How annoying are (other) roadies?

jam1e

Right, time to break ranks...

After seeing some blatant displays of cycling tw**ery in the last couple of days I've got to say that if I, as a regular cyclist, mtber and normally chilled out type of bloke want to run the culprits over then non cycling car drivers must be really annoyed!

The worse culprits are easily those in his and his strips and has nothing to do with them competing or training or anything, it's their behaviour whilst just riding normally that bugs me.

To act like such c***s is a conscious effort and as such, next time I'll be making a conscious effort to pass with .5mm of space, a blaring horn and a cold cup of Costa coffee held at the ready (the mrs who also cycles regularly will mostly be using a handful of loose change ) - Pain Assisted Learning seems to be the only way!

So yeah, anyone else get annoyed at some of the other fine folk who are part of the roadieing community? (Obviously those of us on this forum are all OK )

redddraggon

I find that the "proper roadies", older folks with flat bars+panniers and serious MTBers are the only ones that really behave on the road in North Wales.

In Warrington, only the roadies seemed to know how to behave on the road.

So I don't know what you're getting at?

jam1e

Yesterday for example,

3 guys in matchin his (his) and his outfits riding towards my car along a normal 2 lane road, their side soon to be completely blocked by a long line of parked cars, my side clear. Now bearing in mind I had right of way, I decided (as a considerate driver) to let them pass so they could keep moving and avoid being stuck waiting for the long line of traffic behind me to pass them. (If you know what I mean?!)

So they get onto my side of the road and then... slow right down to crawling pace and spread out accross the full width of the lane, one even stops for a drink - obviously riding and using his bottle is a bit much! Then they refuse to acknowledge the fact that I let them pass - FFS!

I was close to opening my door and letting them cycle into it, if there hadn't been witnesses I probably would've

Hope this clarifies what I mean now...

Parsnip49

jam1e wrote:

I was close to opening my door and letting them cycle into it, if there hadn't been witnesses I probably would've

Hope this clarifies what I mean now...

All this clarifies is that you are a w@nk. some people are decent, others are not why single out roadies?

I shave my legs, own pro replica kits and train loads in club jerseys with other people in the same jersey. I must be a tw@t - your stereotyping has helped me realise this. Id better grow a beard and start riding a hybrid, as then i will no longer be a tw@t.

idaviesmoore

Parsnip49 wrote:

jam1e wrote:

I was close to opening my door and letting them cycle into it, if there hadn't been witnesses I probably would've

Hope this clarifies what I mean now...

All this clarifies is that you are a w@nk. some people are decent, others are not why single out roadies?

I shave my legs, own pro replica kits and train loads in club jerseys with other people in the same jersey. I must be a tw@t - your stereotyping has helped me realise this. Id better grow a beard and start riding a hybrid, as then i will no longer be a tw@t.

:shock: OUCH :!:

jam1e

Parsnip49 wrote:

jam1e wrote:

I was close to opening my door and letting them cycle into it, if there hadn't been witnesses I probably would've

Hope this clarifies what I mean now...

All this clarifies is that you are a w@nk. some people are decent, others are not why single out roadies?

I shave my legs, own pro replica kits and train loads in club jerseys with other people in the same jersey. I must be a tw@t - your stereotyping has helped me realise this. Id better grow a beard and start riding a hybrid, as then i will no longer be a tw@t.

Right, first of all I apologise if people have taken this to be some kind of attack against all roadies - it wasn't. I regularly roadie (for want of a better phrase) and am aware that the majority of us are decent people. In addition I would never condone violence against more vulnerable road users - the remarks about Costa coffee etc were not to be taken seriously.

The only people I'm stereotyping as "w@nks" (curious terminology by the way) are those who have acted like them. The fact is that those I've seen deliberately going out of their way to irritate and inconvenience others are those who appear to consider themselves serious road cyclists - it's never been a group of random commuters, mtbers or anyone else hence the singling out.

Personally I think its a legitimate point to raise - people on this forum are quick to judge the behaviour of people who drive without consideration for cyclists so why can't the cyclists who ride not just without consideration but with an active desire to pi55 people off be criticised?

And whats wrong with beards and hybrids?

spen666

jam1e wrote:

.....Personally I think its a legitimate point to raise - people on this forum are quick to judge the behaviour of people who drive without consideration for cyclists so why can't the cyclists who ride not just without consideration but with an active desire to pi55 people off be criticised?

And whats wrong with beards and hybrids?

In your opening post however....

You however are not criticising the behaviour of those who cycle without consideration for other road users, you are launching an attack on all "road" cyclists tarring them with the same brush because of the actions of up to 3 of them.
Not only that you are taking the p*ss about them wearing cycling kit whilst cycling!

you aretaking aspecific incident and blaming all roadcyclists as a result

jam1e

spen666 wrote:

jam1e wrote:

.....Personally I think its a legitimate point to raise - people on this forum are quick to judge the behaviour of people who drive without consideration for cyclists so why can't the cyclists who ride not just without consideration but with an active desire to pi55 people off be criticised?

And whats wrong with beards and hybrids?

In your opening post however....

You however are not criticising the behaviour of those who cycle without consideration for other road users, you are launching an attack on all "road" cyclists tarring them with the same brush because of the actions of up to 3 of them.
Not only that you are taking the p*ss about them wearing cycling kit whilst cycling!

you aretaking aspecific incident and blaming all roadcyclists as a result

No I'm not, I quite clearly stated that the people who I have witnessed deliberately f**cking people off whilst out cycling have been roadies who appear to consider themselves "serious cyclists". At no point did I blame roadies as a whole for anything - I blamed the people who were responsible and highlighted the fact that they gave the impression of being committed roadies. If you can show 1 example of tarring with the same brush then you crack on and highlight it.

As for taking the piss for cycling in identical commercially available cycling kit - I was pointing out a common feature of those people who I have witnessed f**king about. This common feature is likely to be the one thing remembered by any other road user who had the pleasure of getting f**ked about by them. Surely this is what gives cycling a bad name - not reacting to abuse you might receive but causing that abuse to occur (to someone else) in the first place.

Think of it this way - if it hadn't been me who let those guys go past but someone either fairly ambiguous to cyclists or with a mild dislike of cyclists do you think they'd be more inclined towards cyclists in the future? Or do you think they would be more likely to slag cyclists off in general and react in a more negative manner next time regardless of the next cyclists behaviour?

At the end of the day I've seen several incidents of the type described in my 2nd post over the last few days and they were committed by "serious cyclists" who you would expect to know better. Yes I've seen other types of riders doing various things which are frowned upon on this forum but non of which have been blatantly intended to deliberately irritate other people.

spen666

jam1e wrote:

.....No I'm not, I quite clearly stated that the people who I have witnessed deliberately f**cking people off whilst out cycling have been roadies who appear to consider themselves "serious cyclists". At no point did I blame roadies as a whole for anything - I blamed the people who were responsible and highlighted the fact that they gave the impression of being committed roadies. If you can show 1 example of tarring with the same brush then you crack on and highlight it.

ok- lets start off with the title of the thread which I believe is <<How annoying are (other) roadies?>>

Seems to be tarring all Roadies from the outset. It is not specific to the three you refer to.
Do I need to go on....

robmanic1

[/quote] ok- lets start off with the title of the thread which I believe is <<How annoying are (other) roadies?>>

Seems to be tarring all Roadies from the outset. It is not specific to the three you refer to.
Do I need to go on....[/quote]



note the use of the question mark "How annoying are other roadies?"

Defence rests

Parsnip49

I'm sorry, I was completely wrong.


Today a shopkeeper didn't smile at me. How annoying are shopkeepers?

Im going to whack the next one i see with a sock filled with pool balls

Parsnip49

Oh, and theres nothing wrong with beardy hybrid riders - im just trying to make myself a better cyclist in your eyes and hopefully avoiding getting doored by you.

jam1e

That was the reason for the (other) in the title - having that was to distinguish between roadies in general (you, me, others on the forum, "normal roadies" etc) and "others" such as the 3 pillocks referred to later. It was also to paraphrase a common topic thread from the mtb side of this forum in order to attract a response. (which it certainly has ) If it had said "How annoying are roadies?" or "Roadies are annoying" then fair enough but I made an effort to make a distinction.

Yes I can see how it was taken and for that I apologise but I don't take back what I said about the behavour of some of the roadie community despite the support such people seem to have on this forum.

Nuggs

Parsnip49 wrote:

All this clarifies is that you are a w@nk.

:?:
How can a man become a verb?

rapid_uphill

wait till you get a puncture, it will be another roady who stops to help.

jam1e

Parsnip49 wrote:

I'm sorry, I was completely wrong.


Today a shopkeeper didn't smile at me. How annoying are shopkeepers?

Im going to whack the next one i see with a sock filled with pool balls

Ah wilful misunderstanding, such a staple part of forum life.

How about.... (If I was a Ford dealer on a Ford dealer forum - for the sake of keeping up shopkeeper analogies)

Whats wrong with (other) Ford dealerships? (Others - not being you the reader and if extended to its logical conclusion, not a purposefull attack against anyone reading or likely to read, the forum)

Today a Ford showroom salesman (more specific than shopkeeper of which there are many types in the same way that "roadie" is more specific than person on a bike and helps to describe the situation and incident)watched me walk upto the door before slamming it in my face as I was about to enter then blanked me as I looked at him trying to figure out what the hell he was doing. (The act of slamming a door shut as I was about to enter is more relevent than failed to smile as it describes a purposeful attempt to irritate as in the incident I highlighted and those I've witnessed lately in general)

This has happened on several occasions in Ford dealerships in the last week - has anyone else noticed that some Ford dealers act like idiots? (Posing the question to the forum further clarifies that not all dealers are being targetted but gives the opportunity for any other dealer with a similar story to post it). I was tempted to key all his cars (Clearly not going to as the wink suggests but the comment would strike a chord with other car dealers in the same way as the handful of change, passing closely and chucking cups of coffee would strike a chord with experienced roadies)

If you're going to write analogies at least make an effort.

As for them stopping to help me with a puncture - I expect you're right but they appeared to be the type of person who would only help if I was on my road bike and if they deemed it expensive enough to bother helping me with. However this wasn't a soapbox rant about roadies when I'm on my bike it was about some roadies when faced with cars etc.

1892

I was in the chemist last week over heard a chav on his phone saying that he had cracked three ribs, cycling whilst p155ed, as I came out of the chemist I was nearly run over by a moron on an old mountain bike riding the wrong way down a one way street, a car had to swerve to miss him and he shouts @ the car driver.
There are poor cyclists on all types of bikes, but the worst are not serious cyclists it's the morons who think the world owes them a living, just hope you don't meet them driving a car or anything bigger.

Parsnip49

jam1e wrote:

Parsnip49 wrote:

If you're going to write analogies at least make an effort.

No, this is an internet forum. Get over it.

jam1e

So if I write something which is slightly ambiguous in its meaning (say for example, my original post) you can reply with personal abuse but if I highlight your shortcomings at making a coherent argument you respond with "its an internet forum - get over it"

I would be tempted to suggest that such behaviour makes you a w@nk. Whatever one of them is. It also raises the possibility that you belong in category 3 of the poll above but as this is only a forum I'm sure you'll get over it.

My post might have made me unpopular but yours make you look stupid...

penugent

Handbags at dawn - the only way to settle this one!!

robmanic1

I just find other people annoying generally.

Parsnip49

jam1e wrote:

So if I write something which is slightly ambiguous in its meaning (say for example, my original post) you can reply with personal abuse but if I highlight your shortcomings at making a coherent argument you respond with "its an internet forum - get over it"

I would be tempted to suggest that such behaviour makes you a w@nk. Whatever one of them is. It also raises the possibility that you belong in category 3 of the poll above but as this is only a forum I'm sure you'll get over it.

My post might have made me unpopular but yours make you look stupid...

Scathing, im sure ill live though.

Arguing on the internet is like the special olympics...

robmanic1

Parsnip49 wrote:

Arguing on the internet is like the special olympics...

Class, might use that as my new sig.

jam1e

Don't - your horse one is ace!

synchronicity

I wave at all cyclists, no matter what bike I'm on. Cause here, that's what locals do.

The worst are international riders. I'll be coming down on a mtb, wave, and some of them pretend to ignore me or else think I'm Mr. Whacko... these are cyclists that probably use my webpage for road bike information. :roll:

Most of the time they only wave if they know they're waving at another road biker.
In short, most road bikers are snobs.

Furthermore, they almost never stop to help anyone, so I voted that they "Consist of a disproportionate amount of inconsiderate cretins".

Tom Butcher

It's only really since I found this forum that I've realised what a chip on their shoulder some cyclists have about road cyclists.

daz51

same problem this morning with a fellow "roadie" check the cycling beginners section

ChrisLS

...I find this thread very, very sad and upsetting.

jam1e

why?

jam1e

duplicate post - sorry, being a mong.

jam1e

and again...