What is it about our sport?

[neilb1906]

Im interested to hear from fellow cyclists what they think the "thing" is that cycling has that is so hard to explain to non cyclists? People often ask me why I do it and I cant really put into words what this sport does for me both physically and mentally (and spiritually if you wish). The rewards I get from participating and merely watching the sport are immense. The Grand Tours have got to be the most visually spectacular sporting events of all.

I read somewhere that an American author who was a keen cyclist said something along the lines of "When Im on my bike, the world is breaking someone else's heart".

This post may be just a load of old sentimental baloney triggered off by a glass or two of chilled white Rioja after a great afternoon ride with friends. I will know for sure when I look tomorrow and see zero replies!!

Cycle safe all.

 

[gbb]

Ive often wondered myself.
For me, it started as a kid, I always loved tinkering and riding full tilt, always going like the clappers, we used to ride our bikes up a ramp and crash, deliberately, into large privet hedges. Its the buzz. I could overhaul hubs as a young teenager, repair punctures, strip freewheels, headsets...I just got an enormous amount of pleasure from every aspect of cycling. I didn't know it at the time, it's just what I did.
Going real deep, it's like cycling is part of you, it gives you freedom, fitness, a feeling of euphoria sometimes, ..and perhaps its because in simple terms, nothing else (legal anyway) gives you that high...its perhaps the same with any fitness activity.

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

To me its a number of things:

The feeling of freedom when 15 minutes after leaving your house on a nice sunny(ish) Sunday morning at 07:00 to find yourself in beautiful countryside or coastal area, often along with a mate or two and all under your own steam.
It's sharing the beauty of living.
It's the exhilaration of flying down a hill or into a bend, or eventually making that climb ths burp eaten you so many imes.
Taking part in a larger event widens it further bringing you into a whole shared experience and knowing hat each and every one of you us part of one big positive mindset.

Taking it to a sport level, you're rarely part of a team, it's you and your ability pitted against everyone else but more often gaining a huge sense of achievement on completing and finishing in weever position and where applicable, a new pb.
As for watching the sport, you put yourself in theirs shoes, knowing the pain they are going through, the risks they are experiencing and often being amazed at just what they are achieving.

To me it's also the whole camaraderie of the cycling fraternity, all ages, abilities and backgounds out to just enjoy the freedom that we all have and are entitled to.

I realistically started cycling at 46, initially as a way to reduce fuel costs and it as become a life-changing and life-saving experience that I will hopefully not need to stop doing for many years yet.

 

[Boris Bajic]

I've done various sports and cannot explain the merits of any of them.

Some of it is 'belonging'. I enjoyed the company of others who did what I did.

I've never competed on a bicycle (apart from some slow and amateurish TTs and a bit of MTB enduro).

I do know people who get 'competatively comparative' about sports and argue that theirs is much harder, more beautiful, more skilled, better for overall fitness or whatever. I don't think cycling stands up very well under that sort of scrutiny, which is a Good Thing. It strikes me as a little geeky to say one sport is somehow better than another.

One thing about road racing that does strike me is the 'boxing-like' honesty of it. It is sometimes a matter of the winner being the one who can suffer more. There is a strange beauty in that.

But beyond that, it's just horsing around on bicycles, which is fun if you like it and dull if you don't.

 

[Kookas]

I do it because it's faster than walking, more fun than public transport, and more relaxed than sitting in a queue. Transport, basically. Fitness to me is just a nice bonus.

 

[Tyke]

[QUOTE 2604072, member: 30090"]For me it's always been a cheap practical way of getting or going some where.[/quote]

I agree with that and that`s how I started but in over 50 yr of riding I have only ever been passed once by another cyclist when I have been stuck at side of the road with a problem without being offered help.

I have driven cars for 35 yr and never had an offer of help.

The one cyclist that did ride by as I was trying to refit my chain in a rainstorm had to make a sarcastic comment about maintaining my bike but a few miles up the road as he stood on the side he sheepishly asked if I had a puncture outfit. I have lost count of the new tubes I have given away but on this occasion I just said yes and road on.

 

[Dave 123]

The immediacy is good. To do most other activities you have to get your gear and go to the venue, but I can get my bike out of the garage and its game on.

 

[ClichéGuevara]

It somehow makes me feel more a part and aware of the surroundings.

On a deeper level, I think it helps develop a good approach to life. You don't know what's around the bend or which way the wind will blow, but you know if you just grit your teeth you'll get there, and to bastardise an Irish proverb, another day the road will drop beneath the wheels and the wind be at your back.

Another thought just occured to me. I don't see my cycling as sport, but it is, and I can do it at the same time I'm doing other things. By that I mean a trip to the shops give me a chance to enjoy my 'sport' and save time and money.

 

[Hill Wimp]

It started as a kid, it was my first taste of freedom and adventure. Then along came the car and freedom just got quicker and drier. Then work kicked in and i got fed up of sitting in traffic jams so out came the bike again, freedom again, and now i'm about to stop commuting on my bike its purely a pleasure dome which can be as expensive as you like

So freedom is the reason for me and it's good for the soul.

 

[Accy cyclist]

To me being on a bike means that i can be who i want,and where i want! I might be climbing a grim hill on a rainy day in Accrington but with a little imagination i could be climbing Alpe d'Huez ! Why not? i'm not doing anyone any harm,it's good for the heart lungs,legs and so on,and a little fantasizing about who you'd like to be and where you'd like to be is good for the mind!

 

[Hill Wimp]

To me being on a bike means that i can be who i want,and where i want! I might be climbing a grim hill on a rainy day in Accrington but with a little imagination i could be climbing Alpe d'Huez ! Why not? i'm not doing anyone any harm,it's good for the heart lungs,legs and so on,and a little fantasizing about who you'd like to be and where you'd like to be is good for the mind!

Totally agree with that one. I have climbed Ventoux that many times and crossed the finish line of the TDF i'm surprised i'm not more famous

 

[Deleted member 1258]

To me its a number of things:

The feeling of freedom when 15 minutes after leaving your house on a nice sunny(ish) Sunday morning at 07:00 to find yourself in beautiful countryside or coastal area, often along with a mate or two and all under your own steam.
It's sharing the beauty of living.
It's the exhilaration of flying down a hill or into a bend, or eventually making that climb ths burp eaten you so many imes.
Taking part in a larger event widens it further bringing you into a whole shared experience and knowing hat each and every one of you us part of one big positive mindset.

Taking it to a sport level, you're rarely part of a team, it's you and your ability pitted against everyone else but more often gaining a huge sense of achievement on completing and finishing in weever position and where applicable, a new pb.
As for watching the sport, you put yourself in theirs shoes, knowing the pain they are going through, the risks they are experiencing and often being amazed at just what they are achieving.

To me it's also the whole camaraderie of the cycling fraternity, all ages, abilities and backgounds out to just enjoy the freedom that we all have and are entitled to.

I realistically started cycling at 46, initially as a way to reduce fuel costs and it as become a life-changing and life-saving experience that I will hopefully not need to stop doing for many years yet.

Sums it up nicely.

 

[Nearly there]

Cycling is good for the mind well mine anyway,I get on my bike and just ride nothing else matters when im riding i love it wish I'd started it years ago.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I did a 77 miler this morning, I'm now sat here with aching muscles, and a wonderful sense of achievement having thoroughly enjoyed a morning out on the bike to somewhere I haven't been before, yes the bike makes for a cheap and enjoyable form of transport, I have a car but mostly commute on the bike, porridge is cheaper than petrol, and the commute is more enjoyable on the bike, but doing club rides, leisure rides and events takes it to another level, its lovely being out in the countryside, on the bike you see so much more than in the car, theres satisfaction in completing a 50 in 4, an audax or a charity event, and for those of us who have problems with low moods its a wonderful pick me up. Then there is the camaraderie, in what other activity would a stranger take the trouble to show someone the way to the extent that they ride with you half way to where you're going.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.