I think you nailed it. Roadies and triathletes are often viewed as snooty by the general population, including by bike riders. You know, those who ride their bike for fun once in a while or to work but don't understand why anyone in their right mind would ride their "10 speed" on PCH.

If our club has a reputation for being snootier than other clubs/teams, that is regrettable and I hope that is something that is either at least partly undeserved or at least getting better. With as many members as we have, are some snooty? I am sure of it. But that kind of attitude doesn't come from me and we are working with great sponsors who are more interested in supporting riders and racers who are great ambassadors of our sport rather than simply great racers. Because I think we can agree that the two are not always tied together!

It's funny this thread is focused on the stretch of road we call "Pepperdine Hill" - well actually, that's what we call the road going the other direction. The climb. I was in a large Saturday group ride where we were hitting the short climb. It's 400-550W for 2 minutes and change if you want to make the front group. So the large group is starting to hammer up the climb (riding on the shoulder BTW!) when the group engulfs this woman (quite overweight, I would venture to guess one of her first rides out on a road bike) struggling up the base of this climb. At her pace, it was probably gonna take her 7-8 minutes. Riders are passing her not just on the left, but on the right as well. I'm midpack and see her start to wobble - she is obviously freaked out that this pack of wild roadies is rushing past her on both sides. I see a rider pass her close on the right and she wobbles a bit in his direction. He turns back to her and yells "hold your line!" I immediately go ballistic and curse him out and as I pass her (on the left), I yell back to her, "don't listen to him, he's a jackass." I did this very loudly so that he could hear me. At the ride's regroup, I confronted him quite publicly and loudly (there has been a few prior trangressions as well - this stuff needed to be nipped in the bud). So yeah, snootiness and typical road douchery is unacceptable in my view and I hope our club doesn't carry that kind of reputation. And if I or anyone else wearing our jersey does ride or act like a douche, PLEASE call it out. Or honk. ;-)

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Amateur recreational hobbyist cyclist
https://www.strava.com/athletes/337152
https://vimeo.com/user11846099

I'm with you on this. I took the lane (2-lane road) on a downhill in a USAC sanctioned TT, since the bike lane had some construction debris. Speed limit was 55 MPH and I was going 40-45 MPH downhill. It's a short hill in a rural area, where you'll occasionally encounter cars going as slow as I was. I had only 1 guy honk madly and pass going 65 MPH+ into the oncoming lane. Everyone else waited 10 seconds to the bottom of the hill, when I went back into the bike lane.

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"Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps"
Blog = http://extrememomentum.com|Photos = http://wheelgoodphotos.com

Good on you. Not everyone on PCH is a faker cat 2, lots of folks just trying to get in shape or lose a few lbs.

But I fuggin hate that hill. And the climb from the other side

I know it's going uphill so a different dynamic, but that shoulder going up (north... or i guess technically west) is way worse than the one going down

To be considered "snooty" by other cyclists is a pretty tall order.

From your opening reply in this thread you come across rather snooty ("we don't call it hwy 1, you ain't from around here"). I just wrote it off because I'm used to dealing with people from LA., but the shoe fits.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

Well, I can see what you did there.. Bravo!

But still can't tell if you're being serious or not.

Many motorists believe that cyclists ("Lancers") are arrogant, entitled assholes with no regard to traffic laws or safety. You fit this stereotype perfectly.

Next time bring your gun and actually do something about it.

Where am I right now?

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

TRUTH

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SF

Like the movie Breaking Away?

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"I would definitely smell her seat after a century ride"

You left out the part where after I asked the question, I said:

I ask this not to suggest that an outsider's opinion is invalid, but instead to suggest that perhaps those that have logged thousands of miles on this road may have a certain set of experiences that result in their "taking the lane."


My question was simply to note that many of us have logged thousands of miles on PCH and are very familiar with that stretch of road. In my experience, you also get to know a road much more intimately when riding it on a bicycle than when speeding down it at 55mph from behind the wheel of a car. So my point was simply that while a driver who does not ride that stretch of road may not know it as well as a cyclist who has ridden it many times.


I'm sorry if that question came off as snooty - that was certainly not my intent and the reason I tried to explain my rationale for even asking the question.


I have tried to avoid personal characterizations here, but when you read your words above, do you think that it's possible that you have pre-conceived notions of what "people from LA" are like? Any chance that these pre-conceived notions informed your opinion of the cyclist's behavior as you passed him this morning?

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Amateur recreational hobbyist cyclist
https://www.strava.com/athletes/337152
https://vimeo.com/user11846099

Obviously you're joking but give me the opportunity to reiterate the whole point here. I want this guy to see this thread and hopefully consider changing his behavior. I didn't come here to vent or to humiliate the guy. I thought there was a chance that I get the message to him that I couldn't get to him on the road this morning. That message is "Hey, as a fellow cyclist, I think what you did back there was stupid..."

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

I understand and I apologize for implying that you're snooty. And again, thank you for speaking on behalf of the cyclist in question. I only hope that takes a moment to reconsider his actions and choices while riding.

At the time of this encounter I had no idea where the was from and had no preconceived notions about the rider. All I knew was that he was in the lane in front of me, impeding traffic during a very busy time and had access to a very roomy shoulder. That is what I reacted too. I came to the opinion that he was jerk when he told me to fuck off. I noticed the Helen's kit after all that (from which I could deduce that he is from the LA area).

Look, I live in Santa Barbara. You don't even know what snooty is until you've spent time here.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

i thought, halfway thru your story, you were going to say, "she is obviously freaked out that this pack of wild roadies is rushing past her on both sides. and then, riders from both sides put their hands out, and started to push her. and a whole group of riders pushed this lady up the hill, at twice the speed she would otherwise have gone."

oh well!

you can expect random acts of kindness from cyclists, but let's not get carried away with our expectations.

i've known some very stand-up gentlemen wearing the la grange colors.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

in my opinion, there is one glaring fact here that does cast you, the rider in question, the entire la grange team, as well as the OP, in a bad light and i just don't see how you can escape this.

why were you on that road AT ALL? that road SUCKS.

now, if you were on las flores, old topanga, decker, latigo, tuna, shit even encinal, just about any other road, i'd concede all points in your favor. but THAT road? i even blame the OP for being on that road in his car.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I hope I'm not being snooty here, but you do realize that 5 out of the 6 climbs (all but Old Topanga) that you just listed above begin at PCH, right??? So it's kinda hard to get to them without riding on PCH!

And to get to Old Topanga, most ride up Topanga, which begins at PCH and has some pretty aggro drivers speeding up trying to make their way to the Valley!

Riding in LA can be great but certainly isn't always easy!

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Amateur recreational hobbyist cyclist
https://www.strava.com/athletes/337152
https://vimeo.com/user11846099

My guess would be surfing? :-)

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

It's the best way to get where I was going.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

maybe my mistake, i didn't read it too closely, but i thought this was malibu canyon road, the climb up from the coast. if not, then nevermind...! if i'm going to ride the canyons its the roads i listed, plus little sycamore and yerba buena.

disconnected, by coincidental, i republished little how-to on rural riding today, and specifically talked about the santa monicas, and why people ride the coast - esp the south coast - instead of putting their bikes in their cars, driving to malibu, parking and starting there, where the entire ride could be in the santa monicas.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

you did what the stereotypical driver does. you honked your horn at the cyclist , for whatever reason, and then made it a point to look in your rearview mirror to see if you generated a response. you did get a response and this pissed you off. what did you think was going to happen when you honk your horn at a legal user of the roadway using it in a legal manner? was he supposed to figure out your intentions, ie pissed off driver saying get the frack off the road, a courteous suggestion to please move over for your own safety? seeing as you were looking for a response, i'd hazard the former and not the latter. then you came on here to vent about it.

you essentially initiated a road rage incident whether you see it that way or not, unless you waved politely while smiling as you honked. you did not indicate such, so there we are.

Nope, we are talking about PCH coming down the hill from Pepperdine coming up on the stoplight for the Chevron gas station, one light before the Cross Creek mall.



I think most of us ride PCH and view it as a necessary evil because there seems something antithetical to packing up and hopping in your car to ride "local" roads and climbs when you can instead begin your ride right outside your front door. But by all means, if you disagree and do it differently, I promise not to honk at you or otherwise convince you that you have to do it my way!

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Amateur recreational hobbyist cyclist
https://www.strava.com/athletes/337152
https://vimeo.com/user11846099

Surely, there must be some tongue and cheek here between you Chris and Ian.

How do you both not know each other???
You both do the MB Swim front of the pack. I know I have been in MB with both of you at the same time on many occasions. Well about 10 minutes behind you getting out.

You both can join me on Sat on the Westside Ride 2.0 and I will introduce you, and Pepperdine Hill is not on the plan.

Pete

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2017 Cervelo P2
2017 Cervelo S2
itraininla.com
#itraininla

Actually I looked back to see if the cyclist veered over and also to see vehicle behind me saw the cyclist. I'm driving a big truck that is likely blocking the view of the cyclist from the guy behind me. When I moved over to pass the cyclist my first thought was that the vehicle behind me wouldn't see him in time and hit him.

Maybe I'm not properly conveying just how idiotic this guy was being. What he was doing was patently dangerous and any reasonable person who saw it would agree with that assessment.

I did not come hear to vent. My intention is that the cyclist in question sees this or hears about this thread and maybe changes his attitude and behavior. Maybe he can see that his actions contribute to hostilities toward other cyclists.

That first goal has been achieved (the cyclist knows about this thread). The second goal I have very little hope for at this point.

I started this thread and continue to post here AS A CYCLIST MYSELF. My entire perspective on this is that of a fellow cyclist.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

Dan, this thread just shows the reasons bikes have such a reputation, IMO. I could care less what the law is. A car is going to win over me any day. I have given the finger
enough times that I realize, all it takes is one driver who is a little off to end my life. Just not worth it. I try now when I ride to just believe that it is better to leave the cars alone.
If this means I have to ride a section slow, great. Or I have to stop, great. I do try to ride outside only early on Sunday mornings to have the least number of cars to deal with.
I just see nothing wrong with trying to lead by example while on my bike, rather than hide behind but the law which says I can do this so screw the cars.

.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I was in a race Sunday. I was flying down a hill and in front of me was an exit from the freeway. Well, I could have taken the attitude I am racing so I
am going to fly through the stop sign in front of the guy who was waiting. Well, I decided I better assume worst case. Guess what, he pulled out right in front
of me, and he was legal since I had a stop sign and no one was doing traffic at that crossing for the race. If I had been in the aero worrying about seconds on my race, I would not be here anymore. (Which some would love).

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I totally get it...and I would hope most of the others do too.

You posted this in the AM, and I took it for what it was. A guy behaving badly on his bike. Simple as that...

It's ridiculous that people come to his defense when they were not even there. I assume you don't have any reason to bad mouth his team, El Presidente or anyone else.

Simply reporting dangerous and rude behavior of a fellow cyclist.

I have done stupid things on my bike and while driving... that's life. I make mistakes but I own up to them. This guy should too... He acted like a jerk off. Hopefully he will learn from it.

I applaud you for reporting it in a clear, concise and intelligent manner.