Mate quits cycling :(

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Milzy

Guru
My mate Steve used to race a lot of Enduro & Down hill events. After having shoulder surgery he says he’s turning his back on it all. He will concentrate on coaching children’s football. He says it’s just not the same anymore. Key points as to why I totally agree with him in a sense as follows.
Strava has ruined cycling. It used to be about riding with your mates & taking in the views then maybe stop for a pint afterwards. Now it’s become so serious it’s more like a shake afterwards. Trying to be in front of your mates on segments is just like a sickness. He’s right the fun has gone out of it.
His cousin is a really good roadie but he hardly ever rides outside anymore. He just hammers away on brutal intervals on Zwift. Slight spec of rain or a little breeze & he’s not interested been outside. I can relate to this to some extent.
Then there’s the snobbery in both Road & MTB. The constant spending on kit with the extra spending on kit you don’t need.
All you need is any bicycle that fits correctly. It can have 8 speed Claris fitted. It doesn’t matter. You’re the engine. If you’re comfortable & relatively fit you can easily drop all these rich guys on their venges & F10’s. If you want to stick a number on your back then fine buy the good stuff.
I can see why some folk choose to use Strava just to log & not follow anyone / be followed. It’s time to have more fun & less competition.
He didn’t even mention the pot holes & bad standard of other road users either. I’d like to talk him back into it but I kind of think I don’t blame you after what he’s had to say.
 

classic33

Leg End Member
Quit the gadgets, and go back to cycling.

The only gadgets carried whilst cycling are a mobile phone, 20 years old, and a basic cycle computer. Used for measuring distance & top speed only. No targets set, aside from getting there.
 

Shut Up Legs

Down Under Member
My mate Steve used to race a lot of Enduro & Down hill events. After having shoulder surgery he says he’s turning his back on it all. He will concentrate on coaching children’s football. He says it’s just not the same anymore. Key points as to why I totally agree with him in a sense as follows.
Strava has ruined cycling. It used to be about riding with your mates & taking in the views then maybe stop for a pint afterwards. Now it’s become so serious it’s more like a shake afterwards. Trying to be in front of your mates on segments is just like a sickness. He’s right the fun has gone out of it.
His cousin is a really good roadie but he hardly ever rides outside anymore. He just hammers away on brutal intervals on Zwift. Slight spec of rain or a little breeze & he’s not interested been outside. I can relate to this to some extent.
Then there’s the snobbery in both Road & MTB. The constant spending on kit with the extra spending on kit you don’t need.
All you need is any bicycle that fits correctly. It can have 8 speed Claris fitted. It doesn’t matter. You’re the engine. If you’re comfortable & relatively fit you can easily drop all these rich guys on their venges & F10’s. If you want to stick a number on your back then fine buy the good stuff.
I can see why some folk choose to use Strava just to log & not follow anyone / be followed. It’s time to have more fun & less competition.
He didn’t even mention the pot holes & bad standard of other road users either. I’d like to talk him back into it but I kind of think I don’t blame you after what he’s had to say.
All those points you mentioned can be ignored by Steve, so why is he letting it turn himself off cycling? He could just happily live a Strava and competition-free cycling life if he really wanted to, couldn't he?
 

I like Skol

A Minging Manc...
None of what you/he is saying makes sense!

I get the Strava thing and KOMs etc, it's a bit of fun, but at the end of the day it is just a sideshow and not the be all & end all of cycling.

Sounds like your mate has just lost the feeling, period, or is just surrounding himself with nobbers? There's plenty of cyclist's out there still doing the old fashioned real deal. I count myself amongst the down to earth 'real' cyclist bunch. Yes I can brag like an a'hole about a KOM, but there is still something satisfying about a group ride with friends where the destination is a pub or maybe a great breakfast.

At the end of the day it is all good, you just have to seek out the like minded people that you want to ride with ( @potsy )!
 

mustang1

Guru
Location
London, UK
When I first bought my bike, I bought a bike computer with it but never installed it: didn’t want to be a slave to it. Over the years I started using strava but still am not a slave to it.

The main thing is I’m a solo rider and I’m also not very competitive. Anything I achieve, I keep it to myself.
 
Good morning,

..... All you need is any bicycle that fits correctly. It can have 8 speed Claris fitted. It doesn’t matter. You’re the engine. If you’re comfortable & relatively fit you can easily drop all these rich guys on their venges & F10’s. If you want to stick a number on your back then fine buy the good stuff........It’s time to have more fun & less competition.,,,,

This sounds a bit like Grant Petersen and his Just Ride book where someone mentally changes cycling direction but does not change their cycling life-style to match.

I agree that all of the things that you mention exist but only if you go looking for them, we have a local club that I am not a member of because of such things. As I am not a member I don't experience it.

Quite a lot of your post sounds a bit bitter, like when everyone starts liking that obscure band that you have followed for the first 10 years of their life.

I have a Di2 equipped carbon bike that is way better than I am, I know that because I am just as slow on my 20 plus year old steel bike with down tube shifters. But why does what I ride or how fast I ride make any difference to you/your friend?

.....It’s time to have more fun & less competition.,,,,
I understand that you/your friend wish to change how you cycle but this shows how self focused your view of cycling is. :-) A lot of us have been having fun for a long time and if people want to be dedicated competitors it is no business of mine.

Bye

Ian
 

screenman

Legendary Member
This line describes something in over 50 years of cycling I have never noticed, "Then there’s the snobbery in both Road & MTB. The constant spending on kit with the extra spending on kit you don’t need."

Why can people not accept that everyone is not the same, that some have a greater disposable income than others and have the choice to do what they want with it. I have a pal who just see's everything as wrong unless it is his way, the others are described in all sorts of nasty ways, for instance he goes on Holiday to the Caribbean at a cost of £7,000 twice a year, I go to Turkey for £900 maybe 3 times in two years that makes me a twat in his eye's, I recognise this slight character fault in him and accept it

As soon as a person stops trying to do the impossible by trying to keep up with the Joneses their life will suddenly improve for the better.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Yes the analyses above are all spot on. Your buddy has lost the mojo and is looking for something or someone to blame. Strava is like social media - you don't actually need it at all to live a pleasant life but it can really mess up people who don't have enough of their own "nouse" to live without it - I can't think of any other word to describe personal convictions and culture.

A bad injury and fear of another injury can also put you off and after breaking my collarbone last August I'm quietly battling a small loss of cycling mojo at the moment. I still love cycling but have lost interest in charging around with my buddies, especially as it was they who treated me so shoddily when I was in shock and pain immediately after the crash.
 
Strava is not the problem. Discipline is a big part of cycling. If one has the discipline to control their emotions then it's a great sport.

I am on Strava and does not bother me one bit that I can not acquire a KOM over riders that have done our mountain climb (Tour of California) such as Levi Leipheimer, Robert Gesink, George Hincapie, Floyd Landis, Chris Horner, Tejay Van Garderen, Peter Sagan, Bradley Wiggins, Egan Bernal, and so many more.

Just ride your bike and enjoy!
 
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berty bassett

Legendary Member
Location
I'boro
I can relate to your mate I really enjoy cycling and have done for ages , I think strava adds to it for me in keeping a track of my steady decline into old age - I like it when I have a good day and moan when I have a bad day
I had an accident a couple of years ago and since then I am constantly on edge while I am in the road , that takes the fun out of it a bit for me. I am glad that I went out afterwards but before I go out I try and find all sorts of reasons not to. I enjoy turbo with programmes like Zwift and now do more of that than I ever used to
Can’t get away from the fact that the roads are getting more dangerous and I am getting more brittle and more cautious
It’s not the same if you have to talk yourself into a ride rather than talk yourself out of a ride
Personally I wouldn’t blame strava - it’s up to the user to take whatever they want from that , I would blame it on cycling becoming a little more dangerous and us becoming a little more cautious - only my own view
 

welsh dragon

Thanks but no thanks. I think I'll pass.
I am on Strava, but have all my privacy settings set so that no one accept me can see anything. I just bimble along minding my own business and I only use Strava as a guide to roughly how many miles I have done in a year.

I don't think Strava is to blame for your friends problem. He should just switch it off. Problem solved. As for snobbery re roadies and MTB that's just rubbish. We get a lot of them here as they use the trails in the forest. I have never heard of this snobbery nonsense.

Maybe if he has some time off his bike he will get his mojo back.
 
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