Cycling for the soul

[johnblack]

This weekend one of my cycling mates had arranged a reunion with a couple of friends he made on a cycling holiday in Vietnam. On Saturday he invited me to join them on a ride and we duly set of on a nice 100 km route through Northants and Bedfordshire.

One of the guys works for Manchester Police and was clearly very stressed and in need of a break. As the day progressed and we laughed, joked, stopped for coffee, beer, lunch etc he was relaxing more and more. It was amazing to see some very familiar countryside through someone else's eyes - the pretty villages, the grand country houses. We stopped for photos at points I had cycled past numerous times and never appreciated. Likewise we stopped for beer at a pub I had cycled past but never visited before.

With all the stops the ride took probably twice as long as I thought it would, but who cares ? My new friend was a different man, and was so happy that he had taken time out to enjoy the simple pleasures of riding a bike with good company in lovely surroundings.

I'll consider this next time I'm focusing only on my times.

We went out on a really long MTB ride on Saturday - 100 miler. One of the blokes who came with us is a friend but tends to do all his riding on his own. It was a fantastic day out with a few stops but I could see he was just always itching to get on with it. Not really wanting to slow down when someone was struggling and just getting worked up, when the pace slowed.

We all know he's pretty highly strung but sort of guessed that a day out would be good for him, I think it probably made him worse!!

I'm glad you didn't have the same experience.

 

[Blue Hills]

some folk I fear take the pressure/competitiveness/need to "win" of their work into their cycling, the pastime they maybe took up as a way of destressing - lots of signs of it around London from the way some folk ride to what they ride and wear. I fear it won't end well for some.

 

[rugby bloke]

Taking a bit of time to notice your surroundings might help you to understand, for example that Seville is spelt with an "E" and "Saville" is not really a positive name in these times

Whatever

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Whatever

Apologies.
My post was meant as gentle ribbing, a little humour, no ill intent meant.
Tone is difficult to incorporate in text.

 

[rugby bloke]

Apologies.
My post was meant as gentle ribbing, a little humour, no ill intent meant.
Tone is difficult to incorporate in text.

No problem. As I have struggled with spelling all my life it is something that I am a bit delicate about.

 

[bladderhead]

Dyslexic? Dyslexia can be bad for self-confidence.

 

[rugby bloke]

Dyslexic? Dyslexia can be bad for self-confidence.

Never diagnosed as dyslexia - every time I failed a spelling test at school I was just humiliated and given more words to learn as if I was being lazy ... different times ! As one of my lads has dyslexia I can see that maybe that was part of the problem for me.

 

[bladderhead]

Classic scenario. You must have gone through school before they discovered dyslexia. What could be the explanation for your inability to spell? Not the full ticket, obviously. And all the dyslexic people believed it about themselves, why would they not?

There is a whole load of people out there with false low estimates of their own intelligence, and it is hard to talk them out of it. I have seen this.

You are not as daft as you think you are.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

You must have gone through school before they discovered dyslexia.

I was once asked by a teacher at comp if I was dyslexic (early 70's) I replied saying I've never heard of that, he replied to not worries about it, that was the last that was ever said about it.

 

[rugby bloke]

You are not as daft as you think you are.

Thank you - although my wife and friends may disagree !!

I always knew I was as clever as everyone else at school - decent O levels, very good A levels (ironically in the 3 subjects that required the most essay writing - English, History and Geography), interview for Oxford and a beer drinkers degree. Whilst I accepted I was poor at spelling I always knew it was not linked to educational ability. Thankfully times have moved on and the system is better at detecting and supporting pupils.