RE: [team-roadkill] Digest for team-roadkill@googlegroups.com - 2 Messages in 2 Topics

[Larry Brooks]

That's weird.  I'm guilty of being like all those riders.... except the  Eldon  Move.  I  think that's your specialty Sid.   lol.  
p.s. He  has a terrific bio page...worth reading.

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To: team-r...@googlegroups.com
From: team-r...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [team-roadkill] Digest for team-r...@googlegroups.com - 2 Messages in 2 Topics
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 05:06:00 +0000

  Today's Topic Summary

Group: http://groups.google.com/group/team-roadkill/topics

• Humor [1 Update]
• Weekly News and Ride Post -- Nov. 13, 2013 [1 Update]

 Humor

Sid <sid.c...@gmail.com> Nov 13 09:47PM -0700  

Cyclists,
 
I ran across this essay on another cycling website that I thought you might
enjoy.
 
 
*How Not to Get Invited on the Next Group Ride
<http://www.fatcyclist.com/2005/09/26/how-not-to-get-invited-on-the-next-group-ride/>*
 
Want to be “accidentally” left off the email list the next time a ride is
organized? Of course you do! Here’s how you can ensure that ”no matter your
riding skills” other cyclists avoid you like the plague:
 
 
 
· *Pull “The Elden Move.”* OK, let’s get this one out of the way
first, since it’s apparently been named after me (in some circles). For
some reason ”which I cannot fathom” some riders don’t like to have the
first guy to the top of the climb turn around, come down to where they’re
climbing, and climb up with them. Well, humph. To those people, I defend
myself by saying that I’m not doing this to show that I’m a superior
climber, I’m doing it because I just don’t like hanging around forever and
ever at the top of the climb, and figure I’d rather come back down part way
and keep riding, even if it is at your snail-like pace. Oh, wait. Now I
think I see your point.
 
· *Surge and Fade in a Paceline.* . Some people don’t have the
knack of riding at the speed of the group. They drop back a little ”maybe
fifteen feet” and then surge forward to catch up. If you are the person who
is lucky enough to be behind the surge-and-fade rider, you know that it
completely kills any drafting effect you get from riding in a paceline. The
best thing you can hope for is an opportunity to switch the riding order
up. I have ridden behind a surge-and-fader for more than an hour once. It
was the most draining hour of my life.
 
· *Be the Tipster.* If you’ve been riding for a while ”or perhaps
you’ve read a bunch of cycling magazines and books” you no doubt have
valuable advice to offer those you’re riding with. And no doubt they’ll
want to hear it. All of it. To the exclusion of any other possible
conversation. I remember vividly when I was new to mountain biking, there
was a particular person who gave me tip after tip after tip on riding,
every time we rode together. Finally, I shouted, “No more tips!” Here’s a
tip for those who love to give tips: No more than three tips per ride no
matter what, and a maximum average of two per ride.
 
· *Be the Gearmeister:* Almost all serious cyclists ”road or
mountain” have a certain amount of gear geek in them. But some people want
to debate the virtues of Shimano v. Campy, or Ti v. carbon, or tube v.
clincher endlessly. This is not just annoying, it’s dangerous: This kind of
talk can hypnotize other riders, causing terrible accidents. Here’s a good
rule of thumb, then, to help you recognize whether your chatter about gear
is boring: If you’re chattering about gear, it’s boring.
 
· *Be Consistently Late:* This one probably applies mostly to
riding groups of middle-aged people with jobs, kids, and lots of
responsibilities: If you’re late to every group ride, it’s not funny or
endearing. It’s indicative that you need some time management training, or
that you’re living in Quad 4 or something like that.
 
· *Harp at Others for Being a Little Late:* Same thing applies in
reverse: if you’re riding with a group of people who have jobs, kids and
responsibilities, you’ve got to accept that everyone has 3-minute
emergencies from time to time, and you’re just ruining the ride for
yourself and others if you get in a twist about it.
 
· *Be Stupidly Cheerful:* If I’m bonked, or I think the weather’s
bad, or I don’t like the ride, I expect everyone else to have the same
reasonable outlook I have: that everything in the world sucks. If I’m not
having fun, there’s no fun to be had. If we can agree on that, we can all
get along.
 
· *Be a Crybaby:* If I’m having a great time ”feeling strong,
enjoying the weather, liking the course” then clearly everyone else must be
having a good time. Please don’t pretend like you’re tired or hot or hungry
or bonked.
 
· *Stick to Your Training Regimen, No Matter What:* I know people
who only rarely ride with the group, because Chris Carmichael has given
them explicit instructions on how and when they ought to ride, and those
instructions don’t make provisions for actually enjoying yourself. After a
while, you stop inviting those guys, because what’s the point? By the way,
I have noticed, in race situations, that I pass guys in CTS jerseys much
more frequently than I am passed by those guys. I’m just saying.
 
· *Make Excuses, Before, During and After the Ride:* If you’re not
feeling well or you’ve had an injury, it’s OK to mention this before the
ride. Once. You do not get to repeat it for the benefit of those who didn’t
hear the first time, and you do not get to elaborate for those who did not
really understand just how bad your case of consumption really is. Everyone
has a bad riding day sometimes. We understand that. Let’s move on.
 
· *Wear Your Badge of Honor Too Proudly:* If you’ve chosen to ride
a singlespeed mountain bike or fixed-gear road bike, that’s super. However,
you do not get to point it out, and you do not get to use it as an excuse
for doing badly on any part of the road. If someone points it out, you may
acknowledge it and ”if so prompted” even elaborate. But you do not get to
call out your absence of derailleurs any more than someone gets to call out
that they *do* have derailleurs. You’ve made your choice; don’t treat it
like it was forced upon you.
 
· *Be Relentlessly Apologetic:* I’m guilty of this one, big time.
If I’m slower than the people around me, I apologize over and over for
slowing them down. I have been told to shut up. To those to whom I have
apologized too often for not being able to keep up, I apologize.
 
· *Gloat About Trivial Wins in the Distant Past:* Remember that
time you rode up that impossibly steep pitch in the “Toilet Bowl” move at
Gooseberry Mesa, and nobody else was able to clean it? Well, the rest of us
don’t, and yet we press on.
 
From Sunny El Paso,
 
--
Sid
 

 Weekly News and Ride Post -- Nov. 13, 2013

david <cdlan...@mac.com> Nov 13 02:15PM -0800  

Hey Cyclists,
 
If you missed the Veterans Day ride Monday, you missed a great opportunity
to try out your cyclocross skills. That's because those of us who did make
the TRK-WOW-Team Army ride out of Salado were forced to negotiate a 3-mile
stretch of rough, unpaved, under-construction farm to market road between
Summers Mill and Bailey Road. I think most of us made it unscathed,
although I witness one flat tire before we hit smooth pavement again.
 
Here's what's up for Saturday:
 
Saturday, Nov. 16 -- Time to regroup and relax, so wheels will roll at 9
a.m. -- that's 9 a.m. -- from the back parking lot of the Kempner Brick
Oven for the River Road area. The Oakalla out-and-back is 23 miles, but if
you want to go on up to Watson, you've got a scenic 36-miler. Longer
options are out there, just ask if you're new to the area. Coffee and
carbs at the Brick Oven at 8 a.m. See you out there. This is a great ride
for just kickin' back and cruising. See you there. Can't tell what the
weather will be doing, but all TRK rides are conducted on a
weather-permitting basis.
 
-- David
 

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