Those replies are hysterical....ever actually said them?

Roadies are a funny sort...never, ever meet up with this attitude in the pool or running. Only cycling.

And at least once or twice on a weekend day, I'll see a super-Fred with his Saeco team gear on, belly sticking waaaaaay over the shorts, knees sticking waaaaay out on either side of his Schwinn and I laugh. He'd probably fit right in with the rest of the roadies. ;-)

LOL.

That's what makes us sexy. Were not roadies.

In 20+ years of riding with a mixture of triathletes and roadies I have never heard any of, what you said, said. Part of the problem is too many triathletes, showing up for two many group road rides on fully tricked out tri bikes and the nearly naked apperal styles that seem to appeal to the tri crowd. Next time, try blending in a bit more - show up with a road bike and wear normal cycling apparel. That's what I always did, and as I mentioned, I have never had a problem in 20+ years of riding. Actaully, there seemed to be a tremedouns amount of mutual respect.

Having been exposed to what goes on mid bike pack in a triathlon, recently, There is a moderate amount of truth to what those roadies where saying

- Bottles are launched from behind the seat cages

- triathletes do tend to weave all over the road

- triathletes don't seem to know the basics of how to corner, climb or descend

My apologies if I offended anyone. Just my observations.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

And roadies TEND to be stuck up and think they are all high and mighty. Not apologizing...my observations as well. But maybe they tend to be like that in Southern Ontario.

You wouldn't have to ride it down hill since tri bikes can't climb up the hill in the first place. *grin*

That's BS. It's the only bike that I have. I don't know where you've been riding but I here that kind of stuff at times even b4 I've showed up. Once I let the cat out of the bag that I have a tri-specific bike I here IT and plenty more. I ride with a helmet, shades, jersey and shorts just like everyone else. One bottle cage. I KIS. NEVER launched a bottle, and I have seen my share of roadies bite the BIG one in pace lines. They don't swet the guy with the cargo pants, camelback, and 2 water bottles on the titanium special. That's too easy I suppose. Plenty of the roadies are showing up waaayyyyy more decked out than I see with the tri-groups.

I've seen aerowheels on the back (I thought the advantage was to place the aero wheel on the front), T-mobile from head to toe including the bike, us postal out the yen yang, but I don't clown. $400 dollar shoes, 6K colnagos you name it. I actually like to see this kind of stuff. It would be boring if we all had the same style ques. Once I ride with them they are more than respectful but all of that extra that goes on is way redundant.

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"In the blocks you're a prisoner, the gun releases you."

Enough of the roadie b.s. already, they are lots of us on this board, we are friendly, even if we don't appear so when you run across us out training. More than anything it comes down to comfort in riding with a group you can trust. Aerobars are ok for some rides, like TTT training, just don't expect to be sprinting around in a group club ride with aerobars sticking out, ouch! I was on our club training ride three weeks ago where 3 riders went down hard and all went to the hospital, one is just now coming out of a coma and may have brain damage. Road club rides are more intense for the most part, and it really comes down to safety. Bring your road bike.

I hear/see this rant a lot.

I have been exposed to SOME of it, usually with regards to the bull horns and bar end shifters. I can understand why these items would put the uninformed or unfamilier a bit on the defensive. But I have generally avoided group rides for this very reason for the past few years.

I think there is an ''air'' about those who ride strictly road bikes vs. those who do triathlons. The ''air'' that I refer to is that of the cool kids on the football team. Cockiness, arrogance, and inability to immediately accept the new guy seem to dominate. There is usually a few who seem to be willing to forgo this mindset and accept the new guy, or in this case the triathlete. Triathlon on the other hand seems to be more of a more-the-merrier attitude. Just an observation.

I have been around sports my whole life and have seen this in one form or another. Soccer, swimming, track, football, wrestling, triathlon, even golf all have their elite crowds. Though I never played golf in an organized team/fashion, just the attitude in the club houses.

We are lucky here in AZ to have a new shop that is dedicated to multisport athletes and is working on bridging the gap between roadies and triathletes. This past saturday I did my first major group ride in years. (My workouts are usually with no more than 4 to 5 other riders) This ride had a combination of ~35 roadies and triathletes with none of the abrasive comments and stares.

That said, I don't think I would show up at a group ride, outside of this one most recent ride, with a TT bike. I am working getting a road bike for such purposes as I enjoy riding in a group. Just not subjecting myself to some of the baggage that seems to come with group rides on a TT bike.

I did enjoy your comments, especially the ''wash and repeat'' after climbing, downhills, and turns.

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Formally azclydesdale, back in Northeast Ohio.

They do have a point when a trigeek shows up on a TT bike to group ride and insists upon riding mid pack on the aero bars. Don't laugh - I've actually seen it happen. How stupid can a guy get - it's dangerous.

We have quite a number of trigeeks in our roadie group. Many of us have aero bars on our road bikes but we never ride on them with the group unless you're at the front pulling or have been dropped and are trying to catch up. Those of us who also have tri bikes leave them at home for the group rides.

The other day our group ride was stopped at the half way point and some solitary trigeek on a Cervelo Dual rode by. We waved at him but he totally ignored us with a scowl on his face. Quite funny because a number of us also own tri bikes. One of the roadies made the dig, "Good thing he didn't wave back. Wouldn't want to see him crash".

Maybe they give you a hard time because they can sense the rage inside of you.

I think Fleck makes some valid points...FWIW.

, "Good thing he didn't wave back. Wouldn't want to see him crash".[/reply]

Nope, can't see why any triathlete would think poorly about a roadie.
I would never even think about riding in my aero bars if on a group ride, however, if someone goes down in front of you...right in front of you on a group ride, the guy immediately behind him, is going down no matter what. I don't care if you are riding a tricycle, you are going down. Maybe 1% of the guys won't but you will.
Cut the garbage talk about triathletes. They are far more embracing than Roadies are.

Too bad roadies can't go over to Europe and get a taste what it is like to be thought of as a joke.

Greg,

Last weekend - two long rides two totrally different experiences:

Sat- Road with a great group of roadies from the local bike shop. We had an awesome double pace-line working for most of the 100K ride. Pace was solid 35 - 40K/h for most of the ride. We Eased off at the top of a few long climbs for some people to get back on. Great conversation about, cycling, politics and business.

Sun - Out by myself. Passed by four triathletes. I Jumped hard to get on. Got on the back, but it was clear that they were playing let's-drop-this-guy, but I just kept hanging on. No talk. Quite a bit of weaving around. A bit disorganized on the change-overs at the front, so it was heads-up for me at the back. I could have kept going, but I grew tired of the game after about 10 minutes and a bit nervous of the riding ability and backed off. I saw them later coming back towards me as they must have gone out and back on the same road. I waved and said, Hi. They did nothing - heads down and hammering. Nice friendly triathletes!

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

First off I am a triathlete first, it is what I spend most of my time doing, almost more than working a job. Although I have not heard many of those comments, cyclists are very elitist about there sport so I know where you are coming from and cyclists don't want posers (my observation) however, the majority of triathletes are not very skilled bike handlers, they are out there alone with a 2m by 7m buffer to anyone else, it is a lot different than doing a group ride. Also you loose a lot of handling ability with a bullhorn set up especially on decents, the aero position isn't the most stable as well, and bar end shifters make riding in a group a little sketchy also when you have to shift.

A question why would you join a cyclists group ride as a triathlete anyway, AG'ers complains about drafting and how ITU pros aren't real triathletes so why would you ride with cyclists that a group that races that way where as probalby 99% of you race non-drafting only. Start a group ride of triathletes it would look pretty sweet looking like a TTT out there.

Branden

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"Here's to the finely tuned athlete on the verge of greatness"-Romeo, Tin Cup

Fleck...did you ask if they minded you jump on? Did you give them any warning you were back there or did one guy look back with surprise and low and behold you were there? Cause that has happened to me and that pisses me off. If you were nice enough to give a heads up and tell them you were there, then I agree, they were dicks to not say hello.

Maybe they felt the disdain you have for their cycling skills.

I don't think I understand all the generalities on this thread. There are friendly and unfriendly roadies and the same for tri. I have ridden with tri riders on our group ride, and always have a great time. People do not mix up with a group of road bikes when they are on their aero bars. I believe that is dangerous. When we ride, the guys on aero bars tend not to draft. If they are training for a TT, what is the purpose of drafting? It gives them a much tougher workout, but that's goood.

They knew I was there. Perhaps, it's just me. I think of the road as being open, free and social. If you can keep up, you are welcome.

I told the story, to illustrate that the old sterotypes are not as set and clear as everyone thinks.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

i ride only with roadies on my road bike. when I do get on the TT bike, its to go fast. Sure people can handle any bike (TT, Road, Recumbant, Track, etc.) but a lot has to do with what it was designed for.

A great many Tri people can not handle their bikes in a pack or in traffic. I race clydesdale and usually go off at the end. I have to pass lots of the women and 'lap traffic' and it can get really ugly back there, especially in climbs when they are weaving all over the road on a 200ft roller.

COnversely, I've been part of packs of people on TT bikes that did great. double pace line, long hard pulls, good work sharing. It all depends. But in my expereince, its few Tri people that can handle this.

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-zakk

Death Squad Cycling Club
http://www.ridethedeath.com


"Why is that people will drop $2000 on race wheels and a few c-notes for an ugly tattoo and then balk at the race fee?" - Blackie

Stephen,

The reason I started group riding in the first place was because I started doing triathlons. I realized during my first ever triathlon that my bike handling skills were sub standard and the best/fastest way to improve them was to ride with the roadies. I was never going to get better on the bike by riding by myself. My first group rides were terrible - I couldn't hold a strait line, was afraid of the rider's wheel in front of me, was generally clueless and got dropped off the back regularly at first. Fortunately our group had patience with me, helped me along and now these years later I'm an old pro on the group rides.

The best way to improve your cycling skills is to ride with roadies. You just will not develop as good handling skills riding solo. I just don't understand why so many triathletes are in denial of this. It should be obvious.

I understand your point of view especially with regards to handling and so forth, pace lines can be hairy. To answer your question in short, to get better. I want to be a better cyclist and I think to do so you must be able to ride comfortably under a wide variety of circumstances. Solo, group, wet, dry, climbing, descending. You need it all. And you're right, I don't dig drafting because I feel like I become stronger when I am pushing against the elements on my own but it is a very useful and technical skill to have. Ever ridden downhill in a race while being tight with other riders? It's defnitely a good thing to have in your arsenal. ITU is a whole different ballgame with regard to tactics. I actually want to do crits and stages once I can get a hold of a road bike.

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"In the blocks you're a prisoner, the gun releases you."

"Roadies are a funny sort...never, ever meet up with this attitude in the pool or running. Only cycling."
I've been bumped into in the pool and on the track by people not paying attention to what they were doing. Didn't hurt much. Got taken down by a clueless rider in a pack. Hurt a lot, cost a lot in damaged equipment too. I'm a lot more careful about who I ride near than who I swim near. So if you show up for one of our team rides be prepared to show you have the skills to ride in a pack or else sit in at the back.

We might be in denial for a number of different reasons:

We don't have a road bike would seem to be the obvious.
We don't feel like we belong or aren't made to feel like we belong.
It doesn't fit in with our schedules.
Don't like riding in packs.

To name a few :)

maybe your group rides are a little different. I was a tri head until this season and the group I ride with tend to very structured. Most of us ride for the same club.

We do have at least 6 or more active tri heads training for either CDA and IMC who ride tri bikes with bar end shifters. Everyone is welcome, being able to ride straight and safe really helps. On the whole we do not have any problems but there are 2 basic rules a) dont use the rear water mount on group rides and b) dont sit in aerobars in a pace line. On average the group is about 30 strong depending on time of year.

And before you get defensive about the rear bottle cages - I have been on the receiving end of a flying water bottle in a double paceline going in excess of 35km. Scared the crap out of me. We all got out of the way by riding into the inside lane of the highway,which in itself was not the smartest thing to do.

On the issue of aerobars there are times when its encouraged but not when we are in a double paceline.

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Simple Simon
Where's the Fried Chicken??

sounds fairly typical, fleck. I've tagged along with quite a few teams and was always welcome as long as I took my turn pulling and knew how to ride a double pace line. roadies aren't elitist, they just don't want to ride elbow to elbow with people who don't seem to know what they're doing. I road with a group in Bend, last week that was a mix of pro and amateur cyclists and triathletes and we all got along fine.