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Old 04-06-07 | 12:55 PM
  #73  
Six jours
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Joined: Mar 2007
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When I started riding in the late 70s and I saw another cyclist on a lonely road, chances are I would have something in common with that person. In the last ten years or so, I see alot more riders, but most of them I really don't have much in common with. I call this entry of the American wealthy "the Lance Armstrong effect"

Cycling traditionally was a poor man's avocation.
You're not the only dinosaur who thinks this way, FWIW.

I'd add, though, that being as road riding/racing is one of the few sports where fellow participants can cause you severe injury by being incompetent, road riders/racers can be a bit stand-offish out of sheer self-preservation. If you ride up to me on a squeaky, ill-fitting bike with a helmet mirror and a goofy grin, my first thought is going to be about my immediate safety. And if you take a wobbly hand off the bars to wave at me, I may find somewhere else to ride.

Having said that, yeah, a lot of roadies are just A-holes. In years past, they would have been A-holes on a tennis court or a golf course or at the gym, but now that cycling is an "in" sport for the rich and beautiful, the rest of us just have to deal with them.
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