God Dammit! I'm F***ing irritated! (racer rant)

[merckx56]

So as the father of three, and entering my mid-40s, I've sort of turned the corner on my racing 'career'. I just don't really enjoy it anymore. I still love to ride, and am definitely harder than most, AND I can still turn the screw down tight if necessary. I just don't like to do it EVERY ride.

Ergo, I started doing a different ride. It's filled with guys (and ladies) like me. It's a great ride, on a great loop.

Unfortunately, the "racers" started appearing. Fine, whatever...to each his own...

The problem? The "racers" that show are the new-school, wannabe jackoffs who like the team kit, but don't like actually toeing the line. About a dozen of them showed up tonight.

One of the biggest weekends in Southeast racing is THIS weekend. Athens, including the Twilight Pro race, and Roswell...both in Georgia. Both are great courses, and the weather is supposed to be perfect.
Are any of them going? Nope...not a one.

Instead, they showed up tonight and completely dicked the ride. There was much grumbling among the regulars about their behavior. It's not like the ride is normally slow either. It averages well over 22mph w/o the general douchebaggery of the "racers". Hell, I come home with 20-21 average INCLUDING spinning over to the ride, and spinning home...thru the neighborhood!

My main issue is the lack of respect towards the main bunch of riders who started the ride years ago, and keep it going. These "racers" just haven't learned perspective, or how and when to reign it in. Guys who are truly strong don't feel the need for the sword fight on every ride.

If you show up to someone else's party, don't piss in the punchbowl.

And if you can't sack up to race on Saturday, leave it in your pants on Thursday!

[Steveo989]

I would just talk to the regulars and coordinate to drop back, and let the douchebags do their own thing.

[wearyourtruth]

^ ha! yeah, we've done that on our critical mass rides (i know that's a totally different kind of ride) but the people who want to be dicks and fly off the front, leaving the group behind, we've just taken a new turn and left them "ahead" going in a different direction.

[merckx56]

I would just talk to the regulars and coordinate to drop back, and let the douchebags do their own thing.

That's exactly what we did last night. They rolled away on the first little climb, and we all gathered up at the first stop sign.

Funny part? We picked 5 or 6 of them after they got shelled out the back. Every time one of them would drop to the back, or shirk a pull, I'd either give them a ration of sh*t, or I'd go to the front and nail it.
We caught one of the "racers" at the top of a climb. On the next downhill, I ran it to 40mph. He never got on...

[GinsterGTI]

The shop I ride for has a Thurs. night group ride with a, b and c groups. If anyone from the CT area knows the Sleeping Giant ride on Tues. knows that that ride is the one to go to if iyou are looking to ride fast and thats the ride most of the team/teams show up to. Thursday however is the fun hang out, regroup and all ride. Every couple of weeks we get an odd person who shows up on thurs and it seems like all they want to do is show how much faster they are so one of 2 things happens we either let em ride out alone long enogh for them to burn out or realize what they are doing or someone just shuts em down immedietly. There is a time and place for everything so I totally get where you are coming from.

[simple]

Meh.

If you aren't racing anymore why not stomp them? It is always fun to go fast.

Its a group ride. You can't control every one out there. We get hot heads on our group ride. We just let them ride ahead and sit back at still a high pace and talk and laugh. Eventually the hot head feels left out and either joins the conversation the next week or doesn't show up again.

[andycooper]

It's always the ones that think they have to prove themselves that do that. Kerry and I were out riding a while back with a couple of friends. It just so happened that one of them was a former national champion, one was a former Euro pro, and one was a former all-American track and field guy. All of them could ride us into the dust easily.

We get to a nasty hill, and halfway up it one of them says "Damn! This hurts. I thought I had more gears but I'm in my easiest gear". On another hill, I'm somehow managing to stay with them, and another one of them rides next to me and starts giving me tips on body position, etc.

No ego whatsoever - they're that good, they don't need it. They also know where they sit in the pecking order, so they don't feel a need to prove themselves.

[kanukVariant]

Yup:

Mid 40's? check
kids? check (only two though)
Not enthusiastic about racing? check
Still love riding? check
Do group rides? check
Have Cat II+ level racers "crash" our "invite only" rides? check
Take a beating at hands of said racers? check

Unfortunately my mind switches off when riding. My inner greyhound comes out whenever someone takes a flier ( ...must. get. that. mechanical. rabbit!).

Fortunately my mental age is not lagging quite as far behind my physical age as it used to. Here are some suggestions which have worked for me/us in the past:

- Have a chat about the nature of the ride before leaving
- Let the rabbits go
- When the gap gets big enough take an unexpected turn at an intersection. Talk this over with a group of your friends first. (This is now my favorite FU move )
- Ride solo. Added bonus: I hardly ever fall down when riding solo and don't get half-wheeled either
- Go mountain biking with the kids

kaNUK

[merckx56]

Meh.

If you aren't racing anymore why not stomp them? It is always fun to go fast.

Its a group ride. You can't control every one out there. We get hot heads on our group ride. We just let them ride ahead and sit back at still a high pace and talk and laugh. Eventually the hot head feels left out and either joins the conversation the next week or doesn't show up again.

The thing about this ride is that it began as the alternative to the racer-dude ride. Well, now that the racer-dudes have all but killed off their own ride by behaving like complete choads, they have begun showing up at this ride.
It's not MY ride, but if they start to F it up, I have no problem playing the a-hole and running them off.

[simple]

Change your departure time and/or route.

How douche-like are these guys? I mean, I think I've seen it all. If they start asking me about wattage or whatever I just laugh and tell them I just smoked a fat bowl and can't understand what they are talking about.

[climbingcue]

It's not MY ride, but if they start to F it up, I have no problem playing the a-hole and running them off.

Then start your own ride, the shop I ride with has the Racer fast ride, then an A- ride and a B+ ride. If the other people that you want to ride with agree with you, talk to them about it and leave at a different time, or tell them your ride is the B ride. If they want the fast ride it is over there with those guys and point to the other cyclists.

Bill

[merckx56]

Then start your own ride, the shop I ride with has the Racer fast ride, then an A- ride and a B+ ride. If the other people that you want to ride with agree with you, talk to them about it and leave at a different time, or tell them your ride is the B ride. If they want the fast ride it is over there with those guys and point to the other cyclists.

Bill

See, that's thing. This ride IS the B/B+ ride. If the racer-dudes want to do an A ride, THEY should make the change, not the guys who have been doing the ride for 5 years.

If they show next Thursday, I'm gonna tell the ride leaders to hold the normal ride for 5 minutes and tell the racer-boys to go.

[rammalammadingdong]

in Tampa we have the Sunday morning "world championships" and the A's start 15min after the B group goes off.

that way, the B's are fully warmed up by the time we catch them.
if at that time they want to jump in, nobody contests.

this is the reverse of what you are frustrated with.... so perhaps a later start is in order to just avoid the douchebaggery.

vammo!

[Quattro Krant]

Is this what it all leads up to? Having some kids and now being an old fart and miserable? Someone pee'd in Merckxs Fiber One

[merckx56]

Is this what it all leads up to? Having some kids and now being an old fart and miserable? Someone pee'd in Merckxs Fiber One

F you Sasquatch! Oh, and how's fatherhood...?

[Quattro Krant]

Fatherhood is good. Much better then my racing results Oh well, I'm out for fitness, not to set the Cat 5 world on fire

[M this 2!]

On our nichols ride, us 'seasoned riders' (i've not aged since my 20s...) love to let the newbies do some encouraged pulls and then we throw in some nicely timed attacks...

[benjaminobscene]

Guys who are truly strong don't feel the need for the sword fight on every ride.

this.

[merckx56]

...

[withnail]

On our nichols ride, us 'seasoned riders' (i've not aged since my 20s...) love to let the newbies do some encouraged pulls and then we throw in some nicely timed attacks...

The lagrange ride? I do nichols and then up and over both sides of griffith after work all the time if you want some company.

[benjaminobscene]

I saw a group of the aforementioned DBs on Sunday, on the way out to my Roubaix section of dirt road. They entered the 3-mile section 200m ahead of me. I chased, on my CX bike rocking 35c knobbies @ 60psi, and caught them. I said nothing as they were ON THE RIVET. I waited about another 400m and just NAILED it around all of them.

I heard voices and shifting, but didn't look back. At the end of the dirt road, I looked over my shoulder and had easily 600m on them.

No, I didn't wait around for the excuses.

Sometimes, you gotta let the big dog eat...

Glad to hear you dropped the hammer, but you did technically Cat 6 them at the same time

[merckx56]

Glad to hear you dropped the hammer, but you did technically Cat 6 them at the same time

F those guys. They needed the lesson in humility, and they needed to see that because you know where the dirt road is doesn't mean you can ride it. They're lucky I only had a 48 chainring!

I'm putting together a Roubaix ride that's 100km and 10 sections of dirt. Wonder if they'll show up?

[withnail]

because you know where the dirt road is doesn't mean you can ride it.

Do you mean they can't ride the dirt road well or is it some sort of territorial bs?

[benjaminobscene]

Hahaha! At first I was like but now you're just making it too easy not to troll

I'm taking my ball and going home

[merckx56]

Do you mean they can't ride the dirt road well or is it some sort of territorial bs?

No territorial BS at all...sorry, it DID sound that way. My bad.

Those guys just 'discovered' the great dirt sections that a lot of us have been riding for years, and you'd think they invented it. It was quite amusing to watch them bounce and slide around.

None of them actually have enough power or handling skills needed to hammer over those roads.