Road Biker machismo

I think you may be being a little sensitive.

Using On your left!" is a judgement call. I have had folks veer left into me when I yelled it before. Sometimes it's safer to just make a stealth pass and get on down the road. I suspect that's what the first guy was doing

Sometimes "on your left!" can be a gauntlet thrown down as well......the equivalent of  "beep, beep....move it slowpoke" ......I know that's not what you meant, you know it's not what you meant.....but that other guy???? It's also possible that he was just playing with you as well. I can be as difficult to hear joking tones at 20mph as it can on the internet.

You got your ride in, you didn't crash. That's one in the win collumn.

Mel - Hmmm....yes, most of the time, it's acceptable to announce you're passing on the left - it's enough just to say 'on your left'; the word 'passing' might have invoked a little ire.  The only reason he might not do this is if he was going a LOT faster than you or saw you not riding a straight line, where he might have just decided that letting you know might cause you to look over your shoulder and swerve (into him), in which case he could have just opted to blow by you. 

But...that brings me to your 2nd point - you gotta give more room than 4", for both safety and courtesy. But - If he's in the habit of passing folks with that little room, I hope for his sake that he rides a razor-thin straight line, and so does everyone he passes, or all of a sudden, over time, it becomes a self-correcting problem.  

And while I'm at it, I don't think you're too far off base with your general opinion about road cyclists.  But before I flame the whole group, for the record, there are some outstanding people that I really respect that are excellent and courteous road cyclists....that being said...

I have played several individual or team sports at a competitive level (rugby, ultimate, racquetball, running, soccer, volleyball, tri).  And without a doubt, of this group, road cyclists (as a group) are the most egotistical, self-absorbed, elitist, snobby, sticky, non-fun group of athlete's I've ever run across. That's harsh, but with a few exceptions, having a road bike, a snazzy jersey, and a pack to ride in turns a huge number of folks into uber-competitive buttheads.  I don't know why.  I just don't know. 

And that doesn't speak to all individual road cyclists; that's just my general personal experience.  But it's enough to have kept me from riding with the Michigan Club (which will stay unnamed) as part of a group ride.  Just my 2 cents; I hope everyone's experience has been different than mine.

When I rode in Denver on the bike trails (on my teal rock hopper from 1991) I would see bike groups out there on road bikes and they always exibited that kind of behavior.    I always figured it was some accupressure from the butt on those hard seats that had some effect on their frontal lobes, limiting their social self-monitoring skills while on a bike.

So now I live in a podunk little town and my husband bought me a sweet road bike, which I am just starting to ride again.   I showed up at the bike shop in my little town for the "group ride".  I figure if people are making it a public group ride, then they must be a friendly group and the bike shop owner, who invited me, is really nice.  I have been a bit starved for non-redneck company around here, so I had high hopes.

  I show up and walk in (leaving my full carbon fiber outside) without real bike shoes or a jersey (I am gearing up slowly) and am barely acknowledged.   Even after I attempted to make some conversation, I might as well be invisible.  So, we start riding and no, I am not going to be keeping up, but that's ok by me, I wouldn't ask them to ride at a speed that would totally ruin a work out for them.   They drop me like a stone.  One guy rode with me a bit and was friendly, made sure I made the last turn on the route that pointed me towards town, and that was it.   I did round by the bike shop, on the off chance that someone would have waited for me (safety first thinking of the mines showing here) but nope.

We rode 50% farther than I have ridden so far - so I guess it is good for pushing myself. 

But "group ride" is kinda a misnomer for me, and my hopes for finding some kind of community for myeslf here were dashed.

Man, somehow you channeled my thoughts and wrote them down for this post.  Your ESP is uber-frightening.  GET OUTTA MY HEAD!!!

I'm curious, Colomingle, do you have aerobars on your bike?  I wonder if the attitude is the usual "I'm a better cyclist than you" attitude or if it was specifically the "I'm a cyclist and you're just a triathlete" attitude (which we know is really just jealousy - right Daremo? ).  It can be so hard to tell.

used to be one of those guys, so I still have some of the habbits in me.  The faster I get, the more I'm reverting back to those ways.  Anyway, here's my take.

1. Remember that roadies are used to riding in a pelaton less then 2" from the next rider.  In his frame of mind, 4" is a mile.  He probably should have given more room, but I wouldn't make a huge deal out of it.  Him not announcing he was there is also something we would do for the exact reasons pointed out earlier.  The phrase "passing left" always invokes the head turn form novice riders, leading to them veering where they're looking.  I actually use "hold you line" now, and it seems to work better.

2.  The guy who ran the light and cut you off was being an ass.  He's not typical of road riders and gives them a bad name.

3.  The passing thing.  It's just a game.  He's not trying to be an ass.  Remember, road riders train without having to run after the ride.  In a given road race, there are many sprints and breaks where the goal is to persue another rider or a pack.  That's what roadies do.  Hold long steady miles, then sprint after a target.  It's quite fun really.  and to be a sucessfull road racer, you need that attitude.  Everything is a competition and you need that drive to attack, persue and overtake.

and yea, gear does make a difference.  If you aren't riding in skin tight lycra, give it a try.  You'd be surprised how much of a difference in air resistance there is.  Once you do it once, you will never ride in anything less again.  Yea there are a lot of people that spend a ton on gear when they get no benefit out of it.  You get the same thing in every sport, including tri's.

This thread seems to come around every few months.  I think you see this in every sport including triathlons, although road cyclists seem to take it to an extreme, especially when you get them in groups of more than 5.  When I ride on our local trail, they are mostly friendly and act politely but get them on a group ride, watch out.  Somebody recently wrote here about the testostrone (sp?) cloud you get when you reach critical mass with road cyclists.  So, I avoid the local bike club rides because they usually become hammerfests and don't fit in with my training.

Ernie 

I appreciate the mixed opinions on this topic.  As Hangloose mentioned, I do have aerobars on my bike and have noticed that other bikers with aerobars, whom you assume are fellow triathletes, are much friendlier. You often even take the time to check and see if you might recognize them. 

 As for the attire, I feel as if I fit right in. I have a good road bike, great bike shorts, and a jersey...although a plain blue one, not one that screams "I'm a bad @ss". 

When the jerky guy passed me while yelling "point", I just wanted to yell back, "Hey! I'm on mile 22 of this darn ride and about to attack the canyon.  What's your story!"  But by then, he had turned around 1 mile in front of me and headed back home. 

I guess I will be a little less sensitive in the future, but will also do my best to avoid the Saturday mid-morning rides, so as to avoid the "weekend-warrior-road-biker-with-a-little -penis-from-hell".  (I feel much better having said that!)   

Mel, I've found a LOT of that around town pretty much anywhere.  Fully kitted out guys on pimpin' bikes...you know the rest.  I used to get all bent outta shape over it, but I've decided to just accept it.  There's nothing I can do about it except to ignore it and enjoy my ride.  I actually decided that I'm going to just use it as my motivation for races later in the year - just saving up my anger now only to unleash on the two guys that finish behind me.

LaurenSU

 My part of Colorado is the road bikers mecca.  I suppose TX and CA are close in biking popularity too, but it seems we have our huge share. I would estimate that on my ride the other day, I saw no less than 250 road bikers, and that's a conservative estimate!

 I would guess that if you are in an area that doesn't have a lot of bikers, every one would seem like a friend! Good for you for being so friendly and for encountering so many other friendly riders!

Mel

This is an interesting thread. If I didn't know any better I would wonder who the "snobs" really were.

Jerks are in every sport...triathlons included

Yep!  But we triathletes are better rounded than those ehhem {looking down my nose} "roadies".

I can't wait til LA comes back into the TRI-fold (that would be a good screen name).  Watch the TRI bandwagon fill up in a BIG hurry with roadies.

HHHMMM...Well...in general if there is a tight spacce I say on your left.  In a race I always say it.  I have had the experience of being on a path closed to motorized traffic  Passing someone with tons of space to spare so I didn't say anything becuase half the time when you say on your left someone swerves left, and having the lady I passed get all pissy because I didn't say on your left.   I just try to do what is safest. 

In defense of cell phones on bikes.  As a physician who is on call 50% of the time I would be unable to train 50% of the time without a cellphone.  Now I really try not to talk on it when I am riding but I basically could not train if I didn't ride without it.  Actually I totally hate my phone because its an electronic leash but a nessecary evil.

 250 riders is definately be a conservative estimate on the weekends around these part....

A lot has to do with the fact that people can be inconsiderate even when they're not riding bicycles.  These same types are the ones that ride 10 feet off your rear bumper doing 70 mph down the interstate, or jostle with their cart to get ahead of you in line at Wal-Mart.

When I'm passing someone, if traffic allows I give them a pretty wide berth so as not to scare them into making an abrupt move, for both my safety and theirs.  When I'm out running and come upon someone walking in the same direction, I'll often times switch to the other side of the road to pass them, especially if it's a woman.  I have this fear that they might suddenly hear the footsteps and wonder if they're about to get mugged.

Common courtesy applies, not only in this situation, but in life in general.