Dear So and So

[lovelygamer]

hmmmm I resemble that remark..... interesting to know that make me a candidate for crazy

I didn't mean harm, that's just HIS opinion as a non-cyclist. I don't think anyone with a passion is crazy. Serious cyclist inspire me, even as a non-competitive person.

[malkin]

Crazy isn't necessarily bad, and to me anyway, it isn't a synonym for 'mentally ill.'

[Owlie]

Eh, any one of us could be labeled "crazy" by non-cyclists.

Also, boys are weird. I've heard a number of friends say that their boyfriends freaked out when they started exercising. "Noooo! I don't want you to be all muscley!" I don't know where it comes from, but it's silly.

[Crankin]

My "regular" friends think I am "crazy." I just laugh. They could tolerate me going to the gym and even working there, but cycling? It was OK for my son and DH. When I started cycling, they thought I was nuts and putting myself at risk. Too hard and dangerous.
What guys think muscles are weird? Is this a younger generation thing? The old guys in my riding group like women with muscles....

[malkin]

...
What guys think muscles are weird? Is this a younger generation thing? The old guys in my riding group like women with muscles....

Wasn't this also value in the late 19th- early 20th century? Once my grandmother got mechanized cooking, cleaning and laundry technology, she barely had to move anymore, and society saw that as a good thing.

So for the younger generation to flirt with it--I guess it is about time.

[indysteel]

My "regular" friends think I am "crazy." I just laugh. They could tolerate me going to the gym and even working there, but cycling? It was OK for my son and DH. When I started cycling, they thought I was nuts and putting myself at risk. Too hard and dangerous.
What guys think muscles are weird? Is this a younger generation thing? The old guys in my riding group like women with muscles....

I don't see it as a generational thing or as something with historical roots (although maybe that explains it in some cultures). Rather, I think a lot of men, and people in general, are resistant to change, especially change that stands to highlight their own issues. How many people out there would prefer their partner remain overweight and out-of-shape because that enables them to stay the same way? I can also imagine that many men are threatened when their wives start getting in shape, for fear that they might leave or attract added attention from other men. I'm generalizing this to men, but I'm sure there are women who fear the same things.

I also think there are plenty of men--and women--who perceive muscular women to be less feminine. We at TE may realize the stupidity in such notions, but they persist regardless.

Even within healthy and evolved body attitudes, I think there's room for respectful differences of opinion. I prefer to look toned and lean, rather than really muscular. Not that I could achieve the latter, but I'm not after a bodybuilder's body for myself...but I respect the right of others to pursue the body they desire for themselves.

[L-Bell]

Dear egomaniacal middle-aged man:

Thank you for reminding me of the importance of kindness and humility by being totally lacking in both in your role as “shepherd” on a training ride yesterday.

First you made fun of a lady who fell after getting tangled up in her clips, then you mocked my voice after I yelled out a safety call, then you rode behind me while talking loudly about “riding inefficiently, for example, THAT girl, who for some reason is in the SMALLEST front gear and pedaling too hard”, so that I had to turn around and say “excuse me, but are you talking about me? And why aren’t you offering to help me instead of talking about me to someone else?”.

You then refused to describe how to better utilize the gears, even after I explained that it was my 3rd time ever on a road bike and while I hadn’t mastered the terminology, we both knew I was referring to the left gear shift and how to better use it and I’d appreciate any advice you could give me, but you instead said things like, “LEFT and RIGHT are not terms that mean anything when talking about a bike – there are no LEFT and RIGHT gears – the aim is to ride EFFICIENTLY”.

Your role was to offer encouragement and support and you instead chose to humiliate and belittle. Next time at least wear a shirt that fits so no one has to look at your sweaty exposed lower back for 2 hours.

[Blueberry]

Hang in there, L-Bell! Thankfully, NOT all group rides are like that....

(and there are very good, knee protecting reasons that you might should be in your little front ring and upper range of the back cogs - most beginners ride in too hard a gear from the little bit I've observed)

[Owlie]

Dear egomaniacal middle-aged man:

Thank you for reminding me of the importance of kindness and humility by being totally lacking in both in your role as “shepherd” on a training ride yesterday.

First you made fun of a lady who fell after getting tangled up in her clips, then you mocked my voice after I yelled out a safety call, then you rode behind me while talking loudly about “riding inefficiently, for example, THAT girl, who for some reason is in the SMALLEST front gear and pedaling too hard”, so that I had to turn around and say “excuse me, but are you talking about me? And why aren’t you offering to help me instead of talking about me to someone else?”.

You then refused to describe how to better utilize the gears, even after I explained that it was my 3rd time ever on a road bike and while I hadn’t mastered the terminology, we both knew I was referring to the left gear shift and how to better use it and I’d appreciate any advice you could give me, but you instead said things like, “LEFT and RIGHT are not terms that mean anything when talking about a bike – there are no LEFT and RIGHT gears – the aim is to ride EFFICIENTLY”.

Your role was to offer encouragement and support and you instead chose to humiliate and belittle. Next time at least wear a shirt that fits so no one has to look at your sweaty exposed lower back for 2 hours.

What a tool!

[lovelygamer]

Eh, any one of us could be labeled "crazy" by non-cyclists.

Also, boys are weird. I've heard a number of friends say that their boyfriends freaked out when they started exercising. "Noooo! I don't want you to be all muscley!" I don't know where it comes from, but it's silly.

Yep, my boy is one of those too. He likes girls that are curvy and soft. To each his own, as they say.

[limewave]

Yep, my boy is one of those too. He likes girls that are curvy and soft. To each his own, as they say.

DH likes me curvy and soft. Which is awesome. Part of me feels really "fat" when I line up next to the sinewy, lithe women at races. But DH is constantly affirming my physique . . .