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Never judge a rider by their appearance!

21K views 124 replies 85 participants last post by  freighttrainuphill 
#1 ·
My first mountain bike ride was when I was 22 (I am 29 now) in college. I went up on a group ride with a buddy. I remember seeing mainly 40 somethings and 50 somethings at the trailhead. Many had beer bellies and looked out of shape. Flash forward two hours later when I am getting smoked on the trail and nearly vomiting all over the trail.

Since then I have progressed immensley. I have built up endurance, speed and leg strength. So when I was invited to go on a trip to Moab with three guys old enough to be my Dad I naively though "Ok, well should be a cakewalk since they are so old", these dudes wore me and my buddy (same age) out the whole week.

I sometimes am impressed by how many beer-bellied, awkward looking guys/gals at the trail can shred so hard. Many of these types have cheaper bikes than most and don't insist on wearing the expensive lycra and name brand shoes.

So next time you see someone who looks out of place on the trail, he/she might just shred harder than you think!

Any similar stories out there?
 
#8 ·
It happens to me all the time. I am mid 40's but race Cat 1 open class mostly. Anytime I ride, that is not a race, I usually wear baggies, BMX shoes and an AM helmet. I do not shave my legs ever and show up on a 6" travel Ventana El Chucho. On the group rides there are always some 20 year old guys wanting to be the fastest up a climb and I will just sit right in. Get to the top and they turn around and are stunned I am there not even breathing hard.

Occasionally someone else shows up and does the same to me and I am like WTF, lol.
 
#109 ·
Yep, never judge a rider by their appearance, or their bike!

Yesterday I was out riding on my reasonable high level 29er and was on my way home riding on the foot path. I was on a flat section approaching the only biggish hill I have to go over to get home and was slowly catching up to middle aged woman on a granny bike. I was thinking to myself "wow, she's really moving, but I'll pass her on the hill." Man, was I wrong. While I was thinking this, right on her tail, she suddenly stood up and started really mashing those pedals and keeping the bike vertical - no side to side swaying just pumping up and down. The road up the hill spits with one way being a bit longer and a more steady incline, the other way a bit shorted but a bit steeper. I went the short way, she went the long way. I kept watching her as I sat down and ground my way up the hill while she continued to stand up and kept gaining more and more distance on me.
We reached the top, the roads re-joined, with her way in front of me, my legs burning just shaking my head at myself.

I won't be judging any one for a while!
 
#111 ·
Yep, never judge a rider by their appearance, or their bike!

Yesterday I was out riding on my reasonable high level 29er and was on my way home riding on the foot path. I was on a flat section approaching the only biggish hill I have to go over to get home and was slowly catching up to middle aged woman on a granny bike. I was thinking to myself "wow, she's really moving, but I'll pass her on the hill." Man, was I wrong. While I was thinking this, right on her tail, she suddenly stood up and started really mashing those pedals and keeping the bike vertical - no side to side swaying just pumping up and down. The road up the hill spits with one way being a bit longer and a more steady incline, the other way a bit shorted but a bit steeper. I went the short way, she went the long way. I kept watching her as I sat down and ground my way up the hill while she continued to stand up and kept gaining more and more distance on me.
We reached the top, the roads re-joined, with her way in front of me, my legs burning just shaking my head at myself.

I won't be judging any one for a while!
Was it Mary Poppins?
 
#2 ·
I think we all probably do.

In my circle of riders, they range from hammerheads to fat to 70+ years old and the vast majority hammer unbelievably. The 70 year old hammered up a rock trail that i could only clear in a wet dream. :p

I learned long ago never to make judgments on any rider.
 
#13 ·
My buddy Tom (who was a cat 1 racer and former pro BMX guy) actually showed up to a ride with his
old 20" BMX race bike (his mountain bike was in the shop). He resembled Charles Manson and looked like a slob with a nasty old looking concert AC/DC t-shirt, dirty jeans, and ripped up old sneakers... Anyway, after all of the "new guys" that did not know him were done laughing and talking crap about how ridiculous he looked and how the ride was going to suck, it did not take long for them to drop their jaws in amazement. Tom intentionally started in the back of the group, but once we hit the first nasty climb he blew by everyone like they weren't even moving, passing people through the woods. I knew how fast he was on a mountain bike, and I honestly had no idea that he was going to blow our doors in like he did on an 80's BMX bike. He led the rest of the ride. To this day I still have no idea how he totally embarrassed us, as most of us at the time were decent riders, or so we thought....
 
#14 ·
Ok, GBW you are pretty close. I'm 65, been riding for 30 years. I love it. I ride with name brand shoes, because I have tried riding in other types. They all sucked! You would love my current setup. Shoes $275, orthothodics $450 (carbon fiber BTW), my visits to doctor meh, $25 copays. Maybe 5 visits. All this time and money for only one reason. I want to be able to ride my bike(s). I can hear my Reign calling to me as I type this. Later, James
 
#55 ·
Yeah, and an expensive bike doesn't mean fast.

When my entry level bike broke, I went straight to a nice bike even though I didn't feel I "deserved" it yet. It just seemed more fiscally responsible than upgrading incrementally.

I was so embarrassed to be out on the trails on my new bike. I "knew" that when "everyone" saw me actually ride they would think I was a poser.
 
#57 ·
We come in all shapes and sizes!!! That's Uncle Jimmy on the left. A local FL legend who has his own MTB trial in the heart of the state.... which will bring anyone to tears. This is us at Tsali, where I'll be the first to admit, I couldn't shake him once from my rear wheel all day long!!!! :thumbsup:
 

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#58 ·
i got my buddy a cheap rigid 90's trek because he cant afford anything else, and hes fast as hell.
 
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#64 ·
I was out at the spot one day; there is a bit of a flat spot halfway up this climb where some riders will stop to take a rest. I was suckin wind, but as I went through There was a girl hangin out and she had the balls to say " gettin into shape huh". I looked at her and said " something's wrong with my gears". She probably wasn't bright enough to look down and figure it out. I was riding my SS.
 
#81 ·
This makes me feel like you were sizing up her bike knowledge based on her xx chromosome combo. Maybe she said it admiringly, having noticed you were kicking it on your ss while she was lounging around catching her breath. :D

I was kicking the tires on an Ellsworth Epiphany yesterday at LL Bean when a handsome young man came up to me to warn me that this bike is built to ride on rough terrain, like mountains n stuff. I was dressed in my middle-aged suburban housewife disguise: sweater, skirt, boots. Clearly I had never swung a leg over a full-suspension bike.

I just gave him the round-eyed eyelash batting smile and said "oh, wow!" I should have asked him if he rides, but I was so surprised that he felt the need to school me that I was rendered speechless.
 
#66 ·
I have been on both sides of the "sizing up" process, but for most of my life, I have been the subject of the attention rather than the giver of the attention. The most memorial case was during a triathlon where I wasn't as trim as others would believed I should have been. One female racer made a general comment that she was embarrassed at the number of "fat" people at the race. I had trained for that race for a year...and managed to not lose a pound. I looked soft (large in size) but was extremely fit. I was comfortable with a little insulation ("energy reserve" as I called it then).

There is also the case of "skinny" people being unfit. I had a friend who for all practical purposes looked very healthy. She was reasonably proportioned and what appeared to be a good weight for her height (or BMI). She participated in a research study where she had her body fat measured by a DEXA scan. Her body fat was an ungodly 48%! I, who for all practical purposes was the "fat" one (by looks) was down in the low 20%s. She was actually carrying more pounds of fat than I was.

New research is now really starting to understand more the relationship of weight, body composition and risk factors for disease (e.g., Association of weight status with mortality in adults w... [JAMA. 2012] - PubMed - NCBI). The more fit yet overweight have considerably less risk than the skinny-fat (i.e., limited muscle mass and a relatively high concentration of fat, particularly in the central regions of the body).

So while a person may look relatively round, he or she may be sporting an enormous engine and may have a surprisingly low amount of actual fat. It might just be more visible than in the skinny fat.

So I agree, don't judge and ride on. Your judgement or preconceived notions may be very wrong for the general population. Now, if you spot a person with bulging thighs, garden hose-sized veins in the legs and arms, and a razor sharp look, you may give them the benefit of the doubt and conclude that they could bury you.
 
#71 ·
Happened to me more than once.

Most memorable was a couple years ago. I was 27 and was meeting a guy I hadn't ridden with before who described himself as "intermediate". Well, he got there and got out of the truck... I swear he was probably 300 lbs at maybe 5'11"? And he was about 45 and just got off working a double shift at a factory, saying how tired he was.

I remember thinking, "Oh yeah, the excuses are flowing already. This is gonna suck waiting on this guy all day."

Turned out to be a really nice guy... when he was nice enough to stop and wait for me so we could chat. lol

Quite the humbling experience.
 
#80 ·
Happened to me more than once.

Most memorable was a couple years ago. I was 27 and was meeting a guy I hadn't ridden with before who described himself as "intermediate". Well, he got there and got out of the truck... I swear he was probably 300 lbs at maybe 5'11"? And he was about 45 and just got off working a double shift at a factory, saying how tired he was.

I remember thinking, "Oh yeah, the excuses are flowing already. This is gonna suck waiting on this guy all day."

Turned out to be a really nice guy... when he was nice enough to stop and wait for me so we could chat. lol

Quite the humbling experience.
Lol this is the best one. Sounds like something that would happen to me.
 
#91 ·
yes

And never judge a rider by there legs either.
I'm one of those 50 yr olds that usually smoke younger riders,especially on the climbs.

I met this young man at the trail head of one of my favorite trails and the first thing i noticed was his legs.Resembled legs of a flamingo,looked like spokes in desperated need of truing.
Well..the first section of trail was home to the "cardiac hill" which consisted of 1 mile of steep single track,a section i could surely impress this young man with.

Um...to my surprise this needle leg rider shot up the mountain on his AM bike never to be seen again.I wanted to shout "WHO ARE YOU".
 
#93 ·
Not that I'm fast or anything, but I realized the other day that I don't remember riding when I was young as hard or fast as I do now. Part of it is realizing that every day you don't ride is a day you won't get to ride so you gotta make the most of it when you get a chance. Stuff like that creeps into your subconscious the older you get ...
 
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