Cycling cool/uncool?

jimo746":3kht4en7 said:

Cycling is not masculine enough for them, case closed.

I don't think people realise how physically demanding cycling can be, say a road ride, race or mountainbike race.
Whilst the peole I asked said that you have to be supremely fit to be a top cyclist, they do not believe that you need to be strong.
"I ride my bike to work 5 days a week, how hard can a race be?"
yes, you ride perhaps 3 miles a day, at slightly faster than walking pace, there's a BIG difference.

Finally there is the word itself "cycling", I think people object to being called a "cyclist", to them being a "cyclist" means putting on the helmet and lycra (read: not masculine) , where as they would say they "just ride a bike".

What's going on? Is cycling really thought of as being a bit....less masculine than other sports???

Interestingly, a lot of the people I know who are "down" on cycling class "going to the gym" as their favourite sport, I wasn't aware it was a sport??!

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Neil":3ngwbq60 said:

I've never worried about cycling being cool / uncool, trendy, or passe.

I've been cycling for decades, and hope to for decades more. What other people, or society in general, think or feel about it is a huge irrelevance, really.

I mean some may look for affirmation, empathy or acceptance - but at the end of the day, people (en masse) are idiots -

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tintin40":l6uaul3e said:

Neil":l6uaul3e said:

I mean some may look for affirmation, empathy or acceptance - but at the end of the day, people (en masse) are idiots -

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Agree.100%

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unkleGsif":36e1asbr said:

tintin40":36e1asbr said:

Neil":36e1asbr said:

I mean some may look for affirmation, empathy or acceptance - but at the end of the day, people (en masse) are idiots -

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Agree.100%

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The irony of this statement and its posting on a website established for the gratification of a particular niche, and which dedicates regular sections to various incarnations of "Bike of the Month".... ISNT lost on me....

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medoramas":3iuxv7m1 said:

Today cycling will not be cool, definitely! It's 8.30 in the morning and I'm boiling already...

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Neil":1in0etdx said:

unkleGsif":1in0etdx said:

tintin40":1in0etdx said:

Neil":1in0etdx said:

I mean some may look for affirmation, empathy or acceptance - but at the end of the day, people (en masse) are idiots -

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Agree.100%

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The irony of this statement and its posting on a website established for the gratification of a particular niche, and which dedicates regular sections to various incarnations of "Bike of the Month".... ISNT lost on me....

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Which statement - Tony's or mine?

'cos I stand by what I wrote - either for cycling in general, or my interest, here. I'm not looking for affirmation, empathy, or even acceptance.

As to what society, en masse, thinks about cycling as a hobby / sport / pastime, I struggle to care. The only aspect I do care about, is where it spills over to hostility or aggression whilst on the road in traffic.

I didn't join retrobike for affirmation, empathy or acceptance - I joined here as a resource for bikes from the era I prefer - initially as a source of info. That I hang around and make a monkey of myself is not my primary reason.

The retrobikes I own I do so for myself - I couldn't care less whether other people approve, or not, though - I'm not into this whole "learned culture" thing that evolves in some over time.

Some people do seek those things - either for themselves, or by extension the bikes they own - and I'm not critical of that, I'm ambivalent. All I would say, is it leaves them vulnerable to the passing flights of fancy in society over whether such things are "cool" or "uncool", or others generally approve, or not.

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