Info on Cycle Chat that changed your cycling.

[John the Monkey]

If only we'd had a clear answer to whether we need to wave to other cyclists or not.

 

[_aD]

A thread where someone was self-congratulating themselves at causing a near-miss with a child helped me. I decided to ride a bit more carefully on some stretches of shared paths, despite already being careful. Zero near-misses so far.

 

[Markymark]

I come here when my confidence is a little bit low. It reminds me how much better I am than everyone else.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I'm not sure if it has changed it yet.... have to wait until spring.

On another thread people have been posting dire warnings about knee injury resulting from cycling in the cold in shorts. In the past I've dismissed this as a meme, but on consideration there may be a mechanism for it (to do with blood flow to cartilage and tendons) and it may well have some truth to it. So, being in posession of two extremely dodgy knees (one from an old op, the other just from decrepitude), I've decided to err on the side of caution put aside my scepticism and believe it - and get some knee warmers when it warms up a bit in spring and I change back to shorts.

 

[martint235]

I come here when my confidence is a little bit low. It reminds me how much better I am than everyone else.

I'm not sure how to break this to you. You're actually pretty rubbish, worse than @potsy even.

 

[MontyVeda]

just me who's started wearing a h**met then?


(poor taste, i'm sorry)

 

[Katherine]

Confidence is the main thing I've learnt.
Stuff I didn't know before joining CC :
Mickleling, primary, n+1, that coffee and cake stops are normal, strava, eating and drinking properly before during and after a ride, that not all club rides are for speedsters, social group rides.

 

[Saluki]

Being told about zippy-uppy overshoes which keep my feet warm while cycling. Also finding out about winter cycling boots - I'd never heard of them until the end of last winter, now I have a pair of them from @Easytigers. Warm feet for a couple of winters and even warmer feet this winter so far, has really helped my cycling along.

Numerous posts about how to tackle hills, servicing gears, sorting out tyres etc have really helped too, not to mention gps advice. I didn't buy a mio, but bought a Garmin due to advice read on here.

The only cyclechatter that I have met in person (to my knowledge) is @stephec

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Meeting @ColinJ when I was getting over a mastectomy and the ravaging the steroids did to me before the op. He was so patient and friendly and super patient. Meeting @Pennine-Paul who showed that age is no barrier to fixie fun.

Advice from @tubbycyclist..."just enjoy riding, speeds not important".

And the best advice......M+, never had a puncture since.

 

[Pale Rider]

Before I joined CycleChat, I didn't realise the poor downtrodden cyclist with a massive sense of entitlement existed.

More from my own experience, I have learned some motorists dislike cyclists for no reason.

Taken together, this has changed the way I interact with motorists when I'm on a bicycle.

Thus CycleChat has helped me understand the relationship between the two groups of road users.

 

[Tin Pot]

1. To get up hills faster
2. To take primary with confidence, when appropriate
3. To get in front of stopped traffic queues at junctions
4. That "visibility" aids are not protection
5. That there is no clear evidence to back helmet usage
6. How frequently people's worldviews are skewed by false equivalence
7. How to fit brakes, change chains and index shifters
8. That a £150 on a bike fit really is worth worth it, whatever the cost of the bike itself

 

[ColinJ]

Meeting @ColinJ when I was getting over a mastectomy and the ravaging the steroids did to me before the op. He was so patient and friendly and super patient. Meeting @Pennine-Paul who showed that age is no barrier to fixie fun.

Advice from @tubbycyclist..."just enjoy riding, speeds not important".

That's very nice of you, Shaun! (Sorry that I haven't ridden with you recently but this weather is putting me off. I still have a couple of weeks before I stop for Christmas, so let me know if/when you are free.)

My weight has been up and down over the years, as has yours, tubby's, and many others on CC such as @potsy but cycling has helped us all get to grips with it and having CycleChatters to cycle with has played a big part in that. I would just like to thank all of you who have come out on my rides, sent me GWS messages when I was very ill, given me lifts, bought me cake (!) etc. Join me on more of my scenic forum rides in 2016!

 

[John the Monkey]

I come here when my confidence is a little bit low. It reminds me how much better I am than everyone else.

 

[Sara_H]

I'd been cycling many years before discovering CycleChat, but was oblivious to cyclecraft and such like, so I think I'm now a much safer rider as a result.
I stopped using a helmet as a result of the information presented here and I also discovered the joys of winter tyres, which I previously never knew existed.

 

[stephec]

Being told about zippy-uppy overshoes which keep my feet warm while cycling. Also finding out about winter cycling boots - I'd never heard of them until the end of last winter, now I have a pair of them from @Easytigers. Warm feet for a couple of winters and even warmer feet this winter so far, has really helped my cycling along.

Numerous posts about how to tackle hills, servicing gears, sorting out tyres etc have really helped too, not to mention gps advice. I didn't buy a mio, but bought a Garmin due to advice read on here.

The only cyclechatter that I have met in person (to my knowledge) is @stephec

Have you gotten over it, or do you still need counselling?