Non-cycling pals???
Thread started by
bentstrider at 04.1.08 - 9:56 pm
Anyone got any?
If so, would you consider all, or a few of your friends to not be into bicycles?
I only ask this because it seems like ever since I've encountered MR, I've tried to spread the word up here.
Many people, even the local bike stores seem to be completely oblivious to MR and sometimes, general, feel-good cycling as a whole.
As far as my friends go, only one of them, Mike(some of y'all might've seen him with me at rides) seems to be getting into the groove of it.
However, that other dude I brought out to the recent, CMob isn't really buying into the whole atmosphere.
He still see's driving the pickup truck to local bars and pool-halls as a bad-ass thing to do on a Saturday night.
I told him that as of my recent truck-driving tour-o-duty, shit has changed for the better, and that activity has gotten kind of played out.
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Yah, i've got some non-bikerideing friends... I hardly ever see them... thanks to MR... I still haven't figured out if that's a good or a bad thing...
e-rock04.1.08 - 10:00 pm
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yeah. they dont get it. i tell everyone i meet to do it. they dont get it.
im thinking we need some guerilla advertising... hollar at me.
HANDBONE04.1.08 - 10:19 pm
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Only a handful, really. And even those I'm slowly getting them interested. I found the best thing to get them curious is to equate a MR ride to that feeling when you were a kid and you were allowed to go ride in the street finally. Now, its just on a much bigger level.
DetroitRider04.1.08 - 10:41 pm
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One of the things you learn after years of dealing with bike people is - you can turn your back on a person, but never turn you back on a bike. Especially when it's waving a razor sharp carbon spoke in your eye.
(With apologies to Hunter S. Thompson)
ephemerae04.1.08 - 10:43 pm
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Guerilla Advertising FTW
I don't have many friends at all, come to think of it. That is an entirely different can of worms. My friends that don't ride bikes think I'm crazy but they still tolerate and love me. They hate asking me about what I do on the weekends or in general these days because it usually has to do with me climbing hills, bombing hills, going on these here MR rides, or some other technical bike nerd speak they are totally un-hip to.
It's cool meeting new people that are totally into bikes just as much as I am. Getting drunk with these people is even more fun. Going on awesome rides to who knows where and pushing myself to go further is by far, the best.
Ride on!
NEWB31004.1.08 - 10:44 pm
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come to think of it MR is an excuse to get away from the freinds i dont wanna get drunk with in a stationary place. i'd rather be doing it in motion. plus midnight ridazz are sexier.
theyre missing out.
HANDBONE04.1.08 - 10:47 pm
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FTW as in fuck the world ? huh ?
HANDBONE04.1.08 - 10:48 pm
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For The Win!!!!
I like Fuck The World better, though.
toweliesbong04.1.08 - 10:58 pm
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two of my best friends are non bike folks. but they all make, and i make, time to still chill like before i got into bikes.
DAYLO04.1.08 - 11:14 pm
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FTW = For The Win
This isn't the 80's and I'm not hardcore enough to say "Fuck The World." Also, I am fond of the world. I ride on it.
NEWB31004.1.08 - 11:18 pm
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k i really down with that. unfortunately to me FTW is an immature scribble you'd see on a mom n pop store in NoHo. Im really down "For The Win" if you're not sarcastic. Let's bring it back. or am i in the dark ?
HANDBONE04.1.08 - 11:20 pm
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OTOH, my younger brother used to think we were all a bunch of cycling nerds.
Then he saw some of the CMob footage and now classifies us as a bunch of misfit, hooligans that are asking for it!!!
bentstrider04.1.08 - 11:22 pm
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I've got non-cycling friends, but they are getting less and less of my time. Most of them are the type that would absolutely love an MR ride, but convincing them to turn up is unbelievably difficult. They just don't equate bicycling with having a good time. The one person who I have brought out is a total convert and I plan to try to drag another one along when I get home in a month.
ideasculptor04.1.08 - 11:23 pm
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I've got non-cycling friends, but they are getting less and less of my time. Most of them are the type that would absolutely love an MR ride, but convincing them to turn up is unbelievably difficult. They just don't equate bicycling with having a good time. The one person who I have brought out is a total convert and I plan to try to drag another one along when I get home in a month.
ideasculptor
04.2.08 - 2:23 am
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same. i awed certain with my few few stories, they drooled to it, sipped their beers and forgot. "I GOT LIKE 3 ROAD BIKES IN MY GARAGE BRO WE ARE DOING THIS !"
i shoot them the info.... YEAH FUCKING RIGHT..
i have converted two freinds though and are working on more..
HANDBONE04.1.08 - 11:27 pm
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Asking to get arrested, pummeled, any number of negative things that usually happen to hooligananies.
I guess another way I could get more people into this is by renting a vehicle for a trip, hide the bikes in the back somehow, and con them into thinking it's a movie night.
bentstrider04.1.08 - 11:29 pm
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^hahahahahah
the trouble aspect is what drew me into this world. along with all the great smiles i see.
HANDBONE04.1.08 - 11:31 pm
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"Im really down "For The Win" if you're not sarcastic."
Nope, I see it used for "For The Win" more than anything these days.
I AM THE 80s, and I'm softcore enough to say, Fuck The World.
Nig-Heist - The Last Generation (or as I'm more familiar with it on the Chunks comp, NIg-Heist - Nig-Heist):
Aggrivation, Dissappointment, who do we blame?
Hiding on the inside, I'm laughing in pain
My family doesn't like me, they think I'm insane
Society's the problem, it's gotta fucking change
Fuck the world, fuck you all
You ain't shit, you're gonna fall
I'm so fucked up
Come on you fuckers, get off your ass
We gotta change the world or it may not last
We're the new generation and we're victims of the past
We gotta fix what they fucked, we gotta do it fast
Fuck the world, fuck you all
You ain't shit, you're gonna fall
I'm so fucked up
Fuck the world, fuck you all
You ain't shit, you're gonna fall
I'm so fucked up
Burning our water and our air as well
Living on earth is like living in hell
Some sort of cancer with every fucking breath
The last generation should be put to death
Fuck the world, fuck you all
You ain't shit, you're gonna fall
You're so fucked up
toweliesbong04.1.08 - 11:34 pm
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Or, bentstrider will like this one: Fuck The Wind!
toweliesbong04.1.08 - 11:37 pm
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Damn it!
That's twice in less than a week!
User104.1.08 - 11:43 pm
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I've got more non-MR friends than MR friends, but I like having this as a little side thing that's more my thing. I wouldn't want ALL my friends in one bike basket anyway. The rides are sometimes about escapism, so I like that about it. No need for all my bros to be all into it.
0gravity04.1.08 - 11:44 pm
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fuuck the wind !
im like 30% cooler now.
HANDBONE04.1.08 - 11:44 pm
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I have a couple of friends that I've passed the idea by them. One bought a bike, came out a couple of times, and she hasn't been back since. The other one hasn't even thought about it. This is the same friend I tried to get out to Burningman ages ago. He finally went a couple of years ago, and now he's crazy about BM. You would think I would have more creditability after this right? No dice!
User104.1.08 - 11:50 pm
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I've got non-cycling friends but they are all stuck in traffic.
pavetheplanet04.1.08 - 11:53 pm
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i love that. ^ especially when they yell at me like "BLAH BLAH FUCKERS LIKE YOU!"
HANDBONE04.1.08 - 11:56 pm
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Well, I just don't want any of my friends feeling left out.
Problem is, they've become slaves to the throttle and that drug is kind of hard to go cold-turkey on if you've been on it for too long.
Now, as far as MR being a form of escapism, then I could also identify with that.
Acting like the "High Plains Drifter" on the bicycle is alright, but sometimes I've just got to "join the cavalry" every once in awhile.
You'll be amazed at how the sounds and sights of other cyclists and bicycles actually soothes the soul.
Compared to the day-to-day howl of desert-wind, insanely loud exhausts, and other forms of debilitating background noise.
bentstrider04.2.08 - 1:21 am
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Yeah... I've got a couple. One... she bought a bike and rode 3x and then found a boyfriend. She vanished. All my other friends don't even ask what I'm doing this weekend cause they'll know I'm gonna say I'm gonna ride and will ask them to come with me. They will time me on a phone conversation and see how long it will take me until I mention my bicycle (avg. 5 min) and wanting them to ride with me.
I convinced them one time to come out and do a mini ridazz out at the Rose Bowl... again... only did it once. Never again.
So check it... this past Saturday was the Dodgers game at the Coliseum. I tell them all to ride a bike in and lock it. Nooo... they leave their place and get to dodger stadium and do the shuttle thing... around 2pm. They finally make it in 3 hours later. They said there was lines for the shuttle. I leave my house at 4pm in my car and park in DTLA. Bike down fig... pull right up to the front and lock up. Got there at 4:45pm. Don't even ask me how long it took for them to get back to their car. i was able to get to the Blue Balls ride and they were barely in line at the shuttle. Hah!!!
digablesoul04.2.08 - 1:32 am
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I always try, in the least annoying way I can, to spread the bike gospel.
But you just have to accept that some people are just not going to get it. They're not buying into the romance.
Cycling is an interesting social filter, though. It takes guts and initiative to choose the less obvious and more difficult option of cycling vs. driving a car. It might be obvious to us how rewarding it is, but a bit daunting to a person who hasn't taken the plunge.
cabhauler04.2.08 - 2:10 am
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"But you just have to accept that some people are just not going to get it. They're not buying into the romance."
Yeah, that's definitely my friend Nathan right there.
Doesn't really care for cycling, but him and his other buddies are still butt-hurt over not getting an oversized, pickup to go mud-bogging in.
I pissed 'em off even more when I said if I ever do get one, it would only be for, "if my bike gets busted or jacked!!!"
bentstrider04.2.08 - 2:19 am
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It's tempting to write people off for not immediately embracing cycling, but everyone does things at their own speed. You can only help them along so much.
Heck I didn't learn how to even ride a bike until 13. I completely missed out on being a kid on a bike. When I started I was in terrible shape and I didn't know squat about bikes. If I didn't have good friends who do ride, it would have been harder for me to get started and I might have been one of the naysayers.
cabhauler04.2.08 - 2:28 am
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It's a strange phenomanon to me but there are so many people out there that just have blocks when it comes to bicycles. Especially in this city. Growing up here, no one rode bicycles. Well, I do remember one exchange student at my highschool that rode his bike to school from his home about 1.5 miles away. People made fun of him for riding a bike. Having red hair probably didn't help much either. Even today, when I'm meeting up with (non-cycling) friends somewhere and I say, "I'll meet you there. I'm gonna ride my bike, it's easier" I always hear confused silence or chuckles. Non-riders though riding a bike was cool in elementary school, but once you get your drivers licence, why would you ever want to get on a cheep toy when you can sit inside $30,000 of steel and glass. People get locked in such a car-only mentality to the point of absurdity. The poster above who told the story about his friends insisting on taking the shuttle to Dodger Stadium which took three hours when they could have ridden a bicycle in 30 minutes is an excellent and typical example. Bicycles are just not in the mindest of most people, especially in this town.
pavetheplanet04.2.08 - 3:09 am
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I could tell that Nathan was not digging it at all.
PC04.2.08 - 3:13 am
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Well, L.A. is a cycling backwater in the U.S., which among nations is a cycling backwater. While attitudes are changing, most people here still see bikes as toys. It hasn't been something that the cycling industry and most bike stores have done much to correct. Their main audience is the weekend warrior who will drop money to be like Lance (and Greg before him).
There's something in the air, though. Some of these Lance wannabes have discovered that not every ride is a training ride and that they can go to cafes and to work on bike. I recently got an REI catalog in the mail and it showed a bike commuter on the cover. There's been a flurry of new bikes aimed at people who want to get around on bikes, too. Of course you've also got the fixed-gear craze, which has irritated many of you but has been really good for cycling.
If you want more of your friends to ride, just keep riding and being the happy sane person you always have been, only with less of a gut and more tone legs.
(We're not smug, we're just better.)
cabhauler04.2.08 - 3:30 am
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@pc
-The fact that his knees were weak and he had no cellphone hurt matters a little more.
I hate to say this, but I actually felt like I was babysitting during the last CMob.
At least my other friend, Mike, will find a pack of slower riders like himself and form a bond/interaction with them.
Hell, he seems to like those rides specifically for the fact that he encounters the variety of skill-levels.
I'm quite certain my younger brother will enjoy it due to the "hot women/cold beer" factor.
As far as finding others goes, I'm tempted to get some cheap, 3x5 fliers printed out, then slap them onto bicycles and cars w/bicycles.
bentstrider04.2.08 - 6:05 am
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I don't associate with people who are not core elite.
SPOOK04.2.08 - 12:14 pm
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@ e rock
Yah, i've got some non-bikerideing friends... I hardly ever see them... thanks to MR... I still haven't figured out if that's a good or a bad thing...
e-rock
04.2.08 - 1:00 am
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Sounds familiar-'former' friends have abused me for my lack of association. I think I'm going to have to stop cycling for a while........
Limeyfly04.2.08 - 12:28 pm
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When I told one of my non-riding friends about it, she laughed and said she saw one of the rides out in Hollywood one time. She said, "Oh, yeah. I saw that. It was like 10 o'cock on a Friday night. Ha! Losers. I just thought, 'Why don't you go out instead of riding bicycles like little kids?'"
Seriously. That was her reaction. Talk about clueless.
Here are a bunch of people out in public having a good time and her reaction was, "Why don't you go out?"
HELLO?! They ARE out, you moron!
But in her mind, "going out" means driving to a club in your car. Apparently no other form of socializing is valid and doesn't register in her brain.
Hard to "convert" people to the fun of Midnight Ridazz when they are not very intelligent.
I don't really talk to that girl anymore.
On the bright side, I have 4 other friends who have participated on rides. Statistically, that means 80% of people I know dig the idea! Although, sadly, they each only came once and never again...
MikeyWalsh04.2.08 - 1:10 pm
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Non-cycling pals?
I'm married to one.
marino04.2.08 - 1:30 pm
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well, having just started riding the different events...I've been spreading the word to get out and ride as much as possible because it's been so much fun for me. When i posted the video on my myspace, people always comment that it looks sooo much fun, but the big word of the day becomes "radical".
I think in order to drive more people towards bikes is to have a really kick ass positive image. When i bring someone new to the ride, i don't want them to feel intimidated into doing the cod on Hollywood/highland or to feel like they are promoting anarchism when they just want to ride and have a good time.
it all starts with perception.
most of my non-bike friends want to come out but not when there's a 90% chance that (a) they will get a ticket for some B.S. reason, or (b) some irritated driver clips them on their first ride out...
FMontanez197404.2.08 - 1:45 pm
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However, I suggest we not to tell people what to do, or not to do. It works better when you just try to do what you are hoping for and people will follow.
I'm not an Anarchist... I'm an 'Autonomist'.
Joe Borfo04.2.08 - 1:53 pm
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@joe, i totally agree...i'm not trying to tell people what to do/what not to do...i think people that ride are intelligent individuals however it only takes 1 or 2 people to set a bad precident. take the person that shouted "fuck the pigs" the other night...only takes 1 voice to get a cop pissed enough to write a ticket $200 more than it should've been...
FMontanez197404.2.08 - 1:58 pm
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"only takes 1 voice to get a cop pissed enough to write a ticket $200 more than it should've been..."
Really depends on the integrity of the cop. My last two tickets from Burbank PD and Ventura County Sheriffs I told each cop after they started writing the tix that they were fucking pieces of shit amongst other things for writing me such ticky tack tickets. Even though I could see the steam coming out of their ears neither of them wrote my tickets for any more than they were planning and I believe in both cases they were writing tix for revenue generation rather than public safety.
Fuck the cops. And no, I wasn't there last Friday night.
Sorry to stir the pot.
toweliesbong04.2.08 - 2:51 pm
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Sorry to stir the pot.
toweliesbong
04.2.08 - 5:51 pm
you better be sorry.
you're supposed to SMOKE the pot.
you should know better
spiraldemon04.2.08 - 2:56 pm
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"you're supposed to SMOKE the pot."
d'oh, you trannies know everything!
toweliesbong04.2.08 - 3:02 pm
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Trannyway goes all the way!
all the way in yer mouf!
spiraldemon04.2.08 - 3:04 pm
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i have personally recruited a few .i will continue to stand on the soap box.
rogue.ronin.rider.04.2.08 - 4:15 pm
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I don't associate myself with people who don't ride.
ha jk. My best friend in the whole wide world does not and will not ride a bike.
riss04.2.08 - 4:20 pm
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Ridazz Roulette!
Last night, I was very "OUT".
Not my wife!
Mine too.