Ever feel like a fraud....?

bristolpete

Funny thing self doubt.

In March 08 I bought my first 'serious' road bike, an 07 coloured Merida 901 reduced from 700 to 500, which has been a brilliant bike but is now starting to shake a bit but it introduced me to the love of high cadence road work and speed. It is funny though as I never thought I would end up doing it but I bought some 105 pedals, the shoes, then the leggings and a decent jacket. You can only understand it when you ride and some people think you are a plonker for it but we know it just works when you are putting the miles in....

I am ready to upgrade now and have a few bob to drop on a bike so hopefully I will reap the rewards of the upgrade but sometimes I feel like a fraud. The other day I was going up a hill and this guy on a Orbea dropped me like I was not there and sort of humiliated me in a way....

I always say that the only person I am racing is myself and I love it, so why not enjoy it while I can.

Make any sense?

Pete.

pianoman

What Orbea was he on?

If it was an Orca, well so he should. If YOU beat him on an Orca though.......LMAO

That's the pressure of joining other people on a club run with a super light carbon racer bike that cost a huge amount.

Do poorly and everyone will laugh at you, do well and you don't get the credit for it:P

At least that's the "siege" mentality (together with an accident that freaked me out over carbon delamination) that led to me picking a Van Nicholas over a carbon Cervelo, I can say that my bike is not an out-and-out racer, rather a bike that is equally capable of doing anything you want.

Why not make another post and we can guide you as to what to upgrade to.

Anonymous

Meh.

Ride what you want and bloody well enjoy it. You're only here once.

bristolpete

PianoMan wrote:

What Orbea was he on?

If it was an Orca, well so he should. If YOU beat him on an Orca though.......LMAO

That's the pressure of joining other people on a club run with a super light carbon racer bike that cost a huge amount.

Do poorly and everyone will laugh at you, do well and you don't get the credit for it:P

At least that's the "siege" mentality (together with an accident that freaked me out over carbon delamination) that led to me picking a Van Nicholas over a carbon Cervelo, I can say that my bike is not an out-and-out racer, rather a bike that is equally capable of doing anything you want.

Why not make another post and we can guide you as to what to upgrade to.

Thanks; wise words.

I have done in the buyers guide.

NWLondoner

Just ride what you want and bloody enjoy it.

I do and so what if I get dropped as I frequently do on hills.

Just keep telling yourself "Mark Cavendish" can't climb hills either 8)

bristolpete

NWLondoner wrote:

Just ride what you want and bloody enjoy it.

I do and so what if I get dropped as I frequently do on hills.

Just keep telling yourself "Mark Cavendish" can't climb hills either 8)

Yeah, there is always a bigger fish for sure....

rally200

Know where you're coming from - bought my first road bike last year, I pick up half decent kit if I can get it in a sale, but sometimes feel a bit embarrassed - as though I should be 20 years younger & twice as fit to carry it it off - but then I think f*ck it - I'm not hurting anyone, its making me fitter than most people 10 years younger, and I enjoy it.

If you've got the spare to treat yourself to an upgrade do it - if you enjoy it what else matter

bobtbuilder

Get the bike you want. It's your passion, so if you've got the money, treat yourself.

I will be getting an Orbea Orca in the next 2 months, but there will always be people out there who drop me. C'est la vie!

Smokin Joe

I rode my first time trial in a pair of cut down Levis because I couldn't afford shorts on an apprentices wage, and the jersey given to me by a clubmate had front pockets, last seen in the 1950's. In my first road race I used a single chainring and rode on clinchers when EVERYBODY used sprints and tubs because clinchers back then were awful.

Now in my mid fifties I ride like a lame carthorse on an expensive high tech bike, and if I could afford a Super Record groupset on a Colnago Extreme I would have one tomorrow and bollox to what anyone thinks. Life is too short to ride rubbish, the last thing you will be saying on your deathbed is that you wished you had never spent all that money on a bike.

Garz

All fantastic replies bpete, dont let them incidents stop you!

bristolpete

Garz wrote:

All fantastic replies bpete, dont let them incidents stop you!

For sure.

You gotta love that feeling when you hammer past motorists and you see em thinking 'wtf, how fast are they going...?'

Love it!

chuckcork

Your only a fraud if you're a poseur who can't ride to the shops and back, if you spend enough hours on the bike then why not feel good about what you are doing, however anyone else does it?

You don't have to be an elite level road racer to be allowed on a road bike, I can't imagine any of that level got there oher than by going through the same process (quicker maybe) but the same all the same.

We all have our own level, enjoy it.

bristolpete

chuckcork wrote:

Your only a fraud if you're a poseur who can't ride to the shops and back, if you spend enough hours on the bike then why not feel good about what you are doing, however anyone else does it?

You don't have to be an elite level road racer to be allowed on a road bike, I can't imagine any of that level got there oher than by going through the same process (quicker maybe) but the same all the same.

We all have our own level, enjoy it.

Yeah, agree on that.

I went from getting a bus to work to thinking there has to be a better way. Then moved house and started doing 18 miles a day round trip and now doing 40-60 mile local rides with a mate. Like many forms of exercise, once you start and are hooked thats it and naturally, you cant really explain the feeling in your legs, people just need to try it for themselves.....

zedders

Don't worry about it. I find it swings in roundabouts. I been overtaken before, and I've overtaken others. I don't think anythink of it, as you say you race yourself. Maybe they just started out, maybe they have been out hours and am fresh as a daisy. Sometimes I just want to take it easy and I know I've got more in the tank if I need it. (well I like to think I have).

I do remember last year some young lad absolutely flew past me! I was going about 16 or 17 and was nackered, he must have been going 25 plus on a windy day. I think he was drugged up, or possibly fuelled up on bananas?

The only time I feel a fraud is when the misses says how much did that cost, when I been and brought something new for the bike! Yes I lie. (but I know she does all the time, especailly when I see a new handbag) I started with nothing, but think with all the kit and two bikes am way past the £3000 in lest than two years. I could of easily spent that on a car, or clothes, down the pub, or watching City play crap etc. So if you want to spend your bucks on your bike, fill your boots, its your hobby for crying out loud.

nolf

I find the inferiority complex very useful.

I have a pre-conception that everyone (especially at races) is better than me. That forces me to try my absolute hardest all the time. It's a great way of improving!

Airwave

It does'nt matter how good you are there's allways someone better.Even the very best get dropped now'n'then.Just watch the Tour this year they'll be dropping like flies up them hills.It just relative to the level your at.If you've got a smile on your chops at the end of a ride,well thats it is'nt it?

bianchi777

I got smoked by a guy on a vintage steel frame the other day. I'm riding a new Bianchi. I managed to hold him off for about two minutes before the engine blew. I also refuse to wear lycra so generally speaking I look like some punk ass 20 something who's borrowed his Dad's pride and joy without asking...even though it's my bike hahah

There will always be someone better than you, like the guy above says, but also- there's someone worse than you too.

Dunkeldog

What a sensible lot here! Top responses. Ride what you like, how you like. Some days you pass, some days you get passed. I know the first dozen pedal strokes as I pull away from home feel brilliant every time - and no matter how fed up or elated I return I know those first moments of the next ride are going to leave me smiling no matter what.

bristolpete

Good call all.

Thanks for the replies, i cant wait til my next ride on Friday.

Pete.

GMRK

bristolpete wrote:

Garz wrote:

All fantastic replies bpete, dont let them incidents stop you!

For sure.

You gotta love that feeling when you hammer past motorists and you see em thinking 'wtf, how fast are they going...?'

Love it!

Even better when you just freewheel past them in a traffic queue:)

GMRK

A girl turned left out of a junction in front of me without looking to the right on something like a Pashley Princess the other day so I just cruised past her in the cycle lane as I was travelling faster than her.

A few hundred yards later I slowed to let someone coming the opposite way turn right across the traffic and since there's a roundabout about another 50 yards on I just took it easy for that stretch, nice sunny morning etc. no need to rush when she came barreling up behind me ringing her bell to get past and sailed out onto the roundabout, barely slowing down or looking at the traffic.

She was wearing earphones and no helmet I mean c'mon pay some attention...

fossyant

bianchi777 wrote:

I got smoked by a guy on a vintage steel frame the other day.

Oi..less about vintage steel......

My best bike is 18 years old, custom handbuilt with DA 7400 - it's ace....

Bhima

This thread has made me realize - on solo rides, i've... never been overtaken. :shock:

No too sure how i'd react to it!

v.e.e

Not even by a car??????????????

Christ you must be Superman.........

Seriously, I started a similar thread a few weeks back thinking that I wasn't good enough for a carbon bike and had to get better first. All the wise words from the other posters made me realise that its about you and your enjoyment and not what other people think. At 53 I have just ordered a new carbon bike and am so excited I can hardly sleep. I am now frantically practising hills as it would be a bit embarassing to be overtaken pushing a carbon bike up hills!

Go for it

bianchi777

fossyant wrote:

bianchi777 wrote:

I got smoked by a guy on a vintage steel frame the other day.

Oi..less about vintage steel......

My best bike is 18 years old, custom handbuilt with DA 7400 - it's ace....

I used to ride a steel...my first road bike was...I love them but prefer aluminum.

rally200

I got scalped by a Brompton the other day, oh the humanity

NWLondoner

rally200 wrote:

I got scalped by a Brompton the other day, oh the humanity

Now that is embarrassing!!! :roll: :shock: :oops:

Bhima

Don't mess with the folding bikes! I know a few people who race on em!



Seriously! There are some nutters who work down the local bike shop. Every time I go past, they're out on the street racing Bromptons and doing wheelies on em!

Infamous

Bhima wrote:

This thread has made me realize - on solo rides, i've... never been overtaken. :shock:

No too sure how i'd react to it!

Me neither! Not since I got a road bike anyway.