Fred Season Comes early to soCal...

[slowoldman]

That right there is exactly the problem. Same thing here. Huge fields, people sitting in to sprint the final 200 meters dreaming on glory in a weekly crit. Ridiculous.

End of the race people are yapping about the massive wattage they hit on that last stretch and how their "coach" has them doing intervals tomorrow.

Turd burglars, all of 'em. Go to Europe and some guy commuting home with a loaf of bread in the back pannier will drop 'em like a bad habit. No power meter. No Zipps. No 6K frame.

I am amazed at how many masters have coaches!! I don't even have a computer on my bike and have never been on the strava website. I just have fun riding/racing my bike. I don't want to turn my bike riding into a math class!

There was a guy a few years back that started riding our Saturday rides with us. He actually said, (no joke) that when he hit 500 watts he could feel his frame twist…….we all laughed the rest of the ride……seriously……

 

[Scott SoCal]

I am amazed at how many masters have coaches!! I don't even have a computer on my bike and have never been on the strava website. I just have fun riding/racing my bike. I don't want to turn my bike riding into a math class!

There was a guy a few years back that started riding our Saturday rides with us. He actually said, (no joke) that when he hit 500 watts he could feel his frame twist…….we all laughed the rest of the ride……seriously……

Yeah, that's kinda strange. IMO, it's more about being accountable to someone for intervals and saddle time than it is about analysis but I could be wrong.

At any rate, I do really well when I follow the Eddy Merckx method. Ride lots.

 

[mewmewmew13]

I am amazed at how many masters have coaches!! I don't even have a computer on my bike and have never been on the strava website. I just have fun riding/racing my bike. I don't want to turn my bike riding into a math class!

There was a guy a few years back that started riding our Saturday rides with us. He actually said, (no joke) that when he hit 500 watts he could feel his frame twist…….we all laughed the rest of the ride……seriously……

OH ghod you just hit on the biggest cycling industry in Boulder.
ffs all the masters w money to burn and itching to outrace the others…
and then talk about it over and over…

yawn.

disclaimer: mr mew has no 'coach' and uses Joe Friels' book…
he also likes to eat cookies and doesn't take himself too seriously
he does really well at the racing but he knows better not to bore me w all the details of each race..

 

[usedtobefast]

well even in the 1990's they were how do you say... augmenting with "vitamins"

 

[Boeing]

The official start date for OC Freds is March 13. Thursday Night Crits

 

[oldcrank]

I am amazed at how many masters have coaches!! I don't even have a computer on my bike and have never been on the strava website. I just have fun riding/racing my bike. I don't want to turn my bike riding into a math class!

There was a guy a few years back that started riding our Saturday rides with us. He actually said, (no joke) that when he hit 500 watts he could feel his frame twist…….we all laughed the rest of the ride……seriously……

Several decades ago I was following Trevor Gadd
(represented Britain at Worlds and Olympics and
won two Commonwealth Silvers for England, held
British Championship record for kilo for many years:
http://www.lfgss.com/thread16620.html scroll down
and he's on the front of the tandem) as he was
doing a flying 200 on a borrowed, but quality Reynolds
531 track bike, as we entered the final banking his
frame was twisting and flexing so bad I backed off
and swung up as I was sure the frame was going to
come apart. It didn't and I did many more races
and workouts with my mate who's bike Trevor was
riding and even though my mate was a very good
local/regional rider I never saw his frame flex like
when Mr. Gadd was riding it. I imagine Trevor was
much closer to 2000 watts than 500 watts though.

 

[slowoldman]

The official start date for OC Freds is March 13. Thursday Night Crits

Great Park?

 

[Energy Starr]

Yeah I argue that being a Fred is more about how you act than what you look like. Don't get me wrong....looking like that can certainly add to your Fredness, but true Fredness is defined by actions. Like porn, you don't really know how to define it, but you sure know it when you see it (or more accurately when it acts upon you).

 

[Energy Starr]

that is all kinds of awesome. I can not imagine the immensity of the F@#K he does not give.

Yeah that guy isn't really a Fred. He has the look of a Fred, but he doesn't act like one. The actions are critical for true Fredness!

 

[Polyarmour]

That right there is exactly the problem. Same thing here. Huge fields, people sitting in to sprint the final 200 meters dreaming on glory in a weekly crit. Ridiculous.

End of the race people are yapping about the massive wattage they hit on that last stretch and how their "coach" has them doing intervals tomorrow.

Turd burglars, all of 'em. Go to Europe and some guy commuting home with a loaf of bread in the back pannier will drop 'em like a bad habit. No power meter. No Zipps. No 6K frame.

But at least they're getting out and exercising aren't they?
It's better than sitting in front of the TV and getting fat like the rest of society?
At the end of the day we all share this passion for cycling which can only be good for cycling.
And it doesn't bother me at all that someone gets a thrill out of winning a D Grade Crit or coffee shop sprint.

BTW your comment about the commuter in Europe reminded me of my own experience in Holland 24 years ago when I first took up cycling. I was dropped by a guy on a Dutch bike pushing into a headwind with a child on the handlebars and another on the panniers.... very embarrassing.

 

[mewmewmew13]

But at least they're getting out and exercising aren't they?
It's better than sitting in front of the TV and getting fat like the rest of society?
At the end of the day we all share this passion for cycling which can only be good for cycling.
And it doesn't bother me at all that someone gets a thrill out of winning a D Grade Crit or coffee shop sprint.

BTW your comment about the commuter in Europe reminded me of my own experience in Holland 24 years ago when I first took up cycling. I was dropped by a guy on a Dutch bike pushing into a headwind with a child on the handlebars and another on the panniers.... very embarrassing.

That's what happened to me in a trail race running once..I thought I was doing pretty well..I heard some puffing and weird sound coming from behind and a woman pushing a baby in a jogger stroller ran by me..
..this IS a running mecca tho..I have to remind myself that I can still get trounced by some 70 yr olds around here lol

 

[DirtyWorks]

But at least they're getting out and exercising aren't they?
It's better than sitting in front of the TV and getting fat like the rest of society?
At the end of the day we all share this passion for cycling which can only be good for cycling.
And it doesn't bother me at all that someone gets a thrill out of winning a D Grade Crit or coffee shop sprint.

But, Moose's point is the extraordinary amount of negative racing that goes on in these events is seen by almost no one but bike racing geeks there for their 40 minutes of negative racing glory. There's lots of additional BS with these riders too. I do not criticize them for being involved in the competitive sport. But go out and do *something* even if it means getting dropped.

Meanwhile, the more people we can get on bikes of all kinds on all kinds of rides the better.

 

[MarkvW]

I love this thread. Roadie elitists are so much fun to laugh at!

 

[SirLes]

I think I first heard the term in Kimmage's book when he was overtaken by one going up the Galibier shortly before he abandoned.

I have always taken it to mean Non Pro cyclists.

Essentially if your primary source of income is not derived from racing a bike you re just doing it for fun or transport. What you ride, how you ride and what you wear is all secondary to the primary reason of having fun or trying to get somewhere.

What I find slightly odd are sneering comparisons that go on as people desperately try and create some sort of hierarchy that isn't there.

 

[42x16ss]

I think I first heard the term in Kimmage's book when he was overtaken by one going up the Galibier shortly before he abandoned.

I have always taken it to mean Non Pro cyclists.

Essentially if your primary source of income is not derived from racing a bike you re just doing it for fun or transport. What you ride, how you ride and what you wear is all secondary to the primary reason of having fun or trying to get somewhere.

What I find slightly odd are sneering comparisons that go on as people desperately try and create some sort of hierarchy that isn't there.

I thought the OP was mostly aimed at people too scared to take a 20 second token pull because it might cost them the sprint 5 minutes later

 

[Boeing]

The Rokform guys Are the new simply fit out here in so cal. Lots of kits but none of them use the product.

 

[sponsor]

Please love the Freds more

In a sport where (sans Track) you cannot close the course and charge admission, Freds pay a huge part of the bill. Freds buy stuff racers cannot afford / or are not allowed to use. They keep the money flowing in a rather broke cycling industry. If it wasn't for Freds the sport would have less money than it does.

So having a round rider in Lycra sitting at the coffee shop talking about his 800g wheels get him up the hill faster - is just good for cycling (I think).

 

[DirtyWorks]

So having a round rider in Lycra sitting at the coffee shop talking about his 800g wheels get him up the hill faster - is just good for cycling (I think).

Yes and No.

Yes: having riders out on any given day for exercise is a good.
Yes: having nice kit makes rides more enjoyable.
Yes: The enthusiasm Fred's have is good. Maybe it needs a little redirection.... Which, many roadies do not see the mistake and inform the rider. Instead, the enthusiastic rider is treated with derision.

No: the marketing practices of high-end gear brands is detrimental to the sport. An unknowing customer drops the money and figures out it's a scam then leaves the sport.
No: The relentless ranking on practically every ride.

 

[frenchfry]

Nobody comes to group rides here to show off expensive equipment. We appreciate nice stuff but it doesn't go beyond that, we are there to ride and enjoy each others company.

 

[sponsor]

Nobody comes to group rides here to show off expensive equipment. We appreciate nice stuff but it doesn't go beyond that, we are there to ride and enjoy each others company.

What ride is that? A bunch of bikes I see the "older guys" riding are under UCI weights and typically more costly than what racers are riding.
If you read my post above, you know I am a fan of that, but I think showing off is part of the sport. So much so that cool expensive components will often be selected over ones that work better. As is well known, sometimes you have to give up some quality and performance if you want the very best.

 

[mr. tibbs]

...What's the etymology of "Fred"?

 

[sponsor]

Not answering your question but...
In NorCal racing in the late 70s I never heard the term, but I was not really plugged in that much. I started hearing it in SoCal around early 80s. It was described to me a racer wannabe wearing the Bell helmet with the mirror and their name was always Fred. I believe Bell helmet and Fred went together then. About 5 years later we started calling the female cycling groupies Bettys.

 

[42x16ss]

Nobody comes to group rides here to show off expensive equipment. We appreciate nice stuff but it doesn't go beyond that, we are there to ride and enjoy each others company.

I wish that was the case here, everybody seems to ride only to try and drop each other

In the last 6 months I've had at least 5-6 people have a go at the 5600 series 105 on my training bike, a friend had someone rag out his TT bike - without realising it was an old team bike from his pro-conti days and another two friends upgraded to bikes that they weren't happy with long term just because of peer pressure in their riding groups, one of whom made a hefty loss on her new bike when she sold it simply because she wanted it gone.

I guess it comes with living in a city full of image conscious, middle aged riders, cashed up on mining and resources money.

 

[frenchfry]

I wish that was the case here, everybody seems to ride only to try and drop each other

In the last 6 months I've had at least 5-6 people have a go at the 5600 series 105 on my training bike, a friend had someone rag out his TT bike - without realising it was an old team bike from his pro-conti days and another two friends upgraded to bikes that they weren't happy with long term just because of peer pressure in their riding groups, one of whom made a hefty loss on her new bike when she sold it simply because she wanted it gone.

I guess it comes with living in a city full of image conscious, middle aged riders, cashed up on mining and resources money.

A few months ago a guy showed up on a bike with down tube lever shifters. We were admirative, especially when he more or less managed to keep up. He has now upgraded, not from any peer pressure but because he saw the interest in a more modern bike.

Having said that, there are always those who try to show how strong they are by taking hard pulls. They are often reprimanded.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Not answering your question but...
In NorCal racing in the late 70s I never heard the term, but I was not really plugged in that much. I started hearing it in SoCal around early 80s. It was described to me a racer wannabe wearing the Bell helmet with the mirror and their name was always Fred. I believe Bell helmet and Fred went together then. About 5 years later we started calling the female cycling groupies Bettys.

I can corroborate hearing the derogatory term 'Fred' in the mid-eighties in SoCal.

Betty was actually from skate/surf culture. Depending on how you heard it used, it was either a girl that had some interest in a skater dude but not into skating herself, or a cute surfing girl. IMO, "Betty" very much predates "Fred."