To answer some of your questions:

1. Due to daily commuting on steel framed (read: heavy) bikes I have been able to (mostly) rehabilitate my back and gain strength, stamina and power. I owe my ability to even stand up straight and walk to daily commuting on a bike.

2. I ride in whatever I feel like and what is most comfortable to ME. Dresses, skirts, jeans, and heels are the most comfortable for ME. If you are more comfortable in head-to-toe spandex, then great for you but I'm going to wear my heels or a dress because, to me, they are second nature and the most comfortable, even for riding a bike 40+ miles.

3. I've said it before and I'll say it again: "You don't need to dress up like a spandex superhero to ride your bike"! Just get on your bike and RIDE! Enjoy every second of it whether you are in heels and a dress, shorts and sneakers or full kit. Just know that you don't need spandex to ride a bike and ride a bike well.

4. For the ride, I put on a t-shirt and shorts -- which is very dressed down for me to begin with. I decided to pick the most comfortable shoes (heels or not) that I own: the 3" slip-on heels (I have two pair: 1 black, 1 tan). They have a cushioned, suede inner sole that feels like heaven on my tooties! Although they have a wooden heel, they have a RUBBER SOLE! Easy to grip onto my pedals. Those heels are far more comfortable, to ME, than sneakers. (I have high arches and find that sneakers offer me little to no arch support.)

5. No where did I mention that this was a race. This was a ride that was slated to be moderate paced. No leisurely, gandma riding but no crazy race speeds either. Somewhere in between. It was even posted that this ride was "NOT FOR BEGINNERS. ONLY FOR EXPERIENCED RIDERS". And that you needed to keep pace. If you couldn't keep up they tell you where the closest transit back (i.e. subway) is and send you on your way with a bike map, I kid you not!

6. YES, I passed EVERY SINGLE RIDER including the event leader -- I knew a large chunk of the route. Riding next to the event leader, I told him that I knew the way and asked if it was okay to go ahead of him a bit. He said it was fine. I only went ahead of him twice. All other times I was either directly behind him or a few people behind him if I wasn't making my way past people to him since I voluntarily did several "Drops". (A Drop is a person that stops at turns or other tough points to direct riders (and even traffic) until he sees the "Sweep". The "Sweep" makes sure no one is left behind.)

So after I was waved to go on by the Sweep I would again proceed to pass people going back to the front position behind the event leader.

4. My max speed was just under 30 MPH. 28.9 to be exact! The route was approx. 85% flat. The only time we hit any hill of notice was going over ONE short bridge. I wasn't going that fast, guys, but clearly I was going faster than the rest.

5. I was meeting a few friends at the ride and I knew some of the organizers from other rides I've done so I knew 7 people out of the 50+ that attended. I noticed attitude, bad looks and even some rude comments so I owned NONE OF THEM any sympathy while blasting by them. Give attitude? Get owned! Plain and simple. And the attitudes did indeed change once the pwnage was put on. Trust me.

(One guy swore I was lost as I passed him. He swore I wasn't with the group and loudly said so. When I alerted him to the fact that I was indeed with the group he openly and callously swore that I wouldn't make it, that he didn't think I'd even make it to the end of the street. He was in a full blue kit with a brand new Cannondale carbon fiber bike! Everything on it was carbon fiber! Even the tiny bike pump he had was carbon fiber, I kid you not. He showed it to me!

Anyway, after passing him several times, he said "Wow, you get props. You get mad props! You're dropping people left and right in heels. Holy sh*t..." and then started trying to keep up with me.

Afterward, he asked to go riding with me. He's actually a decent guy but he's definitely a carbon-snob... But he said seeing me on that vintage bike has made him want one of his own. I'll be helping him pick out a nice vintage bike like mine off of Craigslist soon.)

The whole point of this story was to say that commuting daily has helped me drop the weekend warriors, Lance-wannabes and carbon-snobs like flies. And to never judge a book by its cover. You'd be surprised at how much ass a daily commuter can haul so don't judge anyone, heels or no heels, until you can see what they can do. :thumb:

Thanks JD. Legs courtesy of heavy steel commuting bikes! :thumb:

Before I started commuting I had "chicken legs" (read: really skinny legs)! Commuting on heavy steel bikes has helped shape them out. :D

Ouch.

Lets see:
Heavy bike <> buffed commuter
Light bike <> fast commuter
The real culprit is not the weight of the commuter but how the rider rides and \ or trains in addition to a bit of physiology. Anyhow, just yapping to myself and avoiding the incessant ranting against the incessant ranting against lycra while my Friday winds down.

While one can appreciate and respect the OP's determination and grit in dealing w/her back issues through cycling there's something disturbingly self-congratulatory in the overall tone of her posts. My father used to say, "Take care of your business and let others toot your horn." 'Blagging' (blog/brag) in regards to one's accomplishments on a 'social ride' is simply bad form. Heels or not.

Put your money down, get your number, enter a local road race, blow THAT field away...THEN post back. :love:

You can also find a competitive group ride and accomplish that as well. I enjoy dropping my friends quite a bit. :p

Ah Yes....I forgot how important dropping people is.....LOL!

Not really. Just fun for us roadies who like competing with each other.

A ROADY? But... roadies wear *gulp* LYCRA... an-and... SPECIAL SHOES!!! AAAGGGHHH :twitchy:

A counter point is that I've been commuting many years on heavy Steel bicycles in both cities and rural areas, U.S and Germany, and have recovered from three back operations over the last 30 years; and I never found any reason or had any desire to haul ass or drop any other cyclist while commuting.

So you like a woman with a brain?? Good for you, she`s got that too! :)

I noticed you posted your max speed. Do you know your average speed, or the average speed of the group?

I've dropped roadies in full kit on carbon fiber bikes before while wearing a suit and tie, riding my touring bike with fenders, panniers, etc.

Fun stuff. :D

Yeah, I like that too. :thumb:

Is there different rules for different peopel? I am suprised this is the first time I read such a comment in these forums, for there is for sure a lot of bragging around here. Looks like when the insects brag about theyr new (carbon) bikes, how much it costed (again bad form) and how much they ride, how many they dropped and so on that is not bragging, that is just REAL cyklists explaining/informing other cyklists.

She is trying to tell you that she is not willing to let you alone define what cyceling is and how it should be done. She s trying to tell you that a carbon bike + full insect kit does not make you fast. She is trying to tell you what happends when you show up and act/look dfferent. Peopel get confused becouse it look like the rules just changed, and therefor they feel insecure. Tell me again who has got more focus on him/her self?

And just to tell you, riding in heels is fun. Making the insects insecure is fun.

Keep riding KittN. :thumb:

Sorta like JoeyBikes twin sister

Sounds fun. I'm curious what kind of rude comments you got?

Why are these threads always about insecurity? Does anybody actually feel insecure while doing something as simple as riding a bicycle? Who really cares what you wear or what others wear?

A group goes one speed. and follows that same speed. and shes bragging about speeding past them?

this chick needs to get knocked off her high horse someday. too much self jerking off in this thread.

Yup... and some of us aren't jerks. In fact many of us. :thumb:

:roflmao2:

That challenges the stereotyping and excessive task-specific cycling taxonomy that I've learned from BikeForums, therefore I can't accept your statement.

But this:

+1

It's more common to hear from women who've recovered from a back injury who have stopped wearing heels, than women who wear heels.

We must be reading different forums. Bragging about winning a MUP race is routinely met with the same type of comments KitN has gotten. You have people that applaud these victories and others that will say they're meaningless.

I must say though that KitN has taken it a bit farther though by claiming she dropped and entire group of people (implying that they were mostly roadies) including the ride leader. Then we find out that ride is actually tour and that before "dropping" the tour leader (who was trying to keep a moderate pace) she asked him if it were OK to ride ahead. That's the first time I've heard of somebody asking permission to drop somebody else but I'll give her points for politeness.

Further, in her first post she says this:

"Never judge a book by it's cover"

But in her blog she says this:

"I dislike "bike-elitist-wannabes". You know, the guys, and some girls, that think that having an expensive bike makes them "better" than someone with a less expensive bike or have the false assumption that having an expensive bike will somehow make them a better, faster, stronger cyclist."

Seems like she's doing a whole lot of judging based on clothing and bike choice herself.

I don't own a carbon fiber bike or even a jersey but I ride with a lot of people that do. When I showed up for that first group ride in a T-shirt and sneakers instead of a jersey and clipless shoes, no one cared or looked at me cross eyed. Neither did they care when a guy riding a mountain bike joined us for awhile.

It's too bad she got the reaction from some of the people that she did, but my impression is that she wore what she wore knowing she was going to stir the pot. It's clear from her blog that she looks down on people wearing "kit" and I wouldn't be surprised if that attitude came across on her tour. In other words, the snotty attitudes were probably flowing in both directions.

It's pretty typical in this forum, it's called projection bias. "Why are all those stupid slow worthless weenies/insects/whatever wearing lycra and cycling shoes always judging me based on my t-shirts and heels**********??"

"But suffice it to say, that once I dropped every single last one of the cyclists, people's jaws dropped and attitudes changed. Ha! Pure ownage!"

Perhaps I misread this...

Going on and on about how much she dislikes CF bikes and those that ride in lycra and then:

Yep. So scornful of those she rants about scorn from. So eager to make sure everyone knows how much she doesn't care what anyone thinks of her.

I've seen more than my fair share of threads talking and/or bragging about how the OP "ate a roadie for breakfast" or dropping this person or that person, listing prices on how much they just paid for this component or that. Heck, just scroll down the thread list right now and you'll see a bunch.

I don't talk smack to them or thread-crap. Some of you need to step out from under the glare of your computer screens and take a breath. It's all good. :)

My experiences are mine and I understand if you don't get it but it doesn't negate my experience. I had a blast riding 40+ miles in heels. Passing some rude people that judge ability on the type of shoes I'm wearing was just chance, not planned.

All-in-all I had a great time and meet some people that at first were very skeptical and close-minded but riding with me changed their minds.

Anyway, get out there, commute as much as you can and enjoy your rides in whatever clothes, and shoes, you choose to wear but know that there's a girl in NYC in heels hauling a steel tank and loving every minute of it. If you cross my path, please don't hesitate to say "Hi" and come on over. If you're a hater? Keep it moving! :D

Don't read too much into it.
I doubt any of us are taking this too seriously. Merely pointing out the inconsistencies and what we disagree with. Anonymous users on the internet aren't worth stressing over.