rode over 4,000 miles from April to July. I guess you could describe him as a "serious rider". The difference is, that he is friendly to just about everyone. On his tour of the US, he made hundreds of new friends, because that is the type of guy he is.

When he first came back to KC from his ride, he and I went out riding one day on a road outside of town. My friend suddenly took off ahead of me, and started riding next to another bicyclist who had came by. This unknown bicyclist/stranger had panners on the front and back, a canvas slouch hat, khaki shorts, and an iPod pluged in to his ears. It turns out that this stranger was a college student from Japan. He had just came to the US one month earlier, and started in NYNY and was on his way to LACA. He spoke almost no English. My friend and I took him to the next town to eat hamburgers, and helped him plan his way on the map. (He was lost)


The Japanese traveler did not wear Lycra, and was riding an old Giant bike with fenders. The Lycra and Spandex crowd on thier $2,000 carbon fiber bikes probably wouldn't talk to him, either.

There is a group of swimmers at the pool where I swim with exactly the same attitude. I'm not a real swimmer because I do 4000 yards in a workout and 100 yard repeats on 1:15.

The funny thing is these guys question my sanity when I tell them of swimming in the North Sea without a wetsuit...

http://room10southport.googlepages.com/marstrand.jpg/marstrand-full.jpg

This is one reason that I avoid group rides, like the MO150, or what ever the hell it is, that is coming up. I would rather go ride with a good friend, and follow my own path. I get alergic to Lycra.

that chip on your shoulder must weigh like 50lbs pounds. how do you live with that thing on there?

the way your talking, maybe these people should be strung up and hung to death. they obviously don't even deserve to be alive in "your" world.

What the he|| are you talking about? It was just a remark about basic courtesy.

I always like how these ignorant threads always turn into roadie bashing Lycra hate-fests.
Every sport or activity has some insular portion to it, why don't you try riding up to a Harley group on a Suzuki sport bike, or go up to group of weight lifters at your local gym with a skinny cycling body and asking how much they're benching and see what kind of reaction you get. Most of the riders I meet and interact with are friendly and outgoing, but no one is under any obligation to encourage someone. Any more than they are required to tell if the fish are biting or how much further it is to hike to the lake. Yes, the polite thing to do is to wave, and tell someone you went 50 miles, but maybe they just want to hang and talk to other roadies. Just like Harley riders want to hang with other Harley riders, etc. But if it makes folks feel better to hold on to their latent motorist inspired roadie generalizations over a perceived snobbishness, than knock yourself out.

But if it makes folks feel better to hold on to their latent motorist inspired roadie generalizations over a perceived snobbishness, than knock yourself out.

Calm down friend (haha McCain). Just some friendly roadie bashing here. We all know there are a ton of really cool roadies out there.

I have a story that turns the OP's story on its head. I went out for a ride this morning. I was kind of riding heads down, about 20-25mph, on the shoulder of a divided 2 lane road with 8' wide shoulders, no traffic, not much reason to be on alert. All of a sudden, a rider was on the shoulder coming the wrong way. She had pulled out of a road to the right, and was riding at a fairly reasonable pace. Scared the living crap out of me. She wasn't a total fred, decent bike.

As I turn down the road she came from, I'm thinking about turning around and giving her a lecture about riding on the wrong side of the road. I almost run into her male companion, who is coming out of a blind side road on the wrong f----ng side.

I said screw the lecture, I don't have to save the world.

Yes, I was wearing lycra, and I probably looked a little unfriendly. OTOH, I woulda looked a lot less friendly yelling at them about riding on the wrong side of the road.

I was kind of riding heads down, ...not much reason to be on alert.

There's your real problem.

What the he|| are you talking about? It was just a remark about basic courtesy.

relax, it's just A&S

:lol:

I always like how these ignorant threads always turn into roadie bashing Lycra hate-fests.


Me too! :thumb:

BF must be on a timer or something. Every couple of day or so, we get the obligatory comment about how someone's feelings were hurt when some strangers don't wave back to them. It'll forever be a mystery to me why some people think that the mere fact that two people are on a bicycle means that the somehow share a common bond.

And if someone doesn't wave back... Jeez, get over it. I can't imagine feeling offended enough to want to share my experience with others on BF.

It's just my nature to nod, wave, or otherwise pass along a greeting when I see other cyclists. That said, someone looking for a workout probably isn't in the mood to wave at every cyclist he/she passes on the road.

It used to offend, but no more. I wave and accept whatever I get in return.

It's not that big of a deal.

I wonder if you had just waved instead of inquiring how far they were going to ride if you might have received a response? Group or no, returning a nod or a wave is one thing, answering a stranger's question about how far the group is going is a bit much if you ask me.

Caruso

What the he|| are you talking about? It was just a remark about basic courtesy.

These are just remarks about basic courtesy?

"one karma strike away from being run over", "lycra-sheathed buttholes"

my point is that the overreaction is just idiotic. big deal, these guys didn't say hello. they don't deserve to be run over or called names because they didn't feel like talking to a stranger passing by.

Did you know that not one single jeans wearing sidewalk cyclist returned my wave or nod this morning?
What a bunch of elitists.

For this and many similar life situations I suggest large doses of live-and-let-live.

Me too! :thumb:

I knew you'd be by before too long. Though I should be snubbing you because you're not a "real" cyclist.
(I couldn't get the superscript TM in there, so you'll have to settle for the air quotes.)

They probably thought you were a undergrad, since you didn't know better than have kids.

It's just my nature to nod, wave, or otherwise pass along a greeting when I see other cyclists. That said, someone looking for a workout probably isn't in the mood to wave at every cyclist he/she passes on the road.

It used to offend, but no more. I wave and accept whatever I get in return.

It's not that big of a deal.

I wonder if you had just waved instead of inquiring how far they were going to ride if you might have received a response? Group or no, returning a nod or a wave is one thing, answering a stranger's question about how far the group is going is a bit much if you ask me.

Caruso

No doubt... it also depends on how/where you grew up. Growing up in the midwest (within 2 hours of Chicago) whenever I went into one of the cities (Chi, Milwaukee, Madison, Detroit) you always ignored everyone else, minded your own business, and I thought everyone that spoke to a stranger was crazy. If I didn't know someone, no way I responded.

Since I've been in the south for a while now, I still have a hard time with people trying to talk to me in the grocery store, or elsewhere... I guess I just wasn't born with Southern Hospitality...

Basic politeness shouldn't be anathema.

You haven't been posting here very long, have you?

You can keep the strawmen. Basic politeness shouldn't be anathema. Hopefully these and other cyclists will realize that someday. : D

Problem is, "basic politeness" can vary wildly from person to person (and especially from region to region). You might even say it's basic politeness to not interrupt someone's training ride, just like you wouldn't strike up a conversation with a stranger doing bench presses at the gym.

If you can't join em, beat em.
Don't be intimidated by someone because of the kind of bike they ride.
Next time you're snubbed by one of the fashion riders. Catch up to them and pass them. You'll find most of them are out of gas in mile or so. All show, no go. Don't forget to say Hi on the way by.

That being said, I'd have to agree that most of the riders I encounter are very friendly. And it's not like I'm really looking to establish a long term relationship with some freak on bike. LOL

If you can't join em, beat em.
Don't be intimidated by someone because of the kind of bike they ride.
Next time you're snubbed by one of the fashion riders. Catch up to them and pass them. You'll find most of them are out of gas in mile or so. All show, no go. Don't forget to say Hi on the way by.

That being said, I'd have to agree that most of the riders I encounter are very friendly. And it's not like I'm really looking to establish a long term relationship with some freak on bike. LOL

You show em tough guy! All those guys are just freaks, you're the one with mad skillz.:roflmao2:

Could have been impolite. But it's possible they could have been exhausted. A lot cyclists get so tired they might as well be drunk.

I knew you'd be by before too long. Though I should be snubbing you because you're not a "real" cyclist.
(I couldn't get the superscript TM in there, so you'll have to settle for the air quotes.)

Try typing 0153 on the numeric pad while holding down the ALT key. All Real™ BF Posters already know that trick. Don't know if it works on Apple Brand computers, but who cares, eh? :lol:

Could have been impolite. But it's possible they could have been exhausted. A lot cyclists get so tired they might as well be drunk.

Or they could be drunk... Though I may be projecting... or drunk. How else do people get through mondays?

Try typing 0153 on the numeric pad while holding down the ALT key. All Real™ BF Posters already know that trick. Don't know if it works on Apple Brand computers, but who cares, eh? :lol:

Well that was cool™.
Thanks.

Try typing 0153 on the numeric pad while holding down the ALT key. All Real™ BF Posters already know that trick. Don't know if it works on Apple Brand computers, but who cares, eh? :lol:

On a Mac™, it's option+2 (but it has to be the 2 above the alpha keys).

I'm generally not a Mac fan (like, at all), but I will admit that the special characters, like ºª™£∞¶ etc. are much simpler to type on a Mac. (I use en-dashes and em-dashes all the time, and I can never remember what the codes are in Windows... It's easy on a Mac).

Well that was cool™.
Thanks.

Here's the rest of the ANSI codes that work with the ALT key and a preceding zero:
Now you really™ owe me. Good for posting A&S messages with a flourish
Character ANSI Number
' ' 32
! 33
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0 48
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< 60
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> 62
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On a Mac™, it's option+2 (but it has to be the 2 above the alpha keys).

I'm generally not a Mac fan (like, at all), but I will admit that the special characters, like ºª™£∞¶ etc. are much simpler to type on a Mac. (I use en-dashes and em-dashes all the time, and I can never remember what the codes are in Windows... It's easy on a Mac).
Easy on Windoze too, when you are a Real™ BF Poster! :lol:
ALT+0150 = –
ALT+0151 = —