Originally Posted by
PeteHski
Apparently so according to some. Maybe they haven’t considered that many people ride to achieve personal performance goals rather than directly race others. For example my thing (as far as road riding goes) is timed Sportives. They are not races, but they are chip timed with medals for specific time goals. Many club group rides are also based on speed, so you may wish to improve in order to join a faster group.
The problem I find with BF is that it appears to be dominated by men of a certain age who turn their noses up at anyone who dares to discuss performance or modern tech. It seems to have got worse over the last year too. Maybe time to check out and look elsewhere for less cynical bike chat.
I hung up my racing wheels in 2004, and was off the bike for 15 years. Back at it for 3 years, my habit of having some sort of training intent for most of my rides still exists. I have worked at doing the things that make me faster and stronger on the bike because the feeling of being strong and going fast is part of what I love about it, and I am not averse to doing the work it takes to get better. Doing it on a high-performance lightweight bike is part of the experience for me, as well. I’m targeting doing a big gravel event in April that will be a significant stretch of my abilities, and my only goal is to finish. I will train as intelligently as I can, with the limited time I have available, and will optimize my bike for the event as much as I am able. Maybe that qualifies me as a “competitor”. However, I’ve been working on improving my fitness since well before a I decided to do this event, and upgrading bike parts is part of the fun of the game.
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RIP 01/08/25...2022 Trek Supercaliber, 2018 Storck Fascenario.3 Platinum, 2018 Trek Procaliber SL Singlespeed, 2017 Bear BR1, 2003 Time VX Special Pro, 2001 Colnago VIP, 1999 Trek 9900 singlespeed, 1977 Nishiki ONP