Mate quits cycling :(
- Thread starter Milzy
- Start date
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fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Has your mate got any nice MTB's they want to sell cheap to me ? 
Chromatic
Legendary Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
- Location
- Somewhere wet & hilly in NW England.
As you have all implied with your wise comments, it is really just a mind game that only you (or your mate) can control. I added a similar thread not long ago about just wanting to be seen as "a bloke with a bike" rather than being labelled as a "cyclist" which seems to be like a red rag to a bull to the 'anti-everything that they don't do' brigade. However, upon reflection, I can see that a few of my own comments may have sounded a little bitter really and, I have now realised that a lot of what I said at the time may have been down to the fact that my age had sneaked past that great half a century milestone when you start to grumble about things without realising you're doing it. On the plus side, I now realise that I am old enough to officially not give a $&*# about what others think about what I do/go/wear/ride/read/watcb or listen-to.. To be honest, I actually get a kick out of attracting the odd sneer
That looks far too competitive for my liking. Do you need specialist clothing/equipment to play, is there an app to record my skill level or, a magazine to see how the pro's do it?
PaulSB
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chorley, Lancashire
I've just stumbled across this and only read the OP. I have to say this is full of things which are not true for the majority of cyclists. If your friend has allowed his cycling to turn competitive in a manner he doesn't like he needs to change what he's doing. He and his mates are to blame not the rest of the world. No one is forcing him down this route. Your also blaming everything else rather than concentrating on what you enjoy. I was encouraged to TT once. I rode 3-4. I understood the pleasure for some but didn't enjoy it. I didn't do it again. Simple. TT hasn't ruined my cycling. I tried and didn't enjoy it. That's all.
On a Friday myself and friends are the core of a local ride. Others join us from time to time. It originated 4-5 years ago as a social ride but evolved in to an eyeballs out 55 miler always on the same route to the same cafe. We often hit 23-24 and higher, 18+ avg. At the start of this year someone said he'd had enough of this, everyone agreed. Now we chose a different cafe every week, put together a 50-60 mile route and ride at 17-18. Everyone has a great time. If someone who isn't a regular turns up and wants to ride faster we let him go, no one chases.
Change is easy, it just needs a willingness to do it. This shouldn't involve blaming everything and everyone else.
On a Friday myself and friends are the core of a local ride. Others join us from time to time. It originated 4-5 years ago as a social ride but evolved in to an eyeballs out 55 miler always on the same route to the same cafe. We often hit 23-24 and higher, 18+ avg. At the start of this year someone said he'd had enough of this, everyone agreed. Now we chose a different cafe every week, put together a 50-60 mile route and ride at 17-18. Everyone has a great time. If someone who isn't a regular turns up and wants to ride faster we let him go, no one chases.
Change is easy, it just needs a willingness to do it. This shouldn't involve blaming everything and everyone else.
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We had a similar local ride on Wednesday all abilities about 30 mile stopping at a local cafe not far from the start, it was a social event,it developed into a eyeballs out ride to the cafe it lost some of the slower riders, I stopped going because it wasn't enjoyable.
I now ride alone on most rides often taking off road routes on bigger tyres, its very enjoyable, my lad has just started cycling again, I gave him my bike that was on the Turbo, strckly a road bike, it was a bit small for him, so I found him a CX bike more his size, and he is know enjoying some of my off road routes much more than the road.
nickyboy
Norven Mankey
- Location
- You want hills? We got hills
That's the issue. If you ride the same route every week, there's always someone who says "we made it to the cafe in 2 hours last week, let's see if we can make it in 1.59 this week". It's human nature (amongst some at least). Varied routes, varied terrain put a stop to this madness
I work with a chap whose just hit 60 and won't walk, ride or run unless it is at a balls out fast pace. I used to ride part way home with him and everytime we got onto the local riverbank we would be pushing 25-30mph with sweat pouring out of us. Needless to say I now ride alone
