Originally Posted by
kbarch
The original post seemed as honest as any to me. What particular statement was petty - and since when were 50 year-old folks not that way? Seems to me that introspection and questioning are par for the course when a mature person starts getting serious about some endeavor or pastime.
I'll try again: my take is that the guy was somewhat surprised by his reaction, and not sure where it was leading. He thought he was pretty good, then when he got passed by a young woman, he got an uncomfortable feeling that made him question whether some new competitive streak had arisen or if he was merely realizing that he was declining and not as good as he thought. I didn't read it as though that was the first time he was passed by a woman, just that it was the first time he remembers being bothered by it. It's called introspection. If anything is petty, it's all this jumping on the "don't be such a sexist, I know some really fast women" bandwagon.
If I've gotten over being "chicked," it's not because I've gotten over any sexist attitudes per se, it's because, over time, I've gotten a better sense of how broad and multi-dimensional the gamut of cycling abilities is, where I fit on it generally, and what my intentions are when I go for any particular ride. Women assertively pass me all the time when I'm on a Citibike. It doesn't bother me a bit, in fact I find it quite amusing.
I think I got passed only once by a women when commuting by Citibikes on hudson river greenway, we might have passed each other back and forth a few times because I dart around joggers/slower cyclist/turning vehicles instead of slowing down. But she eventually pulled ahead of me, and with the limited gearing of these SUV of bikes, I had to let her slowly pull away. That happens with men also, but in general, if I do pass them, they usually charge back with a vengeance, passing me at such speed in which I cannot catch a draft, and then settle to a slower speed in which I can keep up with them at a distance, and maybe slowly reel them in. The women I pass, they either don't have their ego bruised and insisting on passing me back, or when they did, it wasn't a sprint pass me. I myself being over 50, and only rides Citibike for commutes, can't complain when more serious riders pass me. But using them as rabbits to chase is the only way for me to step it up given the complete lack of speed/cadence/watt monitoring on these bikes.