Is CycleChat & Recreational Rides a dead forum?

[wiggydiggy]

I think very few of us talk about riding on here. We mostly arse about talking about other stuff. Cycling is great to do, but dull to talk about, unless it is some tour or some such. Not many are touring all the time.

Thai is a good point," tales from your commute" is fairly good to follow but i prefer to read the "your bike in front of...." threads which are mostly pictures anyway.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Unless people are riding lots but not saying so it appears the vast majority on this forum hardly ride.
I'm a regular on the Retirement forum and it seems only a couple ride there.

Again, it could be people just don't bother to mention if they ride but seeing as this entire forum is ultimately about cycling it's a bit disappointing how few seem to do it.

There has been a fair bit of discussion lately about not riding because the weather is bad.

It is winter after all.

 

[Dogtrousers]

What's a Bluebeard BTW Is it some kind of pirate?

a villain in European folk tales who marries several wives and murders them in turn.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/bluebeard

I don't think the accusations were actually that serious. But it was all very weird.

 

[Dadam]

My new ride thread has only had 1 view since I started it yesterday. I was looking at other recent ride threads and hardly anyone has looked at them either.

The thread views must be broken. I viewed it soon after you posted it, and also added a like but I didn't have time to got distracted before I could respond.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Interesting to note that the Fridays 2026 Ride Calendar announced thread has been viewed only once. How sad.

But it has six likes. So people have been liking it without viewing it. (Or the view counter is broken)

Last year the 2025 Friday Night Ride Calendar announced thread managed to amass 11 likes while being viewed only once.

 

[ColinJ]

I must emphasise this is not criticism but everything which went through my mind when I read your opening question in this thread. There need to be strong reasons to attract people to go as opposed, if I'm honest, to strong reasons not to.

I understand why people might choose not to (or can't) do the rides; I was just surprised that it appeared that nobody was even reading the threads in the Rides forum. It turns out though that many more people are visiting the Rides forum, but aren't being added to the Views count.

I have the same cost/time considerations with some of the forum rides that I like to do. The Humber Bridge imperial century for instance. I have to get up around 5:30 to do that one and catch 2 trains each way. It is usually about 22:00+ by the time that I get home. The Dales rides are great but again, 2 trains each way. Sometimes I can get a lift, which makes more distant rides a lot more practical.

 

[Binky]

There has been a fair bit of discussion lately about not riding because the weather is bad.

It is winter after all.

True and I am an unashamed fair weather cyclist but I do make the effort if not actually raining(or icy).
Maybe lots are riding but even though it might be an utterly uneventful and routine ride there doesn't seem many who mention it in passing as it were.
Lots go on about cars/coffee/health/food/drink/whatever but not that they took a quick spin out.
I suspect when this forum first started chat about cycling dominated pretty much whereas now it's everything else.

 

[Webbo2]

True and I am an unashamed fair weather cyclist but I do make the effort if not actually raining(or icy).
Maybe lots are riding but even though it might be an utterly uneventful and routine ride there doesn't seem many who mention it in passing as it were.
Lots go on about cars/coffee/health/food/drink/whatever but not that they took a quick spin out.
I suspect when this forum first started chat about cycling dominated pretty much whereas now it's everything else.

I certainly ride and did over 5,000 miles last year. Not so great this year so far 1 ride of just over 25 miles( It was an interval session though) plus 4 turbo sessions.

 

[PaulSB]

True and I am an unashamed fair weather cyclist but I do make the effort if not actually raining(or icy).
Maybe lots are riding but even though it might be an utterly uneventful and routine ride there doesn't seem many who mention it in passing as it were.
Lots go on about cars/coffee/health/food/drink/whatever but not that they took a quick spin out.
I suspect when this forum first started chat about cycling dominated pretty much whereas now it's everything else.

I think you're correct with this. My riding has dropped off the past two years due to my wife's health and my RTC. My target for 2026 is 5000 miles and 200,000ft.

I can remember that I would learn a lot by reading threads on CC. This is less so today, yes I'm more experienced, and I feel it's for two reasons; there is less discussion about cycling and many of the newer threads are a repetition of topics that have been covered multiple times.

After 19 years here this isn't surprising.

 

[ColinJ]

BITD I organised a ride using the forum and, as a result ended up riding with weirdos from the internet and some very weird stalking-related things happened.

I guesstimate that I have ridden with just over 200 CycleChat members over the years. About 200 were perfectly nice people that I was happy to ride with, and 190 of those were 'normal people'. About 10 of them were more like me, 'a little unusual'.

The rest, fewer in number than the fingers on one hand... er, better not to talk about them!

 

[Punkawallah]

... passed on, no more, ceased to be, expired and gone to meet its maker, a stiff, bereft of life, resting in peace?!

I took last year off from organising forum rides and in that time the CycleChat & Recreational Rides forum seems to have virtually died!

My new ride thread has only had 1 view since I started it yesterday. I was looking at other recent ride threads and hardly anyone has looked at them either.

I wonder if people just stopped looking in the rides forum*** because so little was going on there? If so, it is a shame! Actually riding with other forum members is (IMHO) A Good Thing, which we should encourage.

I know that this is not the most pleasant time of year (in the UK) to be riding our bikes, but a forum ride could be extra motivation to get off the couch (or turbo trainer!) and get frozen and soaked have some cycling fun with other forum members.

Post your opinion below. If you are interested, also take a look at my ride thread (and the others) in the rides forum.



*** Which is why I have started this thread in General Chat instead!

Ye gods, man! You’ll be wanting a ‘club’, next!

Up here in the Wastelands if the North I tend to ride solo - also retired, which means I don’t have to hit the weekend group rides, especially as they want you to wear a helmet. I did consider a German WW2 helmet once, but it came under the heading of ‘if an idea makes me laugh for more than 30 seconds, I am to assume it’s not allowed’.

 

[ColinJ]

Ye gods, man! You’ll be wanting a ‘club’, next!

Ha ha - no!

I could never commit to and fit in with membership of a club. Forum rides for me are a less formal and more occasional alternative which I can dip into and out of whenever it suits me.

 

[Gwylan]

Ye gods, man! You’ll be wanting a ‘club’, next!

Quite, this is a nice place if you like a club on your terms.

That suits me.

I cycle what, where and how I want to. Nobody tells me off for not filling in the trip data report, there are no TLA's

 

[lazybloke]

... passed on, no more, ceased to be, expired and gone to meet its maker, a stiff, bereft of life, resting in peace?!

The forum isn't completely dead. I did 5 of the forum rides in 2025 (although I suppose 3 were actually club rides rather than forum rides). I intended to do more, but life got in the way.

I'd be sad if this corner of the site did die - I enjoy reading about proposed rides and the subsequent ride reports. Some are inspirational.