Do ethnic minoritys ride ?

Stu T

DVV wrote:

Maybe if MTB'ing is associated in general with white middle class this in itself puts people off.

To a certain extent although anybody describes me as middle class I'd be pissed off. I think it is a peer thing if your peers don't do something you won't

DVV

Very true - I guess different cultures historically like different sports, although it is a bit stereoptypical to say so!

E.g. in GB we historically enjoy and aspire to football, rugby, cricket, tennis and so on. In China more people play Badminton to a higher level, India and Pakistan have a very strong cricket culture etc.

Hope i'm not opening a can of worms here.

Joe_Pineapples

Well myself and the rest of the working class scum that I associate with will be sure to say hello next time we see all you middle class aristocrats out on the trails . . . .

. . . or when you need one of our children to clean your chimneys.

Fully

I have to disagree that it is also mainly a middle class pastime. Most of the people i ride with, i would consider working class. I think it's just those in real deprived areas that don't have/want access to it. I grew up on a council estate, and there are plenty of mtb'ers from my background.

Daz555

Joe_Pineapples wrote:

Well myself and the rest of the working class scum that I associate with will be sure to say hello next time we see all you middle class aristocrats out on the trails . . . .

. . . or when you need one of our children to clean your chimneys.

Out of interest, what do you do for a living and to what level are you educated? Just a question re class that's all.

jairaj

Hi guys, I am what I would call an British Indian (Indian born but now living in England).

I love mountain biking and all kinds of outdoor / countryside activities, extreme and not so extreme. I agree with the above comments that the number of ethnic people in mountain biking can be low. But I don't think this is because of any class system. I think its just a simple case of different cultures like different things. Im very much a black sheep in my family. I love mountain biking, skiing, done a bit of skydiving, love just generally being outside have fun, play a wide verity of sports, football, tennis, cricket etc..

While my parents and other asians I know, don't even share half the enthusiasm I do for the outside. For my parents generation, they just didn't know these things exist and think they're too old for it now. For my generation (im 24) I think its just not popular, football is far more cooler perhaps? Tho I am seeing a few more young asians take up these sports as they start to find an identity of their own and break out of the molds their parents had made for them.

robinta

As soon as i saw this title i thought there could be trouble, but why ? Its a very valid observation. I live in the same region as geordiefreerider and have NEVER seen a black or asian person on a mtb - despite a fairly wide range of different ethnic representation in the area.

Joe_Pineapples

Daz555 wrote:

Joe_Pineapples wrote:

Well myself and the rest of the working class scum that I associate with will be sure to say hello next time we see all you middle class aristocrats out on the trails . . . .

. . . or when you need one of our children to clean your chimneys.

Out of interest, what do you do for a living and to what level are you educated? Just a question re class that's all.

Born in the back bedroom of the council house my mum still lives in, left school with a handful of O Grades and I work in a factory, although I don't know what this proves.

Anonymous

I think you're talking bolorcks about outdoor pursuits being the preserve of the middle class.
That may be true for people who live in cities, as it can be quite expensive to travel to remote countryside.

However, don't forget that there are loads of people who live IN the countryside, in pretty deprived conditions.
Average wages in rural areas are extremely low, yet we still have loads of hikers, mountain bikers, climbers etc.
I know of several whole families that have very little to their name, but have nice bikes, a fleet of kayaks and so on - but they're just not interested in Sky, HD TVs, computers or anything like that. They basically focus all their funds into enjoying the outdoors. They tend to be the happiest, friendliest people I know.

As for ethnic groups and cycling, I'm not sure what to make of that. I don't tend to see a lot of ethnicities round here regardless, so it IS very rare for me to see them out cycling.
I do see them occasionally though, and it feels good to share a friendly "alright?" as they pass. There's something quite humbling in the fact that cycling can bring people originating from opposite ends of the globe together, desite humanity's best efforts to anihilate each other.

I also saw a large group of around 6 or so Asians in Llandegla a few weeks back - and that was the first time I'd seen so many asian mountain bikers in one place.

Maybe our sport is promoted very heavily towards caucasians? Maybe I live in an area where minorities are rare regardless? Who knows.

I remember reading several years ago, however, that a black man's physiology makes cycling more of a chore, due to their having slightly different pronounced muscle groups to whites. I believe it also mentioned differences in bone structure, particularly the pelvis which makes them tend to be not so great on pushbikes, but excel at running sports.

welshkev

i was at afan on saturday and saw a few black guys riding and one of my mates is indian (born in goa) and he loves to come out for a blast now and again.

what about the tour of ireland - the first black guy to be riding in that.

but i'd agree you don't see many 'ethnic minorities' riding. but again, i'd put that down to where you live aswell as cultural differences.

as to do with the class thing, i'm on the bottom rung of the ladder in my place of work - my boss (who's a multi millionaire) comes out riding with me all the time, so i don't think it has anything to do with class.

bails87

I think most sports have different make-ups in terms of the people who do them. Rugby and tennis are probably very different from football and cricket. Just like I reckon theres an age difference between the typical MTBer and Roadie.

To be a considered a 'serious' cyclist you probably need a fair bit of disposable income (not being a snob, thats the unfortunate truth), and you need to live near the countryside/have a car to drive your bike to the countryside. And seeing as people living in deprived, inner city areas are more likely to be from an ethnic minority, that swings it towards middle class white people (mainly men). because the upper classes just use the countryside to ride around on horses and kill things :P

Despite what the Daily Mail would have you believe, ethnic minorities are just that...a minority. So even if they were completely proportionally represented, they'd still be a minority, but the fact that they may be "over represented" in sports such as cricket and athletics (this is pure guesswork btw, feel free to prove me wrong) means less are free to take up biking, perhaps....


Oh, and "middle class aristocrats"? Is an aristocrat, by definition, upper-class?!

The Cookie Monster

i did a ride from Cairo to Cape town and got back a few months ago, i saw more black people on bikes than cumulatively throughout the rest of my life. (not too suprising when you see thousands and thousands of them) apparently China and south east asia are the same. and they dont ride hardcore off road stuff, but they ARE riding bikes that makes Apollos look amazing down rocky and coorugated dirt roads, and id like to see most people here riding along with literally triple overhead stacks of wood on their pannier racks :shock:

Joe_Pineapples

bails87 wrote:

Oh, and "middle class aristocrats"? Is an aristocrat, by definition, upper-class?!

Nice one, picking me up on my use of grammar. A very middle class thing to do.

bails87

:oops: Sorry.....








I blame Quentin down at the golf club, he's always doing stuff like that :P



It was an honest question btw, although now I can't think of anything but the Aristocats! How good were they!

paul.skibum

Joe_Pineapples wrote:

bails87 wrote:

Oh, and "middle class aristocrats"? Is an aristocrat, by definition, upper-class?!

Nice one, picking me up on my use of grammar. A very middle class thing to do.

Well technically he wasn't correcting your grammar but your command of the english language in general as you were using a word out of its correct context/definition.......

Daz555

Joe_Pineapples wrote:

Daz555 wrote:

Joe_Pineapples wrote:

Well myself and the rest of the working class scum that I associate with will be sure to say hello next time we see all you middle class aristocrats out on the trails . . . .

. . . or when you need one of our children to clean your chimneys.

Out of interest, what do you do for a living and to what level are you educated? Just a question re class that's all.

Born in the back bedroom of the council house my mum still lives in, left school with a handful of O Grades and I work in a factory, although I don't know what this proves.

Nowt at all. It is just that I know one or two people who insist they are 'working class' who to be honest are not really due to their education and/or their profession. I am from a working class home but there is no way I could classify myself as being working class.

Then again I think there are only really two classes anyway - those who have to work for a living and those who don't. I'd like to join those who don't need to work as soon as humanly possible.

Joe_Pineapples

Daz555 wrote:

I am from a working class home but there is no way I could classify myself as being working class.

I'm curious, what exactly is it that you've done that you think elevates you above people who would call themselves working class, and what's wrong with it anyway?
Is it money, because Sir Alan Sugar still calls himself working class?
Is it education and employment, because the girl who grew up in the council house next door to my parents is now a cardiac surgeon in Cairns in Australia and she still calls herself working class?

This is a stupid post.

BurtonM

geordiefreerider wrote:

Yeah thats what I thought, I think its probably just the places i've been riding more than anything else, im from newcastle in england but only ever see white folk riding, yet on a night out it's like a united colours of benneton advert !!

Spot on there geordie

bails87

Joe_Pineapples wrote:

I'm curious, what exactly is it that you've done that you think elevates you above people who would call themselves working class, and what's wrong with it anyway?

Who said there was anything wrong with being working class? It's just different, and I would guess income, area where you live, education level, job, hobbies, house size, number of cars, etc etc all contribute to defining someone as working/middle/upper class, but theres no rigid definition.

So Daz might have come from an unarguably "working class" home, but now he lives in a 6 bedroom mansion with a swimming pool and commutes by helicopter to London one day a week to work! Or maybe he's in a two car household, and thats what he uses to define himself as not working class. So what!? Don't be so defensive, no-one has said anything about the middle or working classes being better or worse, in fact you're the only who has mentioned it with regards to anyone else! :?

belugabob

We had the exact same conversation, during a ride at the weekend.

I regularly see black guys on road bikes, but have only ever seen one minority rider on an MTB.

I seem to remember there being some government campaign, a couple of years ago, to encourage ethnic minorities to use the countryside, and I couldn't help but think that the countryside is just there for everybody to use, so it must just be down to people not wanting to use it.

The theory that the countryside is too far away for a lot of people is interesting, but doesn't account for the fact that where I live, in Crawley, there's a huge park/forest that within about 10 minutes ride from almost every part of town, yet I can't ever remember seeing a single ethnic rider.

It does seem to be a strange phenomenon, though, and probably down to 'what floats your boat' - for instance, you'd never catch me playing cricket (Or even watching it for that matter)

bails87

Ok, where Daz55 said "There's no way I could classify myself as working class", I can see how it might have been read that as if he was saying "I couldn't bear to liken myself to the lowly working folk". But I think he meant it as "I don't think I'm working class, so I couldn't call myself working class because it wouldn't be true".

I don't know if that's how you took it, but it seemed like you'd been offended by what he said.

It's like I'd say my job falls into the "professional" category, but that doesn't mean I think I'm better than someone who's in the "skilled manual" category. I'm simply not a plumber or an electrician or a mechanic, so I won't claim to be one.

I don't see why it's stupid, it's provoking debate, and no-ones got silly and just resorted to insults yet, so it's all good!

EDIT - I think a certain someone deleted the post that this was replying to, but hey ho....

KnightofCydonia

the only ones I see are on argos bikes jumping red lights in a particularly 'asian' area of the nearest big town to me.

However I have a mate who's gay and he likes to ride.

geordiefreerider

Joe_Pineapples wrote:

Daz555 wrote:

I am from a working class home but there is no way I could classify myself as being working class.

I'm curious, what exactly is it that you've done that you think elevates you above people who would call themselves working class, and what's wrong with it anyway?
Is it money, because Sir Alan Sugar still calls himself working class?
Is it education and employment, because the girl who grew up in the council house next door to my parents is now a cardiac surgeon in Cairns in Australia and she still calls herself working class?

This is a stupid post.

If this is such a stupid post then please feel free to not bother bother commenting on it, as your comments so far have been obnoxious and ill informed anyway.

Surf-Matt

Similar with skiing/boarding and surfing too - very few from ethnic minorities. Most odd.

miss notax

Surf-Matt wrote:

Similar with skiing/boarding and surfing too - very few from ethnic minorities. Most odd.

Agreed. Sailing too.

Surf-Matt

In fact most "glide" sports.

Any reason? I can't really think of anything except that it's related to social class or something. But then class barriers have all but gone in most cases.

heathy_76

geordiefreerider wrote:

Joe_Pineapples wrote:

Daz555 wrote:

I am from a working class home but there is no way I could classify myself as being working class.

I'm curious, what exactly is it that you've done that you think elevates you above people who would call themselves working class, and what's wrong with it anyway?
Is it money, because Sir Alan Sugar still calls himself working class?
Is it education and employment, because the girl who grew up in the council house next door to my parents is now a cardiac surgeon in Cairns in Australia and she still calls herself working class?

This is a stupid post.

If this is such a stupid post then please feel free to not bother bother commenting on it, as your comments so far have been obnoxious and ill informed anyway.

+1

geordiefreerider

Surf-Matt wrote:

In fact most "glide" sports.

Any reason? I can't really think of anything except that it's related to social class or something. But then class barriers have all but gone in most cases.

Maybe just maybe, it's in our genes to have a sense of adventure or something like that, look at polar explorers, mountain climbers and arctic expedition's, again mainly whites, in fact the more I think about it the stranger it seems to me

bails87

Surf-Matt wrote:

In fact most "glide" sports.

Any reason? I can't really think of anything except that it's related to social class or something. But then class barriers have all but gone in most cases.

Is that class barriers for people from ethnic minorities? Or all class barriers in general?

Mind you, I suppose its very easy to do a "middle class" job, but earn less than someone doing a "working class" job, so in that respect I agree, just wasn't sure if you were hinting that the UK was now some kind of socialist paradise!

tom34

Surf-Matt wrote:

Similar with skiing/boarding and surfing too - very few from ethnic minorities. Most odd.

Like others have said i think its mostly culturally based. There may also be some truth to social classes.

Costs for certain sports puts it out of range for alot of people like sailing and motorsports.

Whilst growing up as a second generation asian in sydney, the stereotype is true that alot of emphasis was placed on study and family. Best thing i had when young was a bmx which i rode around everywhere. Parents getting me a mountain bike and taking me to bush tracks to ride was just not done.

Now though as a working adult making some cash allows me to get mountain bikes and go to offroad trails. Also motorcycles, rockclimbing, skydiving and snowboarding etc.

When I eventually have kids there is no doubt that i'll introduce them to these awesome sports.

So in my opinion if you think about it, its not odd at all. Culture and cash.