It looks like a road-bike, doesn't it?
I thought when I got a road(ish) bike some of the Lycra-Cowboy set might warm to me a little and the odd wave or greeting would be returned. No-way! Still the same bunch of arrogant assholes that depressed me in a previous post. Is it because I just wear shorts and a t-shirt when riding? I don't know, but moving to a 700c bike with drops has made no difference whatsoever.
I must just be a big-softy because I actually feel a bond with all cyclists, be it a spotty kid on a BMX, a professional road-racer or grandma on the rusty Raleigh 20. We share something don't we? Especially in a country like New Zealand where cyclists are treated with such contempt by the general public and law-makers. It would be different in Holland or Denmark I'm sure. There you're just an average citizen going about your day and you just happen to use a bicycle for transportation like most of your community.
Yesterday I hooked-up the Cross-Check to the trailer for the first time and the Midget-Assassin and I headed off to the Takapuna library for literary refreshment and teddy-bear torturing in the children's area. I was getting along at a good clip on the flats and even passed a couple of roadies (how embarrassing), but Lycra-Cowboys were blasting past us left, right and centre in total silence, and I swear they were trying to get as close as possible without hitting me. I thought that move was the domain of the tin-top driver!
So I'll have another go avoiding eye-contact, keeping my waving-hand firmly on the bars and resisting communicating with fellow bikers, but it won't come easily.
Saddling-up for the weekly library run
I felt a little uneasy leaving my new pride-and-joy locked-up in public (the bike, not the child)
9 comments:
I'm not sure why roadies have such an attitude, I mean do they realie how stupid they look dressed in 1980's cheesy rocker spandex cat suits?
Here in CHCH they are similar, but I must admit that i get a nod here and there when on the Fargo. I think they see me coming, see the drops, nod and then as they pass curse that they acknowledged the weirdo on a road bike with MTB bits and a silly sloping top tube like a girls bike.
lol.
i know what your on about!!,i get alot of roadies from edinburgh around here and get the same...,some pass you and cant even have a quick chat..where you been where you going etc..and on the pugsley they think your from mars!!,agree with the lycra too..,even if i did race xc it would be shorts and loose top,
unfortuantly being single ive noticed all the lovely woman you see out cycling on there on are on roadbikes!,no female pug lovers!!
@Paul; I'm not anti-Lycra, I used to wear it myself when I raced cross-country but there are comfortable alternatives available now and the more of my body I cover up the better it looks ;^)
@CoastKid: Whack some slick tyres and drop bars on the KM and the Ladies will come running. Well after a shave-down and application of Lycra of course.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of anyone riding a bike in Gatlinburg, I don't have that problem. I see one other cyclist and we always wave or yell hello to each other. Of course, we are both riding non-road bikes on the road!
I never said you were anti lycra :) But lycra is like junk food- and should only be worn on rare occasions. That does not sound right does it?
I don't know what to advise you regarding start up capital, but I've come to the point where I don't think roadies are assholes. More just self-absorbed. I'm guessing they are so worried about maintaining their cadence or aerobic threshold that they're scared to death that their numbers might go down on their power meters if they say hi. Wait, yeah, you're right, that's pretty much the description of an asshole.
Fun observation: Tri-riders going slow up a hill with aero-bars that can't say hello are the best! They have all the concerns listed above, plus focusing on not following over from going so slow while in the aero position!
On yesterdays ride on the "road" bike I made a point of greeting all mountainbikers, hybrid riders and pedestrians within earshot. No responses, not a sausage.
I have come to the conclusion that I am just an old-fashioned weirdo.
OK, it's official: it's you.
Hi Antoine,
I know what you mean, in fact I agreed with you first time round, when you made the factual realisation, that roadies are indeed, assholes. But things are getting worse, I think nowadays, people are just too damn selfish, all too ignorant to speak. While I was growing up, everyone said hello and acknowledged you when you passed. Oh, how different today, everyone it seems is determined to ignore your gaze, and what's worse, looks at you stupid, if you wave or dare to say hello. We have real social crises on our hands. On the one hand, we have to put up with global warming, while on the other, we must endure social cooling!
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