Are we golfers?

[Globalti]

Singletrack mountain bike magazine makes this uncomfortable point in its September issue:

"We spend a lot of money on shiny kit instead of practicing getting better.

We wear odd-looking clothing that other people rightly ridicule.

We abandon our other halves - like sport-induced widows - from dawn until dusk while we do our riding.

We're always late home after staying a bit too long in the bar afterwards.

We go to manufactured places dedicated to our pastime.

We squeeze in a quick one during the week after work.

We're mostly men.

We're mostly white.

We're mostly middle-class.

We're mostly midle-aged.

Mountain biking is golf."


Is this true for all cyclists or just MTBers?

Just a journalist's easy cliché?

Not valid to compare cyclists with golfers?

Absolutley spot-on?

 

[PaulB]

Right and yet wrong.

There's no doubting cycling is the new golf (a "sport" I hate with a passion) but they are so different that most of the above points don't stand comparison.

We spend a lot of money on shiny kit instead of practicing getting better. Not me.

We wear odd-looking clothing that other people rightly ridicule. Maybe!

We abandon our other halves - like sport-induced widows - from dawn until dusk while we do our riding. Dawn til dusk! A few hours here and there perhaps.

We're always late home after staying a bit too long in the bar afterwards. Nope. I tend to ride from home and rarely venture into pubs after a ride.

We go to manufactured places dedicated to our pastime. Not once.

We squeeze in a quick one during the week after work. Frequently.

We're mostly men. Meh...

We're mostly white. I am.

We're mostly middle-class. No comment.

We're mostly midle-aged. Not me, I'm in the first flush of youth

Mountain biking is golf but keeps you fitter and less dead.

 

[Tim Bennet.]

i think all the parallels are true with the majority of mountain bikers. It has become very lifestyle orientated with excessive use made of made mad facilities. But sat in he town square in Morzine in the summer might get you to question whether it was 'mainly middle class'.

However the big difference between mtb and golf is the club structure. The sense of 'one's place' and belonging to a club with all it's rules and rituals is a big part of golf. The clubs are set in a hierarchy and 'moving up' is a common aspiration, both within the club and between clubs.

Admittedly, roadies have their clubs with some terrible cliques and weird practices, but still don't parallel the pivotal role 'the club' plays in the golf world.

Mtbikers also don't restrict women to only riding on a Tuesday and Thursday morning, unless of course the trails are needed by a men's competition.

 

[Globalti]

I agree about the man made facilities. I get the feeling some MTBers don't even own a map and don't ever venture out into real mountains, which is what the sport is supposed to be about.

 

[Tim Bennet.]

I get the feeling some MTBers don't even own a map and don't ever venture out into real mountains

I think you'll find that is 'most' these days. I saw figures that showed that the majority of off road riding is now done on manmade trails or waymarked routes.

 

[Mr Pig]

I agree about the man made facilities.

I've only been to one once. Unlike golfers, some cyclists are 'not' tossers.

 

[RabbitFood]

all quiet funny but from my point of view we are not like golfers at all as some one menthiond with the clubs.

I cant go to any golf club and play and even when i go with the old man im frowned apon by memebers.

Cycling clubs i was welcomed with open arms and was made very welcome, with the odd old blokes moaning but i think thats jsut cos they old

 

[swee'pea99]

Golfers are fat, cyclists aren't.

 

[Tim Bennet.]

cyclists aren't.

We clearly have different friends.

 

[dellzeqq]

I think it's nonsense. And it's not even true of golf.

"We spend a lot of money on shiny kit instead of practicing getting better. Not if the condition of bikes on the road is any guide

We wear odd-looking clothing that other people rightly ridicule. See above

We abandon our other halves - like sport-induced widows - from dawn until dusk while we do our riding. I ride more often with my wife than with anybody else - it's a great way to spend time together

We're always late home after staying a bit too long in the bar afterwards. Simply not true. And judging by the golf club bars I've been to (we use them as tea stops) not true of golfers either

We go to manufactured places dedicated to our pastime. Most MTBers I see are falling off the North Downs

We're mostly men. True, but the percentage of women is increasing all the time

We're mostly white. True, but still ethnically diverse

We're mostly middle-class. Not true

We're mostly midle-aged. Not true

 

[Globalti]

Better send those replies to Benji Haworth at Singletrack!

 

[Lazy-Commuter]

I think it's just a quick and easy bit of fun to fill the magazine a bit. I can see that a few people get obsessed with buying the latest kit: my LBS told me of a bloke that went in and bought a bike - his only criteria being that it cost more than his mates!! But that can happen with any sport / past-time.

But I'm not sure the comparison stands up beyond that. As others have said, there's a lot more snobbery associated with golf .. at least, that's my outsider's view of it.

Anyway, do the points raised apply to me?

"We spend a lot of money on shiny kit instead of practicing getting better. I don't really do either. I do buy stuff, but I'm not constantly getting the latest highly expensive gadget. (Mrs-LC might disagree but she's just wrong!)

We wear odd-looking clothing that other people rightly ridicule. Fair Cop

We abandon our other halves - like sport-induced widows - from dawn until dusk while we do our riding. Nope, we often go out together as a family.

We're always late home after staying a bit too long in the bar afterwards. Nah.

We go to manufactured places dedicated to our pastime. Nah.

We squeeze in a quick one during the week after work. Well, I commute, so ...

We're mostly men. Guilty.

We're mostly white. Guilty.

We're mostly middle-class. Pass.

We're mostly midle-aged. Is 41 the new middle aged?

Mountain biking is golf."

 

[User482]

I must admit, I was over at (man-made) Brechfa last month for an enduro race: the car park was full of expensive Audi estates, from which emerged middle aged men with their shiny Cannondales.

On the other hand, our local club rides are much more diverse, in terms of age, finances, gender, ability and kit.

 

[MacB]

hmmm, long term golfer and short term cyclist here, though golf currently taking back seat to cycling. It's just a fun article, maybe get people to stop taking themselves so seriously. All the gear and no idea, snotty club heirarchies and weekend warriors - yep golf and cycling have a fair share of these. But my experience is that it's a lot less, in both instances, than stereotypical chat would have you think.

I did the 'trying to buy a game' with golf and, many £'s out of pocket, came to the realisation that practice is vastly more important. Once you have a reasonable level of kit equipment improvement via new kit is marginal. Fortunately this is a lesson that transfers to cycling so I've avoided some mistakes. Though this N+1 thing does seem to be a bit of an issue, never had that with golf clubs.

There was a strange moment during last Saturdays post night ride drinking session. Golf, and my attire when playing, had cropped up and become a topic for much derision. This was made easier by how good we all looked in our cycling clobber, I'm sure the pictures attest to this

 

[Bollo]

I must admit, I was over at (man-made) Brechfa last month for an enduro race: the car park was full of expensive Audi estates, from which emerged middle aged men with their shiny Cannondales.

On the other hand, our local club rides are much more diverse, in terms of age, finances, gender, ability and kit.

I've never felt comfortable with car-rack cycling either.

I was talked into a rare appearance at a sportive a few weeks back (Burgess Hill) and decided to pull an overnight ride "to make a day of it". Thus a 65mile sportive became a 130mile adventure. I was surprised to see that most people arrived by car, with some only travelling a few miles. There were plenty of middle-aged men (inc me) with high-end bling on show as well. I've spent enough money on my bikes, so the least I can do is ride the buggers.