Very frustrated and sad (longish)

[OakLeaf]

In 1982 after being laid off from my job, I bought a set of racks and panniers and set out alone on my first tour. Gym shorts, cotton underwear, floppy sneakers, no helmet, no gloves, liquid soap and liquid cherry juice concentrate in a glass bottle. That was 60-80 miles most days. Did I mention the tensioned leather saddle that had been ridden in the rain so often that the seatpost stuck right up through the middle of it? It was on that tour, one night at a campground, that I met a couple of cycle tourists with all the gear. So I totally get what you mean about feeling like a hick. Oh, boy, did I. It didn't help that these were a couple of Canadians whose speech was so precise that I felt like I had a mouthful of cotton balls when we talked.

The next day, I rolled into the nearest town, begged the LBS to take an out-of-town check, and bought my first helmet. Safety seemed like a pretty darn good idea. But it was years and thousands of miles before I had a pair of cycling shorts.

You're fine Gray. You're beyond fine, you're a valuable, participating member of this community. You RIDE. The rest is just details.

And, you're planning on riding for a GREAT CAUSE! Hint: some of the costumes people wear on charity rides are hardly high performance cycling gear.



(Just to address what you said about your cleats, you can buy them separately from the pedals for $20-30. Depending on what system you have, you probably only have one choice of cleats. Even if you have multiple choices, if the ones you had were working for you, just get the same ones for now.)

[hirakukibou]

Hi Grey,
You are doing the most important thing: Riding. Do what works for you. I know it is hard when others are talking and you are not following -- I had that experience recently at a club event when folks were talking about their powertaps and coaches and all, I felt like I don't have money for any of that stuff and can't follow what they were saying. But what I realized is that I don't need that to ride and train and do my best and it helps if I don't compare myself to others (albeit hard at times). I am glad you are here and posting.
Cheers,
Hirakukibou

[lph]

Oh come on, you're the BOMB riding 30 to 40 miles a day! That's all that counts, that you like to ride your bike and get out there and do it!

I rode "alone" i.e. no club, mostly commuting for many years, and just did things my own way. Whatever worked, whatever I could afford. I was a bit shocked to discover the "style police" once I started hobnobbing with club riders, for the first time I found out there's a way you're "supposed" to do a lot of things. Ten to one I'd been doing them "wrong". Now some things are smart to know - it helps to *know* about chamois and wicking clothing if you're uncomfortable on a bike, but a lot of it is just techie talk and has very little to do with riding. A lot of cyclists love fixing up their bikes with all the matching doodads. A lot of them looove having the perfect bike clothing for any weather and any temperature (I'm one of those ) Others will spend a fortune for The Most Perfect lighting system. Others get a kick out of doing all their own wrenching. But it's just details, and none of this will necessarily make you a faster or safer or better rider. It's just spillover, obsessing about certain things to do with biking.

As a student I rode for years in soft worn out sneakers on platform pedals, all winter too with thick wool socks inside. Worked beautifully. I have a spanking new Jett saddle on my road bike, but still have the original hammocky saddle on my 10 yr old commuter. It's fine. My dh commuted an hour and a half every day in hacked off jeans. He has skinny legs but he's really wiry and strong, and he got a huge kick out of dropping the lycra-clad commuterboyz.

I swear, you're just as much or more of a cyclist as anyone else here! FWIW, I think the mtb crowd seem to be a little less gearfocused than the roadies.

ps. post a photo of your cleats and I'm sure somebody can tell yopu what kind they are and where to get new ones, if you'd rather not go to the lbs.

[Tri Girl]

I'm sorry you feel so sad and frustrated. When I first started riding, I joined a club ride. They made me feel like an idiot (you don't have this or that???). I joined a triathlon club and they made me feel like family. Total strangers taught me all I needed to know and listened to my endless questions. I think it's a matter of finding a group that makes you feel comfortable.
Now I'm going the opposite way. I have all the "right" gear and I just bought a touring bike. I haven't ridden my "fast" time trial bike in months. I want to ride my heavy touring bike in sandals and cargo shorts (with a little padding underneath). My bike is nerdy: I have fenders, racks, lights, etc. I don't care. Now I want to ride my bike because I want to and I don't give a hoot what anyone thinks about me or my set up. I put on the "right" gear for races and such (because it's comfy and aerodynamic and all), but when it's just me out there I look like a dork and I LOVE it..
So long as you're happy- nothing else should matter. You go ride and have fun and to heck with what anyone else says. And no offense to anyone, but the club rides around here with the "real roadies" make me so uncomfortable. They are snobby and have never made me feel welcome. I just go it alone or with my tri club peeps. Again- it's whatever makes me happy.

[Miranda]

When I first started riding, I joined a club ride. They made me feel like an idiot (you don't have this or that???). ...they made me feel like family. Total strangers taught me all I needed to know and listened to my endless questions. I think it's a matter of finding a group that makes you feel comfortable.

This is the main thing that has held me back from attending my first group ride to a club I have a paid membership in. Sad, isn't it? When no one (including the lbs who took my $ for my bike) would help, I stumbled across this board. My first post was to the effect of: (deep breath before typing) I have bleeding abrasions on my labia minora...". I have never felt more supported, have never been made to feel stupid, or the like here on TE. Why can't the whole freakin cycling world be like this? It makes me mad.

Gray... Chin up and keep pedaling it out. Aquiring gear can be a slow going process. Most importantly--you have heart. (((hugs))) Miranda

[Selkie]

Don't be so hard on yourself. Getting to know you from your posts, you seem like a genuine, kind person. No artifice or pretense (in my book, that's a very positive attribute). Now you just have to see that in yourself.

You're a "real" cyclist and you definitely are not a "poser." Try not to worry about what other people think and just enjoy your time on the bike. If people give you a hard time about superficial things (clothing, equipment, etc), they probably aren't worthy of your company.

And Gray, in Morgantown, anything goes (if it hasn't changed too much since I graduated in '85).

[Duck on Wheels]

Hi there! I kinda feel like we're soulmates, or ... næh, more like I aspire to being your soulmate. I'm doing the Lifecycle for the first time this year, and most of my cycling gear will be hand-me-downs from my sister and daughter. My first longish ride was a 100k on a comfort bike. I shipped the bike to my sister who took it to her LBS for assembly and fine tuning. They took one look at it, said "The Cinderella Classic on THIS? I give her one hour!" So she wheeled around and took it to her other and more favorite LBS, where they said, "Hmmm. The Cinderella Classic on this. OK. Let's see what we can do to make it doable for her." They switched me from big knobby tires to medium-narrow slicks and I did 42 of the 62 miles in the worst weather that ride has had in its 30-year history (hail, headwinds, and stinking dead skunks on the road). That was my first ever ride more than to and from work or toodling at snail's pace through the countryside on a Sunday. This year I'm signed up for the California ALC I've got a lighter, more efficient bike (though still a hybrid, and not a very expensive one) and a few more pairs of cycle shorts. I've also dared, for the first time ever, to use some hand-me-down lycra shorts (being middle-aged with the "spare tire", an ostomy bag, and various aches and owies to prove it, I've only gone for baggy shorts before). I probably look pretty dorky, but I'm finally at the point where I consider myself a cyclist and don't care. Well, as for the right to consider oneself a cyclist, you're doing more miles a day than I am at this point. YOU ROCK!!! You'll do great on the Lifecycle, and I bet you're an inspiration for many on the road already! You certainly are to me, and I haven't even met you.

[GraysonKelly]

Hi there! I kinda feel like we're soulmates, or ... næh, more like I aspire to being your soulmate. I'm doing the Lifecycle for the first time this year, and most of my cycling gear will be hand-me-downs from my sister and daughter. My first longish ride was a 100k on a comfort bike. I shipped the bike to my sister who took it to her LBS for assembly and fine tuning. They took one look at it, said "The Cinderella Classic on THIS? I give her one hour!" So she wheeled around and took it to her other and more favorite LBS, where they said, "Hmmm. The Cinderella Classic on this. OK. Let's see what we can do to make it doable for her." They switched me from big knobby tires to medium-narrow slicks and I did 42 of the 62 miles in the worst weather that ride has had in its 30-year history (hail, headwinds, and stinking dead skunks on the road). That was my first ever ride more than to and from work or toodling at snail's pace through the countryside on a Sunday. This year I'm signed up for the California ALC I've got a lighter, more efficient bike (though still a hybrid, and not a very expensive one) and a few more pairs of cycle shorts. I've also dared, for the first time ever, to use some hand-me-down lycra shorts (being middle-aged with the "spare tire", an ostomy bag, and various aches and owies to prove it, I've only gone for baggy shorts before). I probably look pretty dorky, but I'm finally at the point where I consider myself a cyclist and don't care. Well, as for the right to consider oneself a cyclist, you're doing more miles a day than I am at this point. YOU ROCK!!! You'll do great on the Lifecycle, and I bet you're an inspiration for many on the road already! You certainly are to me, and I haven't even met you.

Thank you for saying that. I hope your ALC experience is everything you want it to be. Please keep me posted on your training and stuff and let me know what you thought when you're done. Maybe we can inspire each other and maybe we'll meet at ALC one of these days. Have a great day and thank you again. Hugs!
Gray

[GraysonKelly]

Thanks everybody for your support. I was just really having a down day yesterday. I went to the bike shop again and while they are really nice guys who are willing to listen, they are still pushing all this stuff on me that I either don't understand it's purpose or can't afford and they don't seem to get that. I understand that they run a business, but it's just frustrating. And these people that I contacted about maybe joining their group ride were not all that encouraging when I told them what bike I rode and that I'd never ridden with people before (except when DP and I go to the rail trail). Anyway, thanks again for all the support and help ya'll have offered. I appreciate it very much. As far as my shoes go, they are Sixsixone and I'm not sure they make them anymore. I will have to figure out what "model" (?) they are, first. I was actually wanting a new pair anyway, something that I can walk in as well as ride in. it's funny, I haven't fallen off the bike or had any major incidents since I started riding again, but I've fallen down the steps twice in those shoes. Again, thanks to all of you. I do feel better and have regained some of my "This is my thing. I love doing it. So I'm gonna do it my way." attitude, so thanks for reminding me.
Hugs all around!
Gray