Originally Posted by karmical
i have been trying to figure this full-kit roadie thing out for the last couple of months.....i don't get it....i can be simply crusing along, ride along side a road bike, about to say hey whatsup or someting, next thing you know all i hear are gears dropping, which no matter how tired i am or how many sprints or hills i have done....gives me extra fuel in the tank...
You have encountered a "hammerhead"- a lot of these guys wear a pro kit- but they never actually race. Their jaunt out on the MUT is their time trial... or they try to chase down everything in front of them. Often they will turn off the road as soon as they pass you because they have run out of gas... that is if they actually catch you. Every ride is a competition. I think this is a common phenomenon for many new riders... they all think they are fast and they want to test everyone they see.
I've seen some guys riding around on Zipp 404s or 303s as "everyday wheels." It is hard for me not to be at least a little bit judgmental.
I've been on some nasty club rides that are basically organized to drop as many riders as possible without regrouping. These are the races for these riders- who generally don't actually race. A respectable club ride will regroup throughout the ride.
Most guys I know who actually race know better- they might still be wearing their local team kit, but they know better than to blow their ride into a bunch of junk miles (ridden at a heart rate that does nothing for them)... plus they save the competitive stuff for the actual races.