That's cycling

there was an
unavoidable glass field and when we stopped, I was the only one to get
off the bike and carefully wipe off both tires.

-ilan

The glass fields are alive.... with the sound of hissing ?

(yeah yeah - I know that's in Austria )

In article
,
ilan wrote:

Most memorable line of the day, told to me by a rider from Saturday's
ride who asked me if I got home OK. That ride had been 100km, where I
rode the last 40 with 4 guys, I was the least fit and the long climb
shelled me. He asked me this question because they attacked me again
with 10km to go and I never saw them again after that. So, I had
prepared for his question and answered: "What do you care?" and then
explained that you don't ride 100km and attack someone in the last
10km. That's when he said: "That's cycling."

To that, I responded: "No, it's you," and tried to explain that such
things aren't accepted elsewhere.

Never complain. Never explain.
Frag their tiny little minds.

--
Old Fritz

In article
,
ilan wrote:

On Apr 25, 8:25Â*pm, RicodJour wrote:
On Apr 25, 11:43Â*am, ilan wrote:











Most memorable line of the day, told to me by a rider from Saturday's
ride who asked me if I got home OK. That ride had been 100km, where I
rode the last 40 with 4 guys, I was the least fit and the long climb
shelled me. He asked me this question Â*because they attacked me again
with 10km to go and I never saw them again after that. So, I had
prepared for his question and answered: "What do you care?" and then
explained that you don't ride 100km and attack someone in the last
10km. That's when he said: "That's cycling."

To that, I responded: "No, it's you," and tried to explain that such
things aren't accepted elsewhere. I only realized the depth of his
ignorance later. I realized that our little group of 10 would probably
be together for maybe 5km of a 80km ride. I went up and told him this,
and he didn't seem to understand. I pointed out that our group was at
this point in 4 parts and he said: "OK, so what's the problem?"

This rapidly deteriorating, because I also realized that the ride was
actually at the level of Paris Longchamp rides, the worst riding I've
ever seen, because of the same bizarre "shepherding" behavior, in
which some alpha males are designated pace setters, and any attempt to
speed up the group is ignored. That stuff really sets me off, so I
engaged in what was for them even more bizarre behavior: I would ride
past the lead guy going 1kph faster and when he wouldn't get on my
wheel, I would just ride next to him, asking why. When he ignored me,
I rode next to him sitting straight up no hands, trying to demonstrate
to him that his pace wasn't really appropriate.

I'm getting visions of Dave Stoller trying to chat up the Cinzano team
in Breaking Away.
You're lucky you didn't get a pump in your spokes.

It's a group ride - unless you have a bunch of like minded people a
group ride is a democracy - stupid and sheep like.

BTW, it's a lot more effective to make a game out of things when
trying to convince people to do something, instead of hectoring them.
Remember what happened to Hector.

The voice of reason, though correct, is annoying.

The thing I find continually amazing is that this is Switzerland, so
all these guys did years of military service, where I thought the
point of boot camp was to teach people unit cohesion.

Boot camp teaches self discipline and self reliance
to those who have the capacity to develop them.
Only then can you have unit cohesion.

--
Old Fritz

RicodJour wrote in news:2110690a-0d89-4ccd-
:


Stop being so litoral.


It is somewhat ironic that a club named cclittoral really pushes Ilan's
buttons. There's a lesson in there for us, but I'm not sure I want to
know what it is.

If it were me, I would ride at the back and go "stroke ... stroke ...
stroke ..." like a coxswain. If people asked why, I would say "Given the
name, I thought it might make you all ride harder." Admittedly though, I
don't get invited back to a lot of group rides.

--
Bill Fred

ilan wrote:
Since no one
knew how to use their mini pump, I used mine to pump the tire up. By
the way, everyone of these people has at least 30 years riding
experience.

It's Switzerland, where cycle paths are sweeped regularly & diligently:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/willj/5574468433/

William Fred wrote:
It is somewhat ironic that a club named cclittoral really pushes Ilan's
buttons. There's a lesson in there for us, but I'm not sure I want to
know what it is.

If it were me, I would ride at the back and go "stroke ... stroke ...
stroke ..." like a coxswain. If people asked why, I would say "Given the
name, I thought it might make you all ride harder." Admittedly though, I
don't get invited back to a lot of group rides.

Cclittori are super-motivating.

ilan wrote:
Most memorable line of the day, told to me by a rider from Saturday's
ride who asked me if I got home OK. That ride had been 100km, where I
rode the last 40 with 4 guys, I was the least fit and the long climb
shelled me.

Dumbass,
Pull or get dropped.

ilan wrote:
Most memorable line of the day, told to me by a rider from Saturday's
ride who asked me if I got home OK. That ride had been 100km, where I
rode the last 40 with 4 guys, I was the least fit and the long climb
shelled me. He asked me this question because they attacked me again
with 10km to go and I never saw them again after that. So, I had
prepared for his question and answered: "What do you care?" and then
explained that you don't ride 100km and attack someone in the last
10km. That's when he said: "That's cycling."

To that, I responded: "No, it's you," and tried to explain that such
things aren't accepted elsewhere. I only realized the depth of his
ignorance later. I realized that our little group of 10 would probably
be together for maybe 5km of a 80km ride. I went up and told him this,
and he didn't seem to understand. I pointed out that our group was at
this point in 4 parts and he said: "OK, so what's the problem?"

This rapidly deteriorating, because I also realized that the ride was
actually at the level of Paris Longchamp rides, the worst riding I've
ever seen, because of the same bizarre "shepherding" behavior, in
which some alpha males are designated pace setters, and any attempt to
speed up the group is ignored. That stuff really sets me off, so I
engaged in what was for them even more bizarre behavior: I would ride
past the lead guy going 1kph faster and when he wouldn't get on my
wheel, I would just ride next to him, asking why. When he ignored me,
I rode next to him sitting straight up no hands, trying to demonstrate
to him that his pace wasn't really appropriate. All this was ignored,
the other riders were in single file following this person and trying
to ignore me. Then I went to the front and coasted, and this really
set everyone off, anathema to slow the group down!

And so it went for 80km, no one ever pulls off, people go to the front
and ride as hard as they can in the hope that they can ride people off
their wheel, and so forth....

Now, I've been on worse rides before, and quite often in fact, but
what makes this one special is that it is a club ride, everyone is on
the same team, and I've also paid my dues. And for final confirmation
of the stupidity of this club, check out their website:
http://www.cclittoral.ch/

-ilan

I'm with you on this one. When I used to do the regular Saturday ride
in my part of the world, no one stopped - except me. I would pull over
if I saw someone struggling with a changing a flat tire, even if they
weren't from our ride, but the guys you rode with were right in what
they said - what you saw is the way cycling is 99% of the time, and that
aspect of it stinks. _If_ absolutely hammering themselves on this one
day was a critical piece of their competitive training, that's one
thing, but I'm sure it wasn't and that it's simply that they enjoying
hammerfests.

-S-

On Apr 25, 8:43*am, ilan wrote:
Most memorable line of the day, told to me by a rider from Saturday's
ride who asked me if I got home OK. That ride had been 100km, where I
rode the last 40 with 4 guys, I was the least fit and the long climb
shelled me. He asked me this question *because they attacked me again
with 10km to go and I never saw them again after that. So, I had
prepared for his question and answered: "What do you care?" and then
explained that you don't ride 100km and attack someone in the last
10km. That's when he said: "That's cycling."

To that, I responded: "No, it's you," and tried to explain that such
things aren't accepted elsewhere. I only realized the depth of his
ignorance later. I realized that our little group of 10 would probably
be together for maybe 5km of a 80km ride. I went up and told him this,
and he didn't seem to understand. I pointed out that our group was at
this point in 4 parts and he said: "OK, so what's the problem?"

This rapidly deteriorating, because I also realized that the ride was
actually at the level of Paris Longchamp rides, the worst riding I've
ever seen, because of the same bizarre "shepherding" behavior, in
which some alpha males are designated pace setters, and any attempt to
speed up the group is ignored. That stuff really sets me off, so I
engaged in what was for them even more bizarre behavior: I would ride
past the lead guy going 1kph faster and when he wouldn't get on my
wheel, I would just ride next to him, asking why. When he ignored me,
I rode next to him sitting straight up no hands, trying to demonstrate
to him that his pace wasn't really appropriate. All this was ignored,
the other riders were in single file following this person and trying
to ignore me. Then I went to the front and coasted, and this really
set everyone off, anathema to slow the group down!

And so it went for 80km, no one ever pulls off, people go to the front
and ride as hard as they can in the hope that they can ride people off
their wheel, and so forth....

Now, I've been on worse rides before, and quite often in fact, but
what makes this one special is that it is a club ride, everyone is on
the same team, and I've also paid my dues. And for final confirmation
of the stupidity of this club, check out their website:http://www.cclittoral.ch/

-ilan

So you're in the vicinity of Yverdon, at the south end of the Lac de
Neuchâtel. Thus, going clockwise starting roughly at 6 o'clock,
you're surrounded by the Gros de Vaud, the Jura vaudois, the Jura
neuchatelois, the Seeland, the Emmental, the Alpes fribourgeoises, the
Gruyere. You've got medieval towns like Estavayer-le-lac, and the
Roman ruins at Payerne, you can push a little further to Lausanne and
the Riviera vaudoise, or even Interlaken on a long day ride. Not
mentioning how far you can go if you're willing to hop the train
back. If it were me, I'd just appreciate the fact that I was in one
of the great cycling regions of the world, and go for long rides by
myself instead of playing the Franco-american schmuck for the locals.
Feh.

Ben Trovato wrote:
So you're in the vicinity of Yverdon, at the south end of the Lac de
Neuchâtel. Thus, going clockwise starting roughly at 6 o'clock,
you're surrounded by the Gros de Vaud, the Jura vaudois, the Jura
neuchatelois, the Seeland, the Emmental, the Alpes fribourgeoises, the
Gruyere. You've got medieval towns like Estavayer-le-lac, and the
Roman ruins at Payerne, you can push a little further to Lausanne and
the Riviera vaudoise, or even Interlaken on a long day ride. Not
mentioning how far you can go if you're willing to hop the train
back. If it were me, I'd just appreciate the fact that I was in one
of the great cycling regions of the world, and go for long rides

Inspiration: http://www.cycling-challenge.com/