CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!

What sort of cyclist are you ?

(23 posts)
  • Started 12 years ago by Charterhall
  • Latest reply from Charterhall

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  1. Charterhall
    Member

    Intrigued by the 'them and us' tone of the 'are more roadies commuting ?' thread, I'm wondering what's like us ? What sort of cyclists would we describe ourselves as ?

    Me, I have no particular affiliations, as an adult I've been riding a bike for over 30 years for commuting, leisure and sport. These days I'm mostly to be seen riding various styles of road bikes, with/without mudguards, a noticeably orange tandem, or a full suss mtb. For all but the briefest of utility rides I'll wear 'lycra' simply because I find it the most comfortable and most practical. Does this make me a roadie ?

    Posted 12 years ago #

  2. Min
    Member

    Always the wrong kind to someone. Whatever I wear.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  3. steveo
    Member

    Does this make me a roadie ?

    Yes and thou shall be eternally shunned... Kidding.

    I think the other thread was around the fact that "roadies" are considered faster than "us" so there the out-out group interactions.

    Do "we" self identify as utility cyclists primarily, I don't know? Some members of this parish are very fast, some manage great distances, some even compete in cycle sports (!), others primarily use their bikes for fitness. I think the only cohesive thread is commuting.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  4. Baldcyclist
    Member

    There are also those who don't wish to be known as 'cyclists', just people who cycle - don't ask me why on this one, I'm as lost as most folk as to why a cyclist wouldn't want to be called a cyclist...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  5. DaveC
    Member

    I'm an obsessive.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  6. chdot
    Admin

    "Does this make me a roadie ?"

    Yes and no.

    Think "roadie" in context of the other thread means people on 'road bikes' - perhaps simplistically described as 'drop handlebars, no mudguards'.

    In addition there's also an implication of newish and expensive.

    Club/trade tops and other lycra may or may not be required to 'justify' the word roadie(?)

    In 'the past' "roadie" was (even?) more a term of abuse.

    They were people (usually male) whose bike was just a racing tool and their 'other bike' was assumed to be a car (for taking the real bike to races).

    Mountain Biking became an alternative cycle sport. I think 'road' racing is making a comeback - includes 'off road' racing like the Ingliston Crits.

    Impossible to know if any road-bike-riding-commuters also have an interest in (taking part in) racing.

    So - is it bike, bike + lycra, racing intent, speed, attitude, etc??

    Posted 12 years ago #

  7. crowriver
    Member

    I'm as lost as most folk as to why a cyclist wouldn't want to be called a cyclist...

    Because all their friends/workmates/relatives are petrolheads who hate 'cyclists' getting in the way? Or something.

    I'm a typical mess of contradictions human being cyclist.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  8. sallyhinch
    Member

    I was a bit sceptical about this division between 'cyclists' and 'people on bikes' - I rather assumed that from the point of view of drivers (or pedestrians) we were all lumped in together and calling ourselves something else was a bit like trying to claim that you were a traveller rather than a tourist just because you weren't on a package holiday. But I did have a conversation the other day with someone (driver, but her son and husband cycle) who made the distinction between people all out in kit going for a ride, and 'people like you who are just on your bikes going somewhere'. Of course this was in the context of having been held up on a single track road behind a club ride who were going two abreast and didn't single down to let her past.

    I still wouldn't say that I wasn't a 'cyclist' but it's interesting to hear the distinction being made out in the wild.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  9. crowriver
    Member

    @chdot, perhaps it's the usual thing if someone appears to be 'trying too hard'.

    There's also the fashion thang: http://internationale.teamjva.com/influence/

    Posted 12 years ago #

  10. fimm
    Member

    Sometimes I am a MAWIL, and sometimes I am a WISOB...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  11. Coxy
    Member

    The rules of the Velominati

    Posted 12 years ago #

  12. kaputnik
    Moderator

    A smugcyclist. Apparently.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  13. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    The thread on more commuting roadies wasn't intended in any way to be a 'them and us' confrontational type thing! Merely an observation that on the commute there seem to be more people popping up recently in full lycra, on very identifiably 'racing' bikes, and being very very quick. Pretty certain I didn't anywhere in intoducing the thread actually say that this was a bad thing (except for my ego) or that 'roadies' should not be sharing the space with me.

    Anyway, to the OP...

    On the commute I'm clipless, no helmet, 3/4 troos, t-shirt, mid-layer if coolish, fingerless gloves.

    Longer weekend rides pretty much the same, though the top might become base layer plus lycra top, and if very long then maybe lycra shorts underneath.

    Mountain biking is similar, but the helmet goes on.

    Pootle to the shops I'll roll a trouser leg up.

    Basically.... I can be any cyclist you want me to be *pouts seductively*

    Posted 12 years ago #

  14. panyagua
    Member

    I'd throughly recommend to anyone who hasn't read it to get hold of a copy of Bike Snob NYC's first book

    (this one)

    where he describes the different 'breeds' of cyclist. American of course, but much of it applies here too... and for me it was *literally* LOL. His second book (which focuses on commuting) is also well worth reading and hits the nail on the head in a lot of areas; his approach has certainly helped me to stay calm more than once when previously I might have spat out my dummy at another road user...

    FWIW, I think I'm closest to a 'Retro Grouch' in the Snob's classification...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  15. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    I have to admit I read BikeSnobNYC's book, and had a few 'why yes that's right' moments, and a couple of giggles, but... Maybe one for another thread.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  16. ruggtomcat
    Member

    banana pilot.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  17. Darkerside
    Member

    Currently on the commute I'm in full Castelli racing gear plus cap, whilst riding 3 tonnes of steel tourer (inc front+rear racks, trailer hitch and massive mud flaps). The scorpion whispers in my ear when it comes to chasing down the carbon foe.

    I'm not quite sure what category this puts me in. 'Confused', perhaps...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  18. cc
    Member

    A bit of our work's bike shed narrowly missed one of my colleagues yesterday as it fell off, apparently also making the shed distinctly insecure, so today I'm a walking sort of cyclist. Very pleasant it was too. Takes five minutes longer to walk than to cycle.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  19. MeepMeep
    Member

    Impossible to know if any road-bike-riding-commuters also have an interest in (taking part in) racing.

    I've no interest in racing though I like road riding with the Hervelo club in a social capacity. The only bike I own is a road bike. I've clipless pedals and shoes which I predominantly wear for all types of journeys (including to Tesco and Asda where I then do the precarious waddle and slide up and down the aisles) but I do often ride in trainers, DMs, heels - whatever I'm wearing with the outfit I've got on if it's a journey not involving too many hillier parts of the city and the weather's pleasant.

    I don't wear cycle-specific clothing to commute: regular sports shorts and teeshirts in the warmer months; tracksuit bottoms, teeshirts and a waterproof jacket in the colder months. Cycling any distance for the sole purpose of getting out on my bike for enjoyment tends to be done in lycra and a jersey.

    When cycling to Penicuik from Edinburgh for my Guides stuff I'll do so in lycra, throwing a pair of tracksuit bottoms and trainers in my rucksack to swap shoes and cover up my milkbottle legs upon arrival.

    At 3 miles each way, I don't think my commute deserves lycra and jerseys!

    Posted 12 years ago #

  20. chdot
    Admin

    "At 3 miles each way, I don't think my commute deserves lycra and jerseys!"

    I think some people do (for whatever reasons) which is partly what's leading to 'spotting' and 'commenting'.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  21. bdellar
    Member

    For me, my bike is what cars are to most "normal" people ;-) I use it to get to work, to go shopping, and to visit friends. Very occasionally I'll go for a longer ride up the Pentlands or something, but that's it. So I guess I'm a commuter and utility cyclist.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  22. Uberuce
    Member

    A mix of utility, hipster, roadie and not-a-cyclist-just-using-the-bike-to-get-around.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  23. Charterhall
    Member

    So - is it bike, bike + lycra, racing intent, speed, attitude, etc??

    The irony is that the worst offenders of racing intent and attitude are the anti-roadies posting of how many 'roadies' they've overtaken on their journey into work. See the aforementioned are there more roadies thread.

    Posted 12 years ago #

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