vertical bob

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It is a pet peeve of mine that cyclist litter the roads with their Gu and energy bar wrappers. I ride mostly in the mountains and the only ones using those products up there are cyclists. How arrogant to toss your 100 calorie waste of money in a National Forest.
While watching the TDF today a few riders crested a climb and were handed food. An Astana rider battling with Volker for KOM points was handed a gel pac and while on camera he squeezed it down. These guys don't use the 100 calorie pacs but use the larger 600 calorie ones so it took him a couple of moments. When finished , still on camera, he folded it up and put it in his jersey pocket. I was surprised and pleasantly so. Right on. If a guy fighting for a coveted jersey in the TDF can care enough about our planet to not litter then I think we a cyclist should be able to do so as well. Come on people, lets be responsible.
FYI, I carry a gel flask filled with honey. Ounce for ounce the same caloric content, pure glucose that goes straight into the blood stream by-passing the liver, and 0 litter.

PedalingFool

I bet if he wasn't on camera he would have chucked it...
lol

But seriously I agree with you...
I carry a lot of bottles of water with me and when I drink them I put the empties back into my carrying bag until I come across a garbage can... same with food and nutrition wrappers.

I would feel guilty littering.

Mr. Beanz

Good thread Bob! Clean up your act people!

Rx Rider

I saw a guy do this recently but he was too fast for me to stop and pick up his trash and bring it to him, so I chased him down and "accidentally" shot my Heed water down the crack of his ass. he thought he wanted to fight until he realized I also wanted to fight. something about not saying a word that says so much.
if by chance you're that clown riding a black S-works on CR 29, I'm the clown on the black Bianchi and I still want to fight.

jmX

I grew up in Texas. "Don't mess with Texas" will forever be burned into my brain. You'll get people yelling at your face if anybody sees you just dump trash on the ground where I came from.

When I moved to California, I was shocked at all the litter. People out here don't give a crap.

Flying Merkel

Unforgivable, You packed it in, you pack it out.

TrojanHorse

+1 to all of the above. Seriously, how much does a wrapper weigh?

Note to RxRider - I do not have a black bike nor an S-works.

calamarichris

The grass is greener on the other side no matter how many times you cross the hilltop. I've had the pleasure of moving out of Texas twice, but I fear I won't live long enough to experience that thrill again. I saw plenty of trash on the roads in Texas... broken glass, dead animals, nuts, bolts & screws.

We're more crowded here. And we have a lot more tourists who are hostile to our politics, our taxes, our yoga, etc. The Arizonans and Texans trash Carlsbad every summer. It's happening right now. If you want to live in Paradise, you have to put up with the crowds. I'm proud of my town, and I spend a fair amount of time picking up trash & dog poo.

And to the OP: Amazing how angelic we become when we know the Whole World is watching our every move (or when we're expressing ourselves on internet forums.)

Garfield Cat

I guess you all don't run in organized 10k's, half marathons, etc. There's lots of gel litter all over the place.

CommuteCommando

Not me. Pack in/pack out. An empty Clif bar wrapper takes a lot less space in a jersey pocket than the full one that was in there before. I can't do those GU packs without getting all sticky, so I do not use them. I suspect that many who do, don't want that sticky empty in their pocket, so a lot of them get tossed.

CommuteCommando

Every time I see the "Don't Mess. . ." bumper sticker on a car (usually a huge pickup truck, actually) with CA plates I just want to shout "Go Home!". Pigs are pigs and they live everywhere. In the eighties I lived in an apartment behind Angelo's in South O', and was constantly picking up used Gyro wrappers (and a lot of half eaten Gyros) left on the street. The culprits I managed to catch were surfers with "Locals Only", or "Tourist go Home" stickers, or marines with (sometimes) Texas plates.

I've lived in that area since 1970, moved away in 1990, but came back because it's home.

Pamestique 

I rode Maple Springs last weekend. I was shocked at how many beer cans and bottles were chucked into the stream. But it was fairly obvious to me that the debris was not left by mountain bikers but probably by "4 Wheelers" who are allowed to use the same trail. Although you always have to pick the right battle, I have politely ask people to pick up and pack out. I always assume the litter fell tto the ground "accidently" so I draw the person attention to it and explain their are trash cans out at the exit etc.

When I am doing my roadie thing, I assume when I see a GU package on the ground the person meant to store it in their back pocket but missed. I always carry a small baggy and will stop and pick stuff like that up. Doesn't take all that long and hey makes the trail clean and safe for me too. Now baby diapers and snot/pee rags... I leave those thing be. Only so much I can do!

alicestrong

Job creation!!!

curiouskid55

I have seen inner tube boxes along the side of the road. Kind of figures you were a dumass for taking the box with you to start with.

GP

Picking up trash and cleaning toilets has been good to me.

Nachoman

Usually when I see someone throw their trash on the ground (whether they're a cyclist or not) I yell really loudly, "hey you dropped something!"

vertical bob

What gets me about the gel packs is they are 100 calories. We burn close to 600 an hour while riding hard and at close to $2 each it makes no sense to me + the maltodexrin has to be processed by the liver before entering the blood stream while honey goes directly in. Guess I'm just cheap.

camelopardalis

Not to approve of littering, but in defense of runners, running clothes don't have pockets. Runners pay hefty fees to join organized runs (a lot more than organized rides). Most of the fees are specifically for traffic control and clean up of litter. There are also a lot of volunteers assigned to clean up this litter.

rooftest

Agreed. Littering your gel packs is lame.

Garfield Cat

I can see marathon runners having to go with gel, but a 10k? half marathoners are the fit ones too and they really don't need a gel, well maybe before the start. Most runner's shorts do have mesh for keys and some have back pockets.

rubic

As one who has backpacked for years, way back when, we would pack it in and pack it out. I have always done the same cycling, use a gel pack or whatever, and put it in my pack pocket until I can find a trash can or get home to dispose of it.

Now,as far as the cost of the gel pack as opposed to, say, honey, that is another discussion unrelated to trash. Sure, why not save some money. But who knows, maybe someone might dispose of their 'honey' dispenser on the road as well. Just sayin'.