Originally Posted by H_Roark
I've been mountain biking for years, but am a newcomer road biking and to this forum. In a relatively short time, I've come to a few conclusions:
1) I love road cycling.
2) I want little or nothing to do with other roadies.
The reasons for the first should be obvious. Reasons for the second have a lot to do with the attitude of some cyclists.
To illustrate the difference, I'll compare cycling to another hobby of mine-sports cars/amateur racing.
Car people appreciate fine automobiles. We are quick to drool over the latest Ferrari or Lotus. We also appreciate less expensive cars that have a high fun quotient. A well-maintained 80s RX-7 will not attract the attention that the Ferrari will, but will still be appreciated. Also, no one will be sneered at for owning the cheaper car.
In the roadie world, other bikers' tolerance of a rider seems to be based to a large extent on the equipment they have. Someone riding a new carbon gee-gawed bike with the "appropriate" gear is more likely to be treated with respect than someone riding an older, cheaper bike. Owners of less expensive bikes are likely to be sneered at, at the very least.
In amateur racing, what matters is that the person is out there doing it. The only real pre-requisite is a love of the sport. People who make silly mistakes are corrected, but no one makes fun of the bottom finishers. Here, I hear frequent comments about who is and is not a serious cyclist. Beginners seem to be viewed with annoyance at best.
In all, road bikers seem to form the most insular and intolerant community of enthusiasts I have run across. In fact, I've got a few predictions: someone will suggest I just go away. Someone else will criticize me for loving cars as well as bikes.
Perhaps amidst all this, someone can offer a reason why I should make an effort to join other cyclists, rather than just riding by myself.
Without reading every single post here, I would have to say I don't necessarily agree with Mr. Roark, but I can say I agree in part- there are definitely some snobs that ride, and sometimes the snobbery is so bad it's distasteful. Even on these forums, I see the elitist snobs here and there. The ones who make the comments about the lesser quality bikes. The ones who harp on the newbies. The ones who chide other members about their lack of knowledge about racing because they are new to the sport, whether participating or observing. It's sad.
It's actually sad to me, because we are always whining about how we wish more people would be involved, how OLN won't broadcast more racing, how we should all stick together. Then someone (or several someones) will always take it back to the "we're better than you" crap. I get tired of it. Instead of being happy that lots of people are watching road racing because they watch Tour de France (which is the only race shown on American local television, unless you can spring for the package for OLN when it's being offered in your area!), and trying to educate people about different cyclists, races, etc., newbies are instead treated with disdain. If someone mentions they have a lower level bike, or a walmart bike, they are ridiculed and treated like idiots. It's no wonder we can't get more people into cycling. As soon as the newbies get started and ask a few questions, the elitists immediately start in with their snobby attitude, and in a lot of cases, I think they drive the newbies away. I have NEVER seen anything like this in any country I've ever traveled to. I see it all the time here in the USA. I don't know what to make of this phenomenon, except to blame it either on the fact that the snobs are actually so sad and pathetic that they have to find
something to make themselves feel so superior, or that it is really true- we Americans are so fixated on class structure that we look down on people who may not have it as good as we do, or lack the opportunity to have education or goods that the snobs have. We are totally fixated on material things, and sometimes, it really does cloud our judgement and how we view others.
I remember when I first started getting interested in cycling. It was 1997, and everyone had the nice bikes, but I didn't have the money for anything, so I borrowed my sister's old Ross bike and rode by myself. It was a terrible bike, but it was all I had, and no one rode with me. I rode sporadically and talked to some of the cyclists that would actually talk to me, and then I finally did get my own bike in 2001- a hybrid. That bike was clunky and slow, but not as bad as my sister's bike. Still, snobs looked down- it wasn't a road bike, so they couldn't be bothered with me. I still rode for the pure enjoyment, but I didn't bother with people, because generally, people couldn't be bothered with me. Now, I have a brand new, beautiful road bike that people will actually stop in traffic and tell me my bike is beautiful. But I bet the elitist snobs will look at my bike and find some fault- maybe my gear ratios aren't enough to please them, or maybe in 2005, they'll look down on the fact that my bike is 2004, or maybe that I just don't ride fast enough for them, didn't do enough centuries, or ride enough miles everyday. It's always something, right?
At that time, I wasn't able to get OLN either. It just wasn't offered in my neighborhood until last year, but I didn't have the means to get OLN until this year. I read the magazines, and then later, I did attend races locally and in Europe. It was a lot of fun, but dang, did I miss being able to participate with the other roadies. And when I could participate, I really couldn't say much. Bicycling magazine and Procycling didn't give me a lot of insight on what was going on in the world of road cycling, and coverage on local tv was few and far between. Now, I have OLN, I watch the bike races, read eurosport.com cycling news, and occasionally go to Europe for some of the bike races still, as well as go to some of the local races here. But I will bet you all my money in my mutual fund that those elitist snobs will still look down on me. I might have some education, but now I don't have
enough education about cycling, so I still can't be accepted. If it's not one thing, it's another. Sheesh!
I really think elitists are just always wanting to find something so they can make themselves feel better- and for them, it's making others feel worse. If they seriously were so concerned about making cycling universally more accepted and promoting cycling to as many people as possible, they would do less ridicule and more education. I'm not saying we all have to be like Pollyana and play the "Glad Game", but it would be nice if the elitists would come off that little cloud they live on every now and then. I personally avoid the elitists like the plague- they aren't worth the ground I spit on, nor are they worth my time. I just do my best to promote cycling to the "common people" in the best way I know how, and I think I do a good job of it. I love to talk to people about cycling, stop and help people with bike repair or help no matter what type of bike they ride, educate people with the little I do know about cycling, and show general enthusiasm and support for the sport. I hope my positivity wears off on the people I encounter, and hopefully, the newbies can look past the idiots and snobs who are so little and have such low self-esteem that they have to look down on others to make themselves feel better. The sad thing is, by looking down at others, they just make themselves look worse instead of better, so the end does not justify the means in their situation. Of course, you can't tell them that, since they probably would just come up with something else to make themselves look better. Uuugh.
I can totally see how a newbie can get turned off by cycling. The attitude of the snobs don't help them any, and as a result, it doesn't help cycling any either.
I ride alone too.
Koffee