Since I moved here before I got back into biking, I did not realize that my house is located in one of the greatest Twin Cities locations for cycling. While many people find themselves mounting their bikes to their roof racks and driving 30 minutes to begin an unencumbered ride, I simply roll out from my open garage door and am on traffic-light-free roads within minutes.

This is because I live in the west metro which is still “rural” enough in spots to allow for limited traffic. The roads are fairly newly paved in the area and most have been expanded to include wide shoulders. All of this translates into minimal interactions with automotive vehicles – a wish for anyone riding a bike.

Plus, there are lots of cyclists on the roads at all times. This truly makes for safer riding, because car drivers have an expectation that they will encounter a cyclist on the road and are a little more “aware” of my presence than in locales where a cyclist is a rare sight. I’ve always thought that I would get killed by the driver that didn’t realize I was there, versus any other type of accident involving a car who knew I was on the road.

Since I spend my outdoor riding in places that house a lot of other riders, I am able to categorize those who I meet into some clearly separate (and stereotypical) groups.

Enthusiasts (like me)

How can you not help but SMILE while on a bike?

I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how many cyclists I encounter who are out there for similar reasons as I am. We enjoy the bike for what it is (a bike), like to pedal hard and work up a sweat, and don’t really take the experience too seriously. We’re out there for fitness, but choose something that allows us to see lots of country without the harsh treatment to our bodies (like running). When I meet these type of people – be it in either direction – I’m almost always met with a smile and a simple wave of the hand saying “enjoy your ride – because I sure am”. The equipment we ride is varied as I’ve seen both vintage and some state-of-the-art rides, but we’re never too hung-up by the details that make up the bike. The bike is simply an enabler for the experience and is meant to get out of the way so that all of the other benefits to riding can shine through.

Legits

Although more rare than the Enthusiasts, there are a fair share of real riders putting on their base miles while traversing the rolling hills of the west metro. I usually encounter them during the extremes of a day – such as late in the evening as the sun is about to set or during a heavy rain. These are times when no reasonable person should be on the road riding a bicycle, but Legits are generally not reasonable people when it comes to riding a bike. Nine times out of ten, these riders are really friendly and will pass along a simple smile and a wave of the finger. But, you can also see in their body posture that they are there to ride and are highly conscious of the effort they put into the pedals. They are likely more self-absorbed in their riding to pay too much attention to others around them.

Pro Wannabe

Sometimes these riders can be hard to distinguish from the Legits, but there is a single give-away they all share. When you meet Pro Wannabes on the road, they don’t wave but they do look very closely at your bike. Not you – but your bike. (Now I know how women feel when men stare at their chests.) They are trying to determine if your bike could possibly be any more advanced than their current ride. They will take great satisfaction when they realize they, in fact, have the far superior bike (usually measured by how much money they invested in their carbon tubulars) on the road. They usually ride in small groups – two or three riders – in order to have someone else to comment to about how crappy the bike was that the other guy was riding.

If this is your view, you should not be taking your ride so seriously.

Lance Mobiles

These cyclists are very easy to pick out, as they are wearing and riding exactly what Lance happens to be wearing and riding in that particular professional cycling season. When Lance was riding for US Postal, they all had red, white, and blue US Postal Jerseys (with matching shorts) and a US Postal branded Trek. When Lance moved to Discovery, they had to buy new cycling gear to keep up with the blue/green color combination of team and bought the latest Trek to match. Lance’s retirement caused a stir in this group (with many moving over to the CSC-branded jerseys/equipment). But, Lance’s comeback with Astana and now Team Radio Shack has given them a new direction in cycling fashion and another excuse to by a new Trek. When their Team Radio Shack jersey is dirty, they will quickly don a replicate TDF Yellow Jersey in Lance’s honor.

Its pretty rare that Lance Mobiles will ever acknowledge another rider on the road, since they are too busy trying to ensure their pedaling cadence is above 90 RPM.

Century Group Riders

This group has always puzzled me, because I have wondered how overweight people are able to put so many miles on a bike without shedding a few pounds. I did not understand it until I met one firsthand and realized it was all due to cycling technique. I pulled up alongside this rather large fellow and he quickly asked if I had ridden some recent 100 mile ride the previous weekend. I said “No”. He stated he had and went on to tell stories about how he and his girlfriend partake in multiple 100+ mile rides throughout the summer. As I road next to him, I quickly realized how he accomplishes this task – by coasting every possible chance he gets. On the flats, he will pedal a little bit and then coast. Up a hill, he will slow down to the lowest gear and enter a slow cadence. Once he’s crested a hill, he will coast all the way down until the flat appears and he needs to pedal again to keep some degree of momentum.

Century Group Riders can be really nice, friendly people, but are boring as hell to ride alongside.

Triathletes

When I started this list, I stated that I would classify “riders” and did not use the word “cyclists”. This is because Triathletes are not cyclists.

Triathletes are an interesting bunch and I criticize them because they represent (to me) all the things that cycling is NOT. When I meet them on the road (always on their aero-bikes and dedicated to their tucked position), they never wave to or acknowledge other riders. They seem to be “putting in the miles” that are probably part of a 8-week training plan from an online training coach and are biking with a pure performance goal in mind. They are always on a bike that results in wobbling steering and rarely ride in groups. When there is a group of them, they each ride 5-6 bike lengths away from each other so they don’t crash into themselves (thus, they might as well ride alone). Looking at their faces, they usually express some degree of pain. I have never seen one Triathlete smile on a bike. They seem more focused on the detailed wattage statistics from their cycling computer than the wonderful sights and sounds of the natural world around them.

If I want to avoid Triathletes on the road, I simply head out on a day where there is some wind, mild rain, or any Monday. I have NEVER seen a Triathlete on the road on Monday. Evidently, every training program in the entire world lists Monday as a “rest day”. If I cover the same course at the same time of day on Tuesday, the Triathletes are back in full force. But Mondays – not a single one.

Well, I better stop before I offend too many people in this post. But, those are the stereotypes of people I encounter while riding my bike through the west metro countryside. I wouldn’t be surprised if some people say similar things about me. But, when I see other riders, I try to be nice, smile back at them, and give a simple wave of the hand to say “it’s a great day for a ride”.