Like this guy?
Posted on 06/19/2008 9:32:28 PM PDT by george76
I used to feel the same way until I just purchased a pair of biking shorts with the chamois padded insert. After a 28 mile ride this past Sunday I was still able to sit down.
I think they look kind of homo-ish but they do serve a purpose and thats to pad your butt when you have to ride on a hard, narrow carbon fiber racing seat.
With that being said, I DID put a pair of regular shorts over them so I wouldn't look like a homo....... LOL!
Because nothing says funny like a drunk driver killing innocent people! You're sick.
Cyclists are all in your face about their “right to use the road” for their recreation and so smug that they are not polluting. They are at best passive-aggressive and at worst confrontational and militant. They will ride two abreast up a narrow mountain road and completely ignore the mayhem they create. I try to tell them there are truckers and delivery men who need those roads for their jobs. They have got families to feed and need to stick to a tight schedule. Imagine if your boss was pressing you to met a deadline and a bunch of guys barge in to play hockey. Trying to penetrate some people’s arrogance with comparative reasoning is like talking to plaster.
When I was growing up, we were taught to say in a non-startling way “on your left” or “on your right.”
Even some signs with bike etiquette might help or posters in bike shops. People are ignorant AND arrogant.
This is what cameras are for. Put some up and start posting their pics on the internet. Start a blog called Rude Arrogant Anti-Nature Lawbreakers.
Like this guy?
Exactly like that guy.
I wrestled for the better part of my life so far, and I filled out a singlet quite well if I do say so myself. :)
padded bike shorts are an entirely different matter than the outfits the biking clubs wear. I’m guessing those shorts are black, not brightly tri-colored. Spandex looks good on maybe .00000001 percent of the female population. It never looks good on men. The biking equivalent of a speedo.
I used to help out with communication on charity bike tours, and in the pre-start briefings, they’d always emphasize to the participants that they had to obey the rules of the road—stay far right, ride single file, don’t obstruct traffic, etc. For the most part, they did.
But there were the ones—always identifiable because they were fully pimped out like they were Lance Armstrong’s homeboy—that didn’t think the rules applied to them. They’d ride three and four abreast blocking an entire lane, come screaming down mountain curves at 45+ mph, dive into opposite lanes on blind downhill curves to keep their speed up, etc. How we never had somebody get splattered by a logging truck, I’ll never know.
One time I was using my pickup truck as a “sag wagon” and picked up a guy who cramped up. He threw his bike over the side into the back of my truck, left the handlebars hanging over the side so the fittings on his brake cables scratched the hell out of the paint, and when I got him to the rest stop, he grabbed the bike and walked away without a word of thanks or apology.
Most of the folks were really nice. But the weekend warriors who thought they were one step away from the Tour de France...those guys were jerks. Interestingly, I also helped out with a couple of ultra-marathons (a 50-mile “Mountain Masochist Trail Run” through the Blue Ridge), and to a man and woman, the runners were great. Very polite, thankful we ham radio geeks were there for communications support, very fun to hang out with.
}:-)4
Yes they are the only reason why they’re a good buy - a good, heavy-duty chamois. Plus the spandex itself can prevent any chafing on the inner leg.
If you don’t want to be seen in them, however, just wear a pair of shorts over them. That way you can carry a few items in pockets.
I'm very fortunate, I just got into biking this summer at the urging of a friend who has been a biker all his life.
Fortunately we have a marvelous paved bike path at our disposal that spans about 13 miles at this point but our normal route on Sunday mornings will give us an out and back ride of about 20 miles......with no road riding at all.
This past Sunday morning I decided to meet him at his house for the start of the ride with the intention of taking an alternate route of all roadways. However, once we made it to the major road I wanted to take along Jefferson Ave. in order to ride to my sister's house in Grosse Point shores, MI, that road had no biking lane, which I was never aware of until I actually road the bike there.
When we headed west on it, I realized that was not a comfortable route considering we were relegated to the extreme right side with traffic whizzing by at 40 - 50 mph.......I immediately told my buddy that I was uncomfortable with that so we headed back to where we could hitch up with the bike path........
An observation tho, as we were riding along the road (a 2 lane with no paved shoulder) we passed a group of cyclists coming in the opposite direction riding to their extreme right in single file. They had no where else to ride because of the gravel shoulder nor did my friend and I. Anyway, just as we were passing them on the opposite side of the road, a big Dodge Ram came up behind them and laid on his horn!!! Had I been the last rider in that group, I would have been startled so bad that I probably would have swerved into the path of that idiot truck driver.........
I guess my point is that there are idiots on both sides of the spectrum. And as for myself, at this point in my cycling career, I'm staying off the highways......
It’s true. However, it remains true when they are not on their bicycles. They are this way always and everywhere. Got to say, if somebody like that is reading this: enjoy it while it lasts.
I don’t really see why you have to announce yourself. You don’t announce yourself in a car when you pass somebody. I ride hard and don’t have a lot of spare air. If everybody is being smart and sticking to their lanes except when forced out you can pass and be passed safely with nobody having to announce themselves. Most of the people I encounter on the trail that complain when you don’t announce yourself are in the middle of the path making it so you can’t get around them without it being a tight squeeze. My favorite was another bike hogging the center line and the guy had one of those mirror thingies on his helmet, hey dude keep to your lane and use the mirror and you won’t get any surprises.
I ride dirt bikes in the mountains. On one ride some bike riders came through while we were resting and yelled, “Out of the way, a**holes!” We immediately caught up to them and continued to roost them with mud until they got pissed and stopped. I got off my bike and got the apology I deserved. That “tough yuppie” act is from nothing but a bunch of cowards who were chess team members in high school.
My favorite cyclist stunt is when they blow through stop signs without pause, expecting me to stop at my stop sign and wait while all 42 of them get through the intersection.
And democrats...
A nice long walking stick made out of good straight grained hardwood would stop that kind of $hit very quickly. Taking a header over the handlebars can realign their thinking.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.