Veronica, something like that happened to Mr. Salsa. The local club does some "high performance" rides that involve difficult hills and a fast pace. The first time he went on one, with his 30-year-old steel Raleigh International, he got pretty well snubbed---until they noticed he'd gotten up the hill just as quickly as they did on their carbon fiber whatevers. Then, all of a sudden, he got looked at and talked to.