Trsnrtr

Not every one of the 55-ers are a-holes so we really don't want to exclude by age group.

One of the worst offenders took so much crap last year about upping the pace that he quit coming. Maybe another pre-ride lecture is in order.

Trsnrtr

If I ride a hundred mile in my waking hours, it's still a hundred miles whether it's called a century or not.

Dan333SP

65,000 people watching live youtube coverage of his first test.

IndyCar is lucky if they get that many people in the grandstands at their biggest non-500 race!

Trsnrtr

Heard this many times but it doesn't really work in practice. The first guy goes, then the second and so on. Nobody wants to be the one to be dropped. Seen it all of my cycling life.

LAJ

A, B, C rides. Thing is, no one admits to being a B or C rider. Sagan could show up, and be the example of an A, and folks would still line up with the A's. On their Schwinn Debbie.

LAJ

I like Paul. Yeah, he has opinions, but he's one of the few I would listen to if I were Alonso. He won the 500, just never got credit for it.

LAJ

Robin Miller is another of my faves. When Wind Tunnel had him on, it was good stuff, and he's still good.

jtaylor996

I think St Pete draws more than that every year... I went to that race a couple of times. My office at USF was literally right on top of the track. I never bought tickets, just snuck in opposite the pits. I have nice chunks of Patrick's front wing from the first road race in indycar history.

What are the current numbers for the indy 500, like half a million people?

There are lots of F1 races with poor attendance, too. They have this tendency to hold races in 3rd world countries with no local fan base.

Velo Vol 

Can you go there, for work?

Heathpack 

I thought it would be us too. And it still might be, I guess. But I no longer have big aspirations. Maybe head down to Mexico for an extended period of time, but I'm not sure I'm interested in much beyond that.


I cut my teeth sailing in Maine. You have to have your wits about you, there's a lot to keep track of- currents, tides, weather, commercial traffic, and endure a certain amount of discomfort. That all seemed normal to me.


Now though. The weather is pretty much always good here. The navigation is simple. There are few hazards besides cargo ships. You point your boat towards Catalina Island and everything is easy and typically pleasant.


Guess what? Now that's exactly what I want. Minimal danger, no need to be constantly vigilant. A bar and somewhere to ride your mtb once you arrive. Easy. Now I'm totally content to do the same easy-going thing over and over. Fine by me.

Trsnrtr

Correct.

jtaylor996

We send people there pretty often. I've never been. I don't get to travel much at all. Damn internet making it unnecessary (and also I usually have multiple projects going on in multiple countries at the same time).

Antarctica and Svalbard would be high on my list, but it's probably not going to happen.

Heathpack 

Male thing.


I would readily admit to being a B or C rider and would be very appreciative of a ride directed at my level.


The problem with "racer" types who want to push the pace on every f-in ride is that they never include the B or C riders in their group and the B and C riders drift off and start doing gravel rides or or triathalons or centuries or they pick up a mountain bike- all things you can train for without the need for the context of the group ride. And then hand-wringing because entries in race fields for traditional bike races are down, along with declarations that those B and C guys who drifted off to tri did so because all they wanted is a participation trophy.


Um, no. The B and C guys drifted off because you only saw your own goals and desires with your own racing, never saw that you also have a role in bringing new people into the sport. Its actually incredibly easy to to, all you need is to have an easy ride one or two days a week in which you actually keep the pace under control, or if your group is large enough, set up B and C rides as well.


(This is also the reason so few women race BTW. There is literally no one for most women to ride with who would be able to introduce them to the sport.)


The other thing that happens is the B and C guys who no one made a place for go out and get a huge chip on their shoulder about bike racing. They don't see it as a fun thing to aspire to. They see it as something to oppose, a sport in which jerks engage. Its crazy how some of my recreational cycling friends see racing, to the extent that I can't even really interact with them very much any more because I just don't want to hear the constant subtle anti-racing comments.

Velo Vol 

If it's any consolation, I'm not going to Svalbard either.

jtaylor996

FWIW, there's not really any stigma around here about that. A, B, C are pace groups, not riders. We get lots of very fast people riding in the C groups (at C pace)... depending on what they want for their training on that day. Some days if the wind is good and it's flat I'll ride A or B to the first stop, then catch the C pace on the way home. If someone wants to push pace, they can go off the front all they want. Seems nobody in my little club cares much.

I guess ironman is big around here, and most people are on plans. I know a gal I've ridden with exclusively in C group at 16mph in the hills dozens of times. I've never seen her go fast. And then she does the bike leg of an ironman at 20mph average.

Trsnrtr

Yes. Totally correct.

When I was. Cat 2, I generally placed in every race. The guys in my club who did poorly would thrash themselves at the next training ride almost like penance for doing poorly. It got so bad that I quit going to training rides except for a Wednesday night training criterium. The rest of the time, I trained alone and my results improved greatly. Guys asked me why I never came to training rides anymore and I gave them the standard line: I train to race, you race to train.

It's true. Their "race" was bludgeoning each other on training rides and were too wore out on weekends to actually do well and n a race.

I knew many a Cat 3 that was way stronger than myself but couldn't perform in a race.

sbxx1985 

Correct.

Mumonkan

seriously.

new job has kept me pretty busy so i barely look at forums anymore. plus my body has been a bit of a d-bag in recent times so i havent been doing much riding either, reading bfs would only make more sadz

sbxx1985 

Also correct.

Dan333SP

FYI not riding a bike and posting in this thread are not mutually exclusive. Just ask RJones.

Heathpack 

The biggest change to my riding that coach has gotten my head wrapped around is that mostly it makes sense for me to ride solo. The TT intervals require a lot of focus and its not like you're even processing the presence of anyone else on the ride when you're doing those.


If I have a longer JRA ride, you would not believe the amt of **** I get from my non-racing friends. Either its criticism for having a fitter (duh, TT bike and OMG I can't get the guy to charge me anything for my follow-ups, so why not?) or for caring about aerodynamics. Or its someone riding up to me spontaneously to tell me how they're "not competitive". (OK, I get it. You are "nice". I am "competitive". Mea culpa.) Or someone telling me how a power meter is unnecessary for TTs and all you really need is a watch. Lol. I used to spend a lot of time smiling and nodding in response to slightly passive-aggressive comments. Now I just skip riding with most of those people, it just gets tiresome.


I'd rather ride with the race-oriented people because they're actually jazzed and glad for you if you get faster and fitter and they see cycling as an athletic endeavor in the same way I do. Its just a better overall vibe for me. But they inevitably cannot stick to the easy rides (Mon and Thurs) being easy and I just solo TT 75% of the ride anyway. Sure everyone stops and waits but then I don't bother stopping, I just roll through the regroup so as not to slow everything down. So at some point you aren't really on a group ride and unless coffee is going to be had, why bother? There's more convenient ride times for me than 6pm on a weekday.


Overall this sounds like a complaint and its not really, at least towards my race-oriented club, I like those guys and sometimes ride with them just to keep up the friendship. They are actually pretty nice, its just a huge gulf physiologically for me that is probably never going to be crossed. But its so incredibly obvious to me why bike racing is comprised of the slice of humanity that it is, and it has nothing to do with the participation trophy mentality and everything to do with access/exposure to the sport.

Dan333SP

I ranted a bit about this in another thread. This whole racer/non-racer distinction is such garbage. There is this whole "you think you're better than me?" knee jerk reaction from many people who have not raced. Actually, no. I don't. I just ride bikes and like going fast occasionally. Sorry that's offensive to some.

We're all on bikes, we all have different goals and motivations. Putting people in boxes is not productive and just breeds bitterness.

sbxx1985 

33 v. 41.

There was a time when all the 33 guys were in the 41 and everyone got along. Then the racer attitude started and the 33 were told to play amongst themselves. Everyone should be in the same forum, but it would never work because everyone would behave poorly.

Dan333SP

Except the 55+ box. That one serves a valuable purpose.

WhyFi

Happy people make me smile.