I've always considered those kind of riders as "Poseurs".

A "Fred" to me is usually some old guy, sometimes with a beard or long-ish hair, wearing mountain bike shorts, a 1980-ish helmet, 1980-ish steel road bike with down tube shifters...

Who just dropped me. :lol:

I couldn't bring my self to wade through all of the posts in that thread! Maybe we need to add a feature BF feature that would allow folks to create these aliases:

ln -s "little bittie" "botto"

Anytime one of these aliases show up in their posts, a hyper-link to the actual username will showup.

None other then Grandpa...fat old disgusting guy.

You say that with such affection! It must be Spring :love:

It is worse than that - I ride a F900 MTB with thousands of kilometers on it, white hair, no helmet - and I may well drop you. The young whippersnappers hate for me to go riding by while they are trying to impress the cute chicks.

Nothing like being dropped in front of a cute chick by someone old enough to be your grandfather...

"Hello, I am a Fred, and I ride..." be afraid, be very afraid. :lol:

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/b.../ATrueFred.jpg

Hope springs eternal...but Grandpa will be Grandpa.

"Youse talkin' to me?"

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b.../DiscoFred.jpg

That brings me back a few years (my girls are in HS now), love those cheeks...she is adorable.

Grandpa rides again. He is wincing because he seeking the nearest bathroom because of that pesky prostrate problem.:eek:

I can't help but lol and shake my head at this image. Now, mind you, he's my bestest bud if I ever met him face to face. But, wow.

My pot belly is going down and I wear a solid jersey. I do ride a $2K + bike so am I still a Fred? I always considered myself a Fred but now I don't know.

It's prostate. He's usually prostrate after the ride for a few hours though.

Hello, my name is Todd, I am an ex sub-fred. One day I saw my reflection on a glass storefront and realized I was spiraling downward and would soon become a true fred. Thanks to friends, family and BF, I am now a true road nazi/elitest wanna be. Hail PCad!

i like to hand out copies of this on group rides

Since my first name is Fred (really), I figure I am doomed, so I just roll with it. I'd still drop a lot of you. Probably not PCad though - but I have a strategy planned for him...

I am sure these guys will be more than up to the task of slashing his tires while he comes around a corner. :D

http://www.fincaleola.com/images/Workers.jpg

Seriously, is there anything wrong with it? I see guys like that I say keep up the good work, give them a compliment. Because those same "Freds" are out there spending $$$$ on bikes and gear, creating a market and keeping the prices down, such that I can get a true Pro level machine for the same price (real dollars, not adjusted) that I paid 25 years ago.

And I know you are not flaming them pcad, as you are just as self-deprecating as the next guy. But what is so different than this guy (who is actually out there on a bike and probably knows who David Zabriske is) and some 350lb. dude choking down a sausage sub and supersized drink taking up two seats at Fenway Park and wearing a DAMON (hasn't been with the Sox since '04) jersey (and who couldn't swing a bat and remain uninjured to save his life)?

Essentially correct. Sadly there are no deli stops or pee breaks in bike racing. F me.

The Bosox fan actually gets laid more than the Fred.

I f'n love this picture. It's great on so many levels.

Why do you hate sausages?


...and thanks for that image so early in the morning.

Id have to see some statistics on that one. :D

I think this definition of "Fred" is far too broad. It was always my understanding, as it obviously was for a few others here, that a Fred was an old guy on his 27" Raleigh, with cut-off jean shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt. Redefining Fred (or sub-Fred) as basically anyone who touches a bike but doesn't race makes the term essentially useless, since it would lump the meat-pylons on the local trail in with the 50-year-old lawyer with the $8k Serotta on the same trail.

<Pictured removed for fear of being "Cypressed".>

MMMMMmmmmmmm....Sausage........

I figured that would be a good wake up call for this thread...after all the goal is 5 pages right?

Have you ever ridden with him?