What does your significant other think of your cycling hobby?

[Hover Fly]

I met the present Mrs. Fly while she was stood with an immobile bike looking all forlorn, fixed it for her and haven’t looked back. She later admitted another chap was fancying her but his lack of exercise was all too obvious. Since then she has bought me a bike, some decent togs and finally got me to give up my love of tubs.

 

[BoldonLad]

I met the present Mrs. Fly while she was stood with an immobile bike looking all forlorn, fixed it for her and haven’t looked back. She later admitted another chap was fancying her but his lack of exercise was all too obvious. Since then she has bought me a bike, some decent togs and finally got me to give up my love of tubs.

Sounds like a win-win situation

 

[Hover Fly]

She doesn’t know it yet, but when I get round to building my ”just to annoy Eroica types”* bike it will have tubs.

*Frame from just after their cut-off date, hidden cables but large flange hubs etc.

 

[Tenkaykev]

Given my sons / my Zwift set-up's in between the joint living / dining room mine's accepted it.

She complains occasionally, particularly if there's bikes/stuff everywhere, but given I'm supposed to be dead by now* she has me as a bonus

* Currently I'm 9 years past the doctor's 'terminal life' date due to better diet, weight loss and better blood pressure. Riding my bike has been the significant contributing factor. She occasionally points out that whilst I've spent a balance (purchases - sales) of £12k and my bikes/kit areworth 2/3 of that she'd have been better off if I'd died due to life insurance and pension values

I feel a bit of an amateur! There was I, feeling quite pleased that I'm 18 months past my expected demise and now you come along and do " Top Trumps" with 9 years 😁
In all seriousness I'm delighted to hear that.
My specialist says my nearly 40 years of endurance running is certainly a factor in my longevity and I'm an "outlier" on the survival Bell curve.
With regards to the cycling, it was Mrs Tenkay who encouraged me to have a go at cycling. She's an end to ender and has been cycling for years. She has four bikes and I have two so all is harmonious 🙂

 

[mudsticks]

What does your significant other think of your cycling hobby, I know some of you on here spend a vast amount of time on your bikes whilst some much less or just for commuting, so would be interesting to see different people's stories. Do they support it? Do they think it's excessive and that you spend too much time on the bike? Or do they share your hobby?

I'm kind of curious as to why you're asking.

You're still at Uni, so I'm guessing pretty young still - bad luck for being caught up there during Covid - especially if you're the sociable type.

That must be hard.

I think before embarking on any long term relationship its a very good idea to get to know yourself first.

Of course we change over time, our preferences and tastes..
But underlying characteristics not so much I don't think.

I've been a cyclist, and general independant 'get out there and do stuff' type person since being a small child.

Liking active travel, and adventures on my own, and with others - occasionally.

Although not a total introvert, I do prefer / need to spend a good chunk of time alone and outside.

About 60/40 alone to in company I reckon.

So farming was quite a good career choice.

That's not to say satisfying long term relationships, combined with doing lots of other stuff as well isn't possible, it's just that you've got to be realistic about expectations, give and take, communication (very important) and respecting other people's needs and boundaries.

Plus sharing responsibilities, domestic duties etc fairly (not necessarily equally) some people like doing some jobs more than others.

My cycling, and touring is my me time, the freedom it brings, the adventure of not knowing where you're going to put up your tent, who you will meet along the way and so forth.

Of course if you end up having kids, that's a different ball game again.

But I just dragged (literally sometimes - tag along) my two, on the cycling trips, and camping etc

I wouldn't say cycling lots precludes you from having a good relationship, but imo you do need to have some activities in common or else you can end up growing apart.

But as others have said, separate interests too.
Co dependency isn't pretty either..

And you need to be fair about all the other things that need taking care of.

The kids are grown up now, and are still cycling themselves so no long term harm done there.

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...

Ooooh Andy, I have serious cargo bike envy

I keep meaning to look into them.
Is that a bit of serious quality Teutonic engineering you've got there??

 

[oreo_muncher]

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.

I do not eat take aways. I had to get rid of my pret monthly subscription so now Im off the coffee, I really liked their coconut hazelnut lattes

Thank you for sharing the links Now Im tempted to buy more but already spent quite a bit this week on cycling

Year 2 is going terrible, I miss everything from year 1. Meeting new people is so difficult since everything is online.I have not had to isolate so far.I went back home and have been home for nearly 2 weeks but I'll go back in 2 weeks. I can't cancel my contract for my accommodation so Im stuck paying for a 51 week contract when I could be living at home. Unless I find a replacement tenant but no one is looking for places to stay, everyone wants to move out and go back home.

 

[oreo_muncher]

I feel a bit of an amateur! There was I, feeling quite pleased that I'm 18 months past my expected demise and now you come along and do " Top Trumps" with 9 years 😁
In all seriousness I'm delighted to hear that.
My specialist says my nearly 40 years of endurance running is certainly a factor in my longevity and I'm an "outlier" on the survival Bell curve.
With regards to the cycling, it was Mrs Tenkay who encouraged me to have a go at cycling. She's an end to ender and has been cycling for years. She has four bikes and I have two so all is harmonious 🙂

How old are you?

 

[oreo_muncher]

I'm kind of curious as to why you're asking.

You're still at Uni, so I'm guessing pretty young still - bad luck for being caught up there during Covid - especially if you're the sociable type.

That must be hard.

I think before embarking on any long term relationship its a very good idea to get to know yourself first.

Of course we change over time, our preferences and tastes..
But underlying characteristics not so much I don't think.

I've been a cyclist, and general independant 'get out there and do stuff' type person since being a small child.

Liking active travel, and adventures on my own, and with others - occasionally.

Although not a total introvert, I do prefer / need to spend a good chunk of time alone and outside.

About 60/40 alone to in company I reckon.

So farming was quite a good career choice.

That's not to say satisfying long term relationships, combined with doing lots of other stuff as well isn't possible, it's just that you've got to be realistic about expectations, give and take, communication (very important) and respecting other people's needs and boundaries.

Plus sharing responsibilities, domestic duties etc fairly (not necessarily equally) some people like doing some jobs more than others.

My cycling, and touring is my me time, the freedom it brings, the adventure of not knowing where you're going to put up your tent, who you will meet along the way and so forth.

Of course if you end up having kids, that's a different ball game again.

But I just dragged (literally sometimes - tag along) my two, on the cycling trips, and camping etc

I wouldn't say cycling lots precludes you from having a good relationship, but imo you do need to have some activities in common or else you can end up growing apart.

But as others have said, separate interests too.
Co dependency isn't pretty either..

And you need to be fair about all the other things that need taking care of.

The kids are grown up now, and are still cycling themselves so no long term harm done there.




Ooooh Andy, I have serious cargo bike envy

I keep meaning to look into them.
Is that a bit of serious quality Teutonic engineering you've got there??

Yes Im the sociable type. If I don't find anyone I'll end up a spinster, approaching 20 and this whole 'teen love' thing you see in movies and tv never happened to me. Still yet to go on a single date or anything like that, and now covid is making it look unlikely to happen anytime soon.
My friends think I should study instead of spending all this time on my bike. I know myself quite well by now.

 

[screenman]

What bikes has she gifted you

Loads, the most recent a Focus Cayo Ultegra, Canyon 29er, GT MTB, Giant Defy and more. We both like treating each other well, as I am sure most couples do.

 

[mudsticks]

Yes Im the sociable type. If I don't find anyone I'll end up a spinster, approaching 20 and this whole 'teen love' thing you see in movies and tv never happened to me. Still yet to go on a single date or anything like that, and now covid is making it look unlikely to happen anytime soon.
My friends think I should study instead of spending all this time on my bike. I know myself quite well by now.

Nearly twenty..

Oh no, pretty much one foot in the grave..

A friend of a friend spent nearly his whole time at art college out on his bike.

His 'final piece' was hanging the mud spattered thing on the gallery wall, with some suitably pretentious arty bollix statement alongside.

'pparently he graduated.

I'll grant that if you're in engineering, or medieval poetry, then that might be hard to pull off..

But special Covid considerations etc etc.



Believe me, a fit young twenty something, that hasn't spent his / her life chasing about looking for 'lurve' will be quite a catch for someone before tooo long..

 

[vickster]

Yes Im the sociable type. If I don't find anyone I'll end up a spinster, approaching 20 and this whole 'teen love' thing you see in movies and tv never happened to me.

You know it’s not real, right

 

[DCBassman]

My OH thinks it's great I get out and try and keep fit. But in general, thinks cyclists are nobbers, and with good reason...

 

[fossyant]

She doesn’t know it yet, but when I get round to building my ”just to annoy Eroica types”* bike it will have tubs.

*Frame from just after their cut-off date, hidden cables but large flange hubs etc.

My road bike is a year or so out of Eroica rules, I'll turn up on it one day as it's fab. My missus has pushed me to use the best road bike again recently (after my broken spine) - I only ride it down near our caravan in North Wales as the roads are stupidly busy near my home (hence MTB for me). Even she likes my best bike as I have a smile the moment I sit on it. Such a fab bike.

 

[mudsticks]

Yes Im the sociable type. If I don't find anyone I'll end up a spinster, approaching 20 and this whole 'teen love' thing you see in movies and tv never happened to me. Still yet to go on a single date or anything like that, and now covid is making it look unlikely to happen anytime soon.
My friends think I should study instead of spending all this time on my bike. I know myself quite well by now.

I wonder if there's one if those charity bike refurb places near you where you could volunteer - and possibly pick up some new skills..

Or something similar.

Its an old chestnut, but volunteering and getting involved in projects that are helping other people is a good way to meet like minded folk.

It's also quite a good way to meet nice people.

Oh and your forum name reminds me that last year on a cycling trip in Spain I discovered that horréo, is Spanish for granary..

Which I'm guessing is the origin of the biscuit brand.

How's that for a fascinating factoid to distract you??

 

[C R]

I wonder if there's one if those charity bike refurb places near you where you could volunteer - and possibly pick up some new skills..

Or something similar.

Its an old chestnut, but volunteering and getting involved in projects that are helping other people is a good way to meet like minded folk.

It's also quite a good way to meet nice people.

Oh and your forum name reminds me that last year on a cycling trip in Spain I discovered that horréo, is Spanish for granary..

Which I'm guessing is the origin of the biscuit brand.

How's that for a fascinating factoid to distract you??

Pedant correction, hórreo is Galician for granary, but good spot in the similarity.