A spectator's perspective
 

OK, so you're in a road race and I'm a spectator. Do you like the crowd cheering for you? What do you like to hear? I'm always torn, usually yelling something along the lines of "nice effort, way to go, keep it up." What about if you're off the back and looking like your tongue is stuck to your front wheel? When I yell some encouragement, do you feel like saying "%&#$ you and the horse you rode in on!" Some guys in the cat 4 race were really struggling at the end today. I don't know how you do it, I'd have gone home for an ice cream. :lol:

Can't really tell what people are yelling at us, but it does help immensely to just hear the noise. Also if a group is off the front, yell out time gaps as there is really no other way for the riders to get these unless they have teammates on the sidelines who are not warming up.

If I was off the back, I would hate to hear the pity cheers.

Ring a cow bell and yell at me. You can scream "Dandelions are yellow!" and that would probably work just as well as "Close that f-ing gap!"

I was otb in a recent road race, and one fellow (who I don't know at all -- never been to the town before; definitely didn't know him from anywhere) yelled angrily about how I'd _better_ catch back on. As if he was pissed & personally disappointed in me. There may have been some profanity sprinkled in, or I may be making it better in the remembering. Which was fantastic. Waaay better (& more useful) than the half-hearted, kinda embarrassing "you can do-its" from elsewhere over that last 45 minutes.

That does it, at the next race I'm watching I'm yelling "Dandelions are yellow!".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVbAuMr5eac

Az

Excellent question!
I marvel at running events where they encourage every single participant with "good job" or "way to go". Bah! I hurt. You can't lie to me.

I think the lower Categories will appreciate that kind of encouragement. But as you get up to Cat 1-2 races, they're hearing less of what you're saying and more the tone.

If you can... assess how other riders look and tell me if I look better or worse than them. You have a maximum of two words to get your point across.

Most importantly, in case no one ever says this to you: thanks for coming to the bike race and watching!

I like to yell "hurry up" or "go faster" :p

:lol: Funny that you say this. Yesterday I saw one guy OTB and he looked pretty beat, like he'd rather be anywhere but in this freakin bike race. He was going up this steep hill, interminably slowly, so I was able to get in more than the usual 2-3 words. As he went by I said "I gotta tell ya, you look like crap!" He yelled back something like "First honest person I've met all day!" :D

Allez Allez Allez

And absolutely do not yell time gaps to someone off the back. Someone kept telling me increasing time gaps and "you can catch them" when I was off the back of one race. I wanted to pull over and strangle them. I knew I was off the back and losing ground, I didn't need someone yelling it at me! Edit: it was on a hill on a crit so I wasn't moving particularly fast, but went by every few minutes...

"Pedal lumpy!"

I wish I had never taught my daughter that one.

I meant in reference to breaks, but yea it would be annoying if you were OTB.

Can we just leave it at, if someone's OTB then STFU.

Give time gaps to someone off the front of the race, not the guys off the back.

Agreed! It's best to say nothing.

I like it when the girls lift up their shirts. Guys, not so much.

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that you were talking about time gaps to OTB. I was just contrasting to the time I was being given time gaps to the back. TMI... I don't want to know, and I don't want someone to tell me that I need to close the gap. Don't they think that if I could close the gap I would?

I agree, OTB=STFU.

Today I was off the back and if one of the neutal water people had said "You suck" as went by, I would have said "I know."

That reminds me, struggling up a climb once and had my own support van pull up next to me, look, then ask me if I wanted a ride :lol: (I must have looked worse than I felt).

Really, just making a lot of noise is appreciated.

I think cheering is good in general, if only to get other spectators involved in the race. The worst is the single person clapping slowly as an OTB rider slowly rolls by - feels like being at a funeral.

In Pro/1/2 races, if I know a pro relatively well and he is not in the lead group, my favorite thing to yell (after making sure people within 100 yards all look like adults) is "Do some of that Pro sht and get up there!"

Then there's just the plain silliness directed at friends or friendly/familiar racers.
"Dude, you're a stud!"
"I love your socks"
"You missed a spot on your knee"
"Oh the pain"
"My legs hurt too"
"You can sit up if you want"
"Go blue wheels"
etc etc etc

The silly cheers are best done as a group. I haven't been in a silly mood in a while. I'll have to remember this next weekend.

cdr

That is some funny material right there.

In crits, if you're anywhere near the S/F line with a cowbell it's too confusing (in races that offer primes).

My parents, who had a reputation for their yelling at my races, once asked if I could hear them. I told them I had no idea what they were saying, but that it helped anyway. I believe it, too. So I agree that it doesn't matter what you say. Just say it and say it loud.

+ 1,000,000 it seems that every lap, I'm listening to the announcer because I'm trying to figure out if it's a prime or just some untrained musician.

I manage to have very selective hearing in races-- there's a small bunch of people who I know really well and who I know are going to give useful information. I can hear them really well, to the point of comprehending full sentences. Everything else is just noise, except for the one time some guy on the back stretch started yelling "Go Duck Guy!" when I was off the front and the announcer started talking about how I run a website about mean ducks.

^ Good point. My coach and trainer were always able to be clear to me. I always thought it was in the coaching manual or voodoo magic :D

Oh, and I clearly hear people's cheers when OTB. Not so much when OTF as I'm probably concentrating more .