[willyboy8576]

when somebody(that dosent ride) ask you what you like to do for fun and you tell them that you like to ride bikes, and they give you that sorta look thats like your to old to still be riding bikes, because the assume that you mean around and not like dh or fr'ing. does any one else get that besides me?

 

[XpeteX]

I don't mind that as much as all the times I get asked "what does your bike cost?". why should you care? I think I'm gonna start with stopping people on the street and ask them how much they paid for their cars. :mumble:

 

[chicodude]

i get it all the time

 

[RhinofromWA]

Counter by asking them what they like to do. If they say Basket ball....look at them wierd and say you haven't touch a Bbal since HS....and act like they are still playing childish games.

Biking is active and recreative....they will not understand it if you try and explain it to them.

Bicycles are not limited to pre-drivers license kids. Though I guess that happens. I stopped riding bicycles in HS after I received my DL, but picked it back up when I went to college and met up with some MTBr's.

I haven't swunga bat since HS....I have played a little Basketball since....some football....but bicycling is no different. They jsut don't see it on NBC sports.

.....or you didn't say going to the bar and hooking up. Maybe he or she was hitting on you and they can't ride.

 

[SebringMGB]

I get tons of crap at work about it. One guy likes to remind me every time i have my bike at work for an after work ride, that he just bought a Honda dirtbike, that doesnt break, is far more over built and has an engine, for half the price of my bike. i also get the feeling that when people ask (like you said) what i do for fun, and i tell them i ride, they kinda look at you like, "thats great, i ride my bike sometimes too, but what kinda SPORTS do you play / are you interested in?" I do wish DH / FR was a little less arcane. It makes it hard to get people into it, or take people who dont normally ride for a day on a local dh trail. but i guess thats the nature of the sport.

 

[RhinofromWA]

I don't mind that as much as all the times I get asked "what does your bike cost?". why should you care? I think I'm gonna start with stopping people on the street and ask them how much they paid for their cars. :mumble:

It is an honest question....why hide it? Tell them it is the difference rfom driving a Yugo and a (insert SUV) they drive.

Yugo will get form point A to point B just as well as their rig....yet they aid 10x's what a used Yugo is worth. Who is stupid now?

 

[oly]

when i say bikes, people usualy think i mean motor bikes..... When i say downhill they think skiing......

 

[Acadian]

when i say bikes, people usualy think i mean motor bikes..... When i say downhill they think skiing......

hahha...same here!!!

 

[RhinofromWA]

I get tons of crap at work about it. One guy likes to remind me every time i have my bike at work for an after work ride, that he just bought a Honda dirtbike, that doesnt break, is far more over built and has an engine, for half the price of my bike. i also get the feeling that when people ask (like you said) what i do for fun, and i tell them i ride, they kinda look at you like, "thats great, i ride my bike sometimes too, but what kinda SPORTS do you play / are you interested in?" I do wish DH / FR was a little less arcane. It makes it hard to get people into it, or take people who dont normally ride for a day on a local dh trail. but i guess thats the nature of the sport.

DH/FR has that Gen X or Y (or what are we up to anyway?) stigma. Partly due to our own behavior and attitude.

I hope that changes but I don't see that ahppening anytime soon. I was hoping the excitement in the late 90's would help ease the sport into the general public.....it has lost it's steam and not has to chug along one new rider at a time.

 

[Kornphlake]

oeioek ariynd (woops right hand off) People around here all know what mountian bikes are, they're the freakish looking bikes that the disrespectful adults cruise around on in an attempt to destroy the natural harmony and peace of the outdoors. Living right next to Anderson Truck Trail I get stuff from my neighbors like "how could you live here and ride that?" Classic example of how it only takes one disrespectful rider to ruin it for everyone and one vocal citizen to make a big stink. When I lived in Utah people were like, "oh yea that's cool, I ride up the mulituse path with my kids too..." hardly mountain biking but at least it was accepted as recreation and not destruction.

I called in sick yesterday after a pretty hard crash Wednesday, my knee was swollen and bruised and my shoulder was pretty sore. I didn't make any excuses for missing the day, I just said I crashed on my bike and got a little banged up, I didn't sleep well that night and wanted the day off to recover a little. This morning my boss was like, "how could you do something like that? Why would you ride where you can get hurt?" I said "I take my life in my hands every morning when I get behind the wheel of my car to get to work, the differance is one I enjoy doing and the other is something I have to do." He didn't get it either. There are a couple of other guys at work who ride, they're more into XC so at least they're on my side. The most common question I get is A)how much did it cost, followed by B)Where's the motor?

 

[RhinofromWA]

The most common question I get is A)how much did it cost, followed by B)Where's the motor?

Point to your quads and calves....

 

[Zark]

When I tell someone I do Downhilll biking I usually get "You're one of those assholes who runs me off the trails!" :angry:

I try explaining that I don't run people off and most mtb'ers are nice folks, but someone else has already made the first impression for me. I think being annonymous is better than being known by what a few bad apples represent us to the world as :eviltongu

 

[WestCoastHucker]

Point to your quads and calves....

i point to the crankset, so they look harder and have this look on their face that looks like they are missing something.....

 

[Edgy]

I don't some much get asked the question but being in my early 40s a homeowner with a wife and kid I'm always out front of my house screwing around on my bike doing wheelies etc.(I can aslo keep an eye on my kid).

Around 5-7pm is when all my neighbs start getting home from work and they see me out there on my bike Fn around, etc.. They don't say anything but I can tell what they're thinking...they look a me just like the cops in that Spike Lee movie-Do the Right Thing..when the cops drive by a group of elder black folks hangin out...and you read thier lips..."what a waste...". I have to laugh. Then I see them at my kids open house and what not and I see them talking to their spouses..."there's that yolk whos always out on his bike, who or what does he think he is..... isn't he a little old for that?"

IMO, you're only as old as you think you are.

 

[johnbrittain]

i get that question asked sometimes, and i say downhill mountain biking, and that is directly proceded by a "where in the hell is there to ride down a hill in amarillo texas!?"

 

[willyboy8576]

ya i hate that damn question about how much does it cost, but what i like to say is about as much as i do for an hour people look at you and either laugh or get kinda mad but it is still very funny.

and i also think that every dh/fr bike should come with one of those stickers that say if you ask me where the motor is ill punch you in the FACE! that or a sticker that says im like fred flinstone me legs are the motor bitch!

 

[OGRipper]

Whatever, there is no reason to care. Bikes and bike riders will always be subject to a double standard. Not everyone can or should understand what everyone else does for kicks. The world would be a pretty boring place if it was any other way. If they ask a question legitimately trying to get an answer, fine, try to response in an informative way. If they're just being a wanker, well this says it best:

:nuts:

 

[Tully]

Counter by asking them what they like to do. If they say Basket ball....look at them wierd and say you haven't touch a Bbal since HS

(unless you're still in HS.) When I say I mountain bike, people are usually like, "Oh yeah, that's fun. I just got a brand new bike from Costco, and it's really nice. We should go ride sometime--they just put fresh gravel on the path by my house." Without trying to hyjack the thread and sound cheesy, I sometimes wonder if those are the true freeriders; they ride what they want, when they want, and how they want, without calling it anything other than mountain biking.

It's cool that people my age generally accept mountain biking as a legitimate form of recreation, but they don't realize that it's way more than just recreation, at least to some people. Many people I run into think that road is the only form of racing, and that all serious riders are roadies. They also have no idea that DH/freeriding/mtnx even exist, and it's really a moot point to convince them that those are actually serious, competitive disciplines of mountain biking. On the brighter side, I have a couple friends who learned about DH through Downhill Domination--although they both bought it thinking it was some sort of extreme motocross game!

 

[Eyesquad]

I just tell em to keep thinking riding a bike is easy and then show them a photo of Bender at the Red Bull Rampage and they are instantly interested. That gets em hooked and they will listen to whatever you have to say after that on bike prices and injuries and whatnot. That puts things in perspective for them.

 

[Tully]

I just tell em to keep thinking riding a bike is easy and then show them a photo of Bender at the Red Bull Rampage and they are instantly interested. That gets em hooked and they will listen to whatever you have to say after that on bike prices

People are amazed that I have three bikes, and they just about fall out of their seats when I say the prices.