don't get yer spandex in a twist...
Posted on 06/30/2014 8:38:03 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A new breed of cyclist is infecting our roads and destroying the inclusive nature of bike riding. Jamie Fewery introduces 'sportive snobbery'
It was inevitable that with the rapid growth in cycling, factions would emerge. Sub groups of cyclists who define themselves by how seriously they take the sport, their kit, their observance of cycling’s heritage; gangs and coteries who jostle to adopt the lifestyle to a greatest degree. Reach a critical mass of humans who enjoy a shared interest and lines will inevitably be drawn. The peloton rarely sticks together.
For the most part, this is fine. As with any pastime there will be those who are content with occasional participation and those who immediately look to emulate the pros. But there’s a downside as well: snobbery. The idea that some are not only better than others, but that those at the lower end of the commitment and ability scale shouldn’t really be there at all.
I’ve noticed it a few times in discussions about the professional side of cycling, where commentators have a disdain for the popularisation of their sport since Bradley Wiggins won the Tour in 2012. It's as they hold Wiggins personally accountable for allowing the ‘great unwashed’ in on the secret. Or in forums and articles, where self-defined guardians of recreational cycling denigrate those who have the gall to wear a yellow jersey, as if doing so aligns the amateur with Eddy Merckx. And then there's the articles about whether people should or shouldn't wear Lycra (I do, in case you’re wondering).
But cycling snobbery at its worst is on the road.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
That sounds very uncomfortable
They came screaming up behind, passed us and all pulled wheelies.
I have already seen bikers die in front of me and I felt sick, fearing I'd see a whole pack of them blow apart when they hit the pavement.
I swung off on the I70 exit so I didn't have to see them anymore.
Yet another Kamikaze died in that spot a couple weeks ago.
Recumbent bikes.
I see them here, too.
The weird part is when they stop and try to put their feet down.
Center of balance must be wonky.
don't get yer spandex in a twist...
Spandex = disco.
Disco sucks.
:)
I use to have this 68’ tr6r Triumph with drag pipes. Every time the local seven dogs in my neighborhood got to much to bear, I would fire it up. Instant quiet for 2 hours after that. I think they thought it was a dragon. It did spit fire, lol.
Oh no!
Where was YouTube when I needed it?
That sounds badazzzzzzz.
:)
My response is more toward the direction of this thread. Most of my friends ride Harleys, and quite frankly, I wish my Triumph had that level of workmanship. But at the same time, I generally ride between 2500 and 3500 miles per year on my bicycle. I am one of the so called lycra clad homosexual liberals, even though I have been married (to a woman) for 34 years, and although I didn’t officially join Free-Republic until the early 2000’s, I was lurking here during the Clinton deposition. I have spent a good amount of money on my bicycle, and even when I tell myself I am going on an easy ride, I find myself pushing to improve my performance. I know roads that aren’t friendly to riding, and I avoid them as much as I can, but I also know I have as much right to the roadway as any other vehicle. (All motor vehicle laws apply to bicycles) When I ride outside a bike lane it is because it is littered with car parts, saw blades, broken bottles, ...etc. I know it irritates motorists when they have to slow for a cyclist, and I try to minimize my interference as much as possible, but I am also really annoyed with “Freepers” who classify people the same way liberals do.
It’s been like this in Boulder County now for decades. Boulder County is practically the bicycle capital of the U.S., and while the vast majority of bikers are pretty much just regular folk, there’s a significant percentage who are professional or semi-professional, and a rather large part of these latter groups are obnoxious pricks.
Every year or so one of these pricks so enrages a motorist the motorist decides to run the prick over on purpose. I think many of us silently sympathize with the poor bastard who ends up in prison because of this. The sad thing is that the dead biker isn’t hung up on a fence as a warning to the others.
Cyclists, the Jews of FR.
A hamster, running really fast?
I love 60-70s era bikes.
The glory days of real choppers and those outrageous “sparkly” king and queen seats with the 4 foot tall sissy bars and big metal flake paint jobs.
If you have Netflix, search for “biker” and lots of the old exploitation movies show up like Devil’s Angels, etc.
Study the bikes and you’ll see a lot of Limeys.
In early MC culture, Brit bikes were considered entirely acceptable.
In some clubs, they still are.
I guess no waves to Moto Guzzi or Beemer riders either.
“I am one of the so called lycra clad homosexual liberals”
Say what?
*4* hamsters.
On meth.
With rabies.
Stop right there!
Shibumi, meet RitchieAprile
If we were liberal neo nazis, but we’re neither.
Maybe you should go back to the top and review this thread.
If you’re a considerate cyclist who attempts to cooperate with automotive traffic you’re fine by me. But, being in California I’m certain you’re aware of the sort of cyclists who have FReepers riled up. Riding four abreast blocking a whole lane during rush hour, blowing through red lights, arrogant and intentionally disruptive. They aren’t conservative, they hate cars and want to cause problems. I’ve tangled with them in the Bay Area myself, they were whistle-blowing prissy control freaks who attacked merely because of the car I had rented to drive down to Monterrey, no other reason at all.
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