The term 'FRED' just makes me laugh. I can certainly imagine the most 'elitist' of the roadies referring to all the rest of us recreational riders as 'Fred's...but still...I find it funny. If someone wants to think less of me because of what I wear or how I ride, then let them. That just makes me feel better about myself and less about them!

I work with a guy who picked up cycling a number of years ago to lose weight. He helped encourage me to ride with the guys at work when I first bought my bike and we both are now organizers of our company's MS150 team. BUT, he is constantly teasing me that my bike with my matching water bottles and my matching jacket makes me a Fred. I snort back that NO, it just makes me a woman. Of course, this is pretty funny coming from a guy who is well over 250 lbs and yet rides on fancy racing wheels to save weight. Every ride over 60 miles he breaks a spoke...and he calls ME Fred.