sleepy

Yay! Look who's here! Better late than never.



You will help us understand grammar. Yes, you will.
It's like the literary lions of used up spandex gathered together to excrete a screed dedicated to the untarnished grandness of La vida ciclista.

Brings a tear to my eye.

halfspeed

I think the answer is "nobody".

Bob Dopolina 

Which would explain why they meet so many d-bags?

I can get behind that.

halfspeed

It's much harder to think in stereotypes if you know anybody you're stereotyping.

banerjek

Just make an exception for everyone you meet. Duhh....

achoo

But, it's sooo much fun to be stuck in 4th grade.

SpeshulEd 

I hope I never give off this persona.

To be fair though, I enjoy the geeky side of the hobby, I don't obsess over equipment, but I do enjoy looking at it and riding nicer equipment.
I count my miles, but more so as an acclaim to myself as a "hey, look at what I did, good job me!"
Too slow to strava poach.
No ego...once a nerd, always a nerd!

Also, 90% of my kit is TwinSix gear because it fits my style overall and its relatively cheap when onsale.

I got into this hobby to lose weight and be healthier. I think I've done a pretty good job with that by losing 50lbs this year. The reason I did it on a road bike was because it was easier and more enjoyable to knock out miles on it than the fixed gear I purchased. Out of all the people I've met been through cycling, I can't say I've met one that fits into the ahole roadie mold, but maybe thats because I don't really have a desire to fit in with the "cool" kids.

If someone has a problem with all of that, I'd call them more of an ahole than me. I'm sure the guy that thinks that no one plays basketball in a basketball jersey will take some kind of offense to that, but oh well.

TMonk

Woah. alot to respond to there.

I don't mean to sound so stiff when talking about road riding; I do actually enjoy to ride my road bike too (duh), and don't just train all pissed off all the time (but sometimes ). I suppose I was being contrarian, but I still stand behind the points that I was trying to make with my example. And hey, if a lot of what I think is "lame" in road cycling results in people being positive and healthy, ultimately I can't really be against it, in a case-by-case basis.

Believe me I'm a nerd too, just of a different type: training. Cycling for me is a way for me to manifest certain goal-seeking and OCD aspects of my personality as well as a way to get something I need: the feeling of physical exertion, or working out. I've been prescribing most of my rides and intervals with heart rate for more than a few years now. When I get a powermeter eventually (in no rush), I will likely spend more time looking at graphs and analyzing data than riding, but thats just me the nerd

RE: not meeting ahole roadies: PHX must be a good scene. San Diego is too, mostly. Also ill be surprised if you can say the same in 5 years from now.

SpeshulEd 

Yeah, sorry, I wasn't trying to call you out or anything, just adding an aside to your comment. You seem to be very polite based on the comments of yours that I've read.

I think the most important thing to take out of this whole thread is the fact that what you see is not necessarily what you get in life. Just because you see someone wearing team kit with logos riding a carbon road bike doesn't always mean they're a stuck up egotistical punk. Maybe they just worked really hard to pay for that nice bike and couldn't afford anything but the used team kit they found at goodwill for a few bucks. And maybe we shouldn't judge people by what they're wearing or what they're riding, but instead try to get to know the person before we assume we know everything about them.

old sch wheeler

I went googling around about what actually irritates most people about "roadies." I bumped into all the usual remarks that get said -- many I agreed with some I didn't. ..Some things.. I'm just as guilty of as anyone else -- like flaunting some traffic rules, ignoring stop signs, running a few lights, ridding out off the shoulder in the traffic lane in order to be seen, and to avoid getting killed. ..One thing I do that I never though much about: stopping at a coffee bar with a riding bud (a young woman I know) while wearing the typical "tap shoes, or bicycle marching boots." (not my quote)

None of the things I regularly do (which are technically wrong) made me feel defensive in the slightest, some people seem to need to be that way, not me. I had no desire to make post inflammatory reprisal replies to any of the commentaries I was reading elswhere. I simply smiled a little, reflected on my own flaws and guilt, or I dismissed a few comments as not reflecting the whole truth or the real situation at hand.

And then I read one post that really struck me:

It stated that most of what the usual "roadies" did was hard to like, but only when it was disruptive to the flow in general, meaning to drivers or pedestrians -- that may be true, or maybe not true. But the blog-poster said he thought real "pro-riders" were probably more laid back than the amateur "club riders" who somehow seemed to arrogantly throw their attitudes around in the faces of so many by-standers.

Your post here just reminded me of that comment for some reason. I see it as well balanced, laid-back, paralleling the perception of what that original blog-poster was saying -- real (pro) riders being calm enough to consider others; they didn't come to the party carrying an axe to grind (...in the faces of people they seemed to be at odds with, for no real reason, I gathered).

I'm just sayin' that's all..

Thanks for your post. It's one of only a few that stood out as completely reasonable. You come to this party without an axe. Nice post..!

TMonk

I totally agree with that amatuer "club riders" and run-of-the-mill cat4 types tend to more arrogant and ******y than elite P/1/2 types. I have noticed this time and time again within the community here in SD.

Perhaps it's like some inferiority complex thing on behalf of most club riders. Being fitter and faster than your average joe roadie but slower and weaker than the guys setting the pace up front seems to breed disdain.

And for the record (not that it matters), I am NOT a P/1/2 rider, but have had glimpses and tastes of it with a couple sponsorships stemming from some of the more successful seasons I've had as a 3. I could get to cat2 with a little focus, but will never be a competitive cat 1/2 with the limited time and talent that I have. For me the obsession with upgrading and being elite has passed; I continue to race for some healthy competitive fun. Some can call me complacent (wouldn't be the first time I've heard it), but i'm happy.

type36

What a concept, I had to look twice to make sure I was reading this in the 41.

TMonk

hahahha rite? i thought the same thing when I read that.

caloso

This has been my observation in NorCal as well. It seems that the more you ride and the harder you have to train, and get humbled regularly in races, the less posing.

SpeshulEd 

Yeah, I tend to live in my own fantasy land from time to time.

DanBell

Cycling in Japan is very safe. Drivers are for the most part courteous and speed limits are much lower, meaning you can go at or near traffic speeds most of the time, especially in the city. On narrow roads, you need to take the lane, much as you would anywhere else. In a number of that guy's videos of dangerous drivers, when he looks down you can see he's on or right next to the white edge line. This marginalizes you and allows drivers to think they can pass you without moving into the other lane. If they think this, they'll pass without giving you enough room. You have to ride assertively, or you marginalize your position and your right to the road. This is true everywhere I think.

I have no issues with the way that guy or anyone else chooses to ride (or what you want to wear when you ride). More people out on bikes is good for everyone, and from some of the pictures, he's doing some serious climbs on his hybrid. But calling people posers and losers and crowing about passing them... that's pretty immature and shows a real inability to understand that other people might have a different perspective on things, or be out biking for a different reason, or in a different stage of their ride or training plan... or... anything really.