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Old 04-17-09, 12:56 PM
  #1174  
mmmdonuts
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Originally Posted by DrPete
It's a culture, like any other. They're just regular guys/gals who take their cycling seriously and don't like people who put them in danger. After paying my dues, training my *** off, and learning how to do it right, I got to a level where I could hang, and came to appreciate that my view of high-level racers as "elitist" said more about my own inferiority as a cyclist and the anxiety/insecurity that comes with that than it did about any attitude they had.

After several crashes that involved being immediately behind someone doing something stupid or being directly taken out by someone doing something stupid and having a $2700 frame trashed at a training race because some noob racer didn't know how to take a corner, self preservation kicked in for me and I quit racing. I can't afford to be out of work due to an injury, etc.

Going fast in a pack on a bike is dangerous, and if you haven't learned how to do it, you shouldn't try.
Wow. I think one of those crashes embedded that chip on your shoulder. Elitist aholes and elite riders are not the same thing. It's not about inferiority or superiority either. There are many elitist aholes out there and few of them are actual racers. But to call it a culture? I hope not.
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