"Do you even ride a bike?"
 

Said the guy next to me on the exercise bike. He must not ride a bike because he thought spinning at a comfortable cadence wasn't how you ride it. Clearly, the machine is used for cardio, but I guess he though grinding at the highest resistance for five minutes was good, and that I didn't ride a bike because I was so over weight. I just stared at him for a minute and then proceeded to put in my head-phones.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I AM using the machine wrong, but I am quite sure spinning is cardio, and so is the machine, since it IS in the cardio section. I don't know why but he sure did piss me off. Normally I don't use the exercise bikes because I do my rides seperate, but I need both wheels replaces and I don't have the money right now, so I'll stick with the machine to curb my ride cravings.

Have any of you had issues like this? Someone insulting your riding skill/method because you're a clyde/athena?

I'm riding in the Tour de Cure 100-mile ride for the American Diabetes Association this summer and I've had more than one individual give me a "Yeah, Right!" look when I explained what I was raising money for. Some people have a hard time believing that a 220-lb guy can actually ride more than around the block.

Eh, you can't live with some people, and you can't hit 'em in the head with a brick.

Carry on.

Happens all the time. Happened more when I was 150 lbs heavier, but yeah - still happens. Same thing at running events. Hell - even happened once in college when I was playing DDR at the arcade in the mall. (DDR is Dance Dance Revolution, for those that don't know.) I was dancing up a storm - doing pretty well, too. I beat the pants off some HS kid. When I finished, another kid comes up to me and says, "you know it's pretty messed up what you're doing..." I just look at him puzzled and all I can think to say is, "huh?" And he says, "yeah - dressing up like a fat kid just to humiliate people at DDR." So I just lifted up my shirt, jiggled my moobies, and walked away.

Nope
 

Never had that happen but dont let it get to you just because He is jerk. I'm 225 and did 130mi last summer. I'm just slow...but I'm 55 lighter than last year. Spinning bikes aren't just for cardio...you can crank up the resistance, get anaerobic and do whatever you want..

I stand corrected. Still, I'm sure it would be more beneficial if he went longer than 5 minutes.

Recongnize that when a stranger makes such a statement, it is usually because of their own feelings of inadequacy.

By the way. What's up with the wheel situation? What are they doing to you now? I thought the shop had given you a warrantee replacement and made sure to stress relieve and retension it?

Maybe you can stress relieve your wheel on that guy's head?

Well, I called Trek several times and they kept saying the would "ask their wheel guy" but I never got a response. The LBS fixed it but it still had issues, so they said they would order a new wheel and it never came in. I asked them when it would arrive (after two weeks) and they said they forgot and that I'd have to pay. I ended up forgetting about it (ironic) and traded my FX for a two year old Trek 1.2. The 1.2 was ridden so much and maintained so poorly by the last owner the rims needs to be tensioned and trued, and I need new tires because there is hardly any tred left, so hopefully I can get that fixed soon.

:lol: Perhaps..

No, stress relieving with another's head is not recommended. It (using anothers head to stress relieve) results in excessive point loading of aforementioned rims which may result in unsatisfactory results and incarceration of the wheelsmith. However, a podialrectal size check usually gets the message across without adversely effecting your own bike.

I'm not sure there's a mental floss strong enough to remove that image from my mind's eye....

With me, the comment usually comes in the form "I didn't think people like you could even ride a bicycle."

This is why i keep a picture of me riding in some of the larger group rides across Washington on my phone. So when i get the "do you even ride a bike" question, i say "yeah, i do about 100 miles a week in top shape, heres a picture of my bike, and here is a picture of me riding it from Seattle to Portland...so how far do you usually ride? Do you have a road bike?"

Usually the response is "ooohhh....thats....cool...uh...yeah, well...uh, i used to ride, but my bike is old...so, um, yeah, well, um, good for you, thats impressive". Or its just a red face and silence.

Biggest thing is to not let it get to you. It just makes me laugh. Makes me laugh even harder when i fly past one of those BMI freaks who now has to stare at my fat ass going up that hill for the next mile.

Thank you for that sayre....... i am accepting of a lot of things but yea i need a drink

One of the things that slowly develops is a different response -- one of the knowing smile, and then forgetting the encounter in the next millisecond. People usually make such comments to build up their own inadequacies, by bringing other people down to their own level.

I had my new boss question me ability to go 40miles recently...I dnt get it often because "apparently" I carry my weight very well.
Anyway I destroyed them all on the ride, they now ask me for advice and guidance on cycling, repairs, purchases, weights etc, which I nice, admittedly its a lot nicer because one of em is my manager.

I never had anyone in the gym say that, but i woud just laugh at them. I do however hear this all the time, there is no way a guy your size should be able to climb like that. On another note when I use to go to gym I would jump on a spin bike mid set and mash out 5 minutes just to get HR back up, and pedalling easy on a spin bike will not give you much you should be doing intervals.

Well put!

"Someone insulting your riding skill/method because you're a clyde/athena?"

How have you established a causal connection? Maybe he would have said the same thing if you were not a clyde.

No. I have rode in to the Y wearing my helmet, bibs, jersey, gloves, clipless shoes and had people ask "Did you ride your bike here?":rolleyes:

some people have the IQ of a goldfish what do you expect :)

:lol:

I've had that same question several times when I ride my bike to the gym. My standard response is, "No, I'm one of the Village People."

If any of you are interested, I took my bike back to the LBS and they told me re-true and tension and a few new spokes won't make it completely straight and I will need a new rim soon (I figured). So hopefully I can get a month or two out of it before I have to buy a new one. But I'll probably buy a set just in case.

$34 for re-tension, re-true, stress relieve and all of that jazz.