Why are cyclists so weird on group rides

Do you stop at all intersections while running?

Been a runner and cyclist on the West Coast. Runners come in all shapes and psychologies while cyclists seemed to fall on the assshole side of the scale way more than one might think. Aggressive about gear comparison, aggressive about the ridiculous matching riding gear, aggressive as hell about the foolishness of strava, small-penis syndrome all around. I came away from many rides and cycling encounters wishing to get that time back from the assholery. Is it possible to group ride without endless front-running and pseudo-attacking? I'm not sure I've ever been on a truly cooperative ride that didn't turn into a goddamned race. It's like all the small-penis jerkoffs got together, took extra T, and rode together. Gross.

I'm very impressed with true professional Euro cyclists, although it's clear that many/most are dopers. However, amateur hobbyist cycling in the US is a most contemptuous endeavor.

West Coast too. I ride alone, my bike is an old POS, it squeaks, I wear a T-shirt with shorts not unlike what Kipchoge ran in Sunday, my shoes allow me to walk when I'm off the bike, and I simply ride around big hills primarily away from traffic. Pretty much what I used to run, when I ran a lot.

I view the 'real cyclists' I see much like you do. They're not on pro teams, and their bike doesn't match their "kit" anyway, so what's the point? They are also not in a competitive event, so why are they tempting fate in traffic?

I can just as easily be injured the way I ride, too, though, so what does it matter? We're all weird, in one way or another.

Ughhhhhhhhhh wrote:

Been a runner and cyclist on the West Coast. Runners come in all shapes and psychologies while cyclists seemed to fall on the assshole side of the scale way more than one might think. Aggressive about gear comparison, aggressive about the ridiculous matching riding gear, aggressive as hell about the foolishness of strava, small-penis syndrome all around. I came away from many rides and cycling encounters wishing to get that time back from the assholery. Is it possible to group ride without endless front-running and pseudo-attacking? I'm not sure I've ever been on a truly cooperative ride that didn't turn into a goddamned race. It's like all the small-penis jerkoffs got together, took extra T, and rode together. Gross.

I'm very impressed with true professional Euro cyclists, although it's clear that many/most are dopers. However, amateur hobbyist cycling in the US is a most contemptuous endeavor.

Maybe it's a west coast thing. Not an issue here in CO.

The only thing I've noticed about cycling is that Cat1/2 guys, overall, tend to be a bit more "cliqueish" and aloof. Everyone else is chill and friendly.

Never seen anyone aggressive about gear comparison or matching kit. Never had a comment throw my way or heard one, even when I was dressing in random stuff. Okay...that's not fair....when I was very knew, before riding with cleats and proper cycling shoes I did get some comments. More teasing than mean-spirited or disparaging though. No one gives a sh1t what bike you ride or what you wear. I find the people most concerned about strava are the non racer types that use strava as their form of racing. Some of them are a bit uppitty, and reckless, about that. It's obnoxious, but it's a small minority..

Group rides without endless attacking where everyone just works together....little harder to find. Most new guys don't know better, and just do it because they think they should, so that ruins most low level group rides from being a solid TTT type effort. The faster rides....well they are generally billed as racy group rides, and it's an expectation there that people will eventually make moves, sprint, and practice race craft. That's the point of a ride like a Tuesday or Wednesday Night Worlds, or your Saturday bunch smashfest.

The grouprides you're talking about do exist though, I've been on a handful over the past 5 years.

People are different

1) Don't go ride a bike in Japan just because some joker bumped this dumb thread!

2) Cyclists aren't athletes. I don't care how many watts you output, if you only have to do it for the last 5 minutes of a 3 hour event, to beat everyone else by a few seconds, you've done nothing remarkable at all. You all rode from point A to point B in 3 hours, big deal.

Cyclists tend to be arrogant punks who somehow think they are cool and tough in their spandex. It’s a strange phenomenon.

I don’t understand.... wrote:

I’ve recently got into cycling and decided to go on some rides with the local cycling group. I was expecting the friendly, relaxed yet dedicated atmosphere that I would see from a running group. But, nope! Instead of maintaining a steady pace and being friendly, they were unnecessarily aggressive while riding and started sprinting at random points in the ride. I get that it’s “strategy” to do this in actual cycling races, but guess what... this is an easy group ride, so why do that? You don’t see runners deciding to start sprint to the front of a group to push the pace in the middle of a run, so what’s the deal with cyclists?

We used to sprint for village signs. Maybe they were doing something similar. Just a bit of fun along the way.

Bad Wigins wrote:

1) Don't go ride a bike in Japan just because some joker bumped this dumb thread!

2) Cyclists aren't athletes. I don't care how many watts you output, if you only have to do it for the last 5 minutes of a 3 hour event, to beat everyone else by a few seconds, you've done nothing remarkable at all. You all rode from point A to point B in 3 hours, big deal.

But elite cyclists can maintain speeds of 30km per hour (undulating and flat courses) with peaks around 50/km/hr. for 6 hr rides. That is remarkable. They can also ride up steep inclines at 20km per hour. Those guys are monsters absolute monsters.

Bad Wigins wrote:

LM wrote:

If you're a thrill seeker type and or can get past the inevitable fact of crashes and injuries....racing is ridiculously fun. It's a combination of skills, fitness, teamwork, tactics, and adrenaline you don't get anywhere else.

Even if your thrill is to risk broken bones and death, it's best to be in control of that risk, not place your fate in a moving death trap where any one of 20 people could wreck you.

Once again, if you can cruise 32+ kph solo, what's the point of chaining yourself to a line just for the sake of going a bit faster? Roam free why not. Plus, you're not getting a better workout by drafting.

Are you anti social by nature or is it a something you've really worked hard to develop. Or both?

Bad Wigins wrote:Cyclists aren't athletes. I don't care how many watts you output, if you only have to do it for the last 5 minutes of a 3 hour event, to beat everyone else by a few seconds, you've done nothing remarkable at all. You all rode from point A to point B in 3 hours, big deal.

I know you are trying really hard to get a reaction so hopefully my response doesn't give you nearly the satisfaction you desire. But help me understand, using your reasoning above does that mean that you also don’t consider the 1500m or anything shorter to be a real athletic event? They are only running fast for less than 4 minutes after all. Anyone can do that.

When cycling with groups the attitudes I've seen depends on the level of the riders. When I started out at the bottom level the riding was comfortable and casual and very social. But over a year of progressing toward the faster levels revealed an increasingly competitive attitude within the group until at one point with a very experienced group the pleasure of social interaction completely dissipated for me due to the unnecessary and often dangerous behavior of some of the other riders, such as running stop lights and cutting off cars in traffic just to keep with the lead riders.

Every group of cyclists needs a leader. Someone who lays down the rules. The law must be obeyed. If you don't have leadership, you're just a bunch of antisocial idiots.

I had a brief amateur career as a cyclist. Lots of rides do indeed turn into dk measuring contests. Don't know why.

Its the ridiculous pants

Ghost1 wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

1) Don't go ride a bike in Japan just because some joker bumped this dumb thread!

2) Cyclists aren't athletes. I don't care how many watts you output, if you only have to do it for the last 5 minutes of a 3 hour event, to beat everyone else by a few seconds, you've done nothing remarkable at all. You all rode from point A to point B in 3 hours, big deal.

But elite cyclists can maintain speeds of 30km per hour (undulating and flat courses) with peaks around 50/km/hr. for 6 hr rides. That is remarkable. They can also ride up steep inclines at 20km per hour. Those guys are monsters absolute monsters.

30kph isn't all that fast even solo, and the ~45k their peloton cruises at is all drafting and physics.

If the climbing and the solo TT's were the only sport, they'd be athletes. But when the sport is they ride in a peloton for 5 hours and one of them wins by a minute, nothing is proven. They're all basically equal, got from point A to point B in 5 hours, and 99% of the reason for that is physics and engineering, not athleticism.

All the crybabies crying at me can go weep in private, it wasn't me that bumped this dumb lets-cycle thread.

Bad Wigins wrote:

1) Don't go ride a bike in Japan just because some joker bumped this dumb thread!

I can't tell if you're joking. This is typical spamming procedure: have one account bump an old thread with a meaningless drivel post, then have a reply right after that with some link you want to get clicked. Pretty sure these are bots doing this.

Bad Wigins wrote:

1) Don't go ride a bike in Japan just because some joker bumped this dumb thread!

2) Cyclists aren't athletes. I don't care how many watts you output, if you only have to do it for the last 5 minutes of a 3 hour event, to beat everyone else by a few seconds, you've done nothing remarkable at all. You all rode from point A to point B in 3 hours, big deal.

Just a bunch of grown men going from point A to point B in a child's toy.