Well, if you saw me on a group ride, or a solo ride while in roadie clothes, you'd be making the wrong assumptions about me, at least. I also commute and haul groceries by bike. I don't know about how much utility cycling others in my riding group do, but I do know they're mostly nice people sharing a hobby that they enjoy and keeps them in shape. I enjoy your posts, Adam, and I'm kind of surprised to find that you're prejudiced against such a large subset of cyclists.
I'm sorry to disappoint
Maybe roadies outside of NYC are different? I rode
my loaded touring bike a couple of times on route 9W out of GWB bridge which is a VERY popular destination for NYC roadies. That's a 65 mile ride to a campground, pretty much takes me an entire day one way and I pass literally a couple of hundred roadies. I met maybe 2-3 friendly roadies each time. I'd stop at a food place and get comments like "You opted for the weight uh?", "Man, that's funny actually", "How far can you get on THAT?", "How many miles do you per day... 30?". Or sh*t like "Get a real bike", "Don't give up" when passing me on the road. Annoying looks when passing me, etc. I waved to few and got the "outta my way" looks. I stopped waving. Cagers on bikes, that's all. They probably honk at commuting cyclists when driving their SUVs to work.
Plus the route is littered with punctured tubes and empty CO2 cartridges. Real cyclists, huh?
***
Originally Posted by
jdswitters
Biking on a big dummy has so much style it doesn't matter what you wear, though I would like the deck accessory in the first picture.
I just built a pretty tricked out Big Dummy and I have anything but style
I look like a schmuck... I never had any sense of style. I think my style is "utter lack of style"