August 7, 2009
First off, let’s get some things out of the way. I have been biking seriously fast, on and off, since 1990. I bought a Giant ATX 760 and modified it to a crazy mountain machine. I then bought a Giant Cadex carbon frame and modified it to Triathlon readiness. In 1993 I bought a Cannondale Super V 3000. I broke the frame twice riding off drops and stairs. It is now a cobbled together Jekyll, and C’Dale is still my favorite bike frame builder… EVER! I also bought the world’s lightest production bike in 1993, the Trek OCLV 5900. I changed to a few heavier components for everyday riding, and that is still my road bike. I can ride your wheel. I can pull. I can stand or sit up hills alongside lighter people. I can sprint with bigger and stronger people. I can do a really good track stand. I bike.
But you’d never know it by looking at me. I wear a cotton t-shirt and a backpack sometimes when I bike. I have some rust on a few bolts on my bikes from living on the coast. I don’t wear bike jerseys too often, nor do I don the ultra chic eyewear bicyclists like to wear. Sometimes I wear long fingered gloves in the summer. Sometimes I show up to road rides on my mountain bike… and KEEP UP! All of these things leave me wide open to the hell-fire and venom of “elite” riders. They hate me. I do not conform. I do not bow. I do not back off. I obey more traffic laws. I do not like to be judged by them and tell them so.
The things I have heard from fellow cyclists in the Brookside Thursday Ride, The Blue Moose Thursday Ride, The Chelley's Wednesday Ride, and the 75th Street Brewery Tuesday Ride [all in Kansas City] :
“Why do you only have a mountain bike?”
“If you can’t hang up front you have no business being here.”
“You need a “faster looking” bike.”
But it is mostly what I DON’T hear that is bothersome.
No “Thank you” after I bunny hop to the sidewalk and hit the crosswalk button for a group to get the green light.
No “You are new… welcome” when I show up the first time for rides.
No communication before turns and curves at high speed to coordinate lines of travel.
No “Grab my wheel” when I am struggling to stay with a peloton on a bad day.
No “Take the gap” to allow someone to join the pace line.
You see, biking reminds me of a couple of other sports.
Surfing. Things a surfer might say:
“You are stupid, dude. You deserve to freeze out here in that cheap wet suit.’
“Dude, if you grab my wave or take my line I’ll thrash you.”
“I’ve never seen you here before, dude. This is OUR break.”
Swimming. Things a swimmer might say:
NOTHING. They are just right next to you one minute and in the water the next trying to kick your ass and destroy you. Afterward, there is usually no acknowledgement or exchange. It is just over.
This is typical in riding, too. It is blood sport even at the recreational level. Kill or be killed. Eat or be eaten.
Where does this attitude come from? How does it get into club and recreational riding? Look no further than our professional cycling heroes.
Greg LeMond – Perhaps the most physically gifted cyclist ever. Also a gifted whiner, trash talker, and instigator. By the way, I own a LeMond indoor bike... so I am not a total hater.
Bernard Hinault – The Badger thought he owned the peloton. He still has a really big mouth. He is opinionated to a fault. It was actually great to see him and LeMond do battle. They deserved each other.
Mario Cipolinni – His last name means little onion in Italian. But there is nothing little about his style. Style doesn’t get you through the mountains, though. And sprinting is only a small part of being a good cyclist.
Where all this whining and whipping leads is to stagnation. For example, basketball is dominated by unbelievable athleticism AND trash-talking, thuggish behavior. Even though population has grown since 1990 there has not been an increase in numbers participating in the sport at all levels, according to the USA Today in an issue this week. I predict the same for Cycling.
Let me offer my solutions and thoughts:
You can be an ambassador for the sport and still kick ass. Think Eddy Merkx.
*Say hello to fellow riders of all types. If you are out of breath, wave at them!
*Make trash talkers shut up.
*Defend weaker riders. Remember the weaker riders get stronger, and your ass is the first one they’ll remember to kick if you are the snobby club rider.
*Don’t be an equipment snob. Again, that rider on the beater bike may kick your ass on a bike like yours.
Be the last person in the group every once in a while. You need to do your turns at the back and the front. Someday you will not have a good day. Who is going to be there to encourage you?
Obey the traffic laws. If you want to be heckled by drivers and targeted by police, by all means keep blowing stop signs and lights. If you want respect, you must also show respect.
Learn to bike! Seated. Seated sprint. Standing climb. Standing sprint. Decending skills. Shift strategy and timing. Most of the “elite” riders I ride with don’t even switch to a lower gear before stopping at a traffic light. Then they struggle and clunk through gears to get going again. Elite? Not so much. Learn to bike… that slow rider may be behind you, but they may also be, technically, twice the rider you are.
The bottom line is we all need to be domestiques. We need to be respectful and encouraging to each other and the sport will prosper. You can still kick ass, just be graceful about it. Your turn at the front will always end. If you are one of the problem riders with a bad attitude, I be somewhere in the peloton laughing when it does end for you. I may be at the front or in the back… but I’ll be there. You’ll hate me. And I’ll love it.
