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 ...
What kind of car did you rent? A Humvee?
I see a lot of the comments here are from folks that didn’t even bother to read the article. The snobbery the writer is talking about isn’t aimed at cagers but at other cyclists.
Read, people ... read.
One time while walking I raised my right arm and had one go under it at speed. I was walking on the right of the path. If they wear one of those bright insect outfits, they feel they have dispensation to violate what is the law in my state of Pennsylvania. They are required to announce themselves when overtaking pedestrians. Like you I call names but rectum is elementary school tame by my standards. Something about me seems to discourage anything but a look back. I hates those oily, creepy, camp clothing wearing cycletards.
I’d reserved a Boxster but it wasn’t returned in time, so I ended up with the only “comparable” thing they had, a red Corvette.
“Cuz they think they’re better - “see, I’m saving the environment and you - you are destroying it with your car” swish ....”
I used to think that, but then I discovered that the jackasses on the bike trail treat other bikers the way the jackasses on the street treated those who drive cars. They’re equal opportunity jackasses.
Comments like many here are a constant reminder as to why I ride MTB...it’s just me and the dirt and rocks.
You’ve been reading too many Chinese English instruction manuals.
I’m a cyclist, mt. biker, and motorcyclist and with a couple of decades of road riding under my belt can, with a considerable degree of authority, say that most roadies are complete and utter tw@ts. I don’t know why single file, especially on a narrow and busy road, is such a difficult concept.
They believe they’re making a point by blocking the road for evil motor vehicles, it’s intentional and it’s political. The same motivation has them doing it during commuting hours.
“and antique Harley owner, why does riding Harleys attract so many insecure overweight government-worker types who get off on the sound of their pipes and little else?”
You work for the government?
Baynative, I loved the video and the Mountain Bike video that was associated with it.
Before I retired from the fire department a few months ago, I was always surprised at how almost every time that I was working with a fat out of shape driver and third person, that the two of them seemed to become enraged almost every time we saw a cyclist on the road. And I am not talking about cyclists riding down the middle of the lane or delaying us or anyone else. There would be just a cyclists riding as far to the right as possible on a road with almost no traffic.
So anyway almost every time I was saddled with two fat old guys who could barely perform the duties expected of firefighters... they would pipe up and start saying really nasty stuff about bicyclists that had nothing to do with the current cyclist we were encountering. I would let them work themselves into a full blown seething diatribe of hatred against cyclists before reminding them that I have cycled at least 100,000 miles during my lifetime and then they would quiet down and start trying to justify all of the crap they had just spewed out.
It was quite amazing actually. I really think it is some kind of weird psychological effect that happens to fat out of shape middle aged men when they feel like they are more powerful than a fit person riding a bicycle down the road... They are surrounded by thousands of pounds of steel and are controlling an engine with a lot of horse power and I think that it makes them feel superior and good about themselves.
None of the fit men that I worked with ever said anything negative about cyclists when we saw one on the road and neither did any of the women that I worked with unless the cyclist was actually riding recklessly. So it is an interesting psychological phenomena that seems to affect almost exclusively fat out of shape middle aged and older men. It would be interesting to see pictures of the most out-spoken people who hate cyclists on this forum and see if my observations applied to this group as well.
Lol. I don’t know where the hate comes from, but your post seems pretty accurate to me. There are rude, liberal bicyclists and rude Freepers but they aren’t the majority either way.
I am an aging competitive roadie who got my son riding when he was in college. He and his wife are AVID MTB riders and activists. He is an FD Captain.
We are short on patience with people who whine about cyclists ...and psuedo riders as well.
We live near Seattle, so we have a lot of acquaintances who are extremely liberal. Many of my cycling friends are liberals but some of them are the most conservative people we know. I actually ended up on one of our local conservative talk radio shows when they had a segment where nearly all of the callers were trashing cyclists. It was after the radical cycling group Critical Mass had staged some type of traffic disruption and really gotten people angry about cyclists.
I had a productive discussion with the host and he actually invited me to speak with him again the following day and help respond to other callers. It was so long ago that I have forgotten who it was now, but he said that I helped change his opinion somewhat and a few others seemed to respond to what I was saying when they were reminded that not all cyclists were lefty nut jobs.
There is nothing more...”invigorating” than popping over a blind hill to find you have three choices, one of which you must make instantly.
Do you wipe out the group of cyclists who are meandering around in front of you, in the roadway?
Or do you swerve to the left or right?
[left is usually the only choice since one or more other cyclists are on the shoulder]
The right choice generally involves large trees or precipitous drops, here and the left choice, oncoming traffic.
O’Malice has made a concerted effort to turn our roads into tourist destinations for the flatlander spandex crew.
We seem to have more than our share of unavoidable car/bike accidents.
If they can wander all over the roadways, why can’t I drive on the sidewalk?
One on the reasons FR is having such a hard time with it’s Freepathons.
Jerks have run off most of the normal folks.
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