Road biker snobbery - alive and well...

Mothyman

us lot who chat on forums..we're all great blokes who love everyone out there....its those other lot who aren't very nice...eh?

whyamihere

Unless I can see that your legs are shaved, I'm ignoring you.

rally200

Sometimes when I'm in my road kit I don't say hello to casual cyclists because I assume they probably think I'm a tw*t.

I think I have self esteem issues.

Also I don't speak to "casuals" on a point of principle - I will not let the eighties lie

Mettan

And then there's the phenomenon of :

"We're the only Roadies in town.........."

This anecdote below isnt meant to sound arsey or snobish (before anyone has a pop - there's no other way of describing it) , just a "light-hearted" observation and a few thoughts:

Saw a pair of "Roadies" going in the opp direction today - first one on TT bars, second on a Road bike - body-language off them imho was "we're "semi-pros" in pursuit mode - not to be disturbed" - (they clearly we're'nt.......) - both were considerably slower than I'd expect on that piece of road - poor TT position from the first guy, Saturday afternoon - look like once a week riders - TT fella looks up in "horror" at my near 90 degree elbow bend on the hoods (pretty much lower and narrower than him) (and my pace into the wind?) - both resolutely refused to acknowledge me as they passed - I nodded and smiled in a friendly manner as I mostly do to opposite direction riders.

Could be my imagination, but they seemed to give off a " we're the only roadies in town......" vibration - strange because I'm on those roads 4 or 5 times a week in the Wind Rain Winter Autumn etc etc etc etc etc...... - bet my life they ride once a week at the weekend - so why the "snooty" lack of acknowledgement ??? - (not bothered of course, just a "light-hearted" observation/anecdote for the sake of the thread)

Again not meant to sound arsey (no other way of describing the anecdote) , but to me atleast they're body-language said, "we''re the only roadies in town"........... but considering they only ride once a week (which I feel pretty confident of) .......... they're clearly ........ not

So - does the "We're the only Roadies in town phenomenon exist......... or is it all in my imagination" - anyone else noticed this ???

[ Regards saying hello - I typically nod or say hi to opposite direction riders fwiw].

bianchi777

Oddly enough when I'm out on my own and I say hi to other cyclists, I tend to get ignored. This is probably due to my strict "no lycra" policy. Usually I just look like some 20 something punk who's stolen his Dad's Bianchi...;)

However, the other day whilst out with my Dad- who was wearing the gear- every cyclist who passed us said hi. I definitely think it has something to do with the lycra!

TheScouser on an Italian

Hi to you all,and in particular the SNOBS,(at your various levels of perfection).I am 64 in September,and with the help of The Great Architect I will reach it.Yep, I ride a flat bar Claud Butler- Levante,also a Bianchi Gold Race 600,and yes I have my old style Role-Up sticking out&up from behind my saddles,NO it is not a back to front statement,I thought it might have been this that produced the cursory glances and the "I've bit into a Lemon expression".No I thought- it has to be the mix of lightweight long sleeved jumper-the black denims and my new traditional perforated leather Vittoria Shoes with:-yes you have got it;including my nail on plates.What they do not know,also probably couldn't give a *hit about is that I am getting back into it after total LEFT KNEE REPLACEMENT.The Denims & the Long Sleeved Jumper will save my short hairy legs and my muscle bound little arms from ROAD SURFACE RASH.Oh,the other thing is that in my younger days; I could probably have left most if not all for dead on my 108" fixed wheel Hetchins Curly.I AIN'T NO SNOB-I even say HI to those out jogging,after all that could just be one of their TRI' event warm-ups,NOW COULDN't IT!!!???.

antfly

If you see me I`ll notice if you don`t say hello, you sound quite recognisable.
I ride the West Lancs hills too.

lfcquin

A few months back I was on my folding Dahon, dressed in a suit with a rucksack on my back heading towards Wilmslow in Cheshire. Two of our excellent British Cycling team were riding towards me and blanked me completely! I Couldn't understand it! I thought it was blindly obvious from my speed, skill and technique that I was an acomplished cyclist with a lycra fetish.

antfly

TheScouser on an Italian wrote:

Hi to you all,and in particular the SNOBS,(at your various levels of perfection).I am 64 in September,and with the help of The Great Architect I will reach it.Yep, I ride a flat bar Claud Butler- Levante,also a Bianchi Gold Race 600,and yes I have my old style Role-Up sticking out&up from behind my saddles,NO it is not a back to front statement,I thought it might have been this that produced the cursory glances and the "I've bit into a Lemon expression".No I thought- it has to be the mix of lightweight long sleeved jumper-the black denims and my new traditional perforated leather Vittoria Shoes with:-yes you have got it;including my nail on plates.What they do not know,also probably couldn't give a *hit about is that I am getting back into it after total LEFT KNEE REPLACEMENT.The Denims & the Long Sleeved Jumper will save my short hairy legs and my muscle bound little arms from ROAD SURFACE RASH.Oh,the other thing is that in my younger days; I could probably have left most if not all for dead on my 108" fixed wheel Hetchins Curly.I AIN'T NO SNOB-I even say HI to those out jogging,after all that could just be one of their TRI' event warm-ups,NOW COULDN't IT!!!???.

Have you got a beard and were you out today?If it was you I waved at you and you totally blanked me.

TheScouser on an Italian

Hi to antfly, and any one that believes they have been blanked.Yes I do have a beard but I was not out on Sunday.I would not blank anyone that has taken the trouble to nod,wave or offer an old sod any form of greeting and encouragement.My current area of getting fit again is in and around the UpHolland,Ormskirk,Standish,Newburgh,Lathom,Rainford,Bickerstaffe regions of West Lancashire.This local area is about as for as the signal will transmit for my on call rescue bleeper!!!!carried around my neck for when I collapse with exhaustion,and need a ride home in an ambulance.Regards and Happy & Safe Rides to you all.

antfly

Oh,well it must have been some other bearded chap who snubbed me on your stamping ground.
I could have done with rescue myself today as my seatpost cracked and the saddle was flopping about like a see-saw.

rhann

boneyjoe wrote:

Why are we so obsessed with greating total strangers? :? You don't go waving at people while driving your car, or walking down the street now do you?

emergency services do.

Infamous

Some more cracking observations from TheScouser.

These threads only come up on the weekends, says it all really.

jgsi

Yesterday, over 35 miles, late afternoon, on wide Cheshire A roads.. didnt see A single other potential snob , not one ......all having a late snooze after their stuffed quails...?

antfly

They don`t ride on A roads.

softlad

Mettan wrote:

So - does the "We're the only Roadies in town phenomenon exist......... or is it all in my imagination" - anyone else noticed this ???

I'm the only roadie in the village....

Tom Butcher

Mettan wrote:

And then there's the phenomenon of :

"We're the only Roadies in town.........."

This anecdote below isnt meant to sound arsey or snobish (before anyone has a pop - there's no other way of describing it) , just a "light-hearted" observation and a few thoughts:

Saw a pair of "Roadies" going in the opp direction today - first one on TT bars, ....... both were considerably slower than I'd expect on that piece of road.......... poor TT position from the first guy,

Can't be certain but they do sound like they might have been triathletes.

chirpy200903

If I see you when I and slogging around Sprotbrough/High Melton/Barnburgh/Pickbrun etc on my Boardman Pro Road I shall doth my (now peakless) helmet.

Ps Cheshley, the area around Clumber Park is great for a road beginners.

Chirpy

TheScouser on an Italian

Hi,I do not just input at weekends,read a little deeper!!!.I am often on A roads,that is where you will find the fearless old b*st**ds like me.We cut are teeth on the old A roads like the A 580 Manchester-Liverpool,WHEN IT WAS CONCRETE ALL THE WAY.

Infamous

TheScouser on an Italian wrote:

Hi,I do not just input at weekends,read a little deeper!!!.I am often on A roads,that is where you will find the fearless old b*st**ds like me.We cut are teeth on the old A roads like the A 580 Manchester-Liverpool,WHEN IT WAS CONCRETE ALL THE WAY.

I wasn't suggesting you were a weekender! I was saying that these threads come up on weekends because of the weekend warriors...

jgsi

sounds like a David Harmon special "I can feel a generation gap here opening up on the A road............"

Mettan

softlad wrote:

Mettan wrote:

So - does the "We're the only Roadies in town phenomenon exist......... or is it all in my imagination" - anyone else noticed this ???

I'm the only roadie in the village....

Ahh, so I wasn't imagining it after all

bikedude

Wow this is a BIG thread! read the first couple of pages and decided that I should make a comment...

we are all people, individuals, microcosms of todays society.. Just because some guy who I have never met is on the opposite side of the road on a bike, it does not mean anything more than he perhaps likes riding a bike, we do not know each other... If i wave and get no response, is this snobbery?

do you wave at :

every person who drives a car when you are in one?

everyone who walks on 2 feet whilst you are walking?

As it happens I always say hello, or nod at a fellow cyclist... but I don't think it is snobbery if I get no response... after all this is not a club that we belong to!

No response is merely how some people would react to anyone they don't know, on a bike or not!

That's my thoughts anyway!

Keep you bike the shiny side up!