You're on, LittleBigMan !!

P.S. Are Stone Mountain the city and Stone Mountain the theme park the same thing?

The guy who owns the theme park (Pete Hershend) also owns Silver Dollar City (a theme park here in Branson). He rides the MS150 every year and is one of their largest fundraisers.

Viva la difference...

I suppose the type-1 Freds who tick me off -- the ones I really think of as Freds -- are the reverse snobs. You know, the ones who look down on roadies and racers and dirtbags, who see everyone outise of the bell-and-basket set [thanks Wabbit!] as being poseurs. They're the ones who yess "hey, slow down, enjoy the view" when you're out on a training ride on the Lakeshore road.

The great thing about cycling is that it's an activity that encompass all kinds of philosophies and worldviews, from the most V02max-obsessed racer to the guy in sandals with a re-painted CCM Targa at a Crtitical Mass demo. There's room for guys like D*Alex, Wabbit and me, and for LBM and Cycletourist. We probably won't be on a lot of rides together, but that's cool.

The bottom line is that a self-righteous Fred is no better than an obnoxious velosnob.

[And yes, I get cheesed when a Fred does everything in his power to keep me from passing -- including putting my life at risk. It has happened.]

Now that's interesting! I think I remember hearing about that once before.

Stone Mountain Park is adjacent to the City of Stone Mountain. Bikes enter free, cars must pay! :cry: ;) ) A good place to tackle a few small hills and some nice scenery, to be sure!

:)

Guess I'm rally a Fred because I thought Fred referred specifically to a new racer, one not used to group riding and therefore potentially dangerous.

My commuter has all the dorky (Freddish?) bags, lights, reflectors, mirrors, etc., that keep me alive on morning commutes in the dark. I do wear some old (minor) pro team kit because 1. it's comfortable and 2. I got a bunch of pro-quality bibs and jerseys from a guy who had too many and was selling them for 10 bucks each. I'm about to fork over a bunch of bucks for a pair of the best Pearl Izumi bibs. Why? 1. I need a pair of basic black. 2. I prefer bibs. 3. I want something that will last a long time. Can't accuse me of riding an expensive bike, though. Now I do prefer Dura Ace and will buy nothing less from now on. I have 105 on my commuter. When I needed another set of shifters for another bike, I was able to pick up some DA on sale at a very reasonable price. The shifting was so much smoother and crisper I decided they would be worth the money anytime I needed a new group.

Whatever.

Reminds me of one of my favorire stories. Check it out, and see if you can pick the Fred:

http://www.cyclingutah.com/oct/oct99/fast.html


Have you noticed that Freddism is based on perspective? A cyclist on a $4000 bike is more likeley to call the hippie a Fred and vice versa.

BTW, for the record, I'm not a Fred. I'm a geek.

Great story. But what does eating the heads off of live chickens have to do with cycling? A new source of carbos?

Uh, you must have clicked on the other link...

A geek, in ancient and noble times, was somebody who bit the heads off of live chickens; kind of a circus sideshow freak.

I knew that. ;)

I'm operating at half-speed today.

This anecdote reminds me of another, which isn't really about freds. Last summer, my cycling buddy and I were stopped at a rest stop on a local bike path. Just as I was about to head into the head, a trio of roadies went by, one of them sporting an Italian champ jersey. They certainly weren't freds. When I came out and we got back on the path and headed opff, and I caught sight of the trio up ahead! I was surprised because I assumed they'd be long gone, and I realized that they were going the same speed as I (about 30K as I recall), because I had them in my sights the whole way. Eventually they turned off in another direction, but I was rather surprised they weren't going faster, especially the Italian Champ guy. You sort of expect someone wearing the italian champ jersey to be going a lot faster. It may have been the end of their ride, of course, because it was kind of late in the day. That's why I wouldn't wear any national champ jersey- you sort of have to live up to it. National team jerseys are different- I'd wear the Polish team jersey or russian team jersey out of ethnic pride. No one is going to think I'm on the polish or russian team.

How cool is that?! That Fred (um, the one on the Huffy, not the ride captain) is my hero.

Back in the day, Huffy was a sponsor of Team 7-11... the first US team to break into European cycling in a big way.

They rode...
Serrota's painted as Huffys.

That's why all my jerseys have beer motifs.

I must say, you are a god, mike.

Where I can I get an Arrogant Bastard jersey?!? :D

I've always thought that Freds were any biker who didn't care about what they looked like. It helps to have as many acoutrements on the bike as possible. I see commuter Freds, but I also think of many tourers as them. This is due to personal contact, and with the Phred.com website. The best Freds I've seen were on RAGBRAI--the bike tour across Iowa. These are the people with streamers on their handlebars, and teddy bears strapped to the front, giant mudflaps, beer cooler on their backrack, shnapps in the water bottle etc. Most of them seem to be well muscled tourers. One Fred I knew would bike with ALL of his gear from the Mississippi to the Missouri River, and then follow RAGBRAI back to the Mississippi. He also strapped his guitar on for nightly entertainment. He put a pillow on his seat and had a huge amount of foam pading on his drops. In town he road an old cruiser with Wald baskets while wearing big work boots.

Another Fred I saw on RAGBRAI rode what appeared to be the kind of bike I had as a kid in the '70's. It had chopper bars, probably originally had a banana seat, and chrome fenders. He had raised the seat and bars up to adult height and had front and rear panniers loaded with all his gear--no sag wagon for him. I heard he rides the whole tour that way. It's almost a contest to be as ridiculous as possible--but these are serious riders.

The whole Fred thing remids me of the movie Quadrophenia and the battle between the Rockers and the Mods. The tough guys rode cool motorcycles, and the Mods rode around on scooters with ten reflectors, too much chrome, streamers, everything. They got beat up by the Rockers. But I always related to them better. I only wish I could be a Fred.

QUOTE]Where I can I get an Arrogant Bastard jersey?!? [/QUOTE]

I just checked Stone Brewings site- they dont make em anymore, do they?[

Hey guys, thanks for so many replies. I'm learning a lot here! And I thought there was no way I could qualify to be a Fred. After reading all this, I must admit I do show some symptoms.(although not the type one or two symptoms). :D

Wow, I must say there is a lot I still have to learn about cycling culture, just as I finished reading this thread...

I have never been on group rides and I'm pretty knew to the cycling scene. I usually ride more than 100km per week (on my crappy *** all terrain) over pretty gruesome hills, but I'm still inexpereinced in my own eyes and I'm sure in eyes of many others.

I've saved up all the money I could and I was planning to buy a nice entry level roadie with all the proper attire as a little cheer me up for all the hours I spent studying this semester instead of biking.

Now I'm scared damn it!
Will ya'all be calling me a Fred when you pass me on the road side? :rolleyes:

Geez! Chill out guys! The whole "Fred" thing is WAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY overplayed. To tell the truth, nobody really notices much as from whether you're a roadie or a dirtbag -- and most people are both. Cycling culture has its traditions and stuff, but no ine takes that part of it too seriously. The one who do are Freds. [Type 3?]. :)

Well...wonder if I'm a "fred" ....started riding again a little over a year ago on a borrowed, real old Raliegh. Got in a little better shape, rode a metric and got hooked. Bought shoes, pedals, a pump, two pairs of shorts and one pair of tights and a few jerseys (definitely not national, mostly beer motifs). Decided I was loving this. Found the Raliegh had a cracked frame (Thank God! I really wanted a triple) and three weeks ago bought a......drum roll please......Klein Quantum Race! More bike than I need? Maybe...I'm doing the MS 150 in three weeks and intend to do centuries as often as I can. I bought a helmet that matched the bike a few weeks before the bike and ordered shoes to match today. I love to ride. I love the people I get to hang with when riding. I love learning the etiquete, traditions, pacelines etc. I love talking about the ride when it's over and incredible endorphine rush I get for the rest of the day.

I am however still just a somewhat chubby 35 year old guy who will never be a racer and still can't do all the maintnance. So....am I a Fred? If you ride, are polite, can teach me something etc. you are o.k. with me.:beer:

Wow, I'm confused. Depending on which page and post you look at, FREDs seem to include just about anyone. I agree with Velocipedio (did i spell that right?). I have not encountered much Fredism up here in MB. What I have encountered (and find hilarious) is bike-envy from my non-biker co-workers. Took me a while to realize this as a newbie. You should have seen their reactions when I told them they were just jealous. Deny, deny. deny. Now I only give them a big grin when they comment. Drives 'em bananas!!!

I was talking about this to my brother the roadie yesterday. Apparently the term in use here, and he thinks this is just local to Brisbane, is 'Hubbard'. I'm still trying to find out the origins of this term, but he suspected it was named after a local school for ******** children, also called Hubbards.

So, if anyone calls you a 'Fred', just call them a 'Hubbard' in return. They won't even know they've been derided.

I'm going to get 'Hubbard' embroidered onto the black dress socks I use for riding.

I'VE FINALLY GOT IT! "Freds" are other bikers who I label, "Fred," so I don't confuse them with myself, since I am clearly different in so many wonderful ways!

:beer:

You're a genious, LittleBigMan !

hmmm.......LittleBigMan, with all respect...., but.... is the resemblance so close that you have to label them? :D :)