I remember the first time I went on a group bike ride. It was four years ago and about this time of the year. I was 39 and had just recently got caught up in the hype of Lance Armstrong winning his 6th Tour. I went out and bought myself a road bike and started riding every day. Eventually I joined a bike racing team and was excited about riding with a group of people, and learning how to be a better bike rider.
I showed up to my first ride and was instantly terrified. There were 20 or so folks decked out in their fancy kits. I felt like an outcast and not one person said hi to me. The ride finally departed and we headed for Carter Lake. The ride was a complete disaster for me. I didn’t know how to paceline and was terrified of drafting the rider in front of me. I stayed at the back and was eventually dropped. Thankfully, I hooked up with a few other stragglers and one rider in particular showed interest in me and helped me get back to Longmont.
I went home and told my wife about what had happened and told her that I thought most of the people on the ride were a bunch of arrogant jerks. If it wasn’t for the one person who was nice to me, I probably would have never returned.
But I did, and slowly but surely I got better. And I got to know more and more people. And they weren’t jerks. Well, most of them weren’t. And the rest as they say is history.
Perception. In the end, perception is all that matters. We can think we're right about something, we may even BE right, but perception will always prevail.
My fellow bike riders, be gracious. Say hi to your fellow teammates. Invest in them and show them the way. Be mindful of the perception you’re presenting to the world. And when others are critical, agree with them and apologize. EVEN if you know you’re right.
4 comments:
Great post. Coming from mountain biking to road biking, I'm still astonished at how, umm....focused?, roadies tend to be.
Never hurts to wave and say hello right?
For some roadies, a head nod or just lifting the fingers without taking the hands off the handlebars is a wave. From my experience, most roadies acknowledge you one way or another. At least one person from a group will anyway.
To be clear, this is not a roadie bashing post. I've never had issues with other roadies waving or acknowledging me. Nor do I really care. This isn't about how nice mountain bikers are compared to rodies. This is about perception. This is about how a club that has grown to 160 people and how is precieved by it's fellow members and the general public. It's about doing the right thing and not focusing on being right. Nothing more.
I hear you; this is about perception.
When I went to school I was interested in bike racing, but I had heard bike racers were jerks that would lead you way out of town and then drop you and leave you to find your own way home. It took me 2 years and 30lbs to start going on rides and my perception was very, very wrong.
It's never too late for people to have a referendum on their perceptions.
And when someone gives the club a first, second or third chance, it shouldn't be squandered.
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