Cycling seems to have become very "upper crust"

[Vapin' Joe]

It's equally possible that he is so wrong. We all have to buy a certain type of bike that smokin Joe approves of before we can even consider that there's a sustainable boom in cycling. Talk about elitists.

It is possible I am wrong, but I doubt it. Like all fads the rise was spectacular, attracted the luvvies who just had to be seen enjoying the latest "Must do" and became the talk of the media who know a good thing when they see it.

In the seventies it was jogging, the eighties saw the celebs sitting in the front row at snooker matches, in the nineties everyone who was anyone had a Ducati or a Honda Fireblade in the garage. Once the novelty of whatever craze wore off running went back to the athletes, snooker was reclaimed by fag smoking near do wells like myself and motorcycling returned to the dirty fingernail brigade.

 

[classic33]

It is possible I am wrong, but I doubt it. Like all fads the rise was spectacular, attracted the luvvies who just had to be seen enjoying the latest "Must do" and became the talk of the media who know a good thing when they see it.

In the seventies it was jogging, the eighties saw the celebs sitting in the front row at snooker matches, in the nineties everyone who was anyone had a Ducati or a Honda Fireblade in the garage. Once the novelty of whatever craze wore off running went back to the athletes, snooker was reclaimed by fag smoking near do wells like myself and motorcycling returned to the dirty fingernail brigade.

Recumbents the next craze?

 

[Levo-Lon]

Well, I don't really have any interest at all in golf, but that clubhouse was the only place that was open and serving tea/coffee at that time in the morning and in that locale. What surprised me was the sheer snobbery of the response when I asked if non-members could come in for coffee - yes, but not dressed like that! (We were four women not in the first flush of youth, wearing cycling shorts and shirts, nothing outrageous at all. Not compared with plaid plus-fours anyway .)

Further down the road, however, there's a smaller, less exclusive golf club which has a sign at the end of the drive saying "Bar/restaurant, all welcome". We didn't bother to test that out, but possibly it illustrates the weakness in the OP's argument. The snobbery attaches more to some subsections of the golf world rather than all of it, and likewise saying that "cycling" has become "very upper crust" is equally ludicrous. Some bits are, some bits aren't.

I used to play a lot of golf ...some clubs are just pathetic old boys clubs.. You need to wear a tie to pee..

Lots of clubs are diversifying now to just try and survive..
As for not selling you tea and coffee...thats just naff

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Mmm, delicious, crispy upper crusts, smothered in onion gravy.

 

[Racing roadkill]

That`s how it appears to me

Doesn`t feel like I fit the criteria any more, almost as though I have to talk posh!

I`ve never been one for "keeping up with the Jones`s" or worrying about other people, but lately in various encounters I`ve noticed that the standard criteria is to be a private consultant, or doctor, or similar, live in a "rustic" residence with at least a double garage (or gararge, let`s get it right!!), a swimming pool, a minimum of 4 brand new cars, plenty of log burners, a coffee machine that cost more than my house did, a lifelong subscription to radio 4...etc etc etc, the list goes on

I, and my semi-detached WITH SINGLE gararge, tools based job, a liking for Lidl`s groceries, a 15 year old car, and a lacking of the cyclists accent (there is one, I know), seem to be feeling a little bit out of place

Maybe I should take up jigsaw puzzles, or get a flat cap and keep pigeons!

Seriously, the whole thing does seem to be getting rather "select", nowadays

It's the new Golf. The sorts of tossers who used to play Golf, now cycle. I just try to ignore them, get on with my own rides.

 

[Lee_M]

Once the novelty of whatever craze wore off running went back to the athletes,

err yep that'll be why no one jogs anymore and no one runs the london marathon

motorcycling returned to the dirty fingernail brigade.

What universe are you living in? the vast majority of motorcyclists these days are still the more well off middle aged

given you're completely wrong about this I would suggest you're probably completely wrong about cycling too

 

[screenman]

Really? I speak to myself all the time. Rarely results in a sensible conversation, though

I spent an hour telling myself jokes once, total waste of time, I had heard them all before.

 

[screenman]

Things are no different than when I started racing back in 1970, some had rich parents with cars some like myself rode out to every race even cross races in winter. Some became life time cyclists and others saw the light and got out.

 

[Randomnerd]

It is possible I am wrong, but I doubt it

Oh dear.

Bizarre thread indeed, with some bizarre, bigoted commentary about the increased popularity of a sport.

Maybe it's that some of you would rather be a big fish in a little pool, eh?

A better world would be had if you stopped moaning about how it used to all be better, about how you all know best, and just get on with letting everyone get on and enjoy themselves in whatever lawful pastime they choose, with whatever disposable income they wish.

I'm often reminded on this forum of The Frost Report's "Three Men on Class": you would have thought by now that we could change the record.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

Oh dear.

Bizarre thread indeed, with some bizarre, bigoted commentary about the increased popularity of a sport.

Maybe it's that some of you would rather be a big fish in a little pool, eh?

A better world would be had if you stopped moaning about how it used to all be better, about how you all know best, and just get on with letting everyone get on and enjoy themselves in whatever lawful pastime they choose, with whatever disposable income they wish.

I'm often reminded on this forum of The Frost Report's "Three Men on Class": you would have thought by now that we could change the record.

What's bigoted about my post? I'm merely commenting on which way I see the current cycling boom going, not wishing for any particular outcome.

We'll see.

 

[Sandra6]

Whether you notice a trend in types of people who are "cyclists" must depend on what you class as a cyclist in the first place.
I'm guessing the op is limiting the description to those who are members of clubs and go out on rides as a group. But they're not the only cyclists on the road.
I'm a cyclist. I'm not a member of a cycling club and group rides are not my thing. I know lots of people like me who are out and about on bikes most days. Are we not cyclists?
And how do you know what the cyclist who just passed you does for a living, or how much they earn and how much they spent on their bike? Maybe they nicked it!
I work in a bike shop and even I don't know what all my customers do to earn enough to buy the bikes they buy - although a lot buy them on finance, so probably don't earn as much as you'd think they did to afford such a bike in the first place.
There are, in my experience, as many low income budgeters as there are well paid "professionals" out there riding bikes.
The golf thing is a funny one though, we were discussing this in the shop recently and cycling does seem to be the new sport of taxi drivers. Make of that what you will.

 

[Apollonius]

You will know that a boom in cycling is genuine when you see far more people buying the sort of practical bikes club cyclists back in the day rode when they were not racing or training, ie mudguards, non race geometry and something other than a glorified fag packet strapped under the saddle for carrying capacity. To be a lifelong cyclist you need to enjoy riding a bike for the sheer pleasure of it, not just till the novelty of setting strava times wears off and you have run out of new kit to buy, or those you want to impress no longer do it.

This does sound a little like the cry of the "bring back the past and I will feel safe again" types. Do you really believe that only the type of cycle you describe can give "the sheer pleasure of it"? I assure you that I get plenty of pleasure from my mudguard-free, ultra-lightweight, stripped of all but the most essential kit, carbon bike. In fact, the pleasure diminishes the closer I get to the sort of bike you describe. I had plenty of that back in the sixties, thanks, and no wish to go back there! And I ride mostly on my own, so not looking to impress - not that a near 70 year old overweight old man is going to impress anyone anyway!

 

[Mrs M]

I don't think I have ever met a cyclist who has played golf. What is this obsession with golf? Is it a class thing? I know cyclists who also ride and own horses, and cyclists who also sail (like me) but never a cyclist/golfer? Cyclists who ski, in plenty. Is golf seen as a higher class thing? Is there something wrong with golf as an activity? I have never tried it, so cannot say, but it does seem to be a bit of a meme on here.

Mr m plays golf and has done since he was a boy.
He plays because he enjoys it and is no bad for a chubby wee guy
He also cycles because he enjoys that too (not as much as golf though)
He's no snob and can't be done with them

 

[Slick]

Mr m plays golf and has done since he was a boy.
He plays because he enjoys it and is no bad for a chubby wee guy
He also cycles because he enjoys that too (not as much as golf though)
He's no snob and can't be done with them

Sounds like a man after my own heart.

 

[johnnyb47]

At the end of the day does it really matter what kind of person a cyclist is. Each and every one of us is different and we all have our own personal reasons as to why we want or need to cycle. Looking at it all as a whole picture is what makes cycling so interesting. There's so many different angles to it that makes it so diversely interesting.
For whatever your reasons or motives there's one thing you can be assured of that we all have in common. We enjoy this beautiful simple invention of the bicycle.