A moment to savour

"wafflycat" wrote ...

Quoted message said:

Went out on the local CTC ride.

Cycled over to Heydon & back, a 46-mile round trip. Went over there alone,
met with the CTC crowd there, had lunch & we cycled back in various
groups, people peeling off at various stages of the ride (journey, not
peeling off of clothes, I hasten to add...).

Anyhow, at one stage it was yours truly plus George & err... Andy/Alan...
Both guys are in their 70s. Got to one Norfik village and at a T-junction,
a group of local yoof on MTBs were there. Loud yoof voices, saying, "Oh
yes, this has made my day, I can't believe my luck.This is going to be
sooo easy." Apparently yoof thought it was going to be a doddle to speed
by the two ancient guys & the middle-aged women. Oh dear, oh dear, oh
dear. Yoof are not aware of CTC uber-pensioners and the oestrogen brigade
and how road bikes are faster on tarmac compared to MTBs... The gauntlet
was thrown down as I heard the unmistakeable sound of gears being changed
and chainwheel change up to big rings in respect of my two companions. So
I thought I'd better get a spurt on too, so as not to let the side down
;-) Of half-a-dozen yoof, only one got anywhere near us. As he got
alongside me, I said, "Afternoon. Nice bike, but if you speak nicely to
either of those nice gentlemen in front, I'm sure they'd adjust your
saddle to the correct height so you don't ruin your knees." I then upped a
gear & went ahead. There was much whirring of pedals behind me fading into
the receding distance.

It was a moment to savour.

Cheers, helen s

You've traumatized the poor dears and left them emotionally scarred for
life. If they turn to a life of crime and/or driving everywhere they go it
will all be your fault.

Sounds like you and the uber-pensioners (is there an umlaut in uber?) are a
force to be reckoned with on the roads of Norfolk.
--
mark

"mark" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

You've traumatized the poor dears and left them emotionally scarred for
life. If they turn to a life of crime and/or driving everywhere they go it
will all be your fault.

Aye... it will. Should I go before the judge and plead on their behalf when
they've mugged an old lady? :-Þ

Quoted message said:

Sounds like you and the uber-pensioners (is there an umlaut in uber?) are
a force to be reckoned with on the roads of Norfolk.

There probably is an umlaut, but I couldn't be bothered fishing about the
keyboard for one. As for force to be reckoned with - let me put it this
way - it's my need for speed over with for the year, and pass me that oxygen
mask that's in the corner, please...

Cheers, helen s ;-)

"wafflycat" <waffles*A*T*v21net*D*O*T*co*D*O*T*uk> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Went out on the local CTC ride.

Cycled over to Heydon & back, a 46-mile round trip. Went over there alone,
met with the CTC crowd there, had lunch & we cycled back in various

groups,

Quoted message said:

people peeling off at various stages of the ride (journey, not peeling off
of clothes, I hasten to add...).

Anyhow, at one stage it was yours truly plus George & err... Andy/Alan...
Both guys are in their 70s. Got to one Norfik village and at a T-junction,

a

Quoted message said:

group of local yoof on MTBs were there. Loud yoof voices, saying, "Oh yes,
this has made my day, I can't believe my luck.This is going to be sooo
easy." Apparently yoof thought it was going to be a doddle to speed by the
two ancient guys & the middle-aged women. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Yoof
are not aware of CTC uber-pensioners and the oestrogen brigade and how

road

Quoted message said:

bikes are faster on tarmac compared to MTBs... The gauntlet was thrown

down

Quoted message said:

as I heard the unmistakeable sound of gears being changed and chainwheel
change up to big rings in respect of my two companions. So I thought I'd
better get a spurt on too, so as not to let the side down ;-) Of
half-a-dozen yoof, only one got anywhere near us. As he got alongside me,

I

Quoted message said:

said, "Afternoon. Nice bike, but if you speak nicely to either of those

nice

Quoted message said:

gentlemen in front, I'm sure they'd adjust your saddle to the correct

height

Quoted message said:

so you don't ruin your knees." I then upped a gear & went ahead. There was
much whirring of pedals behind me fading into the receding distance.

It was a moment to savour.

Cheers, helen s

Loved the story! It's always a nice feeling to show those young ones we can
ride, too.

"wafflycat" <waffles*A*T*v21net*D*O*T*co*D*O*T*uk> says...

Quoted message said:

Anyhow, at one stage it was yours truly plus George & err... Andy/Alan...
Both guys are in their 70s. Got to one Norfik village and at a T-junction, a
group of local yoof on MTBs were there. Loud yoof voices, saying, "Oh yes,
this has made my day, I can't believe my luck.This is going to be sooo
easy." Apparently yoof thought it was going to be a doddle to speed by the
two ancient guys & the middle-aged women. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Yoof
are not aware of CTC uber-pensioners and the oestrogen brigade and how road
bikes are faster on tarmac compared to MTBs... The gauntlet was thrown down
as I heard the unmistakeable sound of gears being changed and chainwheel
change up to big rings in respect of my two companions. So I thought I'd
better get a spurt on too, so as not to let the side down ;-) Of
half-a-dozen yoof, only one got anywhere near us. As he got alongside me, I
said, "Afternoon. Nice bike, but if you speak nicely to either of those nice
gentlemen in front, I'm sure they'd adjust your saddle to the correct height
so you don't ruin your knees." I then upped a gear & went ahead. There was
much whirring of pedals behind me fading into the receding distance.

It was a moment to savour.

Cheers, helen s

There's a flip side to that for me. I was thinking about making a post
titled 'Passing Freds'. I do a lot of my road rides on my MTB and
sometimes I meet roadie Freds along the way. My MTB is dual suspension,
weighs 29lbs, has 2" off-road semi-slicks, and I also carry a camel back
and assorted other survival gear. It always goes like this: Fred(s) are
crawling along at 10-12mph doing a cadence of 30 or so. I pass them at
around 18mph. I've already done 40-50 miles with a couple thousand feet
of total climbing. Fred(s) pick up the pace, barely pass me without so
much as a hello, and then immediately turn into their driveway ending
their 4 mile ride. In most cases I could probably try to race them and
win, but Freds are like those flies that buzz by your head when you are
climbing a grueling hill. Paying them any attention is just degrading
yourself.

Fred Barney said:

"wafflycat" <waffles*A*T*v21net*D*O*T*co*D*O*T*uk> says...

Quoted message said:

Anyhow, at one stage it was yours truly plus George & err... Andy/Alan...
Both guys are in their 70s. Got to one Norfik village and at a T-junction, a
group of local yoof on MTBs were there. Loud yoof voices, saying, "Oh yes,
this has made my day, I can't believe my luck.This is going to be sooo
easy." Apparently yoof thought it was going to be a doddle to speed by the
two ancient guys & the middle-aged women. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Yoof
are not aware of CTC uber-pensioners and the oestrogen brigade and how road
bikes are faster on tarmac compared to MTBs... The gauntlet was thrown down
as I heard the unmistakeable sound of gears being changed and chainwheel
change up to big rings in respect of my two companions. So I thought I'd
better get a spurt on too, so as not to let the side down ;-) Of
half-a-dozen yoof, only one got anywhere near us. As he got alongside me, I
said, "Afternoon. Nice bike, but if you speak nicely to either of those nice
gentlemen in front, I'm sure they'd adjust your saddle to the correct height
so you don't ruin your knees." I then upped a gear & went ahead. There was
much whirring of pedals behind me fading into the receding distance.

It was a moment to savour.

Cheers, helen s

There's a flip side to that for me. I was thinking about making a post
titled 'Passing Freds'. I do a lot of my road rides on my MTB and
sometimes I meet roadie Freds along the way. My MTB is dual suspension,
weighs 29lbs, has 2" off-road semi-slicks, and I also carry a camel back
and assorted other survival gear. It always goes like this: Fred(s) are
crawling along at 10-12mph doing a cadence of 30 or so. I pass them at
around 18mph. I've already done 40-50 miles with a couple thousand feet
of total climbing. Fred(s) pick up the pace, barely pass me without so
much as a hello, and then immediately turn into their driveway ending
their 4 mile ride. In most cases I could probably try to race them and
win, but Freds are like those flies that buzz by your head when you are
climbing a grueling hill. Paying them any attention is just degrading
yourself.

i have been in such a situation as well. i mostly ride past them, but
sometimes, inorder to prove something, they try to ride past me, once
they pass me, they even jump signals to stay ahead of me. Mostly this
happens towards the end of my rides, at that time, i just sit back relax
and not contest it.. because you do not have to prove anything to him.
sometimes, i will just hover close to him until before an overpass, at
which time, i just kick it up and put a big gap 😉

+ravi

Ravi said:

Fred Barney said:

"wafflycat" <waffles*A*T*v21net*D*O*T*co*D*O*T*uk> says...

Quoted message said:

Anyhow, at one stage it was yours truly plus George & err... Andy/Alan...
Both guys are in their 70s. Got to one Norfik village and at a T-junction, a
group of local yoof on MTBs were there. Loud yoof voices, saying, "Oh yes,
this has made my day, I can't believe my luck.This is going to be sooo
easy." Apparently yoof thought it was going to be a doddle to speed by the
two ancient guys & the middle-aged women. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Yoof
are not aware of CTC uber-pensioners and the oestrogen brigade and how road
bikes are faster on tarmac compared to MTBs... The gauntlet was thrown down
as I heard the unmistakeable sound of gears being changed and chainwheel
change up to big rings in respect of my two companions. So I thought I'd
better get a spurt on too, so as not to let the side down ;-) Of
half-a-dozen yoof, only one got anywhere near us. As he got alongside me, I
said, "Afternoon. Nice bike, but if you speak nicely to either of those nice
gentlemen in front, I'm sure they'd adjust your saddle to the correct height
so you don't ruin your knees." I then upped a gear & went ahead. There was
much whirring of pedals behind me fading into the receding distance.

It was a moment to savour.

Cheers, helen s

There's a flip side to that for me. I was thinking about making a post
titled 'Passing Freds'. I do a lot of my road rides on my MTB and
sometimes I meet roadie Freds along the way. My MTB is dual suspension,
weighs 29lbs, has 2" off-road semi-slicks, and I also carry a camel back
and assorted other survival gear. It always goes like this: Fred(s) are
crawling along at 10-12mph doing a cadence of 30 or so. I pass them at
around 18mph. I've already done 40-50 miles with a couple thousand feet
of total climbing. Fred(s) pick up the pace, barely pass me without so
much as a hello, and then immediately turn into their driveway ending
their 4 mile ride. In most cases I could probably try to race them and
win, but Freds are like those flies that buzz by your head when you are
climbing a grueling hill. Paying them any attention is just degrading
yourself.

i have been in such a situation as well. i mostly ride past them, but
sometimes, inorder to prove something, they try to ride past me, once
they pass me, they even jump signals to stay ahead of me. Mostly this
happens towards the end of my rides, at that time, i just sit back relax
and not contest it.. because you do not have to prove anything to him.
sometimes, i will just hover close to him until before an overpass, at
which time, i just kick it up and put a big gap 😉

+ravi

Though I'm loathe to relate it, b/c it's silly, this week has been banner
for passing all kinds of people on bikes. I ride often in the middle of the
morning or at about 2pm, so there aren't too many people on the roads, but
they were everywhere this week. Even though they're all uber-Freds in
shorts and T-shirts, it's fun for a 50-something beginner like me to just
effortlessly zoom by them. Eighteen months or so I'd have been huffing and
puffing and not even trying to catch them, let alone pass them, lol.

jj

"Fred Barney" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Fred(s) pick up the pace, barely pass me without so
much as a hello, and then immediately turn into their driveway ending
their 4 mile ride.

You *know* they've only done 4 miles? ;-)

As for passing the time of day, I tend to almost always acknowledge fellow
cyclists, irrespective of their type of steed. Yoof on MTBs who are openly
insulting as you cycle nearby are quite another matter though :-)

Cheers, helen s

"wafflycat" <waffles*A*T*v21net*D*O*T*co*D*O*T*uk> says...

Quoted message said:

You *know* they've only done 4 miles? ;-)

As for passing the time of day, I tend to almost always acknowledge fellow
cyclists, irrespective of their type of steed. Yoof on MTBs who are openly
insulting as you cycle nearby are quite another matter though :-)

Cheers, helen s

Four miles was being generous.

Fred Barney said:

"wafflycat" <waffles*A*T*v21net*D*O*T*co*D*O*T*uk> says...

Quoted message said:

Anyhow, at one stage it was yours truly plus George & err... Andy/Alan...
Both guys are in their 70s. Got to one Norfik village and at a T-junction, a
group of local yoof on MTBs were there. Loud yoof voices, saying, "Oh yes,
this has made my day, I can't believe my luck.This is going to be sooo
easy." Apparently yoof thought it was going to be a doddle to speed by the
two ancient guys & the middle-aged women. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Yoof
are not aware of CTC uber-pensioners and the oestrogen brigade and how road
bikes are faster on tarmac compared to MTBs... The gauntlet was thrown down
as I heard the unmistakeable sound of gears being changed and chainwheel
change up to big rings in respect of my two companions. So I thought I'd
better get a spurt on too, so as not to let the side down ;-) Of
half-a-dozen yoof, only one got anywhere near us. As he got alongside me, I
said, "Afternoon. Nice bike, but if you speak nicely to either of those nice
gentlemen in front, I'm sure they'd adjust your saddle to the correct height
so you don't ruin your knees." I then upped a gear & went ahead. There was
much whirring of pedals behind me fading into the receding distance.

It was a moment to savour.

Cheers, helen s

There's a flip side to that for me. I was thinking about making a post
titled 'Passing Freds'. I do a lot of my road rides on my MTB and
sometimes I meet roadie Freds along the way. My MTB is dual suspension,
weighs 29lbs, has 2" off-road semi-slicks, and I also carry a camel back
and assorted other survival gear. It always goes like this: Fred(s) are
crawling along at 10-12mph doing a cadence of 30 or so. I pass them at
around 18mph. I've already done 40-50 miles with a couple thousand feet
of total climbing. Fred(s) pick up the pace, barely pass me without so
much as a hello, and then immediately turn into their driveway ending
their 4 mile ride. In most cases I could probably try to race them and
win, but Freds are like those flies that buzz by your head when you are
climbing a grueling hill. Paying them any attention is just degrading
yourself.

I'm a newbie to rec.bicycles.*, so please explain what a 'Fred' is. My
guess is someone with $3000 worth of gear to look cool doing their 300
miles/year.

Chuck said:

I'm a newbie to rec.bicycles.*, so please explain what a 'Fred' is. My
guess is someone with $3000 worth of gear to look cool doing their 300
miles/year.

More like someone with a $100 gas-pipe x-mart special, wearing a yellow
T-shirt with regular shorts, who thinks they are Lance, while they go on
a really long bike ride around the block..... They typically tgo
under 30 miles a year....

W

Chuck says...

Quoted message said:

I'm a newbie to rec.bicycles.*, so please explain what a 'Fred' is. My
guess is someone with $3000 worth of gear to look cool doing their 300
miles/year.

Bingo.

The Wogster said:

Chuck said:

I'm a newbie to rec.bicycles.*, so please explain what a 'Fred' is.
My guess is someone with $3000 worth of gear to look cool doing
their 300 miles/year.

More like someone with a $100 gas-pipe x-mart special, wearing a
yellow T-shirt with regular shorts, who thinks they are Lance, while
they go on a really long bike ride around the block..... They
typically tgo under 30 miles a year....

No, that's a Barney. When I hear "Fred", I picture a doof with a Madone or
Colnago or something.

Bill "looking for Wilma now" S.

Quoted message said:

No, that's a Barney. When I hear "Fred", I picture a doof with a Madone or
Colnago or something.

Bill "looking for Wilma now" S.

All those terms come from SoCal surf culture, where Fred & Barneys were
derogatory terms for guys from the Valley who came to surf on the local's
turf.

Wilma and Betty's were their attractive companions.

Chris Neary
[email hidden]

"Science, freedom, beauty, adventure: what more could
you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I
loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh

"Chuck" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:ETGKe.10545$0d.7806@trnddc06...

Quoted message said:

I'm a newbie to rec.bicycles.*, so please explain what a 'Fred' is. My
guess is someone with $3000 worth of gear to look cool doing their 300
miles/year.

No, that there would be your "Poser" ("Poseur" if you're a Euro-poser).

Your "Fred" would be a guy who puts slicks on a double-suspension mtb,
straps on a Camelback, and rides on the road.

Bob the Cow says...

Quoted message said:

No, that there would be your "Poser" ("Poseur" if you're a Euro-poser).

Your "Fred" would be a guy who puts slicks on a double-suspension mtb,
straps on a Camelback, and rides on the road.

So what does that make you, Mr. tons of fun? My guess is making snide
comments on the Net is the sum total of your talents.

Quoted message said:

There probably is an umlaut, but I couldn't be bothered fishing about the
keyboard for one.

Change your keyboard layout to US-International

Quoted message said:

I'm a newbie to rec.bicycles.*, so please explain what a 'Fred' is. My
guess is someone with $3000 worth of gear to look cool doing their 300
miles/year.

This is a poser.
As for Fred, think 'Flintstones' the cartoons.

I submit that on or about 13 Aug 2005 05:53:32 -0700, the person known
to the court as "[email hidden]" <[email hidden]>
made a statement
(<[email hidden]> in Your
Honour's bundle) to the following effect:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There probably is an umlaut, but I couldn't be bothered fishing about the
keyboard for one.

Quoted message said:

Change your keyboard layout to US-International

That would be very foolish, since the @ key would then work as a " and
the £ currency symbol would be replaced by #. I think it is safe to
say that Helen uses @ and £ more often than ü (hold down Alt and type
129 on the numpad, Helen).

Oh, wait, you don't know that Helen is British do you? ;-)
Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

"Fred Barney" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bob the Cow says...

Quoted message said:

Your "Fred" would be a guy who puts slicks on a double-suspension mtb,
straps on a Camelback, and rides on the road.

So what does that make you, Mr. tons of fun? My guess is making snide
comments on the Net is the sum total of your talents.

Fred:

There is NOTHING inherently wrong with being a Fred. Fred-ness, like
snide-ness and cow-ism, is in the eye of the beholder.

Don't fight your Fred-ness. Celebrate your Fred-ness.

Find a mirror. Look at yourself and say:

"I put slicks on my full-sus MTB, strap on a Camelback, and ride on the
road.

I am a Fred.

But I'm good enough, and I'm smart enough, and -- doggone it -- people LIKE
me".