"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - THAT GUY (A Cross Post From 41)

Every now and then, as we gather up for the regular weekend hammerfest ride, there will be some new guy all full of piss and vinegar strutting around, talking too loud, and jumping into the middle of conversations about gear or training or some recent race with comments that just don't fit.

Somewhere around 5k in, as the group rolls out for the 5 hour ride- settling in, chatting a bit - this guy will go to the front and push the pace. It's never enough to stop the conversations but it's enough for guys to close up the gaps and get a bit annoyed because they haven't switched on their iPods or finished the apple they were eating.

As the ride progresses the first little rise approaches and this same guy goes to the front then shuts it off at the top. The ride jams up and spreads across the road.

The riders sort themselves out again as the pace picks up on the way back down.

Each small rise, overpass, or grade of any kind the same thing happens.

Finally the pace picks up and as riders rotate through this guy hits the front. He accelerates; Not hard enough to worry anyone, just hard enough to be an annoyance. Once again the rhythm of the ride is disrupted for no purpose what so ever.

The group settles back into a groove. Finally, attacks come but they are real attacks. Jumps that force people to dig. Jumps that drive snot out of your nose and blur your vision as you fixate on the rear hub in front of you. Attacks on climbs that carry speed up and OVER the climbs and force guys to chase on the descents.

Breaks form. Chases form. The ride regroups.

Hours later we all cool down together minus a few guys who know their way home.

We stop, chat, throw back a coke, finish a power bar and the group fragments into many smaller groups who spin their way home.

No one asks about 'that guy' or even remembers when he came off the back.

We usually never see him again.

perfect setup for the hilltop counter.

I like going full gas after the inevitable shutdown at the top of the hill and see how many minutes I can stay OTF.

perfect setup for the hilltop counter.

I like going full gas after the inevitable shutdown at the top of the hill and see how many minutes I can stay OTF.

Or if you can drop 'that guy'.

It really only works if the descent is technical. If it's wide open it's just a waste of jam.

That Guy is nothing like That Girl, thank goodness. That Girl was likable in every way.

I think "that guy" needs to be "yelled" at. I hear that is they way they roll in Michigan.

I let The Guy get away. He's better than we are after all. If Guy doesn't realize that it works differently than what he's doing, then you just let him be.

Sometimes, rarely, I'll also deviate from the route slightly. Like go northeast instead of southwest (like the original direction). This is if Guy is persistent in returning to the group in order to attack it again.

I let The Guy get away. He's better than we are after all. If Guy doesn't realize that it works differently than what he's doing, then you just let him be.

Sometimes, rarely, I'll also deviate from the route slightly. Like go northeast instead of southwest (like the original direction). This is if Guy is persistent in returning to the group in order to attack it again.
Same here. I am impressed by his strength as he dangles off the front for a while. Why bother closing the gap ?

few things piss me off more than a rider who makes me stop eating my apple.

I let The Guy get away. He's better than we are after all.

If only he could get away. I wish it were always that easy.

He usually disappears at some point anyway. I just make sure I'm not behind him when he lets the gap open and then gets fired out the back. The situation just sorts itself out.

That Guy is nothing like That Girl, thank goodness. That Girl was likable in every way.

Marlo Thomas...
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w345/BobDopolina/MarloThomas.jpg
She was one of my first little boy TV crushes.

Thank you for that Bob, as my image posting skills are pathetic. Was Donald the original The Donald?

Good Question.

I may have to find some episodes somewhere to download...

Let him go.

A few that guys from a local shop club showed up to the sat ride a ways back; one or two of them were pretty strong. Same thing though, hitting the gas up the first rise when we had been on the road for maybe 10 min. People chased. Second time it happened, a few of us were at the front and agreed to let their asses go next time. One got a gap, another of his teammates jumped across and we never saw them again.

Come to find out later that week, they didn't know the route and got lost. I guess they made it back to the parking lot we leave from about 2 hours after everyone else did.

Let him go.

A few that guys from a local shop club showed up to the sat ride a ways back; one or two of them were pretty strong. Same thing though, hitting the gas up the first rise when we had been on the road for maybe 10 min. People chased. Second time it happened, a few of us were at the front and agreed to let their asses go next time. One got a gap, another of his teammates jumped across and we never saw them again.

Come to find out later that week, they didn't know the route and got lost. I guess they made it back to the parking lot we leave from about 2 hours after everyone else did.

As I said earlier it would be great if that were always an option.

More often than not these guys don't have the jam to really go off the front. They just dangle 30 meters out and then explode.

I understand, it doesn't always work. :)

Threads like this are going to be invaluable as i begin group riding/beginner racing this year. I don't want to be that Guy.

He probably saw the iPods and realized he was riding with a group of idiots so he went to the front where it was the safest until the ride was over.

He probably saw the iPods and realized he was riding with a group of idiots so he went to the front where it was the safest until the ride was over.

Seriously?

Seriously?

If you are serious that one or more people in a group ride are wearing iPods, then I am absolutely serious. They are idiots.

If you are serious that one or more people in a group ride are wearing iPods, then I am absolutely serious. They are idiots.

I've ridden in large groups where this was common for years without issue. But then again I'm not riding in traffic or congested areas.

Regardless, it kind of misses the point of the original post, non?

Regardless, it kind of misses the point of the original post, non?

Was the point that us roadies are pretty much pricks to anyone new and we like to think we're Lance Armstrong?

But then again I'm not riding in traffic or congested areas.



You can do a 5 hour group ride and not be in traffic? The only time I've ever done that is on a trainer. Then, iPods are acceptable. Kind of.

I figured out the point just from reading the OP. It wasn't hard.

And, no, it was not what you asked.

Was the point that us roadies are pretty much pricks to anyone new and we like to think we're Lance Armstrong?

Lance who?

No, that's not the point.

It's about etiquette. It's about joining a new group and figuring out what they are about as opposed to thinking you are hot ****. It's about noob mistakes. It's about a group of guys who ride together on a regular basis and a minor annoyance.

And yes, we can do 5 hours with no traffic and several mountains to boot. I did 4 hours today and probably saw less than 20 cars after my 10km warm-up (sans ipod) out of the city into the country side. The same is on tap for tomorrow.

It's about etiquette. It's about joining a new group and figuring out what they are about as opposed to thinking you are hot ****. It's about noob mistakes. It's about a group of guys who ride together on a regular basis and a minor annoyance.


Maybe he didn't know any better, but it's certainly much cooler to either be a prick or to say nothing at all than to educate.

Lance who?

No, that's not the point.

It's about etiquette. It's about joining a new group and figuring out what they are about as opposed to thinking you are hot ****. It's about noob mistakes. It's about a group of guys who ride together on a regular basis and a minor annoyance.

And yes, we can do 5 hours with no traffic and several mountains to boot. I did 4 hours today and probably saw less than 20 cars after my 10km warm-up (sans ipod) out of the city into the country side. The same is on tap for tomorrow.

so it's wrong to join a group and try to drop them when they're warming up?

:P

Maybe he didn't know any better, but it's certainly much cooler to either be a prick or to say nothing at all than to educate.

Please point out to me where anyone was a prick? We usually ignore guys like this because they will be OTB soon enough.

As for educating people, there are those who will take advice and those who think they know better. Which do you think the rider in question was?

so it's wrong to join a group and try to drop them when they're warming up?

:P

Was that so hard to figure out?:rolleyes:

maybe he is that guy.

cat4ever sounds a bit like that guy except I wonder whether he has the strength to get out front at all while folks are warming up, with or without listening to their cd-players.

It's about etiquette. It's about joining a new group and figuring out what they are about as opposed to thinking you are hot ****. It's about noob mistakes. It's about a group of guys who ride together on a regular basis and a minor annoyance.

I find myself in a similar situation as a noob occassionally. Often it's when I'm away but take my bike. I check rides through websites or LBS. When I showup I usually get on the back when the ride starts and just chat with a few riders to get a sense of how the ride progresses. The one thing I learned is find at least one rider that looks slow, either from being out of shape or recovering from an injury tgo hang with. I know some team rides have a pre-detremined spot to pick up the pace and they shoot off from there. The last thing I want to do is get dropped in a strange town and have no idea how to get back.

cat4ever sounds a bit like that guy except I wonder whether he has the strength to get out front at all while folks are warming up, with or without listening to their cd-players.

you're showing age here.

Grumpy, you always pick up the key subtle details!!

I have a keen grasp of the obvious.

I find myself in a similar situation as a noob occassionally. Often it's when I'm away but take my bike. I check rides through websites or LBS. When I showup I usually get on the back when the ride starts and just chat with a few riders to get a sense of how the ride progresses. The one thing I learned is find at least one rider that looks slow, either from being out of shape or recovering from an injury tgo hang with. I know some team rides have a pre-detremined spot to pick up the pace and they shoot off from there. The last thing I want to do is get dropped in a strange town and have no idea how to get back.

There ya go.

That would be the way to play it. But you're only a noob in the sense that you are new to the group - different thing.

Was that so hard to figure out?:rolleyes:

apparently to some. I've always been the observant type when entering new groups so I have a tendency of sitting back and observing their social dynamic so I get a good sense of what the do's and don'ts are before making a nuisance of myself. I've been "that guy" on a few rides when I'm on the front because all of my solo riding has gotten me used to going my own pace so every so often I have to get reeled back in.

You can do a 5 hour group ride and not be in traffic?

All the time :thumb:

cat4ever sounds a bit like that guy except I wonder whether he has the strength to get out front at all while folks are warming up, with or without listening to their cd-players.


Nah, I don't do group rides where people listen to iPods or think they need to eat an apple after the rollout. Litterbugs and iDbags. WTG.

better to eat Chicken McNuggets then

Nah, I don't do group rides where people listen to iPods or think they need to eat an apple after the rollout. Litterbugs and iDbags. WTG.

I listen to an ipod all the time. I also like to eat an apple during warm up so I actually warm up and don't just start to hammer. It's a way of forcing myself to spin for 10 minutes.

I guess that makes me a IDbag (?) and someone you will never ride with.

My loss I suppose.:rolleyes: