Mongrels

[Rick Harker]

Yet another beautiful day after a week of savage wind and rain.
This morning i took off for a ride along my favorite route down to the bay and along the beach front. This is also a popular run for the roadies group training rides. The weather was so calm the ocean had nary a ripple and closer to shore it was like glass.
Love these days.
I was Cruzin along at a respectable 32 Kph when a roadie gently rode past. I tagged onto his wheel and we were doing 34 Kph and I was finding this comfortable. This is the best I've ever rode. After a few traffic lights a mixed group caught us and I just tagged along behind with the occasional chat to the rear riders. Later along the ride a big bloke came to the rear with another guy and were just chatting. They were drifting back from the pack and I was wondering if I should pass and catch up with the main pack but I may be stretching my friendship if I took them for granted. Right at this point the big bloke looked around, said something to his partner and they took off as hard as they could, right at the base of a big long hill...
Bastards.
OK! I got the message but I didn't think I was any harm and I was sure we were all cyclist here. Guess not.
Anyway. I ended up riding alone as I started and enjoying the ride. Saying G'day to all and sundry. Whistling a happy tune.
When I got to my halfway point I had a break at a park with other cyclists and commanded a small and intrigued group of intelligent cyclists wanting to know more about the Cruzbike.
Interestingly one of them was the lone guy that passed me before the group and made a comment of how fast I was going and how easy I looked.
Now I felt much better.
I had a great ride home and averaged 25 Kph for the whole trip which included going through the city of Melbourne twice.
Bring on the "Round the Bay in a Day Ride". Not Yet!

Have fun,

Rick.

 

[Peder Torgersen]

Quote: Later along the ride a big bloke came to the rear with another guy and were just chatting. They were drifting back from the pack and I was wondering if I should pass and catch up with the main pack but I may be stretching my friendship if I took them for granted. Right at this point the big bloke looked around, said something to his partner and they took off as hard as they could, right at the base of a big long hill...

I have been with some club training trips and there are different fitness levels. The best wait for the slower climbers on the training trips. I am not that good at climbing myself and my fitness level is lower than most of the club members. I am not a club member but many clubs want new members. Riding in a group can be fun and you meet different people. Some racers and groups are not very polite. One racer told me he was riding with a group and they could not out ride him so they told him they did not want him with them! I also ride with friends that are not club members there fitness level is lower than mine. I also ride alone but it is better riding in a group on a long ride if possible. Maybe you can find a group or club that would be happy to ride with you?

Peder

 

[Mark B]

The great thing about being in a club is becoming a ride leader. If you don't give out cue sheets and you don't tell anybody the route, you yourself cannot be dropped! :lol:

Another good thing to do is get yourself on the board of directors for the club. That way, you can change the rules to suit yourself. New rule; Never, ever drop the fat guy on a weird bike, lest you not be invited to the Christmas party!

Seriously, it is a good thing to get involved in a club. Recumbent, upright, whatever, find you a recreational club that doesn't take themselves overly serious and get involved. Step up to help out now and then. Our club is a great bunch of guys and gals, but when it comes to doing the legwork, very few want to get involved. They love and appreciate the rides and activities, but are perfectly content to let the other guy do the work, maybe even grumble when things don't go as they think they should. Human nature, I guess.

The truth is; despite their often being judgemental and narrow minded, you hang around with cyclists and you get known for being known and you will see their attitudes change. At first glance, they're looking at you and thinking "Fred". People have a misconception that recumbents are only good for bike paths and geezers. And why would they think anything else? Around here, you hardly ever see a recumbent on the streets. Go to the bike path and see oodles of them, mostly being ridden by older guys and gals. There is nothing wrong with that, don't get me wrong, but that's where people get that misconception. Don't carry a chip on you shoulder, just get out there and ride with the roadies; be seen. They'll figure out soon enough what you are all about and you will ruin that preconceived notion they have about recumbents and their pilots.

Mark

 

[MrSteve]

Aw, gee, and here I was expecting to read about dogs....
:?
Sounds like you had a great time!


-Steve

 

[Rick Harker]

Almost like "some" dogs Steve.
Its just one of those things like human nature. A new bull in the paddock. A threat. A blemish on the paint.
To me it was nothing really and riding with a group is always good if the group suits you. Unfortunately for me the time for group rides rarely coincides with the time I have free. So bumping into like minded riders is always welcome.
Most riders are always inquisitive though and some actually ask questions about them.
As Mark points out most recumbents here are bike path cruisers with the Victoria Human Powered Group preferring to stroll along at 10-12 mph. They are mostly home builders except for the trikes. They are however a fantastic social group with no animosity towards any riders.
For me I like to push the envelope a little.
I also think with the rising fuel costs we will see a lot more bikes on the roads.

Regards,

Rick.

 

[Mark B]

Rick Harker wrote: As Mark points out most recumbents here are bike path cruisers with the Victoria Human Powered Group preferring to stroll along at 10-12 mph. They are mostly home builders except for the trikes. They are however a fantastic social group with no animosity towards any riders.

Mmm.... Maybe. I've observed that many recumbent riders are pretty biased, as well. Obviously, I can't speak on the group you refer to, Rick.

In my experience, owners of one particular recumbent brand, which I will refrain from calling out by name, have shown a tremendous disdain for other brands of recumbents. Even though you are riding circles around them, they will wax on about how wonderful that brand of recumbent is. Same brand of recumbent, different location, different year; I was riding an upright and tried to strike up a conversation with the rider. Big time snub. Downright rude and I was being genuinely friendly, asking him about his ride and truthfully, I probably knew more about it than he did. He was rude and totally a jerk, so I rode away from him, no matter how hard he tried to hang on.

Read the BROL boards if you want to read some pretty strong opinions on all sorts of things.

The point is, bike snobbery is NOT limited to road bike riders. It's pretty universal among all cyclists. It's too bad, also, because if we could put away our petty differences and get behind lobbying forces like the League of American Bicyclists (I'm sure there are comparable advocacy groups in your area), we could get so much more done to promote cycling.

Stepping down from soap box...

Mark

 

[John Tolhurst]

Mark B wrote:
In my experience, owners of one particular recumbent brand, which I will refrain from calling out by name, have shown a tremendous disdain for other brands of recumbents.

I confess to drifting away from trike riders, they get quite cliquey, and I just can ride that slow. Got to at least puff a bit. "Oh, John showing off again" they say, when quite honestly I'm just riding a comfortable pace.

 

[Mark B]

johntolhurst wrote:

Mark B wrote:
In my experience, owners of one particular recumbent brand, which I will refrain from calling out by name, have shown a tremendous disdain for other brands of recumbents.

I confess to drifting away from trike riders, they get quite cliquey, and I just can ride that slow. Got to at least puff a bit. "Oh, John showing off again" they say, when quite honestly I'm just riding a comfortable pace.

In my original draft, I also mentioned trikesters and struck it. I think it's easier to sum it by by saying snobbiness is pretty universal.

Mark

 

[JonB]

just ride alone, that way you will get more exercise as you have to push all the air yourself.

 

[Mark B]

JonB wrote: just ride alone, that way you will get more exercise as you have to push all the air yourself.

There's always the risk of being perceived a snob then, as well. Nothing worse than a fred snob. :lol: :lol:

Mark

 

[Rick Harker]

I think if you just ignore the snipes and chat freely then people will not feel threatened.
Eventually they will come around to see you're just enjoying yourself and appreciate that.
I know for myself that I have ridden much farther with greater comfort on my Softy than any other bike. Period.
In October I'm going to prove that and smile across the finish line whistling a happy tune.

Rick.