Tonka

Okay, so there was another thread in another forum where someone posted about how they laugh at "unfit" people in their cars while they ride around on their bike, smugly knowing they are getting exercise. It got me thinking about it, and I know a lot of people are surprised when I tell them how far I ride. I look average, not skinny and lean like a hardcore TT cyclist stereotypically tends to look. I was wondering if you get the same reactions?

Do you tell people how much you bike and they look at you in disbelief or question you for it just because you may not appear to be someone who could possibly do that much activity? Appearances can be deceiving and I hate it when people expect you to look like an Olympian for all your efforts and you don't... thus you are given a hefty bit of skepticism for it.

chefisaac

I get people that look at me funny when I tell them how much I ride. It is even funnier when I tell them how much I ride per week but I do not care. I think about the folks in the gym on nice days like today and pity them really. I have found a great way to exercise without having to be in doors like a mouse on the tredmill! he he he .

So yes is the answer to your question. And to be frank, I do not give a crap one bit. I love it, not wasting gas on my commuting to work, get exercise, and feel great.

eja_ bottecchia

I don't have that problem....I look like a cross between Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich.

Seriously though, people don't believe that as I ride as long or as often as I do...for some reason people think that I should be taller (???) and thinner.

jon c. 

I have a friend (former co-worker) who is a triathlete. She's probably early 30s now, kind of pear shaped, and frankly looks anything but physically fit. She hadn't ever been much of an athlete, but decided about 10 years ago she wanted to do triathlons. Set her mind to it and made it possible. I have great admiration and respect for her for doing this. People hear that she does this and they flat out refuse to believe her. They look at her physique and tell her to her face that it just isn't possible. Rude as hell, but maybe it's subconscious jealousy from people who couldn't run five miles if they got a ride for the first four.

TrojanHorse

People are unreasonably judgmental. News at 11.

Support groups for unreasonable judgmentalism meet hourly in the 41.

CliftonGK1

Most people don't expect me to look the way I do when I mention I'm a Clydesdale. People hear "210 pounds" and assume I'm significantly rounder than I am.

Tonka

I honestly don't think it's a subconscious jealousy.. I actually think it's shock and disbelief and fear for their own physique due to the prevailing message in society that if anyone sets their mind to it and exercises enough, they will become thin and athletic in appearance. Their disbelief and simultaneously rejection of her statement allows them to keep up with the myth that exercise is the cure-all because obviously she is over-exaggerating her exercise, eating McDonalds at the same time, or any number of things that would lead her to looking like a non-athlete.

Which is sad, but there it is.

Seattle Forrest

Nope, that's never happened to me, at least as far as I can tell. But people do express their surprise at how much I ride, because those shocked people spend 30+ hours a week watching TV, and assume everyone else does, too. "How do you find the time??"

Also, people are surprised where I ride sometimes, because they know they couldn't do it. One of the people at the local coffee shop is a ski instructor on Mount Baker, and when I mentioned my bike, he said I should ride up there, and said the switchbacks on the road are awesome. So I did, and when I mentioned it waiting for an americano, the guy asked me "What kind of bike do you ride? Is it a hog, or...?" When I told him "No, dude, it's a bicycle," the guy stopped what he was doing, walked over, and gave me five.

DoubleTap

I get a surprised reaction when I tell people. At 300 lbs. and built like a strong-side tackle, I don't look like I can pedal a bike 100 miles on a Saturday for fun. I get more surprise (or disgust maybe), however, when I mention that I do it in a full spandex kit.

Street Pedaler

Most of the people that I encounter genuinely seem more curious about the cycling, in general, than they are surprised that I do it (and, just to be straight, I look NOTHING like the stereotypical cyclist). I get a lot of questions about how, when, why, how far, how long, etc. A lot of times, I think the answers shock them a bit but I think it's mostly due to the fact that they're really not familiar with bicycle riding beyond the point that they did it as kids. Hence, the questions in the first place, lol.

The one time I did get a reaction similar to what the OP was talking about was from a former boss who asked me about my Road ID bracelet which I wear on or off the bike. When I told him what it was and what I do, he looked at me for a few seconds and said, "You're awfully 'GD' big to be a cyclist." My response was, "You should have seen me before I started!"

chasm54

People do​ think I look like a lean athlete - for my age, anyway. Only I and my fellow-cyclists know I'm far too fat.

Tonka

Oh man that's horrible! I would have died. D=

Street Pedaler

Hey, from him, that almost passed as a compliment! lolol

Big Pete 1982

Well, most people that have known me a while aren't all that surprised since they have seen me lose 70lbs in the last year. People do get a little shocked when I tell them the distances and miles per week I ride though.

Seattle Forrest

Ever ride the Peak to Peak...?

krobinson103

Most people say I look too lean these days. I look at photos of me six months ago and don't recognize myself. I suppose you get that cycling 1200km a month and giving up on motor driven vehicles all together. Its amazing how much you end up walking/cycling when the car or motorcycle is out of the picture.

jethro56 

If someone told me two years ago they rode 40 miles in day, I wouldn't have believed them. If someone told me I would be riding that far and further, I'd ask them what looney bin they'd escaped from. So I'd give these people a break when they're sceptical. Also sometimes, when reading people you're really looking in a mirror.

drmweaver2

It's funny, the subject of my distances rarely comes up at all - even from those who see me leave the neuighborhood to go for a ride. I'm still over 240 lbs on a 5'10" frame despite having ridden over 1600 miles this month alone as part of a challenge. At my age (56) and weight, neighborhood people seem to assume I'm going somewhere, stopping to do something and then heading back - not just going for long rides. A couple have openly scoffed at the GPS/cyclometer mileage readings when they've taken a look - subtlely or deliberately. One even asked me if I knew whether and how I used "the damn thing (was) broken like that"? Another semi-knowledgeable-but-trying-to-be-helpful guy told me that he could help me calibrate my cyclometer for my wheel/tire size so that it would give me "honest mileage and speed readings". Mostly I don't pay attention to the comments. The ones I do pay attention to are the convenience store people who smile and say hello as I return to their stores time and again 40-60 miles from home.

Myosmith

I'm a big guy and former really big guy and I've had a few people snicker or roll their eyes when I they ask me how far I ride. I get a lot less of that now as I live in a small town and many people have seen me riding 30, 40, or 50 miles from home when they saw me roll out of town a few hours earler. Word gets around. I get a lot of honks and waves from people I know when I'm out on the rural highways.

mtalinm

yes, someone actually said that to me.

Sixty Fiver

You look skinnier than I do...

And I am a maggot.

Mondo734

My wife and I are always glad to see bigger people riding hard. When we get dropped by them we both think damn we got a long way to go. Lots of admiration for the clydes and athenas (my wife and I are borderline clyde and athena).

Rhodabike

I get that. There is such an emphasis on thin-ness, people assume that thin always = fit. But I know many thin sedentary people who couldn't do what I do, and I don't even do all that much compared to what I did years ago.

WonderMonkey

I don't get that at all. Most people are shocked that I commute from my distance but they don't have those expectations. Some say "Ah is that your office with the bike in it?" or something like that.

CycleNKY

I am right there in your shoes... have lost 77 pounds since August '11, from riding my Sirrus Sport and counting calories... I am addicted to riding, and if anything i have inspired at least 6 people at my workplace to get in shape. I have taken the Sirrus 54 miles and have many many rides in the 24-26 mile range.... average workout is 14 miles or 60-90 minutes on the trainer. I will be sporting a Secteur Elite in a few weeks still have mixed feelings about it, but looking forward too it.