By now the poor bugger will be in a field at the bottom of Bowderdale in the pissing rain, misty-eyed when he thinks back to his happy times on the road.

Wonder which club it was up here? Stopping randoms with unknown skillz join the faster groups wouldn’t be totally unreasonable. Joining a social cafe ride, why not? And as for inserting yourself into the middle of a group from a club…I imagine they were quite relieved when he smashed them into oblivion etc up the next hill.

I see just as many miserable sods on MTB rides as on the road. I’m probably one of them.

I’m probably one of them.

At last! An admission 😀

Well, I think mboy sounds alright, even if his words weren’t quite as carefully chosen as STW requires. I’d ride with him.

And yes, some roadies are miserable buggers. He’s not the only one to comment on it, and I’ve certainly experienced it. I once rode out from town to the local club 10 with half the field, tried to chat and utterly failed. Maybe it’s me, I dunno.

And yes, some roadies people are miserable buggers.

FTFY 🙂

Sounds fairly hellish to me. I think many have some anecdotes of ‘miserable roadies’, i’d have given up after being asked for a £15 fee just because of the attitude it shows. Then again, I generally can’t stand having my cycling freedom and outward misanthropy compromised by riding with…’other people’. 🙂

Going on holiday with your missus and your bikes, then trying to find groups of unknowns to ride with, is a bit weird tbh.

Might be just me though?

Admit it MBoy, you were wearing this..

I don’t join clubs / club rides. They are all numpties and I am a miserable misanthrope.

the only group rides I have done is the old TBC / Edinburgh pentlands night rides where the only rule was anyone going too fast will be mocked and fed to the bears

The irony is that the OP seems like the most ‘serious’ (not best) ‘roadie’ of the lot.

Define the ‘best’ roadie in this particular context.

How could you tell the people you met on Ride London were “roadies”and not “MTBers” like you and your GF?
Just interested in how you spot the difference?

Ooh ooh! I know this one! Pick me sir!
It’s cos it wuz a road ride!?!

In the interests of fairness, everyone I spoke to on Ride London was very friendly. The pompous arses at the front end of the last Brecon Beast I did on the other hand…….

In the interests of fairness, everyone I spoke to on Ride London was very friendly. The pompous arses at the front end of the last Brecon Beast I did on the other hand…….

It is impossible to write a seemingly balanced comment on STW without some kind of hidden willy waving 🙂

when I’m at the front of the chain gang, people are very friendly, pointing out hazards etc.

However when I finished 7th in my first ever trail half marathon, not one person stopped to point out rabbit holes. i nearly broke my ankle 3 times. but i didn’t, I finished 7th

serves you right for not being on a bike 😉

Can I join in if I pay my £15?

How does that work then or is it helpful chipper pedestrians pointing things out as you pass?

The thing I find most difficult to believe in the original post is the bit about the OP having a girlfriend. On the other hand the stuff, about him (and others) being dicks was all too believable.

I see just as many miserable sods on MTB rides as on the road. I’m probably one of them.

And I am another. I don’t even acknowledge other cyclists most of the time and would hate to go out in a group and have to put up with other people.

The thing is I am enjoying myself and love cycling.

@DanW Certainly not a willy wave- I was referring to the start line 😀

Said characters barged in late swearing and muttering about ‘barely being bothered to turn up’.

The thing I find most difficult to believe in the original post is the bit about the OP having a girlfriend.

And on the off chance that its true, where do you go to find one that can average >21mph.

I love road bikes. I like looking at them. I would love to have one on a wall mount at home.

But… I simply cannot understand why people would want to deal with other traffic when they could ride on a car-less bus-less truck-less path. Not a cycle path I mean, I mean a hardcore gravelly/ dirty/ bumpy path.

And you can’t really do wheelies or skids. Madness. You will never get the girls roadies.

I simply cannot understand why people would want to deal with other traffic when they could ride on a car-less bus-less truck-less path

Road riding has continuity, and you can concetrate on the effort without stopping for techie bits, unrideable bits, gates, dog walkers, family walkers, etc etc. Lets you get in the zone nicely. And you don’t need to deal with traffic either – I reckon 99% of UK traffic is on 2% of the roads. There’s thousands of miles of deserted roads in your area, most likely. Unless you live in London 🙂 Even when I’m in the crowded South East I can do a 50 mile ride on an evening and see a handful of cars.

@DanW Certainly not a willy wave- I was referring to the start line

Damn it! Can’t even do a holier than-thou post on STW without looking (more) like a tit 🙂

You will never get the girls roadies

Seemed to work out OK for Cav 😉

And you can’t really do wheelies or skids. Madness

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J7rbKn-Jkc[/video]

warton » when I’m at the front of the chain gang, people are very friendly, pointing out hazards etc.
How does that work then or is it helpful chipper pedestrians pointing things out as you pass?

Not just me who read it that way then!

But… I simply cannot understand why people would want to deal with other traffic when they could ride on a car-less bus-less truck-less path. Not a cycle path I mean, I mean a hardcore gravelly/ dirty/ bumpy path.

Hate traffic. Luckily I have a large network of great back roads and country lanes not too far from my door that are mostly traffic free 🙂

Edit… or what molgrips said.

I’m sure if you were to do some sort of study, you’d probably find that 90% of the traffic uses 10% of the roads. Or something like that.

Road riding has continuity, and you can concetrate on the effort without stopping for techie bits, unrideable bits, gates, dog walkers, family walkers, etc etc.

you just have to stop for junctions, lights, etc.

depends where you ride but I can ride for much longer sections of effort offroad than I can onroad, and then when you factor in that, with the increased rolling resistence offroad, I can get more of a workout in as well before stops.

You don’t get to see/ smell so many dead sheep on the road either.

And as for the outfits……

(roadies not sheep)

You don’t get to see/ smell so many dead sheep on the road either.

You can’t beat a decent sheep carcass. Where the eyes are gone and a cloud of flies chases you up the track.

Still take that over fumes and punishment passes any day.

you just have to stop for junctions, lights, etc.

Again – plan your ride. Back lanes don’t have traffic to stop for or traffic lights. Definitely far more consistent effort for me on-road, that’s one of the reasons I do it.

with the increased rolling resistence offroad, I can get more of a workout in as well

That’s a misconception – you put in the power you put in, and the rolling resistance (and air resistance) dictates the speed you go at.

Still take that over fumes and punishment passes any day.

Let me stress this – road riding does not need to include those things. If it does you either live in London or you’re not planning rides well.

You can’t beat a decent sheep carcass. Where the eyes are gone and a cloud of flies chases you up the track.

Saw a sheep’s skull up in the Pentlands once and made the mistake of telling my wife, who’s a Biology teacher. She made me go back up and get it as she wanted it for her classroom!

Ahh but you do get dead badgers on the road. And *nothing* smells as bad as a dead badger.

True. Had misfortune to come across dead badger and deer in last road ride. Bloody dangerous too as the bodies were lying on the inside of tight bends.

‘You can’t beat a decent sheep carcass’

LOL! Very good martinhutch. Oh that made me chortle. Thank you.

I hope you are a professional comedian and aren’t wasting your time cycling.

True. Had misfortune to come across dead badger and deer in last road ride. Bloody dangerous too as the bodies were lying on the inside of tight bends.

What is the correct call to the rest of the chaingang in these circumstances?

I’m hoping it’s something like this:

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL6CDFn2i3I[/video]

What is the correct call to the rest of the chaingang in these circumstances?

Left hand raised as if with a sock puppet making talking motion = dead badger on the left.
Right hand raised as if with a sock puppet making talking motion = dead badger on the right.

Fodgers…..fox badger hybrid.Viciouser than Al,rarer than Jamie.