"People are giving up on cycling".

[boydj]

I've not been cycling for months. Diagnosed with prostate cancer in January hasn't helped and I'm not sure if my day/week long rides weren't a contributing factor. A family friend was also killed on his bike last year. My enthusiasm is almost nil at the moment.

Went through 4 weeks of radiotherapy last year (no op) and had to take a good few weeks off for the side-effects to ease, but eventually got back into it. What I notice now is how the hormone injections to kill the testosterone make it hard to push the effort levels. Restricted to the turbo now for other reasons, but I'm hoping to be back out on the road in a few weeks.

 

[boydj]

I'm not of the medical profession but I seriously doubt your condition is due to cycling. Being physically active is always a bonus for health concerns.

Follow medical advice and keep your pecker up would be my suggestion

Hard to do when you're on hormone treatment to kill testosterone production, which is standard treatment for prostrate problems.

 

[Milzy]

If you’re passionate about cycling you won’t give up. If you give up because of a few incidents then it was never meant to be. Trail running is pretty cool & safe. Or serious walking.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

If you’re passionate about cycling you won’t give up. If you give up because of a few incidents then it was never meant to be. Trail running is pretty cool & safe. Or serious walking.

@Milzy , as you know, I used to fell-race, although a few like 'The Trunce' were more of a trail-race (I'll presume that expression originated in America), that's hard, safe (weather dependant!), & cheap!!!
Some fell-races were about £4.00 to enter, even National level events were less than £10!! (eg; HolmeMoss Fell-Race)
Andy, the Trunce organiser, apologised to everyone, when it went up to £2.00

 

[Jameshow]

@Milzy , as you know, I used to fell-race, although a few like 'The Trunce' were more of a trail-race (I'll presume that expression originated in America), that's hard, safe (weather dependant!), & cheap!!!
Some fell-races were about £4.00 to enter, even National level events were less than £10!! (eg; HolmeMoss Fell-Race)
Andy, the Trunce organiser, apologised to everyone, when it went up to £2.00

This winter hoping to do :-
Race to the sea - trail race.
Tour of Pendle
Wadsworth trog
Haworth hobble

Cycling has greater risk but I pick up more little injuries running.

 

[Milzy]

@Milzy , as you know, I used to fell-race, although a few like 'The Trunce' were more of a trail-race (I'll presume that expression originated in America), that's hard, safe (weather dependant!), & cheap!!!
Some fell-races were about £4.00 to enter, even National level events were less than £10!! (eg; HolmeMoss Fell-Race)
Andy, the Trunce organiser, apologised to everyone, when it went up to £2.00

I used to spend hundreds a year in entry fees & burn hundreds in unleaded going to the races. I don’t have to spend like that now, need more money to go into bikes & kit. More fun still.

 

[Brandane]

If you’re passionate about cycling you won’t give up. If you give up because of a few incidents then it was never meant to be. Trail running is pretty cool & safe. Or serious walking.

The problem is that a lot of potentially passionate cyclists are not being given the opportunity to become passionate, usually because of confrontations with self entitled nobbers in cars. I can fully understand why. I was lucky in that I grew to like cycling from an early age, in the 70's when there wasn't anything like the volume of traffic on the roads, and certainly there was a lot less aggression and entitlement. I therefore feel entitled to be aggressive towards nobber drivers!

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

I used to spend hundreds a year in entry fees & burn hundreds in unleaded going to the races. I don’t have to spend like that now, need more money to go into bikes & kit. More fun still.

@Milzy
I used to mainly ride CX/MTB races in the Yorkshire region, it was easier & cheaper - ditto any running races (barring the excellent 'Cross-Bay Challenge', over the sands of Morecambe Bay!)

I'd even ride to some CXs, like Temple Newsham, then ride home
I remember once riding to a CX (maybe 1991?), in Mytle Park (Bingley, via Morley/Gildersome/Bradford) with a friend
He raced, but suffered riding home, climbing up out of Bradford
(we were all on MTBs)

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

This winter hoping to do :-
Race to the sea - trail race.
Tour of Pendle
Wadsworth trog
Haworth hobble

Cycling has greater risk but I pick up more little injuries running.

@Jameshow
I use to run the 'Woodentops' events, from Penistone Hill; Stanbury Splash, Withins Skyline, Auld Lang Syne
They were always fun, but hard for 6miles!
Now organised by; http://www.wharfedaleharriers.co.uk/events/penistone-hill-races/

Ilkley Moor Fell-Race was another shorty, but graded 'tough'

My avatar is from the (Bingley Harriers event; 'Harriers v Cyclists'
Rob Jebb, or the Brownlees were always in contention for a win

The madness................

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc2CYsQUCeY&feature=emb_imp_woyt

 

[Jameshow]

@Jameshow
I use to run the 'Woodentops' events, from Penistone Hill; Stanbury Splash, Withins Skyline, Auld Lang Syne
They were always fun, but hard for 6miles!
Now organised by; http://www.wharfedaleharriers.co.uk/events/penistone-hill-races/

Ilkley Moor Fell-Race was another shorty, but graded 'tough'

My avatar is from the (Bingley Harriers event; 'Harriers v Cyclists'
Rob Jebb, or the Brownlees were always in contention for a win

The madness................

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc2CYsQUCeY&feature=emb_imp_woyt

I've ran harriers Vs cyclists a few times....

Used to be a member and good friends with some of the guys in that film.

Done more cycling of late with lejog and other long rides.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

@Jameshow
I knew John 'Three Peaks CX' Rawnsley, who used to help organise it, & my near name-sake, who is (or was?) a 'BH' member

 

[Andy in Germany]

If you’re passionate about cycling you won’t give up. If you give up because of a few incidents then it was never meant to be. Trail running is pretty cool & safe. Or serious walking.

In the grand scheme of things passionate cyclists (ie; us) don't matter: one of the easiest ways to make cities more liveable and improve our general environment is to get people using bikes as transport; these aren't enthusiasts or "cyclists"; they're people going to work or the shops, and it's those people we don't want to give up, not least because it's only when large numbers of people are cycling this way that there will be any real change in legislation or infrastructure.

 

[mjr]

In the grand scheme of things passionate cyclists (ie; us) don't matter: one of the easiest ways to make cities more liveable and improve our general environment is to get people using bikes as transport; these aren't enthusiasts or "cyclists"; they're people going to work or the shops, and it's those people we don't want to give up, not least because it's only when large numbers of people are cycling this way that there will be any real change in legislation or infrastructure.

Also we need more rational dispassionate choices to cycle else the double whammy of inactivity and pollution will sink the NHS and the national budget, while the excessive spatial requirements of motoring (aka "geometry hates cars") will trash quality of life in all urban areas.

We should be keen for more cycling for so many good reasons as well as self-interested ones.

 

[GilesM]

The problem is that a lot of potentially passionate cyclists are not being given the opportunity to become passionate, usually because of confrontations with self entitled nobbers in cars. I can fully understand why. I was lucky in that I grew to like cycling from an early age, in the 70's when there wasn't anything like the volume of traffic on the roads, and certainly there was a lot less aggression and entitlement. I therefore feel entitled to be aggressive towards nobber drivers!

I also started cycling at a young age in the '70s, my personal opinion is although there are more cars on the road, the majority of drivers tend to drive in a more cyclist friendly way now than they did 30 or 40 years ago, sure there are still nobbers, but in all walks of life we will always have a few nobbers. I also think that the smaller lanes have less traffic than years ago, maybe it's just my imagination and ageing memory, or it could be real due to the Sat Nav generation. I drive a lot on lanes as well as cycling along them, and they do seem quiet everywhere.
I appreciate that some people don't cycle because of their concerns about safety and traffic around them, but if you've bought an expensive bike that has sat in the garage for 2 years after it was used a a few times during lockdown, what sounds like a better reason for not using it:
1. There are too many cars on the road and I don't feel safe.
2. Cycling is actually very hard work, especially up hill or in bad weather.

 

[mustang1]

People are giving up on cycling....?

I can't wait for people to give up on watching the news!