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epicyclo - Member
Why on earth would anyone want to ride along with 30-40 guys in skintight fluorescent gear sniffing up his arse? Why on earth would anyone want to ride along in skintight fluorescent gear sniffing up the arse of the guy in front? Wouldn't taking a bus be better?
Sad ain't it?
why comment like this? OP is v strange, but its cycling dont forget.
Good god the whole roadie/mtb'er thing gets on my nerves.
Don't any of you read viz?
'Attacking' in group club rides doing a 100, hmmmm not the done thing at all. IME the race group training rides have always just been about high pace steady good quality riding.
I think I'd be a bit pee'd off if I were maintaining a good pace only to find someone trying to blow it appart on the hills.
Reminds me a bit of when a new guy tanked off during the handicap lap of a crit, when we could have taken all day to get the one lap headstart.
Annoying but he did'nt do it again.
Ok, I'll try and explain it a bit more rationally and see if you get it then.On a long road ride the group tries to cover distance well by taking it in turns on the front. The front is where you push hardest against the air and wind. Therefore the riders on the front do more work than the rest. The general idea is that if you all take turns to do a bit, you spread the effort and the group moves faster as a whole. This works to a lesser extent on the hills but keeping the group together as much as possible helps.
Some riders are not as strong as others and consequently can't do as long on the front. Being a nice bunch, we kind of accept this and the stronger riders will spend longer on the front to compensate.
forget to explain to us all that a bike has two wheels and pedals
i've printed this explanation off in case i get senile dementia
Camelbaks?
Peaked helmets?
I still think black socks are a major no no.
black socks, and "mountain biker right leg" all major no no's
Seems to me some of these - serious - roadies could do with taking up a motto from the great John Cooper Clark as their 'raison d'être'
'There's more to life than fun'
You don't want to go enjoying yourself too much guys - it's not good for you 😉
Also it's an assumption to think all road club sunday rides will be fast.
Some are plain slow and social and others have two or three groups going out at diferent paces from slow to mental.
As a pointer there was a poster that maintains 18MPH average all day, I can't do that so I hop from one club ride to another depending on how I feel. That guy probably needs to get in with the fast boys, most road clubs have elites or National standard riders even Olympians and sometimes up and coming Pros so they probably need to be out with them.
I must say though I've always found riders wether road or MTB to be able to switch from one dicipline to another without a problem.
Good god the whole roadie/mtb'er thing gets on my nerves.
It's silly to have an automatic 'all roadies are ****ers' attitude, but it does seem from many people's experience (and the OP) that some road clubs are weird, unfriendly, old fashioned, cliquey affairs, with secret etiquette and unwritten rules, along with gear/bike snobbery.
I like riding my bike on the road, but the idea of joining a club really doesn't appeal. Mind you the idea of joining a mtb club doesn't really appeal either.
100.
Before the internet, David would have just made a mildly amusing cafe stop anecdote about this incident, and that would have been that, he wouldn't have hundreds of people hating on him and reinforcing their prejudices either way. But hey. 🙂
I do most of my group riding on the road rather than off. I've always found my club to be very pleasant and sociable, without being regimented or cliquey, but I'm conscious that others on here have not had the same experience of it.
They had a word and now I spend time on the front and give it some on hills as well, you get some grudging respect for that.
i'd rather go out by myself than with a group where the best you could hope for is grudging respect! sounds like a blast... 😆
The flipside of the OP -->
[B]Road Riders on Mountain Bike Club Rides[/b]
Please don't turn up with bottles that fall out of the cage on every bump, sit at the back for 10 miles apart from attacking like a maniac on each downhill and thinking we love your awesome descending ability when you are actually utterly crap....oh and if you want to know why we dropped you on the last few miles we'd be happy to explain it to you AFTER KEPT OUT OF OUR WAY ON THE TECHNICAL BITS YOU CAN'T RIDE FOR TOFFEE!
🙄
Reminds me of a book i just read, this guy called Landis who apparantly was a mtb'er initially turned up at some Rd race in his wolly socks and tracky bottoms and totally un-cool bike with dinner plate front ring, casually works his way to the start line. the usualy comments 'Who the Fu** are you?' so mr landis says anyone who can keep up i will buy them dinner - howles of lafter from the pack, turns out mr landis didnt have to buy anyone dinner and had plenty of time for a plate of EPO before 2nd place came in.
What club are you riding with Mick?
Reminds me of a book i just read, this guy called Landis who apparantly was a mtb'er initially turned up at some Rd race in his wolly socks and tracky bottoms and totally un-cool bike with dinner plate front ring, casually works his way to the start line. the usualy comments 'Who the Fu** are you?' so mr landis says anyone who can keep up i will buy them dinner - howles of lafter from the pack, turns out mr landis didnt have to buy anyone dinner and had plenty of time for a plate of EPO before 2nd place came in.
I'm not sure if someone raised this point having only skim read... I know that 'anybody' can sit at the back for 100miles and cling on - but. He was on an MTB and you reckoned you were averaging 20mph!
That's fast going on an MTB slipstreaming or not.
Bitterness me thinks. If he was that quick on the MTB he'd utterly destroy you on a road bike. Regularly commuting on both, my 20 min commute on the road bike takes 35 mins on the MTB - that's the effort difference so kudos to him!
dunno about roadies with no skill..................
A lot of the good ones seem to have mored to road bikes from other bikes (mainly BMX)
scotia - Member
"epicyclo - Member
Why on earth would anyone want to ride along with 30-40 guys in skintight fluorescent gear sniffing up his arse? ...etc..."why comment like this? OP is v strange, but its cycling dont forget.
Good god the whole roadie/mtb'er thing gets on my nerves.
But why? Serious question.
I can understand track, time trials, touring and triathlons, but I really can't see what pleasure there is in riding in a tight group totally dependent on someone else's reactions and judgement. I can't stand having someone on my back wheel because I that limits what I can do on the bike. I'm not interested in being so close to the person in front that a large chunk of my concentration is going on maintaining that position rather than enjoying the ride.
As for wearing shiny technicolour clothing with "sponsors" adverts, that's really a fashion thing, so I shouldn't criticise because I have never been cool (on the good authority of my teenage daughter), so I'll withdraw that jibe 🙂
It seems it comes down to roadie cycling is a group activity, and mtb is a personal activity (even when there's a mob of you)
a roadie actually smiled and waved at us the other day when we were out on the MTB tandem? Is this a first? Usually they pretend not to see us
[i]But why? Serious question.
I can understand track, time trials, touring and triathlons, but I really can't see what pleasure there is in riding in a tight group totally dependent on someone else's reactions and judgement. I can't stand having someone on my back wheel because I that limits what I can do on the bike. I'm not interested in being so close to the person in front that a large chunk of my concentration is going on maintaining that position rather than enjoying the ride.
As for wearing shiny technicolour clothing with "sponsors" adverts, that's really a fashion thing, so I shouldn't criticise because I have never been cool (on the good authority of my teenage daughter), so I'll withdraw that jibe [:)]
It seems it comes down to roadie cycling is a group activity, and mtb is a personal activity (even when there's a mob of you) [/i]
Seriously? you are not adult enough to accept a sport for what it is? How old are you, 12?
Get a grip and maybe accept road biking along with all the other sorts. If you're never going to do it yourself it shouldnt bother you. Ok so the OP is very strange and i dont agree with his opinions, but still youre acting just as bad by doing the same thing..or dont you get that?!
I'll bet the idea for this thread started in some cafe during a roadie group ride...
As someone who considers himself a cyclist rather than a roadie or mtber (and with a good enough pedigree in road riding/racing to be able to comment from a view of knowing something about it), I find this thread says so much about why the road racing scene in this country is dying - almost regardless of whether the OP is trolling or not, there are people who do think like this.
For some reason a significant proportion (and I'll be very clear on that -- not ALL so please don't assume all roadies/clubs are full of to55ers) road racing clubs seem to have some bizarre sense of superiority to everyone else who rides bikes - be that mtbers, triathletes, casual riders or even just roadies from other clubs. This seems to lead to the whole 'getting new riders to earn their dues' attitude which is putting so many people off these clubs.
I recall my first forays with road clubs, coming from a background in another sport which meant that I was fitter than the majority but without a clue about the rules or ettiquette. Not being some complete numpty and being willing to learn the rules/etc. I didn't take kindly to being patronised or the attempted bullying (which funnily enough included attempts to drop me at the end of long rides for which they eventually paid which wound them upeven more 🙂 ) - now you could say that's an arrogant view but I did what they asked me to do when asked and didn't make the same mistakes twice. Strangely that never seemed enough and lots of the guys would rather that I served out an apprenticeship and behaved like a good little boy. They disliked it even more when I beat them at races.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure that the clubs like this (DaveB's by the sound of it) will die out pretty soon with the current squeeze on road racing in Britain and more importantly more and more people deciding that you don't need to join a club to ride on the road (the sportive crowd - another are of derision for roadies) so if they're not offering anything other than riding with an arrogant bunch of tryhards, why bother. Can't happen soon enough I reckon.
Last summer I was out for a ride on my old MTB which is fitted with 1.5 slicks and is mostly used as a commuter. Waiting to pull out of a side road and a pack of about 10 roadies goes past I nipped out and attached myself to the back of the pack thinking I wont be able to stay with this lot for long but I will have a go. I was right I couldnt stay with them very long my legs were a blur trying to keep up. I managed to stick to the back for about 10 miles and during those miles I didnt hear a single word spoken even whilst waiting to cross a main road not a word 😕 Do roadies ever talk or smile or laugh. Perhaps they are worried it would waste a calorie.
pantsonfire - it all depends. If it's a hard training ride then probably not because you can't. If it's a winter get-the-miles-in ride then there's lots of chat...
i think the attutude of rough stuffers is one i like to encompass, views, smiles and cake, as for roadies cliques, well they can't have any of my cake 🙂
during those miles I didnt hear a single word spoken even whilst waiting to cross a main road not a word [:?] Do roadies ever talk or smile or laugh. Perhaps they are worried it would that waste a calorie.
Nearing the end of a century ride the last thing I want to is talk, that said I do 99% of my road riding on my own and I certainly do not want to join a club as I just can't be arsed with the politics of it all.
Great fun this thread 🙂
For similar related humour check these out:
[url= http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/humour-so-you-want-to-be-a-mountain-biker-14501 ]How to MTB[/url]
[url= http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/humour-tips-for-becoming-a-roadie-14451 ]How to road ride[/url]
kingtut - you'd love it - all those people with something in common with you - grumpiness 🙂
Some people form clubs for security (cliques) and other to help others (open). Just because one club doesn't welcome you doesn't mean they are all like that.
When I'm too old to MTB, I'll be getting a proper road bike, and maybe joining a club for the company. As it is, the only road riding I currently do is on my commuter (adapted steel MTB with slicks and bar ends). I enjoy thundering up and down steep country lanes with blind corners, mud, debris, potholes etc. I really am a mountain biker!
clubber it wasnt a hard training or at least I dont think so. If I was out on a training ride and some fat basyard on a 28 pound MTB could keep up with me for 10 miles I would give up cycling and take up dominoes.
I still have my old Quinns 10 speed racer which I like to ride long distance (long for me that is) I rode the Isle of Man TT course last year 37.75 miles in 2 and a half hours even though I nearly blew up on the climb up the mountain. Too much Okells bitter the night before.
I know well of the club that BD is referring to above...
As for the original post, that and the single ride I went on corresponds to everything that road cycling clubs tend to be. Plus, having pretty much been told to "**** off the road you ****, you're in our way" by the London dynarod club, I have no desire to do it, and my mates experiences are broadly similar. There's a level of elitism and snobbishness that's just not necessary. I have road bikes, I probably ride them 80% of the time, but I make sure I do it with people I want to ride with.
Davidb, and your club will probably be happy to hear I have no intention of joining them. I don't need club kit and rudeness to know I can ride a road bike.
pants - Maybe they were just a miserable bunch of gits. Or they were all knackered at the end of a long ride.
This I hate roadie sh*t really ****s me off, I ride MTB's I ride road bikes too.
They are all just bikes!
To 95% of the population a bike whether its a MTB, road, TT, cruiser, BMX, shopper, tandem, trike whatever... its just a bike.
I just derided a MTB mate on Facebook because I have met him every Saturday morning for the last few weeks on my road bike and when he doesnt speak just because he blanks roadies. (Could be the overstuffed lycra sausage look that is giving him the boak maybe though tbh)
I ride with a road club and like every club most people are good guys and there are some t*ts but that would be the same if it was a snakes and ladders club!
People just need to (to use a favourite parlance of my 7 year old) CHILLAX 🙂
My club's runs tend to involve a long stretch of sociability and chat at the start, then get quicker and quieter as people warm up and we get into the hills. After the tea stop we're downhill all the way home and the hammer really goes down.
But there is in general a lot less nattering than on mtb group rides I've been on certainly.
my experiences of a road club match Mick's up above. Extremely accomodating, my first few rides no-one had any problems with me tagging on the back learning the lingo. I also attacked the climbs at first not understanding why everyone seemed to climb up really slowly but no-one seemd to have any problems with it. I usually turned up in cut down jeans and a t-shirt too, no-one seemed to mind.
Of course, it all changed when I started racing. Apparently cut down jeans aren't acceptable shorts for a race. People on crappy old Raleigh bikes are to be spat on especially when they start coming in the top ten in amateur 25 mile sprints.
This I hate roadie sh*t really ****s me off, I ride MTB's I ride road bikes too.
it's not about that, it's about disliking unpleasant people :o)
"That's fast going on an MTB slipstreaming or not. "
He was on a road bike.
Roadying is probably a bit like gay sex, only the committed practitioner can understand the pleasure, from the outside it just looks like purgatory.
I think this thread needs a machismo rating to warn the innocent.
A lot of the negative comments posted here do apply to groups of MTB'ers as well.
One thing I can't stand IME of MTB'ers is the nasty underlying competative edge some people have, ok fine on it's own but often it's unleashed a mid so called social rides.
I often here bragging about how riders on mountainbikes tore up some roadies.
The thing is group sunday road rides are training rides usually with fairly tight agendas, so for someone to tag on a road ride and out pace them is fine, but the people that do that are competing with riders that are out training not racing.
Well i agree about the elitism... In my experience roadies are a sad bunch who does not speak to a fellow cyclist when they cross him/her.
Understanding the pleasure of road riding is easy for plenty of people including all those mtbers that turn up to clubs to have a go, not expecting to be looked down on. That's not what this is about. Understanding why you'd ride with a club that's full of people who are to55ers and who want to drop you at the end of a ride to teach you a lesson for something you probably didn't realise is 'wrong' is the question here.
Roadying is probably a bit like gay sex,
Ah that explains it then its all a pain in the arse 😆
just because you don't agree with it or understand it doesn't mean it's it's wrong.
much like real life all types of cycling have their fair share of gear-fetishists, pain-merchants, serial apologists/complainers, slackers and complete narrow minded tossers.
deal with it. ride with people you get on with and stop worrying about what other people think or do.
"Fat Roadie Kicks Off" - lol seeing as I've won a number of hill climbs and am accused of having a toast rack instead of a chest.
Here's another go at the OP
"A bloke came on one of our rides the other day, it was quite a tough one. Most of us worked together to make it easier for the weaker riders and ensured that we would all get home together. However, he insisted on disrupting the ride and showing off. I wasn't too happy about that and we had a polite word with him but he carried on anyway. Near the end of the ride he could not keep up, mainly due to his showing off which had depleted his energy."
I actually meant it as humorous piss take Viz type rant not a troll post, but there you go. My MTB forum guidelines are 100% vindicated, in fact I think I'm going to do some more work on them this weekend to bring them up to date with current practice.
I'm very proud of my road club, they do loads for the community and new/old riders alike. They are all incredibly sociable and patient and only ever ask that new riders **listen** to advise when joining rides for the first time. Sadly many don't.