Haha. Id definitely buy shorts and a jersey specific for biking, but like the Second post, Im to poor. I resort to cuffing my jeans and taking two cotton shirts with me on every ride.......one for during the ride, and one in my backpack for changing if my shirt gets to wet to wear.

But yeah. There are times, with refernce to Carleton's post, that I wish I could slip through the wind more easily, and that I didnt have my jeans (skinny to a degree, but still a little to much room for comfort while pedaling over long distances) all the time. Its annoying changing my shirts constantly =/. But Id stick with my straps forever!

Id take them to the Tour De France if i had to XD

There are tons of cyclists around me and, whatever they're riding, they tend to fall into two groups: those who are cycling because they love it and those who are cycling because they've heard it's cool. I don't like to generalise so readily, but that really has been my experience up until now. The ones who love it will always smile, wave, or stop for a chat. The ones who are doing it because they've heard it's cool also seem to have heard that it's cool to act like ignorant pr**ks.

The ones who love it will talk about their bikes as if they are family members, and tell you where their favourite place to ride is. The ones who think it's cool will tell you how much their bike cost, just to make sure it was more expensive than yours. But, each to their own - as long as they're getting some enjoyment from being on a bike, it's all good.

Oh, and I totally understand the benefits of decent shorts and jerseys on long rides. On my commute it's not such a big deal, but if I'm doing 60km+ I want to be comfortable.

This is why they have readjusted the one hour record. No more high tech stuff, you basically need a bike like Merckx.

This is a man who has met both people who ride road bikes and roadies. Well put, sir.

You are correct. I am the one emphatically, shamelessly and correctly stating that ALL roadies are jerks. It's worth noting that I use "roadie" in a strictly derogatory way. The easiest way I can put this is I have every confidence that there are pro riders who are guys who ride bikes and I'm equally sure there are pro roadies. Same goes for non-pros. Decent folk and tube steaks.

I've definitely picked up some roadie tendencies- well, basically just a jersey, shorts, and gloves- but I figure if I'm gonna change clothes at work, I might as well wear cycling clothes while I cycle. However, the day I get a cyclocomputer is the day I stop riding. Once I start worried about average speed and HR, I'm probably not having and fun ;)

When people say these kinds of things on rides, that's usually when I excuse myself from returning to said rides.
/nopatienceforsnobbery

This called your 40s. You can have as much fun as you want.

Hey, computers are pretty useful, like for seeing how far you've gone (not in terms of competition, but in terms of knowing where you are).

Just saying. :P

Haha, I guess I'm de-evolving. I came from riding road to riding fixed in the need for a simple commuter bike that I didn't care about locking up. I like both, and in the end, I just want to bike... I take the fixed for anything under 50 miles, and the roadie on anything longer than 50 miles. I log a lot more miles on my fixies, but that's because I use them a lot... Though after going to the track, I see why it's just 100X more better than riding on the street ;).

As a side note, I did my first century last Fall on my Roadie, loved every second of it. My goal is to do it fixed, like that one rider I saw... But I did 106 miles in a t-shirt, quicksilver shorts, and my clipless shoes. Felt fine, no chafing, and then I went to work for 3 hours after that... Bike whatever you want, wearing whatever you want... S'long as you're riding eh?

i can't fault you for that, it is a very snobbish attitude. but seriously, triathletes in a peloton = carnage. (hey, if one guy can get away with ridiculous generalisations.....)

I took one step towards roadie land today.

Got a new lazer O2 helmet plus a castelli jersey and jacket. Also my swrve hoodie came in today too. Once I lose some poundage and stop obsessing over my food I'll be more about going for a rip as opposed to putting away long, fast rides. Once it starts raining the velodrome will keep me happy.

Happily straddling the fence at all times.

I've not wanted to get in this conversation. But I will.
I was a roadie. In fact. I still am in a lot of ways. Road biking has helped a lot in riding fixed gear.
In not having to Learn all over again in how to ride very long distances, proper bicycle methodology, gear construction and such. As well as being able to understand my physical limitations and future goals.

But.

The resason I stopped was I lost the love of riding. Most roadies. Not all. Ride way way to competitive. I couldn't understand why it's all about that. The community is cool as long as you can hang or have a few grand to put into a bike, and then after the ride put it your bike into the back of a lexus SUV? Not saying that if you can afford it don't buy it. But for me, it turned into a sport/parts contest vs something I love.

When I got into fixed gear. I fell In love with riding. At the end of a ride, when I was a roadie, I would put up my bike and go on my way. But at the end of a fixed gear ride...I'm never tired. I wished my ride was longer. And something else. When I was a roadie. I never rode by myself. I rode with groups. But now. I really enjoy riding by myself. Usually at night. When there are no cars out. Listen to the quiet. Nature. Just me and my rig.
I have never seen a roadie at night. I see fixed gears at night. And it really brings a lot of legitimate joy to me.
I'm 31 years old. And less and less things bring me this type of bliss that riding a fixed gear does...

Sounds sappy. But it's not. It's what it is. I'm not waking up at 630 in the morning putting on a crap load of gear....to meet up with a bunch of people who really couldn't give a damn about riding.

I've noticed that fixed gear riders don't really give a damn what i ride, as long as I'm riding. And that's all that matters. But I really feel, that if it weren't for my years of riding road, that I wouldn't appreciate what and how I'm riding now.

See you on the road.

Socks

Hey bud.

I've done 3 100k rides and one 100mile ride this season on my fixed gear. Do it. You'll love it. It's a super wonderful feeling when you finish. Just get used to the roadies taking pictures of your bike at every rest stop and asking you tons of questions. It's really cool to see them take interest.

But you'll also get crazy stares when you start passing all the rides on the up hills. They will be super supriesed to see you doing it. Just get used to seeing them pass you on the downhills.... :)

It's a blast. Your bike will thank you.
Mine did.

Socks

+1

Well written, Socks.

One small comment on this: "I've noticed that fixed gear riders don't really give a damn what i ride, as long as I'm riding."
You must not have met many hipsters. hehehe

I started my next roadie tendency today: riding clipless.

I sort of wished I went the mountain bike shoe/pedal route as first, as clipping in on my left foot was a NIGHTMARE. I nearly killed myself a few times, nearly ran into a pedestrian, and had a lot of trouble getting clipped in so I wouldn't slip around and fall and hit my nuts on the toptube.

Once I got home though, I spent like 30 minutes riding around behind my condo, clipping in and out every few seconds. Feel a bit more confident now... but still... it's like learning how to ride a bike for the first time.

??

Was your tension maybe too tight and now it's loosened up a little? That sounds odd . . . I was always far more concerned about clipping out (or failing to do so, haha) than clipping in.

Nah, clipping out is easy. Clipping in is the issue, as I'm not used to the weird, can't-feel-what's-underneath-my-foot feeling you get with road shoes. Also the clipless pedals sit a different way (with the front end pointing up) than track pedals do (with the front end pointing down), so I sort of have to relearn an intuitive way of flipping the pedal. At first I just kept ending up trying to clip in to the wrong side, which is all curvy and slippery, and would often slip. Extremely dangerous in traffic haha.

They should make dual-sided road pedals!! I don't give a damn about extra weight.

Ohhh, you're using road pedals. I have mountain pedals (SPD M520), which are double sided. I personally much prefer mountain over road for everyday use. :)

i use road clips too, they do take some getting used to. The clipping in part can get a pain in the butt to figure out while in traffic.

I'm probably gonna switch to double-sided Speedplays. :D

I use road shoes, with road pedals. But they are spd. Literally 1mm bigger than my speedplay setup and keep my legs clean. Speedplays are dirty little buggers.

http://www.blueskycycling.com/produc...e/99325_md.jpg + http://images.buzzillions.com/images...099497_175.jpg

I have some campy record, look cleat pedals that sit here unused and I just can't see using them. the clearance afforded me by both the speedplay and the wellgo pedals make me happy.

When I was a rower my coach told me that when someone is asked about their workout a novice will focus on the technical stuff like their stroke but a seasoned rower will tell you all about how nice the water was. With that in mind, I don't enjoy riding with people that always talk about the ride's average speed or their heart rate, even on training rides. I want to go to cool places and work hard if it's supposed to be a hard ride. A popular route here is to ride up Mandeville Canyon, it's a very scenic route and many groups ride it, but it's no fun when someone kills the fun with an attitude about the average speed.

So to those roadies, bleh

Hairnet - agreed.

I love my "route" so much that I've thought about organising a ride along it or a semi Alley Cat road race. Then I quickly come to my senses realising I always have the road to my self and I love the ride. As much as I want to share it, I don't want it becoming anyone else's favourite.

I usually decide to never share the ride when I pass the horses running free on their 100 year old farm track. Or when I cross the freeway and race down the overpass into blueberry country.

Very well said. I understand 100%