pigmode

I'm with you on that, completely. It might be partly cultural. In Hawaii I have never run into this type of rider. Most of older riders (here they ride Merlins) are all either strong or humble, or both.

SDRider

Hehehe, just yesterday my buddy and I were riding along and we came up on guy riding with his wife/GF/SO/whatever and they were setting a good pace so we just stayed on their wheel for a while. They were really cool and gave great hand signals and the view was nice too! They pulled off after about 7-8 miles and we kept going another 10 miles or so. When we turned around and came back we met up with them again in Encinitas and rode with them for a while longer. I didn't mind sitting back there at all. Nor do I mind if I am passed by a woman rider. I might try to keep up for a while but I'll do that with either sex rider...doesn't matter to me one bit.

Now, if a guy on a mtb passes me! That's another story!!!

SF Biker

Drafting can be good if you are following an experienced rider, I agree and it sounds as if you are a pretty cordial guy. Conversly, the speeding up looking over the shoulder just to stay ahead of a female cyclist is silly. I never get that when I ride solo, only with the wife. It kind of reminds me of when we rode as kids with are bar streammers looking over at each other to stay half of a bike length ahead,. Just my .002

pigmode

Wasn't it Freud who said (with tongue in cheek) "Sometimes a bicycle is just a bicycle"?

SF Biker

Yeah, Hawaii is more layed back on that. Here in the fast paced entrpenural SF Bay Area where I live, everyone is self-important. On and off the bike. With the huge disposable income people around here buy it just for kicks.

Last week I saw a guy in his 60's walk in to the LBS. He asked about a Dogma frame and when he found out it was 2 cm smaller that what he was fitted for, he bought it anyway. WTF?

SF Biker

True, if a guy on a MTB passes that is war

Actually, when I was getting back in to cycling after 4 years off, I bought a new bike and would train by myself. Every Saturday this group of hard core female triathletes would get a wicked fast paceline going. I hung back and kept them in my sight for a while. I of course didn't paceline with them as I did not know them, but I certainly did not care if they passed me!

trayer350

I own two Litespeeds, a titanium Lemond and a Merlin. I never give a damn who passes me.

Talewinds

Earlier this season my wife and I were out for a nice weekend ride, we made our way around a guy riding a really nice carbon Giant, I even took notice and thought it was a great piece of hardware. Well, we made our way into a narrow section with some short, sharp 90 deg turns that leads to a shortish steep climb. By my perception, this same guy comes out of seemingly nowhere to overtake us in this tricky, potentially dangerous section, I mean, right through the middle of it! I was so shocked I even yelled ahead to her to lookout, as she certainly had no idea he was there, and coming on strong. Here's the part where everyone will see my pretentiousness, yes yes, I know everybody comes in all shapes and sizes, but this guy was a massive tub of guts, huffing and puffing just moments earlier at a whopping 11mph now trying to overtake us by trying to drag his 300lbs up the hill. She absolutely lit him up! Dropped isn't the word.
Yeah, this is starting to sound like another one of "those" posts, but the point is I really felt like this guy was putting us in some real danger by trying to overtake us (unnecessarily) in an area where people should be using extreme caution, and with NO warning, NO "on your left" whatsoever, and for what? To try to prevent some damage to his ego?
I wanted to give the guy some credit for being out there and working hard at it. But that was a stupid move for the sake of ego preservation.

SF Biker

Nice!

Amen, I have a 5.9 Madone and I also could give hoot who passes me.

Bob S.

As a middle aged rider of a Ti Lemond who has been married to the same woman for 26 years & never strayed... I will say that I certainly speed up any time a decently shaped lady passes me. I have seen enough pavement to last a life time & I would much rather enjoy the view. Please allow the that. Bob

SF Biker

Talewinds, that is the kind of stuff I am talking about! And it only happens to my wife by male riders. My wife truly rides her own ride and could give a hoot who she passes or you passes her. If this is common, then I feel sorry that female riders have to put up with some of these " I am not going to let a girl beat me" atttitudes.

Sorry that it happened to your wife, as she is just riding her ride and some bozo almost takes her out.

SF Biker

I am with you. I am married not dead, so I have caught myself doing the same.

But I certanly won't pull out every last stop to try to drop her. These guys are just worried about being passed by a woman.

I don't care if guys look, that is the highest compliment one can get. But this competeive thing, sheeesh.

pigmode

Didn't mean to paint a rose garden, as we do have our fair share of hubris and snottiness on the road. I know what you mean about pretensiousness and the Bay Area however, having sailed several big regattas out of the St. Francis YC. I also did an epic bike trip there in '95 incuding riding all three peaks, and got lucky with an impromtu tag along in the Critical Mass ride coming back from Mt. Tam. For me the BA is roadie heaven, and I'll finally be coming back next fall.

ViperZ

I find the inverse problem when I try to pass a couple (guy and girl) riding Madone's... Seems they try their best to not let me pass, or they think I want to race them or something....

Couples on Trek Madones, are their egos so fragile that they think it's always about them?



These type of generalized threads make me laugh, however like a train wreck, I can't look away

wheezl

Anytime anyone passes me I do a little internal check to to see if I am being lazy. Often times that turns out to be the case and I turn it up a notch to make sure I get a workout. It's not necessarily to keep from being passed. Sometimes I just try to hang with faster people for a little while, sometimes I end up passing the person and leaving them behind. I wonder if those people think it was my ego that would not allow me to be passed. The reality is that it's my ego that does not like this gut I seem to have aquired sometime between age 25 and 32.

But I only have a Giant OCR3... so clearly as soon as I get a Colnago I'm going to be one of those guys

ViperZ

When I get a Colnago or Litespeed, I can't wait to become one of these icons of the cycle world too

Dchiefransom

You want to hear about silly and just letting it all hang out, have your wife ride the Cinderella Metric Century, put on by the Valley Spokesmen in Livermore, in April. Women only. The men in the club do all the work and dress up as "Charming Princes". Lots of streamers on bikes and tiaras on the helmets. Glitter all over. She's got to register early, as they have a cut-off, and lots of women don't get in every year.

Heck, I'm trying to keep from getting passed by Grandma on her MTB, with a Burley trailer holding her oxygen tank.

wheezl

Actually I think this is a great case for getting more women on the road. We'd all get a better workout refusing to be beaten by these incredibly fit ladies!

SF Biker

Yeah that is a good one. The route goes along Camino Tassajara in Danvile right by my house. We sat at the intersection of Crow Canyon and Camino Tassajara and watched all of the female cyclist go by. It was pretty darn entertaining!

Belugadave

I totally agree with ViperZ and wheezl. That's all that's going on, don't get in a big huff about it.

ovoleg

I've been dropped by girls before but I will definately try hard not to get dropped

my ego hurts getting dropped by a girl And I am proud to admit it

SF Biker

Ah some honesty There is a manly man. A man of the New Millennium.

Cheers

KirkeIsWaiting

Ok. I get the hint.

FOR SALE: one gently used Litespeed. I obviously am not old enough, bald enough or have enough testosterone to own one.

Any suggestions on what I should be riding? A better fit for my character.

mirona

Yea, your Peugeot!

SF Biker

Owning one is not a crime, as unqustionably it is a nice bike . However, buying an expensive bike (any brand) and then being so self-concious that a man can pass you but not a woman.....Well that makes me wonder.