Non cyclists look upon cyclists as weird

[snorri]

Fat guys in full kit playing 5 a sides ....normal.Same guys in cycling gear..... what's the difference ?

The difference is the former perform in the relative privacy of a sports field where few others see them, while the latter mingle with, and offend the eye of, the general public.

 

[confusedcyclist]

you've got to much spare time and need to get out more and get a life mate.

This is one of my favourites, it's usually followed up by, "Did you watch that episode of insert blah blah booooooring"... Sorry, exactly who needs to get a life and a real hobby?

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

I like how you can be having a perfectly good conversation with someone, then you mention you're a cyclist. Then it happens - "It really annoys me when cyclists...". This time it was riding double file. But they couldn't be too critical - I was driving them the next 90 miles.
It's a case of "How do I talk to this weirdo without getting dumped at the side of the M1?".

 

[mjr]

We are weird because we see the journey as a part of life. An end not a means. You can get on your bike and spend a couple of hours riding a circular route to get back to where you started from. To do that in a car would be seen as a pointless waste of time and fuel.

I remember people just "going for a drive" when I was younger. I'm not surprised people don't do it as much now. Driving is generally pretty shoot. It's better by bike. Even if you persist in torturing yourself with spandex.

 

[Thorn Sherpa]

And the non polite ones?

A whole lot of F's nine times out of 10 including thick as f##k, must be f##king mental, f##k that in this weather, f##k that when youve got a car

 

[crazyjoe101]

It’s same with running. People don’t get it. They wonder why people bother to do it and some take p1$$. You are physically very fit, running a sub 3 hour marathon and people shout run forest run etc. The chavs like to lift weights and take steroids. Complete knuckle draggers don’t respect cardio athletes.

That's one I've never heard of before, I'm yet to meet someone who genuinely doesn't 'get' running, granted, there is a general p*** taking amongst the weightlifting lot but most of them do cardio too so it's just a bit of fun really.

 

[petek]

I got "Riding on a toy in traffic" one day last week and that was in 'polite' conversation after a meeting when somebody noticed my bike outside the village hall.
Thing is we don't really get 'traffic' round here just the odd car or delivery van and I'd possibly cycled 200 yards tops on a public road all the way there. The rest was along a traffic-free prom.

 

[classic33]

I got "Riding on a toy in traffic" one day last week and that was in 'polite' conversation after a meeting when somebody noticed my bike outside the village hall.
Thing is we don't really get 'traffic' round here just the odd car or delivery van and I'd possibly cycled 200 yards tops on a public road all the way there. The rest was along a traffic-free prom.

You are traffic though.

 

[petek]

You are traffic though.

I am NOT a 'traffic'!
I am a free man.

 

[classic33]

I am NOT a 'traffic'!
I am a free man.

That may yet rebound on you.

 

[petek]

That may yet rebound on you.

Actually I'm married, so the point's moot.
A lad can dream eh?

 

[Evenflow]

To be married is normal
To get divorced is normal
Riding the Cap de Formentor is not normal (I was told)
Without a bike I am more or less ordinary (and normal?)
So I ride a bike and endeavour to live "A life less ordinary"
However I am a cyclist
All cyclists ride bikes
This is normal
Therefore all cyclists are normal.

 

[classic33]

To be married is normal
To get divorced is normal
Riding the Cap de Formentor is not normal (I was told)
Without a bike I am more or less ordinary (and normal?)
So I ride a bike and endeavour to live "A life less ordinary"
However I am a cyclist
All cyclists ride bikes
This is normal
Therefore all cyclists are normal.

What about the unicyclists, tricyclists & quadricyclist then?

 

[Evenflow]

Me as a Tricyclist, my first bike. Normally happy.
Unicyclists - only seen em as performers
Quadcyclists- never met any so cant comment but both are in the minority which of course
doesn't make you a bad person.

 

[al78]

Yes that IS weird, but I do have to say I think going to the gym in general is weird, no matter what means of transport got you there I can't think of anything more boring or more pointless.. It always strikes me as ironic that people will buy things like cars with power-assisted everything, to reduce physical effort, then they go to the gym to lift weights etc because they do virtually no physical activity in their everyday routine.. Why not just generally do more physical activity during the course of the day, then you won't need to waste time and money down the gym!

It is not weird going to the gym if that sort of thing interests you. Some people enjoy strength training, some people enjoy aerobics classes, or whatever else these places offer. It is easier to do taylor-made workouts in a gym. The advantages of riding a stationary bike in the gym are that it doesn't rain inside, there aren't nasty gusty crosswinds inside, no risk of taking a tumble on black ice, you can stop whenever you like and not be miles away in the middle of nowhere, there is no exposure to careless drivers, no issue with knobheads at night who either have badly aligned headlights or feel the need to use full beam just because there aren't any streetlights, there are no smartphone morons stepping out in front of you because the family brain cell can't simultaneously operate a smartphone and engage spatial awareness. In short, if someone doesn't have any interest in riding a bicycle, but wants to schedule some time for exercise, the gym suits that very well. I suspect a lot of people on here are somewhat egocentric and cannot comprehend what it is like not to enjoy cycling, therefore people not cycling but doing other forms of exercise is weird. Try looking outwards instead of inwards.