Every sport has its own codes and uses its own vocabulary. In surfing, it’s common to say you’re using wax (a wax used to clean the board). In golf, getting to the green early is a good sign, and if you’ve ever played basketball, you’ve surely heard of a hook shot or a backcourt violation. Cycling is no different, and it uses its own terminology that can make non-fans wonder if the two-wheeled sport has its own language. In this article, we’re going to look back at five of those terms that only your fellow cyclists understand. Five words that would earn you more than a few strange looks and frowns if you used them in another context.
Doing the "afilador"
When you talk about doing the afilador, it’s not good. Mentioning it means that the rear wheel of the cyclist in front rubs against the front wheel of the cyclist behind. The fall, especially for the one behind, is almost certain.
Having a "goat"
It doesn’t go off into the hills, nor is the person who has one close to insanity. The "goat" is that bike with extensions that works so well on the track, in time trials or triathlons
over long distances. When someone unfamiliar with cycling asks what it means to ride a goat, to avoid misunderstandings you have to show them the bike, so they don’t think it’s something else.
Putting on the horns
No, it’s not what it might seem. Putting horns on a bike is nothing more than installing synthetic, aluminum, or carbon extensions on the handlebar of a mountain bike
. With them, you can adopt different positions on the bike depending on the terrain, the speed you want to reach, and other factors.
Changing the gear ratio
It’s one of those basic cycling terms that’s easy to explain to a non-cyclist. The combination between the chainrings and the cogs can be confusing for someone getting on a two-wheeled vehicle for the first time, but it’s part of every cyclist’s daily routine, no matter their specialty.
Taking off your arm warmers
Nothing to do with those parts often blamed for car mechanical failures. Although they’re common in other sports, these lightweight, warm garments for the arms are perfect for cyclists who are especially sensitive to the cold.
Other terms you’ve gotten used to hearing
Fartlek training, which emphasizes changes in speed, isn’t exclusive to cycling, but it’s used in cycling and will be hard for anyone who hasn’t played sports to know. A similar case is TRX or suspension training, which increases strength and balance. In the field of physical preparation, HIIT deserves a special mention, standing for High Intensity Interval Training . This is a type of training based on high intensity and effort intervals, alternating between periods of maximum work and periods of rest. You can't talk about training and cycling without mentioning tapering, a term that someone outside this world could easily confuse.
It's easy to explain when you say that it is the fine-tuning of a cyclist, specifically the planning of load and training in terms of frequency, intensity, and volume. Among other words from cycling jargon is the 'pájara' (also humorously known as the man with the hammer), which everyone wants to keep as far away as possible, but which has become popular thanks to TV broadcasts of the big mountain stages. In those same broadcasts, you can normally hear talk of 'escarabajos' (an affectionate reference to Colombian climbers), echelons, splits, attacks, leaders, domestiques, pile-ups, stage hunters, and, always last, the red lantern. And if we move on to triathlon, we have drafting, which is nothing more than riding in someone's slipstream.