Originally Posted by gmule
When I started riding my bike last April I weighed in at 275# 11 months later I have lost 40 pounds and commute to work 30 miles round trip every day that I can. A couple of weeks ago I was riding my route to work when I happend upon a road cyclist climbing up a 3 mile hill I have to travel on my way to work. I was just riding my ride and eventually caught up to him at a light a few miles later. I think he was trying to complement me when he blurts out " You ride pretty good for a big guy" For some reason I was kind of offended by the remark so I replied " I am only going to get better as I lose weight you are about as good as you are going to get" He kind of chuckled at the come back and went about his ride. Was I out of line? should I have taken my compliment and peddaled on? Do any of you other guys get jabs from skinny guys while riding?
+1 on the comeback. His comment un-answered gives him the right to dis you out on the road which is very unfair when there aren't that many riders out there to begin with. Fellow riders should work together more.
I can never understand how complete strangers who are working hard at an activity can treat someone they don't know - who clearly is out there doing the best they can - as a competitor. American competetiveness is kind of toxic. To give you an example, I have a training route that includes hills, flats, regular roads , and bikeways. The bikeway is in the middle of my ride, I'm warmed up by that time so my speed is near the max or a little higher than my overall average for the entire ride. Anyway, there are a lot of dudes that train on these flat bikeways and they troll off of you and then then attack you in a manner that is pretty funny. I mean, I'll be maintaining a steady 17.5 to 18.0 mph, keeping a real nice spin, even alternating between the tops and the drops. Here comes a guy about my age, on the drops quietly drafting me for several miles. I notice he's turning a slower cadence and in a bigger gear than me. Then, while still in the drops he upshifts to an even higher gear, and accelerates up closer to 20-21 mph. He passes with no greeting, even though I say "Hi". I lift my speed by turning the same cadence one gear higher and keep him in visual range. I'm closing the distance, now riding 19.5 mph for several miles, and then boom, I see the guy sitting at a rest stop and eventually turning around heading back on the same, boring, flat route, with the same boorish, competetive, antisocial "training" regimen. All I'm saying is that with men and their testosterone - some cyclists are kind of pathetic and narrow minded. I mean there might have been 90 minutes of daylight left. I've seen the dude out there before, if he would've responded to my greeting instead of holding the delusion of dispensing with an inferior rider (which maybe I am, but probably I'm not - hell, I was only 35 minutes into a 2.5 hour ride) - he and I could've chatted and pushed each other, and, who knows
, maybe we could've gotten off that crummy flat path and challenged each other to ride up and down the river valley roads a couple of times before the sun starts to set. Much more beneficial and interesting outcome if you ask me.