oldacura

My other passion is snowboarding. There is a subculture of snowboarding called alpine snowboarding or carving. It's kind of a hybrid between snowboarding & skiing. The whole point is to carve turns down a run rather than to skid turns (as most skiers & snowboarders do). I often visit an internet forum dedicated to alpine snowboarding (bomberonline.com). I am a newbie or wanna-be carver.

The reason that I bring this up is that there seems to be a lot of parallels between the tandem culture and the carving culture. With little exception, the members tend to be zealots, very helpful, competetive without being rude, evangelical about their sport, a real lack of pretense and maybe a bit older than the larger culture (cycling and snowboarding respectively). I have met up on the slopes with a group of carvers that I have only met online & many are sharing their equipment (expensive snowboards) with everyone else.

Cyclists in general can be rude and if I self-identify as a snowboarder, it puts people off almost immediately.

I can't explain why I see similar characteristics in participants of two very different sports.

Do other members of this forum see similar characteristics in other subcultures?

dvs cycles

21 years ago the snowboarders at our local mts. and Mammoth were such a pain to have around I lost all interest in skiing and haven't since. Things might be much different now but I lost the desire to even consider it.

TandemGeek

Cycling has more tribes than the world has dialects...

Tandems tend to attract more mature adults than do most other forms of cycling which explains why most of the personalty issues have been resolve. The tandem zealots are easier to find because, as a group, tandem riders are one of the smallest sub-groups in the cycling genre.

As for skiing subcultures, I moved to Georgia in '91 while alpine skiing still was the predominant force at my Western skiing haunts (Mammoth, the Utah resorts, etc...). I haven't strapped on boards since then and can only imagine how the composition of those who descend the great white peaks has created all kinds of conflict. I'm told by my 80-year old dad -- who still does do the alpine thing -- that everyone is wearing helmets nowadays... Good grief. I was a tree-skier and I'm still trying to figure out how putting an open face helmet will keep you from killing yourself if you smack into one with your chest and face, i.e., doing the Sonny Bono Bop.

oldacura

So, is it the distillation of the subculture that weeds out the pretense or is it just a function of being older in general? Are there other examples of subcultures where the people seem to be friendlier than in the larger culture?

TandemGeek

Some stereotyping, but not too far off on average:

Goldwing & BMW riders vs. other motorcycle riders...
Sailplane pilots vs. power aircraft pilots...
Sailboat skippers vs. powered boat operators...

Mooo

In general, I agree, but the 15 meter guys can be real jerks if you're flying aluminum. Really Big jerks. To the point of coming up to total strangers and saying (direct quote) "Your airplane s(tin)cks." or hanging wet stuff on your trailer, because it's not as nice as theirs... Cutting in line for tows because they can... What the ...? If they're going to act that way, they should be required to wear full team kit

The C&V crowd here on BF is startlingly easy-going.

TandemGeek

There you have it... and if you really want to know the truth, there are some sub-groups within the tandem community as well.

Not everyone who rides a tandem is warm and fuzzy or without their picayune biases and associated attitudes. However, as a group, tandem folks tend to be tolerant, cordial and play well with others.

zonatandem

Tandeming is not a bout "Me! Me!" It's about teamwork and sharing the load/pleasures.