Things non-cyclists say to cyclists

jimmypippa

dhope wrote:

Mr Plum wrote:

"You'll never eat all that!"

I get this

'Double portion of porridge this morning?'

Nope, this is normal, and I'll be snacking by 10.30 too

Ditto.

One colleague said that if I took part in supersize vs superskinny the large person would put on weight. I'm between 10-11 stone and 5'10, so not exactly ideal material for that program.

Mind you, at school I remember seeing the recommended energy intake for someone doing heavy manual work, and it was a lot more than my diet. In reality, I think mine is only about 30% more.

tx14

Mr Plum wrote:

"You'll never eat all that!"

I say that to myself! And frequently prove myself wrong.

mtb-idle

got this one from my sister a few weeks ago. We were going round to her place and she lives a nice distance of circa 25 miles away. I often ride there whilst the wife and boys drive and then have a shower/change when i get there.

I ring her up to check she's ok with this again (letting me use the bathroom etc.) and she says:

"Oh why can't you just be normal like everyone else?"

(Because I dont want to be like everyone else??)

Tony-J

'OOOHHHHarrggh!!!! you stupid bsrd ! ..shouted at me last Friday by a woman walking her dog as I cycled past, at about ten feet to the left of her..yes really, and doing 15mph, impossible to touch or harm her in any way...I was on the Coast To Coast designated national cycle route No. 13 along the Tyne Valley.....must be the lycra...wonder if she screams at all the cars that pass by her along the road every day..or if she even realizes they're there.?
'Those tires, there's no air in them right they're solid rubber aren't they'...brother in law and a motor bike mechanic by trade....'my mates a cyclist he bought his for £150 from Halfords' same bloke, same conversation....' there's no cyclists in Hull, I'd know about it' ..same bloke, same conversation,...all his mates are fat chain smoking Harley riders, thinks bike clubs sit in pubs ' how much? a thousand quid for a bike! that must be the best bike you can get' same bloke....same conversation, I'm starting to come apart by this time, I can feel my public persona beginning to fray..'they all look like racers to me' same bloke, same conversation...all my bikes have drops on them....the horse is flogged to death, once more I have failed to communicate. :shock: :shock: :shock:

Tony-J

'you don't have to ride back' I'll give you a lift in the car, you can put the bike in the back every night'.......Bergees, lovely guy, lives up the road from me.
'Why do you ride that bike to work when you've got that big motorbike?.....
'Where's your motorbike?'
'Have you SOLD your Triumph?'.... :shock:
'where's your pedals?
'Are they normal trainers or special shoes?....almost the germ of lateral thinking on this one, quite impressed really.
Is your saddle made of wood?.....I ride mostly Brooks Pro's

Tony-J

Rick Chasey wrote:

Redjeep! wrote:

" You don't look old enough to have an 18year old son "

Now said to me 3 times, by three different women.

That can be taken one of two ways...

I've had variations of this in the past few weeks, the best was 'ah, you're too young to have children.'
Me ' Actually I'm old enough to be be your father'
the lass was 19
I'm 42.

byke68

Arrived at work today with my new La Vie Claire bonk bag (soo retro!) and the first words uttered to me were "nice man bag". :roll:

jeepie

1. Leaving the office and pulling on my massively bright yellow lusso jacket:

"No one can miss you in that!"

(sigh - if only it were true when i'm out on the road)

2. Aren't your pedals too small? (Speedplays)

McGee2010

Variations of the "you don't pay road tax" stupid comments, most recently said to me the other day by a woman driving a Toyota IQ, for no reason other than I was at the lights next to her. She really didn't get it when I tapped on her window above the exemption disk and said "neither do you"

scrumpydave

My absolute favourite recently: "Did you get home OK last week?"

Uttered to me by a member of my 5-a-side football team who drove right past me as I was stopped by the side of the road fixing a puncture.

Cheers mate.

wyadvd

I do the school run on my way to work (school is two miles away). Have a kid seat on my Sabbath September. Nearly always leave at the same time as someone almost next door to me with her kids, just as she is loading them into the car seat belts etc etc. I always get looks of incredulity and "blimey that was quick" when she hurriedly runs in just as the bell goes, having had to park about a quarter of a mile from the school, with me having been at the school for 5-7 minutes already!

there is something about motorists who don't want to consider cycling, they just don't get the hint, no matter how many times you answer their predictable f$ckwit questions. I arrive quicker than you after a ten mile commute, I am always warm, whatever the weather. and the roads are safer in the ice after two days cos all you stupid f£cks have crashed by then. I genuinely think the primary negative motivation against cycling is the percieved "stigma". In their heart of hearts they can see it makes sense really.

CiB

wyadvd wrote:

I genuinely think the primary negative motivation against cycling is the percieved "stigma". In their heart of hearts they can see it makes sense really.

I don't think it's a stigma, I get the impression that most people really don't believe that it's do-able, for want of a better word, no matter how easy we make it look. Either that or they know that deep down it's just too much of an effort to go through the palava of getting a bike, getting kitted up and ultimately having to admit that in your case wyadvvd you were right all along and your protagonist was wrong.

My favourite non-cyclist comment to me recently was "wow - that's incredible, you cycling all that way to work. That's unbelievable", to which in a spirit of encouragement I pointed out that it's not, I'm well into the decade that life's supposed to start at, and a bit overweight. Telling someone that anybody can do this once you get past the initial hurdle of wanting to do it, falls on deaf ears. All the right noises bounce back into my lug-holes but it's a complete certainty that by Monday morning nothing has changed in these people's lives and they'll still be driving 2 miles to the office every day. Shame really.

bails87

Yeah, the distance thing is what puts people off. 10 miles sounds like a lot. There's no way you'd choose to walk it (not for commuting purposes anyway, it would simply take too long*) and people think human powered=like walking, therefore anything more than a mile is too far.

My dad travels less than that to work, but refuses to entertain doing it by bike. He's fairly fit, goes to the gym, gets up really early to go out on his bike (only 10 miles or so on road on a MTB) before work but won't consider riding into work.

*I'm aware of the irony of saying this on a cycling forum when we complain about non-cyclists saying the same about going by bike but....they're wrong and I'm right, so ner!

wyadvd

CiB wrote:

wyadvd wrote:

I genuinely think the primary negative motivation against cycling is the percieved "stigma". In their heart of hearts they can see it makes sense really.

I don't think it's a stigma, I get the impression that most people really don't believe that it's do-able, for want of a better word, no matter how easy we make it look. Either that or they know that deep down it's just too much of an effort to go through the palava of getting a bike, getting kitted up and ultimately having to admit that in your case wyadvvd you were right all along and your protagonist was wrong.

My favourite non-cyclist comment to me recently was "wow - that's incredible, you cycling all that way to work. That's unbelievable", to which in a spirit of encouragement I pointed out that it's not, I'm well into the decade that life's supposed to start at, and a bit overweight. Telling someone that anybody can do this once you get past the initial hurdle of wanting to do it, falls on deaf ears. All the right noises bounce back into my lug-holes but it's a complete certainty that by Monday morning nothing has changed in these people's lives and they'll still be driving 2 miles to the office every day. Shame really.

Yes good point, that too.

When I get the usual list of comments, I often point out (not in too much of a condescending way, honestly) that you really don't know what your body can do if you don't ask it to do it. Your body is an amazing thing you know, and really its designed for hard physical work, believe it or not, and thrives on it!

I maintain that many people don't cycle because cycling is percieved as a sub culture that they don't want to be part of it. Social groupings are the single biggest motovators for many people, and they feel they may have to no longer be "one of the guys/girls" should they commit to cycling. we are a bunch of weirdos after all (or so they rationalise in a blinkered fashion)

wyadvd

to reply to my own post...... the above is also the root cause of much of the abuse and aggression that we get on the road too. Its purely socio-political envy/ victimisation of social minorities with whom they do not identify. A form of racism really, and just as stupid.

rick_chasey

wyadvd wrote:

CiB wrote:

wyadvd wrote:

I genuinely think the primary negative motivation against cycling is the percieved "stigma". In their heart of hearts they can see it makes sense really.

I don't think it's a stigma, I get the impression that most people really don't believe that it's do-able, for want of a better word, no matter how easy we make it look. Either that or they know that deep down it's just too much of an effort to go through the palava of getting a bike, getting kitted up and ultimately having to admit that in your case wyadvvd you were right all along and your protagonist was wrong.

My favourite non-cyclist comment to me recently was "wow - that's incredible, you cycling all that way to work. That's unbelievable", to which in a spirit of encouragement I pointed out that it's not, I'm well into the decade that life's supposed to start at, and a bit overweight. Telling someone that anybody can do this once you get past the initial hurdle of wanting to do it, falls on deaf ears. All the right noises bounce back into my lug-holes but it's a complete certainty that by Monday morning nothing has changed in these people's lives and they'll still be driving 2 miles to the office every day. Shame really.

Yes good point, that too.

When I get the usual list of comments, I often point out (not in too much of a condescending way, honestly) that you really don't know what your body can do if you don't ask it to do it. Your body is an amazing thing you know, and really its designed for hard physical work, believe it or not, and thrives on it!

I maintain that many people don't cycle because cycling is percieved as a sub culture that they don't want to be part of it. Social groupings are the single biggest motovators for many people, and they feel they may have to no longer be "one of the guys/girls" should they commit to cycling. we are a bunch of weirdos after all (or so they rationalise in a blinkered fashion)

With my friends in Cambridge, where cycling is both short and easy, the comment was always "oo, couldn't do that, the traffic is far too scary/dangerous/abusive."

Now, sure, maybe my manly stories didn't help, but still.

notsoblue

wyadvd wrote:

to reply to my own post...... the above is also the root cause of much of the abuse and aggression that we get on the road too. Its purely socio-political envy/ victimisation of social minorities with whom they do not identify. A form of racism really, and just as stupid.

Exactly.

veronese68

Our parent company is in California. The MD told me that as he cycled to work a Mexican guy said " Oh, you're so lucky you can ride to work." During the conversation it came out the guy didn't live far away, when the MD told him he should just do it the guy answered "I can't because I'm Mexican, everyone will assume it's because I can't afford a car."
Attitudes are a huge barrier to some people.

windbreaker

In india frequently in the 90s - looking at water bottle and pointing.

"Engine?"

wyadvd

Veronese68 wrote:

Our parent company is in California. The MD told me that as he cycled to work a Mexican guy said " Oh, you're so lucky you can ride to work." During the conversation it came out the guy didn't live far away, when the MD told him he should just do it the guy answered "I can't because I'm Mexican, everyone will assume it's because I can't afford a car."
Attitudes are a huge barrier to some people.

yeah google "the theory of big" .....look expensive, you get a little more respect. Although I think his point was "look like you might do some expensive damage to my car" not "ooooh hes spend two grand on assos"

rubertoe

"Don't you stop eating"

"Did you ride?" (whilst carrying a helmet) followed by "but it was so foggy this morning"

my personal fave from my Girlfriend

"if you stopped buying cycling gear then we'd be able to go on holiday"

Lossie Loon

I don't know if it has been mentioned before, but I often simply get a concise "Why?".

But I loved the genuinely impressed look on a girl's face at the swimming pool when I was telling her that I regularly do 40+ mile rides at the weekend now.

byke68

"if you stopped buying cycling gear then we'd be able to go on holiday"[/quote]
Women so selfish at times.................................

rick_chasey

Lossie Loon wrote:

I don't know if it has been mentioned before, but I often simply get a concise "Why?".

But I loved the genuinely impressed look on a girl's face at the swimming pool when I was telling her that I regularly do 40+ mile rides at the weekend now.

People don't believe me when I talk of my previous cycling achievements.

(the Aubisque, Tourmalet, Aspin, and Perysourde. i.e. the circle of death in one day).

dhope

They did what to the 'Girls In...' threads?!

thecrofter

Usually in reference to any cycle over about 50miles. "And you'll do that in one day?"

cje

"How far do you cycle in?"
"About five miles"
"NO WAY?! Oh my God!"

Shem

Enter work covered in sweat during winter, somebody asks "Aren't you cold?". COVERED IN SWEAT!!!

"You need some new tyres, them ones are bald."

Them - "Was that one cheaper because it didn't come with suspension?".
Me - "No, it probably cost more than your rust bucket in the car park."

Paul E

Something unintelligible from a pedestrian last night when he stepped into my path and I think he blamed me for him stepping out into a road in the dark without looking, looked like a fat city worker who had been on the piss T W A T

clarkey cat

"you look like Blue Meanie in your lycra"