psycholist <[email hidden]> wrote:
:> Yesterday I did about my bazillionth century ride. I'm 49 years old
:> and I've done lots of centuries in my day.
:>
:> My local club put on this ride ... against my protestations because
:> they scheduled it head-to-head with a very well-established century
:> that's been going on not too many miles away. I thought it was
:> rather rude to do that.
:>
:> The guy who volunteered to put on the ride had never done it before
:> and is a fairly new rider. I coached him over the months leading up
:> to the event about the things I've seen that make the difference
:> between a good event and a bad event. He didn't listen. In fact,
:> he committed what I told him would be the CARDINAL SIN. He marked
:> the course poorly and got the riders lost.
:>
:> Well, I should qualify that. He got the fast riders lost. He
:> personally rode out in front of the slow groups and stood at each
:> turn to make sure those riders didn't miss anything. But I was in
:> the front group and we'd blown by and missed his ridiculously
:> inadequate markings long before he got out to try to direct traffic.
:>
:> So I sent him an e-mail after the fact to ask him what happened. He
:> gave me the classic line that sets me off every single time ... "it
:> was supposed to be a social ride, not a race ... the social riders
:> didn't have any trouble."
:>
:> MAN that burns me up. Since when is there a speed limit on a road
:> ride? We rode the first 20 miles with 25 guys at an average speed
:> of 25 mph. It was no big deal. The road was flat. There was a
:> slight tailwind. It was nothing. But he says he designed things
:> with folks like him in mind ... folks who ride 15 mph. Well, this
:> guys is about 6' 3" tall and is morbidly obese (at least by my
:> definition)!
:>
:> So then he says, "if you'd asked at the rest stops, they'd have told
:> you which way to go." So then I explained, "I don't stop at rest
:> stops except maybe once in a 100 mile ride. Our entire lead group
:> only made one stop. And, how do we stop at a rest stop if we're
:> already off the course after 12 miles?" Again, I got the, "if you
:> weren't racing you'd have been able to see the marks."
:>
:> That's such [censored]. I'm so sick of "social" riders who act like
:> you're doing something wrong just 'cuz you can, or you just like to,
:> ride faster than they do. I never hear the fast riders complain
:> about the "social" riders. But the "social" riders always feel
:> compelled to tell the fast riders how they should ride.
:>
:> All you "social" riders reading this, please note the following:
I agree that you and the other fast riders should have been [censored]. He is an
ignorant/arrogant noob who should not have been planning a ride.
However, your characterization of riders who don't (can't) ride as fast as
you and those in your group is silly. You're just dealing with ignorant
people -- the clueless. I've been on rides around here that were planned
by folks to don't (based on my observations) ride fast, but are aware that
some do and that they are not racing. I personally ride as fast as I can so
you can't tell me I'm a "social" rider, but compared to you, you can
certainly say I'm a slow rider (I can do better than 15 mph on a flat,
though).
So be [censored]. You should be. Having a poorly marked route is [censored] up on
many levels, no matter the reason. Rest stops are optional (I noticed on my
very first event that many faster riders don't take all the rest stops).
However, place the blame correctly.
BTW, what are the events you're referring to?