bikingshearer 

This is not complicated, people:

1. Ride what you like.
2. If someone rides a bike you don't like or you don't like how someone built up or modified their bike, too damn bad. Deal with it. Preferably quietly.
3. When you ride, wear what you like.
4. If you don't like what someone else wears when they ride, too damn bad. Deal with it. Preferably quietly.
5. Learn the difference between an opinion and a fact. Example: "A British threaded bottom bracket will not work in an Italian-threaded bottom bracket shell" is a fact. "Italian threaded bottoms brackets are stupid" is an opinion; agree with it or not, but it is still an opinion.
6. Most of this thread consists of opinions. Passionately held opinions, perhaps, but opinions. Not immutable truths and not facts. Stop treating opinions as if they are facts.
7. For pretty much every opinion you have, someone else will disagree with it. Deal with it. Preferably quietly

Now everybody joins hands, sing "Kubayah," shake hands with the person to your left and to your right, and go home.

Or better yet, sing " ."

panzerwagon 

I was going to reply with “lawyers always ruin the fun”, but I thought better of it.

bikingshearer 

Yeah, since I'd be totally butt-hurt if you did, I'd have to sue your butt off. Hey, it's only fair - you know, an eye for an eye, a butt for a butt . . . .

panzerwagon 

SurferRosa

Did Pastis ever draw one of him or his rat coal rolling cyclists?

Jeff Wills

Anyone who posts Tom Lehrer songs is all right by me.

steelbikeguy

I've saved a number of the Pearls comics over the years... some of them really struck a chord, I guess. I've been perusing them, but haven't found anything specific like coal rolling.
I did find one that should be appreciated by most of the C&V crowd, I think....




Steve in Peoria
(with an old bike lamp powered by oil... but I've converted it to LEDs)

P!N20

Pretty much every conversation with my kids!

daviddavieboy

Can this be pinned at the top ? I just read 6 pages to find this superbly accurate summery of the whole thread. People being bigoted toward others talking about a bigoted cartoon. No wonder the strip is so popular.

Trakhak

Yep. Still muttering about how stuck up the cool kids in high school were.

AirborneFolder

I'm just using your statement because it was last but who is he bigoted against? The theme from those who find his strip unfunny seems to be that he's bigoted against anyone who rides a bike. As someone who was at one time a cyclist (now more of a hobbyist working on bikes from the 80s and 90s for fun), and who was riding before and after his strip appeared I never thought that at all.

I always believed Jef the Cyclist wasn't everyone on a bike - just that very special breed of arrogant cyclist, usually more of a poseur, always clad head to toe in the latest brands and colors and almost always, no matter where, riding in the middle of the lane just to show people that he (and it's almost always a he) can.

Bike path? Not for this guy: he's way too fast for a bike path. If he had only started cycling a couple years earlier he'd be in the Giro don't you know?

Bike lane? No way, Jose. Bike lanes have debris. His tires cost more than the tires on your cage. He's taking the center of the road.

Move to the right even though there are 4 cars behind him? Not a chance. He's going 23 mph. Yes the speed limit is 30 mph on that road, but that's the limit. 23 is just fine and he pays taxes too. Moving over is for suckers.

What else is for suckers? Giving a wave to a car behind him to let them know he knows they are there and he's going to move over when there's a safe spot to do so.

He's also the guy who will yell "HELMET!!!!" at anyone not wearing one, just to show he cares.

But that's just when riding. Mostly he doesn't ride that far, or even that fast. He rides just far enough in the center of the lane, blocking traffic, to update his Strava or whatever other latest app fad there is, and then goes to the local trendy gathering spot to clickity-clack in his cycling shoes and order whatever is popular and sit, stretched out, bike placed in the way of everyone else (because it costs more than your car you know), so everyone can see him.

That is who I always imagined Pastis was making fun of, and rightfully so, because that small percentage of ******-canoe is who ruins it for everyone else on a bike.

The fact so many are so terribly offended by a few strips out of literal thousands that deal with this type of cyclist tells me that there may be more of who I described above out there than I had originally imagined there to be.

Note it's always Jef the Cyclist that they're making fun of - that, again, tells me it's representative of that one particular brand of cyclist that even other cyclists can't stand to be around. And, as pointed out, Pastis is about the most self-deprecating comic writing today. The person he's usually making fun of consistently? Himself.

My two cents at least. And I don't even own any wool cycling clothes. All mine are lycra. I do have some sweet vintage wool sweaters though.

Steel Charlie

Should the need arise is there an approved methodology for extracting a lexicon?

Asking for a friend

Steel Charlie

for your viewing pleasure

Calsun

I began serious multi day riding in the 1960s and all the bike shorts were made of wool and imported from Italy. All the bike jerseys were also wool and as they also came from Italy they were much too tight in the shoulders for me to wear. My all leather bike shoes were also from Italy and had metal cleats nailed to the soles using square cobbler nails. I welcomed the arrival of shoes that could attach to my pedals but without metal cleats sticking out which made me less of a tap dancer inside shops and cafes and also provided a great deal more traction.

Clothing has improved vastly with the arrival of synthetic materials. My jackets breathe and so I do not have to decide whether to get wet from the rain or soaking wet from my perspiration when I am riding. I used to wear long sleeve cotton work shirts on long tours as I could roll up the sleeves on the uphill climbs and then roll them back down on the downsides. I used to put newspaper under my shirt on early morning rides but now I use a cycling jacket that has a special liner on the front to block the wind while the back of the jacket breathes nicely.

Whenever an activity becomes a mass market one the range of available gear increases dramatically and the designs also get much better as with the entry of the Japanese into the bike component market that had been dominated by the French and the Italians.

SurferRosa

Well, he's not funny regardless. But he's also calling for violence against all cyclists:

He's not merely hiding behind his rat character. In the above, even his pig character that's supposed to be the sweet humanist is supporting this violent view.

I don't know how you can ask an angry driver of a car to distinguish between Jef and anybody else who's on a bicycle.

Over 1,000 cyclists are killed on the road each year. Over 100,000 are injured. It's a vulnerable group when on the road If it weren't, nobody here would give rip about a boring cartoon.

Where do you live? I never see these people. And I've never met anyone like this. You talk about them like they're prevalent where you live and should be run over.

smd4

Well said.

Same here. I thought this bunch had a better sense of humor, but it just confirms for me that the main reason people are offended by Jef the Cyclist is that he hits far too close to home with many here. They cannot accept that they may be “Jef” themselves.

This should be a teaching moment for these folks. Out of all the hobbies—model railroading, RC airplanes, stamp collecting— I cannot think of one negative stereotype. That Jef the Cyclist even exists should give us pause to contemplate why the general public sees many cyclists through this lens. Because they do.

smd4

Perhaps you missed that it’s a cartoon. And that the “violence” involves fictitious bags of granola.

jethin

^ This dude is obviously a thread-sitting troll; not worth the breath.

SurferRosa has it right. Most non-cyclists don’t delineate Lycra from wool or any other sub-group of riders. Many see all of them (us?) as inherently annoying, or worse. That’s called stereotyping, and that’s exactly what’s going on in this stupid comic.

The problem is that cyclists are indeed a vulnerable group, and there is very real blood on the streets. If you want to lampoon an arrogant character fine. But if you tie them to recognizable sub-group you may be reinforcing real-world biases or worse. I’ll spare you the actual reports of senseless, unprovoked violence committed against cyclists.

I'm not a stick in the mud, I am someone who wants to ride my bike safely. If you can’t see the truth or don’t believe in anything bigger than yourself you should check your own head.

smd4

AND WHY THE HELL DO YOU THINK THAT IS?? This is the problem you can't deal with. Pastis didn’t invent the annoying cyclist stereotype. Of course Pastis is ripping on a cyclist stereotype. This is why it's funny.

You are a stick in the mud, Jef. If you can’t see the difference between a cartoon and advocacy for violence, then you can’t be helped. It’s too bad, really. Warner Brothers cartoons and the Three Stooges must have been lost on you.

clubman 

I can't help but fondly reminisce about National Lampoon cartoons of the 70's. Everything they published was offensive. Damn, we're so thin-skinned when anyone mocks us these days. I turn to the British for some good-ole, quality offensive humour. This thread should be moved to The Lounge, somewhere. It has little or nothing to do with C&V.

SurferRosa

I guess this is also lost on some of you, especially if you don't actually ride.

smd4

Apparently the entire topic of this thread was lost on you.

Atlas Shrugged

I believe I comprehend this thread. Classic & Vintage cycling enthusiasts may be perceived as a group experiencing desperation and loneliness, sensing ostracization and being left behind. Consequently, they seem inclined to grasp onto any form of validation, regardless of how absurd it may be. A case in point is a comic that satirizes cyclists in Lycra, extending to the point of mocking and a desire to harm them. The humor's insensitivity, particularly to those who have experienced accidents or loss as a result of being singled out as a cyclist, is evident. The distinction drawn between casual and active sporting cyclists is emphasized, revealing insights into the true nature of the Classic & Vintage cycling community as insecure and narcissistic.

Did I get it right?

smd4

As usual, no.

genejockey 

Because they're a bunch of entitled, arrogant jerks?

Not the cyclists.