Boredom

[Pat "5mph"]

Bored?
Riding about town going on automatic pilot results in getting squashed, so, no boredom there.
Riding for pleasure I mostly pick a different destination, so the excitement is all in not getting lost!

 

[ColinJ]

If you get bored then you are not trying hard enough and/or you are not riding somewhere beautiful and/or challenging!

My longest rides have been about 13-14 hours and I found plenty to keep me occupied.

 

[Kies]

Never had this problem! Maybe it's because I've usually something nice to look at with my regular loops around the Aire Valley or Yorkshire Dales. My mind spins with all sorts of crap, next new bike, women, football, women, new bike, beer, women, football. I thought this was normal?

Very normal - or am i just weird like you?

 

[totallyfixed]

Bored on a bike??? Am I on the right forum? It rather sounds to me like some folks are riding just to "get miles in" and for me that is not what cycling is about. I never go out to achieve mileage targets, don't see the point. Is this why the Strava thing has taken off, because simply riding is not enough? If you have no interest in the sights, sounds and smells of your surroundings I can see this would make things a bit boring. Are there people like that? As for listening to music, the countryside is my music and anyone who really believes that wearing headphones is an ok thing to do is just plain wrong, I've never seen a club cyclist do it or an amateur racer or a pro, with good reason.

 

[Kies]

I never get bored .... I'm always fascinated by how beautiful the ladies are ( the variations in colour,creed,weight,height & clothing or lack of) , keeps me thinking ..... Sometimes i am thinking about cars,football,nice houses,what's for lunch,this road feels good,20mph on the flats!, 5mph on a hill! ,come on go faster,and then i see another lady .......

 

[simon.r]

I'm another who doesn't feel the need to occupy my mind beyond the riding and experiencing what's around me.

Having said that, a suggestion for the OP - try MTB'ing. On anything approaching a technical trail I find my thoughts are fully occupied with picking the right lines and avoiding falling off

 

[fossyant]

I don't ride long distances or for long periods because I find them boring. From about 60-70 mile onwards I get bored and just count down the miles to home. Instead I prefer to just ride 30-40 miles at a good speed, or with a certain aim in mind. I tend not to "just get the miles in" either.

Same here. Tend to do upto 2-3 hours on my own. Longer rides are done with the club.

 

[Typhon]

3 hours is about my limit too. Never get bored up until that point though.

The turbo is a different story however, after about 2 miles I am bored out of my mind and desperate to get off.

 

[Kies]

3 hours is about my limit too. Never get bored up until that point though.

The turbo is a different story however, after about 2 miles I am bored out of my mind and desperate to get off.

I tend to watch MTV or listen to a music station. Helps with the constant gazing at the computer

 

[Globalti]

In the same vein, one of my favourite games for getting to sleep is to go over the day's ride in my mind and see how far I can get before I realise I've drifted away onto a completely different subject. I go back and try to visualise the route but I have never yet reached the end of any ride.

 

[snorri]

Can't say I've ever been bored on the bike, there is always something in the constantly changing scene to keep up the interest. The landscape varies throughout the day as the sun crosses the sky giving photographic opportunities. Observing nature, or the agricultural scene provides an interest. Take a look around some local historic site. I'm not averse to stopping to pick up the odd bit of rubbish from the roadside if it's something I can recycle in the workshop. Come to think of it several spanners and a Mole grip in my tool kit were found at the roadside while cycling .
Bits of wood can be taken home and passed on to friends who use fire wood. A bit of beachcombing when the route passes close to the sea usually yields some object to provoke a thought or a memory.

 

[Dave 123]

You could play "give the motorist the finger" or "yell TOSSER at a ped" for hours.

 

[yello]

The routes I ride, I very rarely see pedestrians and neither are there many cars. Guess I could holler at cattle though

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I don't get bored whilst out riding on day rides. I tend to watch & listen to the world - the birds, the flowers, insects, watching for the signs of spring (now very definitely here (honest)). I found a huge clump of wild garlic a few days ago that I have my eyes on for some homemade wild garlic pesto....
I do listen to music, in my left ear only, can't hear it when a vehicle goes passed and always know when they are approaching well in advanced, I get the odd cyclist who yells hello at me, they get a polite reply. I would love to find a set of mono headphones for my iPod though because listening to one side of stereo songs is odd at times, but I often find myself thinking when did such & such a track happen - I didn't here it.

Times when I have got bored have only occured on tour (in the endless forests of Scandinavia - I love trees but, I have found out there is a limit) and then I was with my OH who has this amazing habit of nonseniscal conversations...

Info: a friend informed a "bike ride" is something you do on a Sunday morning before lunch when we called our world tour a 'bike ride'.

(We had bivvied overnight in a swamp forest and my OH was badly bitten. He has a wry sense of humour at times). After an hour's cycling through yet more forest on dirt roads...

Me - So what brings you here then?
Stuart - The midges.
Me - Oh - are you studying them?
Stuart - No, I think they are studying me. They keep taking lots of tiny blood samples from me, (pause). What brings you here then?
Me - Oh, just a bike ride.
Stuart - Just a small one then?
Me - yes, something like that.
Stuart - Just the 1 lap?
Me - Probably, not decided yet..

I won't bore everyone else, but should you want the conversation my OH had with himself (outloud in 2 different voices) about lemmings & pancakes.. (we did on one occasion run over a lemming ) . https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=8S&page_id=254582&v=SJ

 

[biggs682]

compo your meant to just peddle and stay awake enough to enjoy the ride , so let your mind drift a bit and see what happens