[Closed] So how do you suss out another rider?

I'd send him one way, you go the other 😆

The key to riding with new folk is to make sure neither of you end up in hospital..., so be careful.

Cup gently and ask him to cough.

'Sorry, I don't ride with people unless they're on Strava'

I would go nuts and ask him how much riding experience he has and where he normally rides and how often. I know that's radical and a more obvious solution might be to slice his leg off and count the rings or ask a clairvoyant…

If you don't like the answer you can always sabotage his bike before you set off.

Make sure you pick a route with a few options to 'bail-out' so you can fain injury and head home early when he's beating you up every climb and down every decent!

If he/she mentions how buoyant the local dogging scene is, avoid.

'friend' him on Strava.
compare VOMs and suffer scores.

It could be worse, you could find yourself in the mucky woods in the dark, misty night with some tubster of a stranger who cannot keep up uphill... oh, hang on , you already did. 😉

Pick up the phone / pint with him and have a blether.

(Sold the Scott, hence no email btw, but will bring box o' parts on Thursday)

i have the same issue.... kind of.

one of my biking buddies (and good mate to boot), Michi, is leaving town.
amongst my circle of friends there are quite a few of us that ride and we ride regularly enough as a group or as a trio, but it is then more of a stop-start bimble due to lots of bottling it and getting off (intentionally and not) than a full-on 1000m alpine descent rausch.

Michi was one of the few people i know that doesn't need encouragement/looking after and is happy to ride without a break.

there are a few others, but they're not in town. i need a van.

Does he have a Strava profile you can look at?

Compare national rankings from last year?

went with my brother in law and his work friends a couple of years ago......most had bikes from the 89/94 era one bloke had all the gear talked about this and that, clearly read MBR and other publications...........trail centre so plenty of options but riding with him was a nightmare complete whinger and moaner and a was really a novice in over his head and took not at all kindly to encouragement or friendly comments.

Opposite end of the scale asked by my a female friend to take her brother out for a ride whilst he was visiting as he would be bored in a day or so, sure does he have a bike oh yes something or other. Rode out to her farmhouse, chatted to a very tall 50 something gent on a old steel orange p7 and asked where do fancy going oh anywhere so took him up on the fells......turned out to be an ex national Olympic standard rower recently back from MT Everest base camp amongst other things and he was mad fast and a bloody good rider, great experience he ripped my legs off in the most polite pleasant manner ever.

Moral of the story you never know who you are going to bump into, just because they do not talk the talk does not mean you will not have a great time, as above chat to him see if you want to spend a couple of days with him any chance of a pre ride and go from there???

So how do you suss out another rider?

The usual way:

Road riders: size of legs vs size of waist. "Never noticed what bike."
MTBers: what bike they ride. "Never noticed if it was a boy or girl."

HMM - don't do Strava and I would doubt he's ever heard of it...

EDIT: and please dont' tell this is becoming the new way "win friends and infulence people2

Waves to MOAB see you thursday, I will be riding btw.

Can't you take him out on a local loop before you go, and put the wind up him if he's not up to it?

I'm not keen on spending a long awaited break in great riding country with a duffer...

Say you're thinking about route planning and ask him what he's up for, what he usually does?

so Pedro having heard my plan says he'll come up with me early and go riding.

Anything stopping you from going "right then, meet you at the finish", or are you obliged to be squadron reader?

Not going to see him before we leave next Wed morning. I'm pretty sure he's fit enough so speed is not the issue as I said I'm no demon, it's more the - how will he cope if the terrain is [i]Max to the Gnarr[/i] or even worse it's a bike breaker... i'm talking about doing Devils Staircase on the way up to Kintail and it's not for the faint hearted or the short of sus travel IMO.

Just tell him that you've planned a 80km route for the first day as a warm up.

That should sort the wheat from the chaff

Just seen it's techy stuff you're worried about - youtube vids of the descent are always good 😀

Well, there's your getout - "sorry mate, that Lapierre ain't up to it, you need ** inches at both ends for what I've got lined up".

Unless of course he's GOT ** inches of travel both ends.

I'm not keen on spending a long awaited break in great riding country with a duffer...

You're going up two days early so you just need to ride gnar to the max for the two days your on your own then once pedro shows up anything is a bonus.

More to the point if you're going away with a bunch of friends and the rest of them are walkers isn't it a bit anti social to go for a ride whilst everyone bar you (and maybe pedro) goes for a walk?

Yeah Pondo I tried that I even surruptitously showed photo's of my bike in various places that I hoped would set a marker but it just didn't seem to register, and not in a nonchalant way more in the same kind of way my mum thinks "that's nice, dear!"

He's a nice bloke so he'll be decent company at least but I'll just have to wait and see...

why don't you meet him for a local ride beforehand if possible?

i'd give the guy a chance though, for all you know he could be a xc pro/strava jockey/DH superstar or then again just another joe bloggs on a halfords bike. FYI my mate didn't know how much travel his nomad had, but still he's ****ing fast downhill

mW - I'm going up two days [b]early[/b] to ride and then be social with the walkers... the different ability/ambition of the walkers is such that we don't all walk the same routes anyway.

EDIT @ gazC - I hear you and hope for the best... I promise I'll fess up if I end up with my tail between my legs!

EDIT II - For context I should mention he has a Lapierre HT and I have a Giant Reign..

One off my housemates thought it was a good idea to match me to her other overseas sporty andcycling friend. She believed I was a riding god and her friend was as per her relaticely good but didn't do road racing as such as me. I was back then top 5 out of hundreds in the province. Luckily we went for a coffee before and I god to meet this British Tim she swam a bit with. I figured out quite quickly it was Tim Don, we just had coffee I had a lucky escape from a nice ride in the mountains for my 15 stone sprinter frame.

Went for a ride with one of my female classmates as well I hung on but died many deads, I have long gotten slow whe smoke all the men in The freedom Challenge a mountainbike race across south africa and is only a couple of hours of the 11 day something course record.

I've waited a lot as well it happens you can always wait at the dop or ride the climb again. I currently do this in my current road club the tell me to go flat out, I come back down half the mountain and ride from rider to rider having a chat with most of them and taking some pics. Or on the mountainbike on purpose take the hard lines for yourself only big blade there is many stuff to even out.

i found him and dragged him out of the bush/barbed wire, inverted 180. He's slower now.

Is he fit?

Check his wheel size obviously.

For this one here I'd be asking "What sort of thing do you ride" "Where's your regular", "How often do you ride" that sort of thing. Just conversational but also informative. When it's just a ride, that's one thing but it could mess up a weekend this.

You'll have to watch him.

Corners and "flow".

Of all the riders I've followed on trails, the ones swooping the curves and relaxing over roots etc have been the most impressive.

Is he fit?

Ask him if he's got a helmet, if not an easy opportunity for not letting him play.

I always ask this of all my victims 😈

Mate invited his sister's brother for a trip to Wales with us. He asks casually "what kind of place are we going to". I look at the Orange 5 on the roof and say "oh it's trail centre stuff and it's got plenty of line choices if the harder lines are too much for you".

Turns out he used to be Sam Hill's roommate on the junior DH worlds circuit.

Nothing more embarrassing than seeing him wheelie through the gap between the gates.

And climb uphill casually wheelie-ing by.

Or smoke everyone on the way down on the trail they were having that week's Enduro seeding run down.

Just treat the guy with respect. If your just looking for a weekend's solo riding and don't want to be lugged with a Derek then just let him know. However, I'd try and make friends. Some of the best riding I've experienced in my life is because people better than me let me ride with them despite me being a shit rider and I'm always grateful they indulged me.

You could always ride with him for a couple of hours in the morning, drop him off at the lunch stop if he's crap and carry on without losing too much.

and I asked what forks/travel does it have, "no idea" he says...

Are you serious... what's the problem. I have no idea what travel forks I have on my bike but I'm fairly sure I could keep up with other punters.

What possible bearing does knowing your fork travel have on how well you ride?

What possible bearing does knowing your fork travel have on how well you ride?

I think some people conflate being a bike geek with the ability to ride a bike well.

Sorry, but to answer your original question, just make it clear that you have limited time, want to make the most of it so will be doing xyz routes. If he wants to come along then that's fine but he needs to be self sufficient and if he can't keep up/manage then he's on his own.

HBF?

and I asked what forks/travel does it have, "no idea" he says...

If someone offered me a lift and didn't know what car they had or it's colour I'd take the bus

What possible bearing does knowing your fork travel have on how well you ride?

You do know [i]which[/i] forks you've got, though, don't you?

The strong do as they can and the weak suffer what they must

I lent a bike to my mate's new brother-in-law for ride in the Peak. Struggled a bit with the gears but tore everyone's legs off with a smile on his face ...turns out he was Commonwealth medallist runner. Stop fretting and have some fun 🙂

I took my neighbour out with us for a ride, he was a rugby star in his day and naturally fit

He got himself a road bike but I always thought he was more equipped to be a mountain bike rider is asked if he would like to join us lot.

I gave him my 2010 Enduro in full on "Alp" spec to slow him down a bit but he still got to each gate before us lot an had enough time t get off, open it, hold it open for us lot, close it behind him, get on, and still beat us to the next gate, but only if we were going up hill!

He wasn't asked again,

Nobody likes a show off.

curiousyellow - Member
Mate invited his sister's brother for a trip to Wales with us

so... his brother (or him)?

Deck him

Just found this on a Spanish MTB forum

¡Ayuda! Estaba borracho y arreglo para ir a caballo con un tío gordo británico que parece que no puede andar por toffe. ¿Cómo le bajaron suavemente?

Pedro

Sandbaggers are the worst. Seem to be actually not that good at the start of the ride so you can turn the screw a bit and revel in your god-like riding abilities.

Then when you're feeling all smug and think you've got the measure of them they start keeping up with you. As the ride progresses they start chatting easily on the steepest climbs and waiting at the end of the severest gnarfest with a cheery smile and a 'well that was fun'

At the end of the ride when your legs are on fire and you are really suffering they suggest 'extending' the route because they are enjoying it so much

As you prepare to die they ask you if you're ok?

Not that this ever happens to me

As soon as you start off, ride absolutely as fast as you possibly can. really turn yourself inside out doing it.
Even when you're crying in pain, keep going.

This will impress him and show him that even if you are the slower rider, you have spunk.

Let him play, I'm sure he'll be fine. He's got a Lapierre not a Halfords special.

Normally speak before hand, outline your plans (if you want to stick to them say you don't really know much else up there but have researched these routes) They will involve carrying and some technical descents.
It's going to be a bit remote do you have enough spares - tubes, patches, mech hanger, mountain clothes?

@theflatboy

Sorry, meant "his brother in law"! I was 2 minutes too late for a stealth edit!

I once got let down by my riding buddy for a Polaris winter event and had to find somebody at short notice. I think it might even have been through this forum that I linked up with a guy named Lloyd who was interested in taking the place. He turned out to be much younger and faster than me so I felt bad all weekend holding him up. Still, I think we managed a respectable placing, somewhere in the top 30% in our category.

Some of the best riding I've experienced in my life is because people better than me let me ride with them despite me being a shit rider and I'm always grateful they indulged me.

I'd go along with that ^^^ - and I'm always happy to ride with someone who isn't as "good" (it's all relative...) as me, too.
Even if the ride is slower than I would have been on my own so what? It's only riding pushbikes, after all, and sometimes the social aspect is as important as the riding.

If your just looking for a weekend's solo riding and don't want to be lugged with a Derek then just let him know

Was gonna say something - then I saw the above. WTF does [i]that[/i] mean?
Derek's an [i]insult[/i] now? Punch in the nose coming your way pal.

I've been riding bikes on and offroad for 35 years, and have no idea what forks I have, don't care either so long as they work!

surroundedbyhills - ...Pedro...

Hiya Ox - unfortunaltey for me it's not that Pedro! If only it were I'd be a happier camper.

Ok so I feel like I've done as much as I can, I showed the guy the OS map of the routes etc and gave him outline details of times and what I expect of the day. I've heard from the wider group that (this) Pedro is always keen sign up for stuff but then generally fails to show, so I'll just have to see what happens.
And for those who don't know the type of fork you have (which I used to illustrate the point, not to define the guy) fair enough but if you you give me ZERO other indicators that you know what you are talking about then I get concerned. I doubt those that I consider to be several skill notches above me would chose to take a hard tail into the type of country I heading for.

Could be worse, Dez, could be called Colin.

Or Joey.

Where's this Pedro from?

Do folk on here honestly seriously not know what fork they ride (make, travel, etc.)? I find that quite difficult to believe.

Yea but it's cool not to know, it's all about being cool.

is he on strava?

I'm going up two days early to ride and then be social

So, go up two days early, ride, if Pedro makes it, pretend you don't know him or ignore him completely. He'll never invite himself along with you again.

actual lol at DezB, not [i]at[/i] DezB though, I don't want a punch in the nose 😉

Do folk on here honestly seriously not know what fork they ride (make, travel, etc.)? I find that quite difficult to believe.

I have SIDS, that's as much as I know. I think they're 100mm. Model year, all the various internal combinations? No idea. I just set everything to the middle and ride them.

Ok! So Pedro now can't make. Stand easy, chaps!

Wonder if Pedro ever takes his Lapierre off some sweet jumps...

VOTE PEDRO!

[img] [/img]Well tbh it was a let off!
Not only did my epic day out, following the Ben Fadha route as posted up here titled [b]"Is this the best route in the UK"[/b], turn out to be a 4½hr bog fest with 45mins of top riding... Pedro turned up the next day on an entry level Lapierre with Suntour forks and no brand rims/hubs etc... First time we went off to look for a trail after 15mins of hike a bike he mumbled something about being self employed and not wanting to have an accident so we turned round and went on a road ride to the pub so it was sonething of a win; Sunshine beer and chips with a view of Eilean Donan Castle 😀 . Saying that he was nice bloke and good company, just a bit over enthusiastic!