What is cycling to you?

[simongt]

I think now I’d call it my meditative time; the mind stills, you become attuned to nature around you, with senses heightened.

Definitely agree here. I often just 'switch off' when out in the rural areas.
Simply just stopping to admire a view or stopping at a field gate to ponder the whys & whens of the scene in front of me is a real pleasure.

 

[Vantage]

It used to be a way of life for me. I ate, slept and lived for it. The bike was always polished to within an inch of its life. If I wasn't doing it, I'd be talking about it in forums, planning tours etc.
That all changed after touring the Way Of The Roses with my dad. Brilliant tour. New roads and lanes. New places. A different way of life. When I got back from it I lost the will to ride. The usual lanes and roads seemed boring and lifeless. The rides started and finished at the same place and the views were getting repetitive and boring.
Converting the bike to electric rejuvenated my love for a short time but in many ways going electric did even more harm. Lost any fitness I had and rides were limited to how far the battery would last.
But cars. That's what's really killed it for me. There's so many of the b***ard things around now. Once quiet lanes are jam packed these days. I never once experienced grid lock or anything remotely close it in Rivington in over 20 years of cycling there but one rare sunny day it was chaos. Because every twunt in a hundred miles descended on the village due to that one day of sunshine. There were 3 lanes of stuck traffic on a narrow 2 lane road. How the f**k they managed that is anyone's guess.
These days I ride simply for transport because I hate public transport. That's about the only reason.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

My bike is often filthy

I clean mud off it is it is thick and clingy

and teh chain and gear mechanism is always clean and oiled

but I don;t care what the rest of it looks like as long as it does not affect how it functions correctly

which reminds me - I need a new chain cleaner - last one broke a few months ago!

 

[Oldhippy]

@Vantage 'just transport' the bicycle is so much more, it enabled your everyday human (for want of a better word, I refuse to use 'ordinary people') to travel distance in a day that seemed miraculous at the time, it widened the human gene pool even! It was so popular tarmac roads were laid primarily for cycling. If even 30 percent of people just transported themselves to the local shop by cycle the UK would be a changed place. By using your bike as 'just transport' shows people that it can be done simply if people could be bothered or created the political will. You may have inspired someone as you cycled by even. The young guy who has just cycled to Australia recreating his dad's ride was just him and a bicycle. Advocacy cycling groups should be all over this one story alone to make sure point but sadly do not a lot with it for reasons I don't understand.

 

[Drago]

I refuse to use 'ordinary people'

We call them "ordies".

 

[Ming the Merciless]

We call them "ordies".

They ride ordinary‘s

 

[All uphill]

In the last year I thought I'd fallen out of love with repairing bikes; turns out it is just other peoples' bikes I no longer want to work on.

Today I was totally in a state of flow trying to identify and fix a gear adjustment issue on my ebike. So that's another thing bikes can mean to me - total absorption in a nice mechanical challenge.

 

[kingrollo]

As a pretty bad asthmatic I've never been fast - even though I've tried - my word I've tried.

Mainly it was about keeping my waistline trim - although when I first got on a bike as an adult (didn't like cycling as a kid - due to asthma) I was hooked pretty much straight away.

Yeah it's a pretty big part of my life - I spend quite a lot of money on cycling kit.

After a health scare earlier in the year - I mostly ride an ebike now - as my fitness hopefully improves - I will either get back on my best road bike or by a high end ebike.

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

Therapy, only a lot cheaper!

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

As a pretty bad asthmatic I've never been fast - even though I've tried - my word I've tried.

Mainly it was about keeping my waistline trim - although when I first got on a bike as an adult (didn't like cycling as a kid - due to asthma) I was hooked pretty much straight away.

Yeah it's a pretty big part of my life - I spend quite a lot of money on cycling kit.

After a health scare earlier in the year - I mostly ride an ebike now - as my fitness hopefully improves - I will either get back on my best road bike or by a high end ebike.

I started riding an ebike because of asthma
I was worried about getting somewhere and not having the breath to get home
the ebike gave me the confidence that I could just put it in Turbo mode and ride home without having to use much breath

That was the first one with a throttle (yes it was legal!!) and I rode home on teh throttle a couple of times because of that
recently it has only happened once - but it still give the confidence I need

 

[tyred]

I think it's a form of escapism for me. I have always loved getting out and about in the outdoors and leaving all the stress behind. I walk a lot too. Cycling is just a form of mechanised walking to me. I can travel further and see more.

I also like fixing bikes. Most of my bikes were rescued from the dump. I enjoy doing that. My bikes are never trendy, fashionable or expensive.

 

[Oldhippy]

@tyred you also record your trips with some nice photos.

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

what do others ride?

I am primarily a road cyclist so I have a disc brake winter bike and a rim brake bike for summer. I have a full sus mountain bike but only ride it occasionally but intend to make more use of it next year. I had a gravel bike but realised I don't really cover much 'in between' terrain, it is either road or proper trails, so I ended up selling it.

 

[tyred]

@tyred you also record your trips with some nice photos.

Thank you.

I've always had an interest in landscape photography and I've always dabbled at being a writer. Cycling gives me landscapes to photograph and something to write about!

 

[Chief Broom]

Ive been musing about this question the last couple of days and find it hard to sum it up.... Obvious ones like fitness/fresh air/scenery etc i share. I like the gritty reality of it and no extraneous crap! just me and the bike and yes it can be meditative but so can doing the dishes i dont differentiate It can be challenging/exhausting/uncomfortable/exhilarating and lots more but always life affirming.
Other plusses are- humility, cheerfulness, sanity [maybe!] and a good sense of perspective all from riding a bike