John Barry wrote:
> No offense, Barrie, but there's an old truism that states - "perception is reality". I'd like to hear from Norris, Crumpy, and anyone else who was part of the scene (whichever version of the scene they were part of at least) for their take on it. What I hear you say is consistent with what I've heard in other places in some regards, but perhaps a bit overstrongly stated.
My experiences as a teenager in the UK might not be as extensive as
those of the people you mention, but I assure you, cyclists were very
cliquish and regarded others, not in their group, who rode bicycles,
with disdain. Even the CTC crowd, as shown in the Youtube movie about
cycling in the UK in 1955, were looked down upon by more racing oriented
clubmen. In the London area we called those riding cheaper bikes and not
belonging to a club, "scrubbers". There was definitely a lot of
equipment snobbery and even if you had the right gear, you were still
not accepted unless you belonged to a club.
That sounds harsh, but the British were always very class conscious. However, I also remember back before I had a good bike and belonged to a club, I took my first long ride from London to Brighton, 53 miles each way. I was riding a gaspipe Hercules, inappropriately dressed, with a pair of aluminum bottles on the handlebars, containing milk. About half way there I got a flat tire. Within minutes, a couple on nice bikes stopped to help me. I'm sure I must have looked like a scrubber to them.
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John Betmanis Woodstock, Ontario Canada