The Chainlink

I'm pretty new to Chainlink and the biking community in general. Despite having obsessively ridden for the last few years, I've always been pretty spartan about it and was never terribly interested in diving into the culture. Anyway, maybe I'm crazy but there's a pretty noticeable dislike for road bikers around here (multiply it by 1,000 if they're going fast) and I'm just wondering what's the deal with that?

I have a few bikes and I dont fit into any one particular category of biker. Cross for commuting and getting around. An old mountain bike for hooking the tagalong up so I can ride with (ie tow) one of my kids. And yes, I have a road bike for the weekend. It's carbon. I wear lycra. I ride fast. I love it. Point is, I think I can pretty much appreciate most types of riders since I'm all over the map.

The few other road bike folks I've ridden with are practically militant about being safe and courteous. I try to be the same. I commute along the LFP during the week so I encounter issues almost daily, and honestly, they're almost never with road bikes, even fast ones. All of my experiences with these people have been pretty good. 

So what's with the seemingly universal disdain for people traveling fast on road bikes? Obviously I'm sure there are instances of ill-advised passes or some other unsafe move, but every strata is guilty of doing stupid stuff, yet it seems like there's a special kind of dislike reserved for road bikes around here.

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Im sure that if half of the posters of negative roadies knew that particular persons name, then that person would be called out by name on sites like this. I don't believe that anyone has disdain for all roadies just the few that act like jerks. Those are the ones that make all of roadies and cyclists in general look bad. The more roadies that behave like you three, the more people will not dislike you. Unfortunately, like most things, a single negative far outweighs a single positive. So once again I believe that the majority of posts are about a single occurrence and not the whole group. It just happens that they are wearing a full kit and that is a way to distinguish that particular rider. So yes until all roadies behave like you there will be conversations like this. This isn't about you or this subculture of cycling its about the person acting like a jerk who just happens to be wearing this uniform.

Marcus Moore said:

I'm another roadie like Brian, ride safe like Brian.  This conversation is still happening though.


Serge Lubomudrov said:

Brian,

If other roadies were like you, this conversation probably wouldn't happen.

Brian Schuster said:

I don't really understand the open disdain for road bikes or those wearing Lycra.  I exclusively ride a road bike, wear cycling clothes, and follow the rules of the road to a tee (sometimes being a huge inconvenience). [...]

I think the angst comes from wearing their little sister's jeans while trying to ride a bike with sawed off handlebars

"I can ride a bike with no handle bars"

Yes that is stereotyping and generalizing because of the use of "their" and not mentioning a specific case.


Serge Lubomudrov said:

Now you're stereotypizing (is this a word? hee-hee), Michael! ;)

Michael A said:

I think the angst comes from wearing their little sister's jeans while trying to ride a bike with sawed off handlebars

fast road bikes are rad

fast cyclists are rad

bad cyclists are bad, regardless of bike or speed or anything else. there's a lot of them. sometimes we are all bad cyclists from time to time.

what I really dislike? the kids on fixies without brakes or foot retention that overtake me and then wind up getting fucked over by someone turning left, sprawled out on the pavement after they couldn't swerve or stop with their shins all fucked up from the pedals hitting them. that is a huge bummer, and i've seen this happen now 3 times this summer on my daily commutes.

what in the hell possesses a person to ride a brakeless retentionless fixed-gear bike on damen at 18-22mph during rush hour, I will never know. ever. because it is unfathomably dumb. all three times the guys who crashed were hurt badly, all three times they could have avoided it by either using foot retention or a brake (all they had to do was slow down at a comparable speed to anyone with brakes, not make a huge panic stop). this shit is crazy.

as with most things cycling, it's never really about the gear or the bike - but who's on it. i see a lot of guys riding with no brakes, no retention, fixed and they do it safely because they go slow and predict traffic.

AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GET OFF YOUR PHONES AND PUT YOUR GODDAMN HANDS ON YOUR HANDLEBARS IN TRAFFIC WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU

Mindful verse mindless social skills. A group of lycra clad speedster will ride differently than an individual. The group will think about other cyclists, individuals can be self focused on pushing pain thresh holds of legs, lungs, hart, and they forget about being good citizen taking care of the people around them. I have attended to the injuries of speedster after they hit an oncoming rider on six different rides. The reoccurring theme I heard was "I never thought I could hurt anyone".  They thought they were in control and they could always avoid everything. The thrill they seek, comes at a cost to the perception of other lycra clad cyclist and to the greater cycling community as some of them ride recklessly between cars. 

Mindfulness is like any skill, Practice is important and the act lifts up both the individual and the community.

The "rules" were made up by people who use the LFT - of which, as you note, the lycranauts are a minority. The LFT is not a highway and most people on it are not trying to get from A to B, they're just out for a nice walk or ride along the lake. Stupid is as stupid does, perhaps, but they're still people, not some kind of autonomous obstacle course. For most people, the LFT is about the journey, not the destination. The people who are using it as a highway, who either don't understand or don't care that they aren't just ruining the serenity of those they fly past without warning but are actually a menace, need to slow down, find their manners and abandon the bike race so they can rejoin the human one.

Honestly, some of you are as bad as any motorist out there.

Michael A said:

No one is breaking any laws by passing you on the lakefront path and ruining your serenity. No one is breaking any laws by not announcing they are about to pass you, or by yelling it too loud. Who made up these "rules"?  Treat the path like you would a highway, you would not drive in the left hand lane unless you are overtaking someone, you wouldn't switch lanes without looking first. and you would not drift from one lane to the next for no apparent reason.

How is it you feel you are more entitled to use the path your way, then other people are to use it as they see fit? I have been riding and commuting on the lfp for many years, and have only been involved in two incidents. First a roller bladder could not stop and ran me over as I was slowing for a congested area, and the second was about 2 yrs ago when a jogger decided they reached their turn around point and 180ed it without looking back. My point is simple, what you wear or ride does not entitle you to judge someone else because of what they wear or ride. How you use the lakefront path does not entitle you to tell others how to use it, especially if they are not breaking any laws. Lastly, if you decide you still want to call me stupid, please do it to my face so we can have a nice chat about it.

Reboot Oxnard said:

The "rules" were made up by people who use the LFT - of which, as you note, the lycranauts are a minority. The LFT is not a highway and most people on it are not trying to get from A to B, they're just out for a nice walk or ride along the lake. Stupid is as stupid does, perhaps, but they're still people, not some kind of autonomous obstacle course. For most people, the LFT is about the journey, not the destination. The people who are using it as a highway, who either don't understand or don't care that they aren't just ruining the serenity of those they fly past without warning but are actually a menace, need to slow down, find their manners and abandon the bike race so they can rejoin the human one.

Honestly, some of you are as bad as any motorist out there.

Michael A said:

No one is breaking any laws by passing you on the lakefront path and ruining your serenity. No one is breaking any laws by not announcing they are about to pass you, or by yelling it too loud. Who made up these "rules"?  Treat the path like you would a highway, you would not drive in the left hand lane unless you are overtaking someone, you wouldn't switch lanes without looking first. and you would not drift from one lane to the next for no apparent reason.

Everybody can't use the trail however they want to, however. Competing interests and safety concerns mean some users (or styles of use) are incompatible. You're right, of course, that the lycranaut shussboomers aren't breaking any laws. Neither are the motorists who hit their horn while they fly past bikers on Milwaukee. It's an apt comparison and one you should be uncomfortable with.

I didn't call you stupid - I was referring to the knuckleheads wandering about the LFT, lost in an iPod induced fog, inattentive to their surroundings. There is a big difference between you and them: they're oblivious; you're aware, you just don't care.



Michael A said:

How is it you feel you are more entitled to use the path your way, then other people are to use it as they see fit? I have been riding and commuting on the lfp for many years, and have only been involved in two incidents. First a roller bladder could not stop and ran me over as I was slowing for a congested area, and the second was about 2 yrs ago when a jogger decided they reached their turn around point and 180ed it without looking back. My point is simple, what you wear or ride does not entitle you to judge someone else because of what they wear or ride. How you use the lakefront path does not entitle you to tell others how to use it, especially if they are not breaking any laws. Lastly, if you decide you still want to call me stupid, please do it to my face so we can have a nice chat about it.

Reboot Oxnard said:

The "rules" were made up by people who use the LFT - of which, as you note, the lycranauts are a minority. The LFT is not a highway and most people on it are not trying to get from A to B, they're just out for a nice walk or ride along the lake. Stupid is as stupid does, perhaps, but they're still people, not some kind of autonomous obstacle course. For most people, the LFT is about the journey, not the destination. The people who are using it as a highway, who either don't understand or don't care that they aren't just ruining the serenity of those they fly past without warning but are actually a menace, need to slow down, find their manners and abandon the bike race so they can rejoin the human one.

Honestly, some of you are as bad as any motorist out there.

Michael A said:

No one is breaking any laws by passing you on the lakefront path and ruining your serenity. No one is breaking any laws by not announcing they are about to pass you, or by yelling it too loud. Who made up these "rules"?  Treat the path like you would a highway, you would not drive in the left hand lane unless you are overtaking someone, you wouldn't switch lanes without looking first. and you would not drift from one lane to the next for no apparent reason.



Reboot Oxnard said:

Everybody can't use the trail however they want to, however. Competing interests and safety concerns mean some users (or styles of use) are incompatible. You're right, of course, that the lycranaut shussboomers aren't breaking any laws. Neither are the motorists who hit their horn while they fly past bikers on Milwaukee. It's an apt comparison and one you should be uncomfortable with.

I didn't call you stupid - I was referring to the knuckleheads wandering about the LFT, lost in an iPod induced fog, inattentive to their surroundings. There is a big difference between you and them: they're oblivious; you're aware, you just don't care.


No actually you called him and other cyclists sub-human.  If you're not trolling, you pretty much answer the OP's question, for certain self-righteous posters anyone going faster than themselves while wearing cycling specific gear are crazy maniacs that need to "rejoin the human [race]."  It's remarkable how closely that resembles a the attitude of the most dangerous drivers out there.  Hopefully, you'll just stick to mocking roadies and possibly making fun of them if one happens to injure themselves in front of you instead of  taking any physical action.

Nice post, Len.

I'm not a fan of Lakefront Lance either, but I'm often accused of being him because I commit the sin of donning lycra and riding the LFP.

Len Krietz said:

I don't mind fast road bikes (I'm also a lycra clad roadie & a non lycra clad 365 commuter).

I don't like idiot roadies on the LFP or elsewhere.

I don't like idiot hipsters on fixies on the LFP or elsewhere.

I don't like idiots riders young, old & in between on MTB, hybrids, frankenbikes, cruisers, or funky european city bikes on the LFP or elsewhere.

I don't like idiot divvy riders on the LFP or elsewhere.

I do like any bike rider fast or slow when they ride safe & courteous.  Unfortunately the idiot population is growing.

BTW I also agree that the Chainlink community has a bias or attitude against roadies (just my feeling from reading posts for the past few years).

Gadget,

Welcome to the family.  You'll find it's just best not to hang out on these forums, unless one is really procrastinating (my current sin).  I've said it many times, just cause one is on two wheels doesn't mean they're not a douchebag.  As a longtime bike commuter, I've encountered many two wheeled douchebags.  

Cheers.

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