'Pro' racers VS Weekend 'Warriors'

[rookie_ryder]

You guys are unbelievable! If this is what happens on a friggin internet forum, I'm not surprised by what happened at the race!

[wanderingwheels]

You guys are unbelievable! If this is what happens on a friggin internet forum, I'm not surprised by what happened at the race!

Like

[hitanshu]

You guys are unbelievable! If this is what happens on a friggin internet forum, I'm not surprised by what happened at the race!

Is this the first thread you've followed in almost 2 years?

[deepakvrao]

You guys are unbelievable! If this is what happens on a friggin internet forum, I'm not surprised by what happened at the race!

Actually, it's easier to fight on the net. Mostly people that you don't *really* know and sometimes nuances are not well communicated with only text.

[wanderingwheels]

IMHO this whole thing is ugly - what they say happened at the race and the discussion that took a bad turn.

If I was the organizer, I would ban folks involved in the fights - those who exchanged blows (not the ones who instigated it) - for rest of the year, and the teams for a race. That's what happens in sports - when you start doing things you are not supposed to do, you get thrown out. Examples: Zidane, Mike Tyson... the list is endless.

When you wake up early morning and get your behind out there to ride, you ride. You don't try to knock others off, you don't try to salvage your hurt ego; you ride! Well, if things were so simple, there wouldn't have been two world wars. Enjoy!

[Nagaraj MR]

Rajesh just telling u casually or seriously or harshly , you dont make sense and u judge the situation based on wat u heard from other person. U may not be aware of head and tail abt the situation, but too gud at criticizing Indians or community of Indian or people from India. Would like to challenge u in open forum, Come to BBCH google forum and share ur opinion and start facing our people of ur so said Indian community... .. The kind of opinion u have towards bbch community and people at bbch community, remember everyone over there has same opinion towards u.... Once u criticized for Indian's calling themself as Ironman after completin Ironman 70.3, u criticized saying specialized wanted to enter indian market so they came into India through sponsoring a team, which they do not mean , u criticized for the term "Pro" being used here, putting ur leg into others fight. But I dont understand wts ur problem all about. Its just simple timepass or u want have fun with others topic of discussion?
Well done. U r source of entertainment for others. So they keep replying u (Refer to Myself here)..

[rookie_ryder]

Is this the first thread you've followed in almost 2 years?

I used to come here for useful information & little entertainment ... the other way round now

[cryptic_abbreviator]

I used to come here for useful information & little entertainment ... the other way round now

you are here Board index ‹ General ‹ Bikers Joint where "Anything goes here... spouse problems to mindless banter! And ofcourse, Bikes! "

ciao
gr

[RNair]

Btw not sure why you took that bait! It was not yours.

Obvious troll is obvious.

Hola Sex Jihadi, that message was for a friend.

[vkalia]

You guys are unbelievable! If this is what happens on a friggin internet forum, I'm not surprised by what happened at the race!

Not really. I think both SSR and Raj are mature enough to not let a heated disagreement degenerate into a brawl. It is possible for mature adults to disagree - even vehemently - without resorting to fisticuffs, no?

[rookie_ryder]

Not really. I think both SSR and Raj are mature enough to not let a heated disagreement degenerate into a brawl. It is possible for mature adults to disagree - even vehemently - without resorting to fisticuffs, no?

Possible. But the past few pages are more like 2 teenage kids on a mine-is-bigger-than-yours pissing match!

[RNair]

What I find instead a pissing match is when I see 20 pages of folks pissing on a cell phone thread. To each his own. Funny how people instead spend all their time reading the past few pages

And for the record, it was neither heated nor a brawl. We disagreed on a few things.

And still apart from 2 or 3 folks actually no one managed to write anything constructive on the underlying issue. Why?

[krishnas]

And still apart from 2 or 3 folks actually no one managed to write anything constructive on the underlying issue. Why?

Because we would rather go out and ride OR run than write reams on BZ!

[RNair]

And still apart from 2 or 3 folks actually no one managed to write anything constructive on the underlying issue. Why?

Because we would rather go out and ride OR run than write reams on BZ!

Listen let me put this out nicely.

1. Roopak and I are cyclists who get up and train everyday. He rides a 100kms a day while I may just ride my modest 40km. He rides for a team while I spend 6 months a year organizing a bike ride while balancing out my own training and family. We have opinions but I respect him as a cyclist and he is entitled to what he says.

2. Now I don't spend my time discussing what phone to buy on BZ because it does not concern me. I stay away from those threads and don't write comments which does not add to the discussion or just point out political correctness. I knew I could add to this topic so I commented and stuck to what I said.

3. I did add value to this discussion and that is proved by the fact that I have emails in my inbox from the concerned race parties/teams and I will meet them personally and see how they and my event can gain from this to make it safe and fair for cyclists.

4. Next week you may ride but I will exploring South India on my bike to make sure I can find safe roads for a 100 cyclists to ride in December. And guess what this comes at my own personal expenditure. Many may not know this. I don't know why I do this but it makes me happy to see people riding.

5. So yeah choose threads wisely where u can contribute or stay away, read quietly but don't come around saying how I should express my comments.

[krishnas]

5. So yeah choose threads wisely where u can contribute or stay away, read quietly but don't come around saying how I should express my comments.

RNair dude,
You dont own this forum as your personal fiefdom! So, you don't get to tell me which thread to contribute to or not. Get this thing in your head, buddy..
Never did I say that you should/ shouldn't contribute to this thread in whichever way it pleases you. Re-read my comment.. or dont, it doesnt matter me one bit!

Just because you have had "disagreements" on this thread, doesnt give you the right to jump on others!

And no, I am NOT budging from this thread! Sue me!

[RNair]

Read my comment again the whole thread again!

This forum has a comprehension problem. Some people can't read English as a language.

[RNair]

And still apart from 2 or 3 folks actually no one managed to write anything constructive on the underlying issue. Why?

Because we would rather go out and ride OR run than write reams on BZ!

This was your contribution to this thread. 5 points I made and you quoted 1. And which one? See where the problem lies?

[deepakvrao]

And still apart from 2 or 3 folks actually no one managed to write anything constructive on the underlying issue. Why?

Because we would rather go out and ride OR run than write reams on BZ!

Not taking any 'sides' here but it seems to me ironic that this line has been aimed at the two guys who ride the MAXIMUM amongst those on this forum, and probably volume [and quality wise], amongst the highest in this country.

[krishnas]

^^ Exactly my point!
First you mis-construct my 'harmless' jibe as an assault, and then you label it as 'People's' comprehension problem.
Then you go ahead and label it as an Indian IT community problem.. so much reaction to a simple comment in jest (which was essentially channeling your own reaction on that phone thread)!
What next?

[RNair]

Nothing. I got irked by this thread because it gave maximum entertainment for many with no solutions from them.

Can someone actually list 5 points on how to keep a "bicycling" race safe and fair? How can we have a Cat system that follows the same standard in every city and state? How can we have staggered starts so there is fair play? How can we move cyclists between Cats? How can "Pros" contribute to the community?

[RNair]

Once u criticized for Indian's calling themself as Ironman after completin Ironman 70.3,
Well done. U r source of entertainment for others. So they keep replying u (Refer to Myself here)..

You don't become "Ironman" after doing half the distance? I am sorry!

An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) consisting of a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bike and a marathon 26.2-mile (42.2 km) run, raced in that order and without a break. Source Wikipedia. And btw I am also on the SL Ironman committee so I guess I would know this right?

The problem is people like to participate in events without knowing the facts of the event. So when I pinpoint it hurts them in public and their ego takes a dip and they hate me for it. Not everyone is unfortunately ignorant in this world where they can come back to the country and lie to people who don't know the facts of these events.

This is indeed interesting. People like to hate what I say but few are interested in correcting what I said? Correct me with facts if I am wrong.

[krishnas]

And still apart from 2 or 3 folks actually no one managed to write anything constructive on the underlying issue. Why?

Because we would rather go out and ride OR run than write reams on BZ!

This was your contribution to this thread. 5 points I made and you quoted 1. And which one? See where the problem lies?

Nope, I dont want to make it into a slanging match! But just to wind up this 'disagreement' business, let me reply to this one anyway.

RNair,
Great, you made some great and valid points towards the crux of the issue, that was in the original thread (note, this thread was split to separate the tangent the original thread took). Having said that, beyond a point, re-iterating the same stuff again isn't going to solve the issue. Writing directly to the concerned folks (that would be BBCh organizers) would be a more 'constructive' action. But, honestly, I have no issues if this thread went on for another 200 pages.

What did get my goat was the tone of your mail towards me ( and only me) where you start off with "Listen let me put this out nicely." and then went on to essentially tell me to scoot off. That didnt exactly go down well with me, for obvious reasons. Enough said!

[RNair]

No worries Krishnas. Peace. Btw you mentioned about writing directly, u assume that is not happening? And you think I should publish my private emails? I am at peace with everything i wrote in this thread. lets close this here. I got your point.

[SexJihaad9/11]

Nothing. I got irked by this thread because it gave maximum entertainment for many with no solutions from them.

Can someone actually list 5 points on how to keep a "bicycling" race safe and fair? How can we have a Cat system that follows the same standard in every city and state? How can we have staggered starts so there is fair play? How can we move cyclists between Cats? How can "Pros" contribute to the community?

Gladly, since you asked.


The first thing that occurred to me when I saw the pictures from the race was that it seemed very, very unsafe for a number of reasons.

1. The race was 3 laps of a circuit that had what looked like a blind corner and a U turn at each end. This is unsafe, specially when it is a public road that is being used. ( I remember seeing pictures of cyclists with a truck sharing space on the road with them) How about using an empty/emptier road; a different location/timing may solve or alleviate this issue. Also U turns and the corner are just an accident waiting to happen. This is made worse when some riders behave like D-bags and crash into oncoming riders (according to others on this thread)

2. Riders with vastly different kinds of bikes, levels of ability and aims in the race are competing together. There are MTB's and high end road bikes, casual bikers with backpacks and what passes for pro riders in the same race, starting at the the same time. This is aggravated by the aforementioned U turns and blind corner on the circuit. Even though I am new to cycling I have some road sense and can see that this mix 'n match is asking for trouble. More than high speeds, it is vehicles of vastly different speeds on the same piece of road that create accidents.

3. Separate races for separate levels of riders. Fat bellied wannabe roadies such as myself should be able to compete against others of our ilk without having to worry about some 'pro' with a chip on his shoulder and a hair up his arse, crashing into us.

4. Pro's please get your act together.

If you want to be taken seriously, race against other pro teams.

If you want easy wins, you can pwn noob cyclists in races like these.

You cannot have it both ways.

5. Stop making excuses for shitty behaviour. If the accounts are true and one or more cyclists deliberately created an accident and put their lives and more importantly other cyclists' lives in danger they ought to be banned, FOR GOOD. I wouldn't want to share the road with these lunatics, would you?

My 0.02 US $

[bikeyvenky]

Can someone actually list 5 points on how to keep a "bicycling" race safe and fair?

My 3 cents..

1. Safe routes. Although road closures might not be seen practical or needing too much work in terms of seeking permissions etc., at this stage, there should be plenty of roads with minimal traffic that can be safely used for racing. We need to scout for them and suggest them to the organizers. Everyone in the community who races should contribute. The idea of teams taking responsibility to conduct races along with the organizers came with precisely this sort of contribution in mind. Of course, as is evident, it did not go too well in this race.

2. Staggered start for different categories. This has been suggested at the race venue and has been discussed on BBC forums but is not being implemented on the race day. Why? Because, mainly it is seen as too much work by the organizers. They are volunteering their time and conducting two different races for two categories or starting at two different times would mean having to time them separately and spending more time, resources and energy by these volunteers and organizers. I think they are not yet ready to do that. Solution? More volunteers coming forward and taking responsibility so that different set of volunteers can be given the responsibility to take care of timing and stuff for different categories.

3. Enforcing of rules and penalties. Teams and individuals are responsible to learn and practice what is the safe way to ride in pacelines and tight packs during the races. The riders and/or teams making the race dangerous for others need to be penalized/debarred from participating in a couple of subsequent races or for the season based on what is outlined clearly in the rules. These should not be just nominal/eye wash kind of penalties. The concerned parties should feel the pinch. Again enforcing of rules require a lot of monitoring and volunteer work.

No 4&5, sorry. Ran out of change.