Originally Posted by H_Roark
I appreciate the feedback, and think most of you are right. Snobs are everywhere, it just seems as though quite a few gravitate towards road cycling. There is a contrast between the racing community(cars), the mountain bike community, and the road community. The danger a newbie poses in a pack is a legitimate concern, although I don't have much interest in the "serious" training rides. For me, the competition is first and always against myself, against being winded and tired, and against the urge to stop or slow down. Other riders are incidental to this. Still, a relaxed group ride would be fun, if I can find such a thing. I suppose it's just a question of looking in the right places.
On a side note- I did an interview yesterday with a family that is biking along the Lewis and Clark trail. 50 miles a day for the whole family, done for the most part on older bikes. (A Cannondale hybrid, an Old Fuji road bike, a couple of Bianchis, and one I can't remember the name of.) Both parents were doctors, so I doubt that cost was the reason for the older bikes-they just liked them. At any rate, they were very pleasant people, and I was impressed by each of them.
Cycling has many sub populations even among people who are reasonably "serious" cyclists. What I mean by serious cyclist is someone who knows something about handling the bike, basic repair, who routinely rides the bike for exercise or recreation or anything other reason, and knows some basic survival skills like recognizing a potential right hook from a motorist or an incipient case of heat exhaustion.
With the advent of trails, we have a whole new class of cyclists out there. The class that avoids roads. Actually bike trails scare me more then roads do. At least people sort of follow the rules on the road on roads and on trails it is like tag team wrestling - anything goes. I stay with the semis where I feel safe. But trail riders tend to ride at a very relaxed pace. Sure they get where they are going and they get exercise so more power to them. But because of my riding style, I won't mix with them much unless we happen to stop at the same place and chat.
You also have the road tourists. They fall into several categories. One group tends to ride at a very relaxed pace. They enjoy the scenery, chat, and seldom push themselves. That isn't my style, but there are many very nice people who do this.
At the other end, you have people who tend to treat every weekend ride as a sort of miniture tour de france. They push and push and push until only the top rider is left or maybe 2-3. The fast riders in our local club do this fairly often but not ALL the time.
Now I have not tried to exhaust the various subgroups of cyclists out there and there are many more then I described above. But many cyclists just because of their riding styles are just not going to interact significantly on the road. If I am at a group ride, I am perfectly happy to chat with any other cyclist. Most have something interesting to say.
I think Roark may well be mistaking the differences in cycling styles for an unwillingness to socialize i.e. snobbery.