To Bonj with love

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cyclebum

Senior Member
Location
Cheshire
There appears to have been some growing tension on one of the threads over the last day or so and just I thought I would move off that thread, make appologies for my part in it, and try to explain to Bonj where I personally am coming from in the hope that he may be a bit more sympathetic in the future. not just to me but to other beginers as well.:smile:

One sunny morning in 2005 I took it upon myself to hijack my daughters bike and take a ride, I now know I managed an amazing 5 miles in just over an hour!;) I then continued through the summer and into the autumn but just for a bit of fitness and to loose some weight. I know it sounds a very middle aged womanly thing to do, which to some degree it may be but I assure you I will be dragged kicking and screeming into that time of life.

However through 2006 first ill health then working on home improvements meant no cycling. When I signed up for cycle India in March this year I had not been on a bike in over a year, I was 2 stone overweight and although my fitness level wasn't exactly in my boots, it wasn't far above my ankles. So the challenge to cycle just over 240 miles over 5 days, the longest being about 60 miles, I knew there was going to be a lot of hard work ahead of me. For months I have tried very hard, lost over 1 1/2 stone and increased my fitness far beyond what it has ever been. I then found I could actually make quicker progress with my cycling by using the correct tequniques and was directed to this forum. I have gained a lot from here and made many improvements, even if I do have to I plow through the occasional bulges of testosterone.

I acknowledge at times that I may seem a bit serious, but I have 4 months left to try and build myself to the sort of knowledge that many of you guys have taken possibly years to develope and learn. I do not expect to be a top class cyclist by Feb next year, but I would like to get some enjoyment out of it rather than it being merely a test of endurance. I invested in a new mtb in April, a big upgrade from my daughter's bike, and possibly it is s**** to your standard but I love it. I also stuck with a mtb as we will be doing a degree of off road in India.

However at the end of the day I am now hooked and fully intend to continue cycling after Feb, I am also playing with the idea I may also look at a road bike aswell when I can afford it.

You may well find cause to mock this thread or even disregard it altogether. I assure you I am not on a winge I am just trying to smooth out some growing bad feeling before it developes too far. I'm sure you may well often respond tongue in cheek, saddly it doesnt always come over that way, but I am sure at some point we have all been guilty of that. Just spare a thought that most of us are on this page to help us progress in our new found passion. The time for sparing with you can come on the more senior pages as we progress in confidence and experience.
(PS I appologise for any spilling mistakes!!;))
 

bonj2

Guest
i'll post a more considered reply to this thread later, i'm off to play squash in a minute.
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Obviously, I'm not bonj, and have no intention of speaking for him...


You're quite right cyclebum, that 'Beginners' ought to be the very friendliest section here. We all have to start somewhere, but sadly, some people soon forget that they had to learn too once, and it's all too easy to slip into casual disparagement in an attempt to look clever.

I've been very lucky to learn about cycling from gentle helpful encouraging people, and if I can pass anything on, I'm glad.

One thing I'd say, to try and encourage you, is that perhaps you are worrying a little too much. I set out on my first long distance tour - about 250 miles in 5 days, 6 years ago - with bugger all preparation in terms of fitness. I'd almost died from exhaustion (ok, slight exagerration) riding a round trip of 30 miles and not taking in enough calories (the dreaded bonk, I now realise), but I still set off one day, all alone, and by golly, I did it. Only 30 miles the first afternoon, but 66 on the last stretch 5 days later. I think I was probably a little overweight (I know I am now). OK, it was all quite flat and temperate, and I guess India will be lumpier and hot, but I was alone, and I assume you'll be in a group - you may be amazed the difference it makes when you have others to jolly you along (and to be jollied by you).

If you ever worry about yourself or your bike, remember Anne Mustoe. At 54 she gave up her job as a teacher and set off to cycle to India, not having cycled for 30 years. If she can do it...;)

http://www.annemustoe.co.uk/Index.htm


And finally, sing along: "It ain't what you ride, it's the way that you ride it... That's what gets results..."
 

Elmer Fudd

Miserable Old Bar Steward
Huggles n cuggles to Cyclebum from Elmer.

We need you to stay here, apart from owt else we want to hear how your India trip goes !

Ignore bonj (and maybe a couple of others !), their appears to be a few slanging matches / going off topic on here at the moment, is it the time of year ?

As a relative newbie and basically only a commuter, some people on here would say my Claud Butler hybrid is a bag of shite, If I'd had more money I may have bought better, maybe not, it suits me and I'm more than happy with it.

Finally a belated WELCOME ! and stay, there's some good peeps on here.
 

alecstilleyedye

nothing in moderation
Moderator
Arch said:
Obviously, I'm not bonj, and have no intention of speaking for him...


You're quite right cyclebum, that 'Beginners' ought to be the very friendliest section here. We all have to start somewhere, but sadly, some people soon forget that they had to learn too once, and it's all too easy to slip into casual disparagement in an attempt to look clever.

I've been very lucky to learn about cycling from gentle helpful encouraging people, and if I can pass anything on, I'm glad.

One thing I'd say, to try and encourage you, is that perhaps you are worrying a little too much. I set out on my first long distance tour - about 250 miles in 5 days, 6 years ago - with bugger all preparation in terms of fitness. I'd almost died from exhaustion (ok, slight exagerration) riding a round trip of 30 miles and not taking in enough calories (the dreaded bonk, I now realise), but I still set off one day, all alone, and by golly, I did it. Only 30 miles the first afternoon, but 66 on the last stretch 5 days later. I think I was probably a little overweight (I know I am now). OK, it was all quite flat and temperate, and I guess India will be lumpier and hot, but I was alone, and I assume you'll be in a group - you may be amazed the difference it makes when you have others to jolly you along (and to be jollied by you).

If you ever worry about yourself or your bike, remember Anne Mustoe. At 54 she gave up her job as a teacher and set off to cycle to India, not having cycled for 30 years. If she can do it...;)

http://www.annemustoe.co.uk/Index.htm


And finally, sing along: "It ain't what you ride, it's the way that you ride it... That's what gets results..."

as reliefs go, that's a biggie!
 
TheDoctor said:
He'll have to join the queue, then! Some of us have been waiting ages, you know.;)

There's nothing like a bit of elephant whip...it's like a walnut whip only bigger ;)
 

peejay78

Well-Known Member
bonj has some rather subjective opinions on fixed wheel bicycles, amongst other things.

don't be alarmed, he is part of the forum in all its glory, but he does confuse subjectivity with objectivity on a regular basis.

have a look at the cycling plus archives for more info.
 

frog

Guest
You'r e doing alright CB! Don't give a damn what you ride. I clocked up 20,000 mles in three and a half years today and I class you as one of us, and that's what matters;)

Take bonj with a pinch of salt. Two of the recent threads he started ref cleats and HRM's have died in their tracks. Why? Because of his crap attitude. In the HRM thread which spawned his question he decided to call a bloke a liar about his resting heart rate. Based on nothing but his idea what an appropriate figure should or shouldn't be. He wants everyone to rally round and help him and when they do he tells them they're all wrong.

I've never seen someone work so hard at driving people away ;)
 
peejay78 said:
bonj has some rather subjective opinions on fixed wheel bicycles, amongst other things.

don't be alarmed, he is part of the forum in all its glory, but he does confuse subjectivity with objectivity on a regular basis.

have a look at the cycling plus archives for more info.
Translates as:- He's full of crap but basically harmless (and we're quite fond of him, in an odd sort of way).;)
 

ash68

New Member
Location
northumberland
You've got no worries cyclebum,we all come here for a bit advice, friendly banter and general chitchat.Most like a laugh and the odd p*ss take at others expense as well as our own.Some ,either through arrogance or lack of self esteem take things a bit too far on occasions,the majority of us laugh at those people, not with them. To me this is a friendly forum for all cyclists whatever they ride, however fit or unfit they may be.So hold your head up high my friend and rise above the sarcasm of the minority.;) In reality those who think they know it all, no very little in the end.
 
OP
OP
C

cyclebum

Senior Member
Location
Cheshire
I can't believe what I have just been reading , and all I can say is a big thank you and big hugs to you all. I value every bit of advice.
I really started this thread to try to clear the air between myself and Bonj, I'm sure his mother loves him, and I for one hate bad feeling, even anonymous. There appeared to be a growing tension on another thread that was drawing others in, and was straying from the origonal post which I didn't feel was right.

I'm usually quite laid back about most things, though as my fundraising deadline draws to an end I am probably a bit more tense than usual and I just felt earlier today enough was enough.

I enjoy following the banter that goes on, just to read is fun and thats what it should be. I will be glad come Feb when I can continue in a more relaxed way. Till then..............:biggrin:

Anyway Bonj how about we call quits and maybe we could start a new thread on different ways to relieve your boredom and leave us poor fledglings a bit of space? xx :biggrin:
 

bonj2

Guest
With regards to this whole thing about the beginning forum being sacred and all that, I generally tend to agree - I think beginners should be able to be given advice without being shot down in flames and I try to keep it/let it stick to advice and encouragement when I can, but sometimes disagreements do flare up which may get carried away. I suppose someone could just say 'can we move this to soapbox' and I would go along with that, and start a branched thread in soapbox and if it then died of death it'd be known that there was no mileage in it and people would let it drop, me included.
It's also worth me saying that I think it's interesting and good for the forum if beginners do venture out of the beginners forum and into soapbox, not that you should feel you should if you don't want though. It's also worth me saying that by now, I view you as an 'established' member of the forum as i've seen quite a few posts by you even if only in beginners.
Also do realise though, that some topics are very debatable and thus do tend to generate more opinionated hot-headedness, and from more than just me - the eternal 'mtb vs roadie' thing being a prime example, it would be very surprising if a long thread on the difference between mtb and road went by without some disagreement. Probably due to distinct, entrenched differences between the two, and the manifestations of the advantages and disadvantages of both, I see things a certain way, and often fail to understand how other people are unable to see things in the same way or even fail to understand why I seem them that way; I suspect there are other people to whom this applies aswell.

To clear the air about the first thing I took issue with you on which Patrick picked me up on. Writing 'peddle'. I jumped on this as I strongly suspected it was a deliberate misspelling. This winds me up. Understand that it doesn't offend me, it just annoys me intensely. Now you may think being annoyed by that is irrational, but it's probably only because I wonder why people do it?? I'm sure some people do, as you see the misspelling a lot but at the end of the day when you've got people who are interested in bikes and who go on the internet and read stuff about bikes I don't really see how it's possible to actually think it's spelt like that. If you say it wasn't deliberate, then I believe you, I just don't remember you denying it at the time - hence the reason why the air hasn't been cleared up till now. But hopefully we can consider it cleared.

About the second point of conflict. Me calling your MTB 'probably shite.' Firstly obviously realise that it was a flippant comment, not intended to cause offence, and was more a dig at the entrenched 'roadie vs mtb' rivalry than your bike in particular. Secondly I was half hoping you'd leap to its defence. Thirdly, there's nothing wrong with a "shite" (and I use quotes intentionally) bike - if it suits you, and you're good on it, then it can't be shite, if you know what I mean.

For your general information and and the avoidance of doubt, I'll run through a list of the things I disagree with.
  • Fixies and to a lesser extent single-speed bikes and rigid-forked MTBs
  • Folding bikes, e.g. brompton, 'airnimal'
  • Climate change
  • Buses
  • Recumbents*
  • Mudguards
  • Cadence
  • Roadie-style (SPD-SL) pedals
  • The 'hardtail MTBs are better than full-sus because they are more difficult to handle and thus improve your skill more' school of thought
  • 'Bib'-shorts/all-in-one-bodysuits

*used to disagree with them but have now come round to the opinion that they're acceptable, albeit not mainstream.

Things that annoy me:
  • People buying an item of clothing before understanding how to use/wear it correctly
  • Deliberate mis-spelling, e.g. 'peddle'
  • People telling a long convoluted story about something which is actually just a boast in disguise, normally about how fast they can cycle
  • The majority of Gary Askwith's posts
  • Obsession with London, and whole threads entirely devoted to, or hijacked by, discussions purely of what route to take around London or what goes on at particular London junctions
  • Halfords, their obsession with bling, and their marketing of bikes with disk brakes on two cross wheels and sub-three-hundred quid bikes with double-crown forks
  • All current, and any future, things in the list of things I disagree with.

I don't think they're exhaustive lists, there are probably more I can't think of - but they're the main ones.

Another thing I'll finally add is most of the posts made by people in this thread so far are largely correct.
 
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