livedarklions

This may be the most arrogant thing I've read on BF ever. You really think someone should be able to tell just by looking at you and your decrepit-looking bike that you are a "really serious and well-educated cyclist"? How is asking you a question "close minded"? You, on the other hand, jump to completely unjustifiable assumptions about their "lack of education." Did you ever contemplate the possibility that you don't look well? I've seen your picture as well as your bike's. Sounds like a perfectly reasonable question to me, especially if coming from a place of concern.

BTW, last Sunday, I had several cyclists ask me if I was ok when I was clearly well into fixing a pathside flat. I made sure to thank every one of them even though they had the audacity not to fully size up the situation before offering help. Y'know why? Because they were being nice. So is someone making sure you're choosing to walk your bike.

livedarklions

How fast are you riding the 100 miles? You can do a lot of work overcoming air resistance of you do it right.

BTW, if you actually want to make it hard, do the 8 mile with climbs and the 100 miles flat in the same ride. I've done that a lot.

Eric F 

What factors do you use to determine another cyclist's level of education? Is empathy for a fellow cyclist exclusive to the uneducated?

indyfabz

The confusion he portrays to get rises out of people knows no bounds.

genejockey 

Academic cap and gown, and possibly doctoral sash - depending on what university issued it, of course.

genejockey 

There's such a yawning chasm between "This is how I do it and I'm happy with it", and "This is how I do it and whatever you do that's different is wrong and speaks to your lack of education."

indyfabz

Now that you mention it, that is the post template of a certain 'bent rider who seems to be M.I.A. lately. Hmmmmm....

Koyote

I pin my diplomas to my jersey before each ride.

big john

The biggest irony is him calling someone "closed minded".

Eric F 

Accurate.

big john

The rider in question was restricted to the 'bent forum after another banning. When he returned, he continued to rail against "roadies" and was banned again.

big john

Sorry to derail but didn't you tell me you rode with a gravel group locally? BF member and friend Urbanknight is looking for such a group.

indyfabz

Yeah. Heard about that a few minutes ago. That profile is banned, but I am almost certain of at least one sock. Now I’m thinking two.

big john

I don't know if he is sock literate.

Eric F 

I've ridden in your 'hood with the Gravel Bike California (www.gravelbikecalifornia.com) group a couple of times. Zack of GBC leads monthly rides in various parts of CA. Tough rides. Good people. I'm not sure when the next So Cal ride is.

big john

Thanks!

Eric F 

To bring this back on topic...on both of the GBC rides I've done, there were sections that were so steep and/or loose that I had to walk.

indyfabz

The first time I did D2R2 I had to walk up a short stretch of super steep, wet, and thus slippery, cobblestones that were one part of a New England carriage road. Before lunch, I chose to walk down a section of steep rocks. I did the metric route. It had nearly 8,000’ of climbing. Most of the route was unpaved.

wolfchild

Have you ever ridden 100 miles ?. Do you even know what it feels like to be in a saddle for more than 20 minutes ?

Jeff Neese

I'm surprised by the comments referring to this as a troll post. I even searched threads started by the same user, and found nothing particularly troll-like. Of course I didn't read through them all, but at least the thread titles seem like legitimate questions that one might pose to a group of knowledgeable cyclists. What's the beef?

Walking up a hill is something that shouldn't happen very often. If it does then you're gearing needs to change, or perhaps you need to get just a little stronger. I'll admit that even in the lowest gear, I had to push my loaded Trek 720 up a few really steep grades. Most of the time that's what the granny gear is for, but a couple times I just couldn't ride it up. But those were extreme circumstances.

As someone pointed out, walking your bike up a steep hill is not the "Walk of Shame". That's having to walk your bike with a flat tire because you can't change a roadside flat.

Jeff Neese

Perhaps we have different standards, but I'd consider myself a reasonably "well-educated" cyclist. If I see someone walking their bike, I will assume that something's wrong and I'm going to ask if they need help. Always.

Camilo

Obviously 1:1 is not low enough. You've proved that yourself. My Sram gravel bike is 30-36, aka 1:1.2. Why not get a lower gear?

indyfabz

Which means you don’t understand what you’re commenting on, “kitten.”

Jeff Neese

Perhaps you are seeing "trolling" where none exists. I have read some of his threads in the normal course of browsing, the ones that interest me. I see nothing suspicious. Please explain why this, or any of the other OP's posts, are trolling. Just calling someone a name is pretty weak. Can you not actually defend your position?

indyfabz

You don’t think saying most of us must be “kittens” who ride on MUPs is suspicious? And that’s just the tip of the ice berg.

Go do what you admitted you haven’t done. If you do, you’ll see that I am far from being the only one. Or maybe you’re playing both roles in good sock, bar sock.