To pass, or not to pass...

You can "just sense it", eh? And your vast store of life experience as

oh, lemme guess, a 20-something year-old white male (*maybe*
30-something, but that'd be a stretch...), qualifies you to make that
judgement?
If I wanted to make something up, I could come up with better than
that. Not only did it happen, based on the responses by the
40-something crowd, it happens fairly regularly.


And since we're exchanging opinions, I think you're a top-posting
idjit. I can back my statment up. Can you?

Kathleen


Hey Kathleen,

Great story, great post, great fun. Just please don't feed the trolls, eh?

Cheers,

-Andrew "gets passed regularly by both genders, but also agrees with the
poster (I forget who said it) that sometimes having somebody coming up behind
provides both a reminder that you're slacking, as well as some motivation to
step it up a notch. And there's nothing wrong with relying on some external
motivation to, as I once heard somebody say, agonizingly try to become a better
mountain biker" Thorne

"Raptor" wrote in message ...
I don't get passed often, but when I do it's not a big deal. Unless I'm
on my road bike getting passed by mountain bikers. That stings a
little, but it only happens if I'm on a recovery ride.


Yeah, I only get passed on my recovery rides also, I just choose to name
them that after the passing occurs
--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado
(remove .nospam. if replying)

Kathleen wrote:

You can "just sense it", eh? And your vast store of life experience
as oh, lemme guess, a 20-something year-old white male (*maybe*
30-something, but that'd be a stretch...), qualifies you to make that
judgement?
If I wanted to make something up, I could come up with better than
that. Not only did it happen, based on the responses by the
40-something crowd, it happens fairly regularly.


And since we're exchanging opinions, I think you're a top-posting
idjit. I can back my statment up. Can you?

And this year's award for 'No Sense of Humour' goes to...

Sorni says:

On behalf of 40-somethings everywhere, please find another phrase to use!

I'll second that. Although, if they really WERE over-40's, then I suppose you
have to say it. Just don't go assuming we're all alike.
Personally, i like being passed by girls - the view is better ;-))

Next time you get stuck behind a pair like that, just use two words - "Coming
through", and see how long it takes them to move over..

Steve rapidly approaching 50-something......

Andrew Thorne wrote:

Great story, great post, great fun. Just please don't feed the trolls, eh?

Troll? What is it with you Septics, can't any of you spot sarcasm or
irony? FFS, he even put in a smiley to help you.

Andrew Thorne wrote:
You can "just sense it", eh? And your vast store of life experience as


oh, lemme guess, a 20-something year-old white male (*maybe*
30-something, but that'd be a stretch...), qualifies you to make that
judgement?
If I wanted to make something up, I could come up with better than
that. Not only did it happen, based on the responses by the
40-something crowd, it happens fairly regularly.


And since we're exchanging opinions, I think you're a top-posting
idjit. I can back my statment up. Can you?

Kathleen



Hey Kathleen,

Great story, great post, great fun.

Thanks.

Just please don't feed the trolls, eh?

You are, of course correct.
click
right click
click
click
click
click
All done.

Cheers,

-Andrew "gets passed regularly by both genders, but also agrees with the
poster (I forget who said it) that sometimes having somebody coming up behind
provides both a reminder that you're slacking, as well as some motivation to
step it up a notch. And there's nothing wrong with relying on some external
motivation to, as I once heard somebody say, agonizingly try to become a better
mountain biker" Thorne

I get passed pretty routinely, too. Not often by women, because there
aren't many out there. But it's happened. I expect to get smoked by my
daughter just about any time now. I plan to make her work for it. With
strangers, though, I'm more of the "lead, follow or get out of the way"
mentality. It's the halfway that's the pain in the ass.

Kathleen
Mostly gets out of the way...

On 15 Jul 2003 19:57:50 GMT, Stephen Baker wrote:

Although, if they really WERE over-40's, then I suppose you
have to say it. Just don't go assuming we're all alike.

Is it even relevant? I've seen 20-somethings react pretty much the same
way.

Steve rapidly approaching 50-something......

It happens so fast, doesn't it?

Personally, I think the funniest thing is when you stop to take a
breather, and some guys pass...then 20 minutes later you pass them while
they're taking a break, and then it happens again a few times. After about
5 times you start running out of things to say!

--
-BB-
To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail address, at least)

BB says:

Is it even relevant?

Prolly not ;-)

It happens so fast, doesn't it?

Too dang fast. 50 doesn't even _sound_ old any more. It's only 18 months to
go, but that too will pass in the blink of an eye.

Steve "never too old to have a happy childhood" ;-)

"Kathleen" wrote in message
...
...That is the question.

Two guys up ahead of me on the trail. Forty-somethings, by the look of
them. Not especially fast, not especially skilled, but then who am I to
talk? The thing is, though, they were going just a bit slower than I
wanted to go. But they kept looking back, and any time I'd start to
speed up to pass, they'd pick up the pace. Well and good, if they'd
manage to keep it up, but no... In no time at all, they'd slack back
off again.
Now, I've been in this position before. There's a mindset that I see
fairly often, that seems to feel that being passed by a 41 year-old
woman is tantamount to finding yourself in calculus class in your
underwear, taking a test you never studied for (in other words, your
worst nightmare).
If I pass, they feel honor bound to catch up and pass, never mind that
that they can't maintain the pace. Rather than put up with it, I'll
usually pull to the side of the trail, have a nice long drink, enjoy the
scenery, and let them get far enough ahead that I can ride my pace, they
can ride theirs, and I don't have to deal with anybody's issues.
This time, though, I was in a perverse mood. I decided to treat it as
an experiment. How well could I control the pace of two complete
strangers, from behind, with no verbal communication at all?
Quite well, as it turns out. Their "normal" pace was about 11 mph. I
could force them up to 15 mph just by speeding up gradually. As soon as
I'd slack off, they'd slow down as well, gasping and gulping. I kept it
up for nearly 5 miles, expecting them to put an end to my game at any
time, simply by pulling over. That's what I do (being a solitary and
antisocial rider, for the most part), when I have even the slightest
suspicion that somebody is toying with me.
But not these guys. Did they have any idea that they were being
deliberately herded? I'll never know. I finally turned off onto a side
trail, and up a hill, and watched as they looked behind them, looked
again, and when they saw the coast was clear, finally, and with every
evidence of relief, pulled over and stopped.

Kathleen
Playin' border collie on the trail...

LOL, that's pretty funny. I usually ride fairly close to my max, unless I'm
riding with a friend who's slower. I don't usually see too many people
passing me on the trails, unless its while we're stopped for a snack, log,
pictures, or the like. Not that I'm that fast, its just not too many other
people are incredibly speedy either! If somebody passes me, though, whether
from being plain faster or due to a break, my friends and I usually let them
go, then start chasing them. Doesn't hurt them at all, I often see them
speed up when we get behind them, and it pushes us a little bit. Sometimes
we blow up, usually we'll catch them. Unless I'm racing or messin' around
with friends, though, I'll let anybody who looks faster than me (even if I'm
taking a break or going slower than I should be) pass me. If I pass 'em
back, well, thats even better!

One of my favorite pastimes when riding alone, and still have some energy,
is to wait until I come across some riders coming the other way. I continue
on for a bit, depending on how fast they were going (I'll usually go to the
next intersection), turn around, and see if I can chase them down. I did
this on a couple sections of trail a lot last year, and I can now ride those
sections faster than any of my friends - even my friend who's way stronger,
fantastic technically, and has no fear.

Haven't been passed by a girl yet, except in a group ride situation where
you kinda move around in the group to get a change of scenery! When I do,
you can bet I'm gonna try to chase her down though.... and get her digits.

Jon Bond

Craig Brossman wrote:
Speaking for myself as a 40-something guy, I guess I can understand their
feelings. It is not particularly easy being raised to support a family, be
the pillar of strength, be aggressive in business and athletic life, and
then show our sensitive side when called for, not always be competitive ...


Speaking for myself as a 20-something girl who has dealt with this macho
bull**** time and time again ... it gets really old.

It gets old when the guy in your martial arts class won't try to
actually hit you when you're sparring, and he claims that it's because
he's been raised not to hit a girl, rather than admitting that he's
afraid of what it will look like if he actually tries and loses.

It gets old when you're treated as being so inherently frail, simply
because you're female, that for a male to "lose" to you is the height of
indignity.

It gets old hearing terms like "throw like a girl," "run like a girl," etc.

I know that you have no control over how you were raised, and you have
no control over how you feel -- you do, however, have control over one
important thing, and that is how you behave. Just as people who grew up
with racist parents can learn to place a filter between their
unfortunate thoughts and their mouths, so someone who has grown up
believing he needs to be the stereotype of masculinity can learn to
place a filter between his heart and his limbs.

This isn't about showing a sensitive side, by the way. It's about
showing respect.

-- monique

(I'm sure you're a great guy and all. I don't mean this so much as a
rant at you, as a rant of general frustration about this attitude.)