What does your significant other think of your cycling hobby?

[dodgy]

 

[Sniper68]

It is 1984

The Fiesta is 1982.X was 1981/2.The plate style changed in 1983 A-reg when the letter was before the numbers not at the end

 

[CanucksTraveller]

My wife is fine with my cycling, we met 25 years ago when I was a very young man and rode TTs, so she knew it was part of my life.
She's an erstwhile cyclist herself and has a Giant Defy that currently gathers dust but will get used again.

I said on the other similar thread that it's about give and take. I do all the cooking, some of the cleaning, 50/50 of the parenting, so having a bike ride from time to time is no issue. I only do longer weekend rides once a month, something like that. I otherwise try to exercise when it fits in with her plans.

I've got 3 bikes, but she understands that they're different... one was from a decent work bonus and she was given part of that bonus too, to spend on what she wanted. Give and take.

 

[Reynard]

If you have any strava routes then it would be awesome if you could share them with me. But thanks for the recommendation.Ill look into cycling to Alton.

Sorry, I don't use Strava. I'm a maps-and-compass kind of girl...

When cycling to Winchester- what places do you usually cycle through- I want to avoid A roads as much as possible, not pleasant cycling in lots of traffic and it feels colder.

NCN23 along the Itchen Valley. The map you want is OS Explorer sheet 32. I usually get the train or drive to Winchester and leave the car parked up for the day (I'm based in the East Cambridgeshire fens!), then ride a loop via Easton, Avingdon, Ovingdon and Alresford. It's lumpy, but then you've likely got better hill legs than me... There's lots of small lanes that will get you around the area while avoiding the A31.

 

[Rusty Nails]

My wife is conflicted about my cycling. She knows I get so much pleasure out of it and it keeps me relatively fit, but she worries about the potential for danger and injury, especially at my age, 73, as I always ride solo, sometimes up to 40 miles from home with no phone signal. She may wish I would stop but she never says or hints so.

She thinks that cyclists in general are nobbers, red lights, pavements, lycra etc., but she knows I am much too sensible for all that stuff . And I know the sight of me in my lycra going out for a ride gives her a laugh and that can't be bad, can it?

 

[PaulSB]

I have my hobby - cycling which also gives me a wide social circle. I'm out 5-6 hours three days a week.

My wife has hobbies which take her out of the house for similar periods. She has a separate social circle with these activities.

Then we have another social circle in which we both know everyone. This works well for us, we can't all be interested in the same things. In our view it's very healthy for couples to have different and mutual interests. If something is happening in this mutual circle which clashes with my cycling I don't go on the ride.

Fortunately if we add up the annual cost my wife's activities roughly equal the cost of a new bike every 2/3 years!! Perfect!

Now I'm older, and following life threatening health issues, Mrs P prefers me to ride with others. I used to tour solo but I know Mrs P wouldn't like this. Out of respect for her unvoiced concerns I ride with friends 99% of the time and, sadly, have given up solo touring.***

*** I would love to do just one more.... ☹

 

[wafter]

My wife is conflicted about my cycling. She knows I get so much pleasure out of it and it keeps me relatively fit, but she worries about the potential for danger and injury, especially at my age, 73, as I always ride solo, sometimes up to 40 miles from home with no phone signal. She may wish I would stop but she never says or hints so.

She thinks that cyclists in general are nobbers, red lights, pavements, lycra etc., but she knows I am much too sensible for all that stuff . And I know the sight of me in my lycra going out for a ride gives her a laugh and that can't be bad, can it?

Surely so much better to live fit and healthy to the end, making the most of the outdoors and risk a more "incedental" demise as a result of riding (accident, remote heart-attack etc) than stay inside and slowly decay into a miserable and sedentary diabetic blob of excess fat and clogged arteries


My (now) ex absolutely hates cycling (although to be fair was good enough to give it a crack, scoring her at least one broken arm in the process). She had no issue with me doing it; other than the occasional passing concern for my wellbeing on the roads. Being an introvert as well I suspect she appreciated the time I was out of the house...

I can think of few issues with moderate cycling and if anyone's SO has a serious problem with them riding I suggest something's not right somewhere else.

Meh, it's a moot point now anyway. Just as the bike carried me through lockdown, I suspect I'll cling to the cycling as a welcome focus for attention / provider of goals and mental balance while I try to sort my head out in the wake of this latest of life's low-blows..

 

[gavgav]

I ride my significant other and she never moans about it, other than the occasional whinge about living in the shed

 

[Andy in Germany]

The health and financial benefits are so obvious that there's no real complaints.
I'm slightly asthmatic and used to catch about 5 colds a year, which would sometimes last weeks or even months: Winter was one round of continual coughing. As I started commuting this went down to about two colds which I could generally shake off in a month or less.
Last year I really upped my touring mileage and I had a mild sniffle which pushed off after a few days.
Financially it is only beneficial: we've been transporting ourselves and shopping by bike for the best part of 20 years. We spent a little over 2000€ on this bike in 2009:

So far I estimate we've spent about a tenth of that on maintenance, mostly inner tubes and cables, and it is still going strong.

Right now I have to work in another town and we can only afford it because I commute by bike. Okay so I'm really fortunate; I have a relatively short and flat commute and it looks like this:

Cycling is also great for families. It gives me opportunities to be with my kids, from bike rides with Tinybug:

To a renovation and rebuild project with Elder Son:

So I generally don't get many complaints altho during that rebuild Beautiful Wife Did get a bit fed up of bike parts being cleaned in the kitchen.

I'm not sure if Beautiful Wife "gets" my need to go on long rides but she can see the benefits to us as a family...

 

[Mike Ayling]

Mary grew up in a Council flat in Hammersmith and never learned to ride a bike.
On our 40th wedding anniversary I convinced her to get on the back of an entry level tandem that was for sale.
About two years later we upgraded to a Thorn with Rohloff and we have enjoyed a number of short tours in our home state.
I then convinced her to try a half bike and she now has a red Bike Friday.
We both have other interests.
We hope to celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2021.

Mike

 

[oldworld]

Mary grew up in a Council flat in Hammersmith and never learned to ride a bike.
On our 40th wedding anniversary I convinced her to get on the back of an entry level tandem that was for sale.
About two years later we upgraded to a Thorn with Rohloff and we have enjoyed a number of short tours in our home state.
I then convinced her to try a half bike and she now has a red Bike Friday.
We both have other interests.
We hope to celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2021.

Mike

I too taught my wife to ride a bike but at 38. She enjoys cycling as much as I do and we try to get out every day. Usually end up doing 5000 miles each year so lots of sub 20 mile rides.

 

[Hugh Jampton]

Bit late to the conversation. Lady J is very supportive of my cycling. As other have said, cannot understand the amount of money I can spend on it. She doesn't understand why after buying a new bike earlier this year, I'm now talking about buying another one.

She does cycle herself. More so this year, when lockdown kept her out of the gym and away from her spinning classes. Actually, she has overtaken me in cycling miles this year. Gained a QOM and several Local legends on Strava. Think I might have to take her wheels!

 

[StuAff]

I'll be single for the rest of my life, having to negotiate cycling time seems like a nice problem to have. The only relationship (three weeks) was with a cyclist anyway.

 

[AuroraSaab]

Any tips for saving money and not bankrupting myself to have a nice budget for bike stuff..?

Just being conscious of what you spend is helpful. Even writing it down can help. It's easy to fritter money away on stuff like takeaways or fancy coffee. These little indulgences add up over time.

I always look for a deal on stuff, cycling or otherwise. PlanetX have some nicer jerseys for £10, though mostly S or XL sizes left now.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/clothing/clothes/jerseys?sort=price-asc

I use these sites too:

https://www.bikebargains.co.uk/
https://cycling-bargains.co.uk/
https://bikesy.co.uk/

I really sympathise with you if you are at uni now. I have 2 kids at uni this year and it's awful that covid has meant it is currently a very poor experience for them. The youngest is currently on 14 days isolation as a flatmate tested positive. The lack of social interaction added to being away from home is really bad for your mental health.

 

[All uphill]

The health and financial benefits are so obvious that there's no real complaints.
I'm slightly asthmatic and used to catch about 5 colds a year, which would sometimes last weeks or even months: Winter was one round of continual coughing. As I started commuting this went down to about two colds which I could generally shake off in a month or less.
Last year I really upped my touring mileage and I had a mild sniffle which pushed off after a few days.
Financially it is only beneficial: we've been transporting ourselves and shopping by bike for the best part of 20 years. We spent a little over 2000€ on this bike in 2009:

View attachment 552324

So far I estimate we've spent about a tenth of that on maintenance, mostly inner tubes and cables, and it is still going strong.

Right now I have to work in another town and we can only afford it because I commute by bike. Okay so I'm really fortunate; I have a relatively short and flat commute and it looks like this:

View attachment 552328

Cycling is also great for families. It gives me opportunities to be with my kids, from bike rides with Tinybug:

View attachment 552325

To a renovation and rebuild project with Elder Son:

View attachment 552326

So I generally don't get many complaints altho during that rebuild Beautiful Wife Did get a bit fed up of bike parts being cleaned in the kitchen.

I'm not sure if Beautiful Wife "gets" my need to go on long rides but she can see the benefits to us as a family...

I've often admired your tourer, @Andy in Germany and idly wondered what it is.

Looks good!