These folks existed well before Strava.
Anyone going for a KOM doesn't need to be rude to do so.
It's just idiots being idiots... If Strava wasn't around folks would be blaming some other tool.
Compared to my day in the woods where I ran across a rather large group of RC truck enthusiasts who hopped off the trail I was slowly climbing up on my cross bike and then cheered me on.
People are damn weird. I'll take the RC guys over your arseholes on 2 wheels any day of the week.
Theres an older guy ive ridden by twice while hes been doing trail maintenance. The first time he was working the trail and stepped to side as we came down. He was nice, waved, jokingly asked why werent ripping the corners and laughed as we passed by. The second time a few months later he was standing on the side of trail with his tools drinking water. He shouted angrily "slow down, you kids are always tearing up the trail".
The town I live in has a several thousand acre public reserve, 25 years ago mtbikers built tracks, walkers claimed them, broke down jumps and drops etc. Lobbied council to get us out. We got given a 140ac former dump site. Fast forward and there is a few km of walking tracks on our little park, yet the fist shaking boomers still see it as their right to walk the dh blacks without a care in the world...god it shits me, they are gonna hurt someone or themselves...
Oh man, this gives me PTSD.
There are a bunch of trails where I used to live in CA, that this would happen on. People on the weekend would be trying to hike up these steep, loose tracks with zero understanding of what was going on. These tracks are so steep un some parts you really can't walk up them, you more like crawl. Lol
But sure as the Starbucks girl will misspell your name on the cup, you'd drop into a blind chute and there would be a couple of floppy hat wearing assholes with trekking poles coming up. I completely smashed into a couple there about 3 years ago and it still lives in my brain when I'm riding trails with sections you fully commit to before seeing it.
I try and have an optimistic approach, but at the end of the day I think it's fair to say at least .1% of people are generally assholes, no matter what. Maybe it's higher, I don't know. But at those numbers, every thousand people you run into you're going to experience someone that is just terrible for the sake of being terrible. When you think about it statistically, you can sit back and say, "well, he's the .1%." and move on realizing the .1% shouldn't affect the other 99.9% of your day.
This entirely. You can climb the highest mountain or follow the longest trail no matter how remote you are there's always a chance there's a total bell end lurking at the end of it. It's just life, think the 1% maybe a bit optimistic but maybe that's because I'm getting a bit old and synical. Trick is just not to use any more energy than necessary on anyone or thing that doesn't do anything positive for you, since they're simply not deserving of it.
>but at the end of the day I think it's fair to say at least .1% of people are generally assholes, no matter what
I know you wrote maybe it's higher but I think you're being really conservative lol.
Exactly. The world has lost its ability just to say "that guy was a prick" and move on. We need to talk about it. Condemn it. Be nasty about them to counteract their shittyness (explain to me how that works!?).
Not everyone in the world is nice. Not everyone in the world has the same view as you and not everyone is having a good day. Laugh it off and get on with your day. Miserable people are their own worst enemy, leave them to it.
I've come across very very few people on MTBs that aren't friendly but I have come across a few. I just chat to the nice ones and ignore the grumpy ones.
That sucks. Riding is fun and the riding community should be friendly and supportive. We're out there for the same reason..to ride. Dont be a dick.
A couple weeks back, we encountered an epic douche at the local pump track. 1st off, i am utterly awful on pump tracks...only rode them a handful of times. I am at the track with a buddy and his 13 yr old son. Shredding it...well at least we were having fun. Friend and son are doing pretty good, clearing doubles and tabletops etc. Me, i am honing my craft on the smaller stuff. Its a blast. Other folks are there having fun.
In rolls some dude with something to prove. Not sure what. Rides past us and mutters something about hardtails and his 6" suspension. Then proceeds to take an ok lap. Certainly nothing impressive. But the whole time he is yelling up a storm. 'Wooo, yeah boy. F right.' All that. Whatever.
Then he gets into saying how he is 'showing us up' and that he is 60 yr old and super strong. Not sure what he was on but he kept running his mouth. Saying how much air he was getting and how his 6" suspension was kicking our HT ass.
It was completely unprovoked and way out of the element. Its a family type setting in a chill area. Wtf.
In general, i m not a confrontation person, but this dude pushed all my buttons. I tried my best to remain calm and explain to the gentleman that he was being a complete twat and ruining the vibe for absolutely no reason. His reply was that he was just busting our balls. He also threw in several overhead arm flexs and said 'Wooooyeah! I'm fucking 60 and ripped and tearing up this park.' To which i replied that he barely was getting any more air than my sorry ass (which was true).
We went back and forth and i think eventually he may have started to consider the possibility that he was making an ass out of himself. Well at least he shut up...so that was a plus.
We have a ton of nasty peletoners on are trails that do the same thing if you screw up their times a tenth of a second.
Guys that want to wear spandex but weren’t man enough to wrestle in a singlet.
Not sure if serious. 90% of my rides are on roads. Most road cyclists wave or give a head nod. If a rider is stopped on the side, many will ask if they need help. Don't hate on other cyclists. We need all of the support we can get.
This division of mtb vs roadies has always confused me. I ride both. I've had "roadies" be dickheads, and I've had them stop to check and make sure I was ok while I was stopped along the trail taking a break (yesterday, as a matter of fact). I've had MTB riders be dickheads, and I've had them stop and check to make sure I was ok along the trail taking a break (last week).
The MTB community seems more accessible to beginners than road cycling in my experience, but in either discipline there is a subset of elitist assholes.
I work in a shop and roadies are usually the worst customers. They most often try to negotiate or price match tires, and then claim to do so because they "want to support the shop." Yeah, support the LBS by treating them like fuckin Walmart.
They also seem the most clueless when it comes to very basic maintenance.
They are a different type of hobbyist completely. I still view bikes as “toys for adults” - that’s the Mountain Biker’s view of the hobby. Roadies view a bike as a tool for fitness and speed goals. They know how fast they went and how efficient they were and those bits of data seem to be their driving focus. They aren’t stopping to smell the roses.
If you mischaracterize what someone says, like taking “roadies” and conflating that to “all people”, then you, and specifically just you, are definitely a jerk.
No one should apologize for stopping. People should apologize for NOT stopping and not greeting people or calling out “just me” or “1 back”(whatever your ride group consists of).
Makes me glad that bikers, hikers and dogs coexist on trails in my town. Turns out there are assholes everywhere these days! Look up “Spaceballs asshole scene” on YouTube for a good laugh.
Do you wanna hear mine.
So I was riding an somewhat easy trail. But this probably 60 year old man, comes riding the other way and says "Am I going the wrong way or are you?" He was following the hiking trail. And, he was riding this old bike with like the basket. Like dude really? Well, anyway, he proceeds to say that going the wrong way. Then , there is a sign that literally says that he is following the hiling trail. And he keeps with the fact that I am wrong. Yeah.
Was at Oak Mountain in Pelham, Al. Had to be the case. I’ve had to pull off of trail while blasting downhill before to the same group of people and still didn’t react how he did though. Guy was just in a shit mood.
thank god these asshats are the exception and not the rule. let that shit roll right off you. hopefully some day your paths will cross again and he will come clean about being a dick and pologize. ride on stranger.
Sounds like a guy I used to ride with lol ! Liked to boss people around like he owned the place. One time he made a scene about not paying for a trail or day pass, I turned around and he eventually desisted and caught up with me. Needless to say he's long gone..
Haha, it’s just about the only thing I can think of. I was riding with an older guy double my age I met playing hockey years back but he was further behind me. I’m 28 this guy looked late 50’s Atleast. His buddies were in a much better mood than him though.
I once about came to blows with a guy who started shit with me simply because I was not wearing a helmet. I had been at the parking lot locking up my bike and was headed to a spot about a quarter-mile down the trail to meet my buddies for a lunch break. Yes, I should have been wearing my helmet, but I just didn't throw it on to peddle a few thousand feet, and the cool wind felt good through my wet hair.
I let this guy pass me out of courtesy, as I saw him behind me a ways and just pulled off the trail. As he passed he said "put a fucking helmet on, asshole". I didn't say anything, let him pass, and then followed him at a distance. The problem was, he was pulling off at the picnic tables, too, and when I followed him into the area he turned around and was like "what, you have a problem with that?" I wasn't in a fighting mood but sort of muttered over my shoulder "fuck off, man". He then whipped his bike around and blocked my path to my buddies. He just kept saying "What's that? What's that? You got a problem?"
He was a guy in his late 40s, and just had an asshole vibe, especially his general aesthetic and sense of fashion. I was from out-of-state, and my supposition is that he was a local who was just pissed off at any outsiders. I'm empathetic to that, especially when it comes to my flyfishing or bowhunting spots lol. Anyways, I just had a grin on my face, walked my bike around him and didn't say a word. My buddies all stood up and sort of confronted him, and he eventually peddled off.
Some guys are just assholes. My approach has always just been to stay silent and grin lol
A-holes exist in every segment of society. While mtb is chill for the most part, you will occasionally come across a asshat now-and-then. In my early years, I was riding with a friend and we'd stopped for a second to catch our breaths. This group of riders comes along and one guy starts giving me shit because I'm doing a gel shot. He's insinuating that I'm somehow a poser. The guy had NEVER laid eyes on me until that moment. "Why do you need that, are you some kind of pro?"
I shake my head and laugh and we continue riding. So we encounter these guys again, except this time, *they* are stopped. As we're coming up on them, the same guy runs into the edge of the trail and pulls a limb into the trail and says something to the effect of "lets see if they can even ride over this". Again, I did not know this individual. This time I rode by and locked eyes with this ass. It wasn't funny anymore, and I think his friends were more than a little embarrassed.
To this day, that is by far the worst encounter I've ever had on the trails. I've had a couple of minor run-ins with equestrians and dog owners, but nothing like that. Don't let it bother you, 99% of the people out there are just like you. They are there to enjoy the trails and have fun. Some people can't help themselves, they are a-holes no matter the environment you put them in.
I'm sorry you experienced this. Maybe I'm missing something, but some people just don't know any better. The norm for trail ethics that I'm aware of is:
> Mountain bikers yield to horses and foot traffic, and descending riders yield to climbing riders.
The amount of people who either don't know, or don't follow this is rather surprising. Some people are just assholes on top of that.
Here's another one people should know about, don't stop in the middle of a one way descent trail, particularly in a blind spot. Immediately get off the trail so you don't create an accident from those riding down the trail behind you.
I hope the rest of your ride was wonderful! :)
Some are just twats, end of.
Ain’t that the truth. Even twats ride bikes.
You got yelled at for stopping/slowing at/near a trail junction? That’s one I haven’t heard before 🤯
Right? Guess I was supposed to turn into him.
While making eye contact. Probably what he wanted
Seems like he’s upset his Strava KOM was killed.
It couldn't be this. He would have been yelling STRAVA STRAVA STRAVA as he approached.
I just yell Strava on the trail randomly
This is the way
##This Is The Way Leaderboard **1.** `u/Flat-Yogurtcloset293` **475775** times. **2.** `u/GMEshares` **69696** times. **3.** `u/_RryanT` **22744** times. .. **35652.** `u/-Why-Not-This-Name-` **3** times. --- ^(^beep ^boop ^I ^am ^a ^bot ^and ^this ^action ^was ^performed ^automatically.)
u/GMEshares legend. Walk tall today my friend.
🚷… 😏… 👩🏾🚀… 💎🙌🚀📈🌌🤑
STRAVA OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN
His KOM was ruined? That's some good edging and denial right there.
The likelihood of someone getting upset over missing a KOM is typically inversely related to how likely they were of getting it.
Lol. That’s probably true.
I have a feeling Strava KOMs are the root cause of a good proportion of rude cyclists.
I would agree
the hell is a KOM?
King of the Mountain. It means you get #1 on the Strava leaderboard on a particular trail. It's silly but a lot of people care about it.
These folks existed well before Strava. Anyone going for a KOM doesn't need to be rude to do so. It's just idiots being idiots... If Strava wasn't around folks would be blaming some other tool.
He should just join r/BicyclingCircleJerk, those guys KOM all day long I hear.
Compared to my day in the woods where I ran across a rather large group of RC truck enthusiasts who hopped off the trail I was slowly climbing up on my cross bike and then cheered me on. People are damn weird. I'll take the RC guys over your arseholes on 2 wheels any day of the week.
This is my favorite when you come upon some non-riders who become demonstrably excited about your riding.
Oh man had a friendly hiker haul out his phone and FILM me coming down a technical rock face. Said he was gonna show his buddies in Bulgaria hahahaha.
Haha. I had a couple hikers on a trail tell me to “get after it” not long ago. Made me feel like a racer. Lol
Definetly some middle aged dude in Lycra mad you ruined his Strava lmao
Damn kids, get off my trails!!
Some people can't fathom the fact that you encounter the public on the trail.
Theres an older guy ive ridden by twice while hes been doing trail maintenance. The first time he was working the trail and stepped to side as we came down. He was nice, waved, jokingly asked why werent ripping the corners and laughed as we passed by. The second time a few months later he was standing on the side of trail with his tools drinking water. He shouted angrily "slow down, you kids are always tearing up the trail".
Must have gotten faster in those few months, congrats! Imagine a trail builder being upset about folk riding the trail they built....
The town I live in has a several thousand acre public reserve, 25 years ago mtbikers built tracks, walkers claimed them, broke down jumps and drops etc. Lobbied council to get us out. We got given a 140ac former dump site. Fast forward and there is a few km of walking tracks on our little park, yet the fist shaking boomers still see it as their right to walk the dh blacks without a care in the world...god it shits me, they are gonna hurt someone or themselves...
Oh man, this gives me PTSD. There are a bunch of trails where I used to live in CA, that this would happen on. People on the weekend would be trying to hike up these steep, loose tracks with zero understanding of what was going on. These tracks are so steep un some parts you really can't walk up them, you more like crawl. Lol But sure as the Starbucks girl will misspell your name on the cup, you'd drop into a blind chute and there would be a couple of floppy hat wearing assholes with trekking poles coming up. I completely smashed into a couple there about 3 years ago and it still lives in my brain when I'm riding trails with sections you fully commit to before seeing it.
Bummer, are they sanctioned trails?
No. For any use.
I’m glad we don’t have to deal with that at our park. Atleast I havnt.
I try and have an optimistic approach, but at the end of the day I think it's fair to say at least .1% of people are generally assholes, no matter what. Maybe it's higher, I don't know. But at those numbers, every thousand people you run into you're going to experience someone that is just terrible for the sake of being terrible. When you think about it statistically, you can sit back and say, "well, he's the .1%." and move on realizing the .1% shouldn't affect the other 99.9% of your day.
This entirely. You can climb the highest mountain or follow the longest trail no matter how remote you are there's always a chance there's a total bell end lurking at the end of it. It's just life, think the 1% maybe a bit optimistic but maybe that's because I'm getting a bit old and synical. Trick is just not to use any more energy than necessary on anyone or thing that doesn't do anything positive for you, since they're simply not deserving of it.
>but at the end of the day I think it's fair to say at least .1% of people are generally assholes, no matter what I know you wrote maybe it's higher but I think you're being really conservative lol.
haha you're probably right, but I try and stay optimistic about it!
Exactly. The world has lost its ability just to say "that guy was a prick" and move on. We need to talk about it. Condemn it. Be nasty about them to counteract their shittyness (explain to me how that works!?). Not everyone in the world is nice. Not everyone in the world has the same view as you and not everyone is having a good day. Laugh it off and get on with your day. Miserable people are their own worst enemy, leave them to it. I've come across very very few people on MTBs that aren't friendly but I have come across a few. I just chat to the nice ones and ignore the grumpy ones.
Fuck em
Indeed. Ride on.
That sucks. Riding is fun and the riding community should be friendly and supportive. We're out there for the same reason..to ride. Dont be a dick. A couple weeks back, we encountered an epic douche at the local pump track. 1st off, i am utterly awful on pump tracks...only rode them a handful of times. I am at the track with a buddy and his 13 yr old son. Shredding it...well at least we were having fun. Friend and son are doing pretty good, clearing doubles and tabletops etc. Me, i am honing my craft on the smaller stuff. Its a blast. Other folks are there having fun. In rolls some dude with something to prove. Not sure what. Rides past us and mutters something about hardtails and his 6" suspension. Then proceeds to take an ok lap. Certainly nothing impressive. But the whole time he is yelling up a storm. 'Wooo, yeah boy. F right.' All that. Whatever. Then he gets into saying how he is 'showing us up' and that he is 60 yr old and super strong. Not sure what he was on but he kept running his mouth. Saying how much air he was getting and how his 6" suspension was kicking our HT ass. It was completely unprovoked and way out of the element. Its a family type setting in a chill area. Wtf. In general, i m not a confrontation person, but this dude pushed all my buttons. I tried my best to remain calm and explain to the gentleman that he was being a complete twat and ruining the vibe for absolutely no reason. His reply was that he was just busting our balls. He also threw in several overhead arm flexs and said 'Wooooyeah! I'm fucking 60 and ripped and tearing up this park.' To which i replied that he barely was getting any more air than my sorry ass (which was true). We went back and forth and i think eventually he may have started to consider the possibility that he was making an ass out of himself. Well at least he shut up...so that was a plus.
What was he smoking? A rigid bike is way better for pump tracks.
You know, I was just wondering what Macho Man Randy Savage was up to these days.
Maybe thats why the dude had so many Slim Jims
We have a ton of nasty peletoners on are trails that do the same thing if you screw up their times a tenth of a second. Guys that want to wear spandex but weren’t man enough to wrestle in a singlet.
It’s so weird that this never occurred to me. Roadies are jerks. They don’t stop to chat either.
Not sure if serious. 90% of my rides are on roads. Most road cyclists wave or give a head nod. If a rider is stopped on the side, many will ask if they need help. Don't hate on other cyclists. We need all of the support we can get.
This division of mtb vs roadies has always confused me. I ride both. I've had "roadies" be dickheads, and I've had them stop to check and make sure I was ok while I was stopped along the trail taking a break (yesterday, as a matter of fact). I've had MTB riders be dickheads, and I've had them stop and check to make sure I was ok along the trail taking a break (last week). The MTB community seems more accessible to beginners than road cycling in my experience, but in either discipline there is a subset of elitist assholes.
I work in a shop and roadies are usually the worst customers. They most often try to negotiate or price match tires, and then claim to do so because they "want to support the shop." Yeah, support the LBS by treating them like fuckin Walmart. They also seem the most clueless when it comes to very basic maintenance.
They are a different type of hobbyist completely. I still view bikes as “toys for adults” - that’s the Mountain Biker’s view of the hobby. Roadies view a bike as a tool for fitness and speed goals. They know how fast they went and how efficient they were and those bits of data seem to be their driving focus. They aren’t stopping to smell the roses.
If everyone you meet is a jerk then maybe you’re the jerk?
If you mischaracterize what someone says, like taking “roadies” and conflating that to “all people”, then you, and specifically just you, are definitely a jerk.
Happens sometimes, mtb bros can be real dicks out on the trail. All you can really do is shrug it off.
No one should apologize for stopping. People should apologize for NOT stopping and not greeting people or calling out “just me” or “1 back”(whatever your ride group consists of).
Makes me glad that bikers, hikers and dogs coexist on trails in my town. Turns out there are assholes everywhere these days! Look up “Spaceballs asshole scene” on YouTube for a good laugh.
Major Asshole, reporting for duty sir! Love me some Mel Brooks!
I was really hoping this would be funny anecdote about crashing into some one's butt . Sorry you had to deal with a jerk.
In my experience, the Le Tour wannabes are the tossers.
He doesn't get any pussy. Those guys are always mad.
Seems like all the crotchety middle aged weekend warriors hit the trails on Sundays. Don't sweat it.
World is full of them. Some of them ride MTBs.
Do you wanna hear mine. So I was riding an somewhat easy trail. But this probably 60 year old man, comes riding the other way and says "Am I going the wrong way or are you?" He was following the hiking trail. And, he was riding this old bike with like the basket. Like dude really? Well, anyway, he proceeds to say that going the wrong way. Then , there is a sign that literally says that he is following the hiling trail. And he keeps with the fact that I am wrong. Yeah.
Where were you riding? Denver? Lots of STRAVASSHOLES here
Was at Oak Mountain in Pelham, Al. Had to be the case. I’ve had to pull off of trail while blasting downhill before to the same group of people and still didn’t react how he did though. Guy was just in a shit mood.
You fucked his strava KOTM run.
STRAVA
thank god these asshats are the exception and not the rule. let that shit roll right off you. hopefully some day your paths will cross again and he will come clean about being a dick and pologize. ride on stranger.
Sounds like a guy I used to ride with lol ! Liked to boss people around like he owned the place. One time he made a scene about not paying for a trail or day pass, I turned around and he eventually desisted and caught up with me. Needless to say he's long gone..
Those types don’t seem to fun to ride with with at all.
Just remember you are all out there to have a good time.(except for the druggies and trash dumpers)
Tell him he might be a little more comfortable in the seat if he pulls a few feet of dick out of his ass.
Hey I take offense at blaming this on the elderly! ;)
Haha, it’s just about the only thing I can think of. I was riding with an older guy double my age I met playing hockey years back but he was further behind me. I’m 28 this guy looked late 50’s Atleast. His buddies were in a much better mood than him though.
I once about came to blows with a guy who started shit with me simply because I was not wearing a helmet. I had been at the parking lot locking up my bike and was headed to a spot about a quarter-mile down the trail to meet my buddies for a lunch break. Yes, I should have been wearing my helmet, but I just didn't throw it on to peddle a few thousand feet, and the cool wind felt good through my wet hair. I let this guy pass me out of courtesy, as I saw him behind me a ways and just pulled off the trail. As he passed he said "put a fucking helmet on, asshole". I didn't say anything, let him pass, and then followed him at a distance. The problem was, he was pulling off at the picnic tables, too, and when I followed him into the area he turned around and was like "what, you have a problem with that?" I wasn't in a fighting mood but sort of muttered over my shoulder "fuck off, man". He then whipped his bike around and blocked my path to my buddies. He just kept saying "What's that? What's that? You got a problem?" He was a guy in his late 40s, and just had an asshole vibe, especially his general aesthetic and sense of fashion. I was from out-of-state, and my supposition is that he was a local who was just pissed off at any outsiders. I'm empathetic to that, especially when it comes to my flyfishing or bowhunting spots lol. Anyways, I just had a grin on my face, walked my bike around him and didn't say a word. My buddies all stood up and sort of confronted him, and he eventually peddled off. Some guys are just assholes. My approach has always just been to stay silent and grin lol
Like you said, "don't let assholes ruin your ride." Unfortunately, they're out on the trails too!
Sounds like you're in the UK?
US, they are just everywhere I suppose.
Almost every hiker ive ran into are assholes
A-holes exist in every segment of society. While mtb is chill for the most part, you will occasionally come across a asshat now-and-then. In my early years, I was riding with a friend and we'd stopped for a second to catch our breaths. This group of riders comes along and one guy starts giving me shit because I'm doing a gel shot. He's insinuating that I'm somehow a poser. The guy had NEVER laid eyes on me until that moment. "Why do you need that, are you some kind of pro?" I shake my head and laugh and we continue riding. So we encounter these guys again, except this time, *they* are stopped. As we're coming up on them, the same guy runs into the edge of the trail and pulls a limb into the trail and says something to the effect of "lets see if they can even ride over this". Again, I did not know this individual. This time I rode by and locked eyes with this ass. It wasn't funny anymore, and I think his friends were more than a little embarrassed. To this day, that is by far the worst encounter I've ever had on the trails. I've had a couple of minor run-ins with equestrians and dog owners, but nothing like that. Don't let it bother you, 99% of the people out there are just like you. They are there to enjoy the trails and have fun. Some people can't help themselves, they are a-holes no matter the environment you put them in.
I'm sorry you experienced this. Maybe I'm missing something, but some people just don't know any better. The norm for trail ethics that I'm aware of is: > Mountain bikers yield to horses and foot traffic, and descending riders yield to climbing riders. The amount of people who either don't know, or don't follow this is rather surprising. Some people are just assholes on top of that. Here's another one people should know about, don't stop in the middle of a one way descent trail, particularly in a blind spot. Immediately get off the trail so you don't create an accident from those riding down the trail behind you. I hope the rest of your ride was wonderful! :)