<3 2 Ride 

Interesting stuff happening on the forum today that I'm not sure I truly understand.

It has made me wonder about road cycling and personality traits. Is there a connection between certain personality traits and being a dedicated road cyclist? What do you think? Are there certain traits that you must posses to be a road cyclist?

I think a certain amount of dedication and discipline is required to make the leap from recreational to serious cyclist. Let's face it, the average rec cyclist feels like 10, 15, 20 miles is a lot for a day. On an easy day, I will do at least twice that...in the same amount or less time.

patentcad

I rode over 40,000 miles on my road bicycle since April of 2005. If I ever feel myself becoming a 'serious' cyclist, I'll kill myself first. I will accomplish this by riding my bicycle down Gate Hill Road descent (eastbound) into Stony Point, NY, without touching the brakes. That should do it.

<3 2 Ride 

C'mon now Pcad...I wasn't calling anyone a roadie. There has to be something a step up from rec and below roadie that does not make all of us Fred.

RoadToNowhere

A.D.D. with a healthy dose of O.C.D.

B

Tom Stormcrowe

Actually, there is a Psychological component to make a competitive cyclist. It takes a peculiar mindset to train and train and train in a sport where most of us, at our peak will be merely mediocre as compared to the pros.

HigherGround

Any O.C.P. in there?

patentcad

You're all Freds or Road Nazis. It's very simple.

Take your pick. But we are all united in utter Weeniedom.

skinny

See now, you have three stars because you are capable of this type of insightful analysis.

bdcheung

Egotist. I'm not Howard Roark but I think I am.

StephenH

I have noticed in some of the write-ups that the big pile-ups are always caused by somebody else that doesn't know how to ride. How come those guys never post? I never see a "I caused the big wreck" post. And when the pros wreck, who causes that?

<3 2 Ride 

Ahh...but when I'm out kicking my a** on a training ride, part of the draw is knowing that I am better at what I am doing than so many others who don't have the mindset to train and train and train. Certainly there will always be someone better than you, but there are also people who aren't as good as you.

bdcheung

Dogs. Over-eager fans. Road furniture not properly marked.

In short: "someone else"

Tom Stormcrowe

BD, at least you don't think you're John Galt.

Creakyknees

Ok, I'm sure we must have some for-real shrinks on this board. Point us to some online profiles and see what kind of scores we bring back. Might be fun.

RoadToNowhere

What do you think?

Booger

I'm not for real, but I believe the profile name you're looking for is D-Bag. It's the (little known) 17th Meyers-Briggs type. Take that one to the bank and smoke it.

grolby

You ride your bike for the sense of moral superiority it gives you? Oookaaay... and here I thought that riding was fun. And that feeling good after a hard ride is part of what makes it worth riding hard. I mean, there's road cycling and then there's competitive road cycling. Given the number of people who go out for miles and miles - hundreds, even! - and yet have no interest in racing whatsoever, it's hard for me to see how there's something about riding lots of miles that requires a competitive attitude or implies some kind of mental or moral edge over the rest of the people out there. Hell, I race, but ultimately I do it because racing is fun. And the person that doesn't have the mindset to train for and win races (as if they were interested in the first place) is probably better than I am at painting a moving scene, or cooking a tasty meal, or... whatever. I don't even know what a "serious" or "dedicated" road cyclist is, but it sounds scary. Especially if that person doesn't race. Without racing, using riding to feel morally or mentally superior to others is pretty senseless. Even then, it's a questionable attitude, IMO. Sorry to rain on your parade.

RoadToNowhere

Grolby, some of us are just stubborn.

I don't race. Never have, probably never will. I'm just not motivated by competition. Unless I'm competing with myself to get stronger/faster/better at something.

Riding keeps me sane. If I didn't have it, I'd take my family to crazy town with me.

Beth

Anti404

-1 to the obscure atlas shrugged reference.

BarracksSi

I don't race, but (apart from being SLOW) that's mainly because I can't afford to get hurt. My seniors at work won't appreciate me not being able to play gigs because of some injury from a silly bicycle race.

I just ride a road bike more often because it's easier to go faster and farther on one.

Tom Stormcrowe

It was in response to a "The Fountainhead" reference, though.

<3 2 Ride 

Riding is fun. Never said it wasn't. In fact, I'm happiest when I'm riding.

Never said that riding lots of miles without racing required a competitive attitude. And just because a person doesn't race, doesn't mean they aren't or can't be competitive. I compete with myself...Can I do this distance faster than last time? Can I get farther up this hill before I end up mashing the gear?

I do have to disagree, though that you can ride a lot of miles without having a mental edge over others. It takes a lot of focus and dedication to the sport to keep pedaling when your muscles hurt, the rain is falling, your stomach is yelling at you for real food, etc. Not everyone has what it takes to keep going. I'm also not saying that cyclists are unique in this. People who run marathons and more have just as much mental strength to keep going to reach the goal. And in this world where so many choose to simply sit on the sofa and channel surf and eat crap, yes, I feel slightly superior knowing that I am not wasting my brain away in front of the boob tube, getting fat and blaming it on genetics. I'm doing something to combat the hand genetics has dealt me.

<3 2 Ride 

+1

Psimet2001 

Yes...it is the nature of the beast. Want to know more about it then read "Roadie" (cah-ching) which can be purchased from Velo-press or Amazon.

This is a community. We have norms and traits. Membership comes at a price. Hazing is part of it. Those that can't take it become "try"-athletes or runners.

....or dope smoking mtn bikers or dope smokin ss/fg hipsters.

....or family riders with trailers....or commuters.....or recumbent riders *shiver*....where was I??

<3 2 Ride 

LOL...Own a signed copy of it, read it, know the author personally. Great book! Thanks, though!

Really was just looking for some discussion that was entertaining and didn't include all the drama from earlier.