Are you a cyclist?
- Thread starter ededwards
- Start date
Right, I am deffo a cyclist, and here are the reasons why.
1. Fashion. I was definitely first at cycling before all my mates (by weeks and weeks) so I do consider myself as a bit of a trend-setter in this regard. I recommend you point out the same to your new would-be cycling pals, so they all agree who was 'old-skool' on the the whole thing in later life.
2. Team sky. I have bought all the nice Rapha things because it supports my two favorite things, namely sky telly and Rapha Nadal, very nice of him to consider clothing for other sports in my opinion - true gent.
3. Bella in Sella. Having bought the correct gear, I am obliged to wear it, all of it. My 400 yard commute to work frequently takes upward of an hour, getting in and out of all this damn spandex, plus the the quick scurry home again as I dare not leave my bike locked up near my office. The only time I parked it in the office, there was some spit on it when I went to go home. Haters gonna hate I guess but I KNOW who is KOM through reception at my work.
4. Training. Having read up on the 'Margarine Gains' approach used by the beloved sky team, I decided to embark on this myself, and whilst Ed (OP) alluded to people weighing their food as part of training, I wonder, just how many actually weigh their, ahem, 'droppings'? Surely we can all agree that there is no progress unless there is more 'output' than 'input'? So this sort of attention to detail means I am certainly a cyclist, surely?
5. Team sports. I do actually like team sports and cycling IS a team sport, as long as I get to win. For this reason, I hired a personal trainer who helps me with my wind-assist Strava KOM's. Whether via motor-pacing me at my local trail centre or by driving alongside me in his estate car at my usual 25 (kph) racing speed during my commute (or more importantly, everyone else's commute), I feel the warmth and inclusion of being part of a team. One that I pay for.
6. Better than Golf. Ball based sports, whether stick or stickless, are a bit naff IMNSHO. You can certainly see that this sort of thinking is catching on as more people leave the golf course to take up cycling now that the MAMIL and FOSOBIL generation are taken more seriously. Thus, Estate Agents, Photocopier supply sales executives and other bastions of society will be making their way onto our roads to become one of us, the cyclingists. Thus I have a new peer group of the golf-bat set. No bad thing I am sure you will agree.
7. The Highway Choad. Now that us cyclingistadors are the King of the road, it makes sense to adapt a few rules for us and the Freds / former golfists that aspire to be like us. Obviously, there are many, but here are a few:
a) Red lights are dropped from being 'advisory' to 'disregarded' in status. In extremis, when passing the red light, divert to the pavement and use pedestrians as a cushion if your brakeless bike fails to stop in time. Cover your arms, them sleeve tattoo's ain't gonna grow back themselves.
b) Bike lights are no longer required - Why should I spend £11k on a stealth 'black-on-black' bike only to have to put crimble decorations on it? Similarly, wearing all black clothes at night, cycling the wrong way down a one way street with headphones on, checking your emails on you black iPhone, is also acceptable. Feign outrage at anyone not in total agreement.
c) 1st rule of Highway Choad, don't read the Highway Choad. Do things that make a mockery of the Highway Choad, such as, pulling up to someone indicating to turn right, on the wrong side of the road and pointing to them that you are going straight ahead. Tell them that 'I know what a highway codes is' so you sound like an authority on the subject of road craft. Use snark intonation for this.
8. Bike Drugs. As a committed clenbutacyclistador, everyone expects and no one cares that you may take drugs. In fact, people are a little bit miffed when you state that you don't or are against it. Thus, use this opportunity to mention a bunch of other personality defects (such as hatred of other people) in there whilst they are mulling the fact that they probably aren't going to find you wired up to blood-bags whilst eating EPO and AICAR for your tea. Similarly, turning down recreational pharma at parties is pretty easy as 'you have a club run in the morning and don't want to pulled by the police when driving there'. Not that you have a car, well, not one that you mention on club runs anyway.
9. Doing the right thing for the environment. Cycling is a very green sport, mostly as all bikes now are made of carbon and, as most things in the world are made of carbon, that makes them 'carbon neutral'. It is therefore with great pleasure that you can but a new Carbon bike for a small outlay of only £4000.00 and upwards yearly and know you are doing great things for the future of the world. Telling people about this frequently also improves self worth, especially if you have a new iPhone to tell them about at the same time. I recently combined this by wearing my Rapha Nadal cycling kit, to emphasize the point. Best day of my life.
10. SPD-sandal wearing communists. Cycle touring is for older people, worry about that when you get to that age. Touring clothes / equipment should only be considered when you are no longer cycling to be attractive to others, or you cannot bray about your latest KOM thru the memorial gardens / cemetery / other place of solemnity.
11. Good for the economy. Cyclists are known to be healthier, more punctual workers with less time off. They are also more likely to spend thousands of pounds on needless, overpriced cycling equipment that makes big cycling brands have massive headquarters and expensive lawyers. All in turn makes the people of the world, (the ones worth speaking about) happier and more fulfilled.
12. Boris Johnson. Boris Johnson. Boris Johnson.
13. There is no 13.
So, those bee my humble reasons for biking. I hope you all, in some way, find a little bit of your own thoughts in there.
1. Fashion. I was definitely first at cycling before all my mates (by weeks and weeks) so I do consider myself as a bit of a trend-setter in this regard. I recommend you point out the same to your new would-be cycling pals, so they all agree who was 'old-skool' on the the whole thing in later life.
2. Team sky. I have bought all the nice Rapha things because it supports my two favorite things, namely sky telly and Rapha Nadal, very nice of him to consider clothing for other sports in my opinion - true gent.
3. Bella in Sella. Having bought the correct gear, I am obliged to wear it, all of it. My 400 yard commute to work frequently takes upward of an hour, getting in and out of all this damn spandex, plus the the quick scurry home again as I dare not leave my bike locked up near my office. The only time I parked it in the office, there was some spit on it when I went to go home. Haters gonna hate I guess but I KNOW who is KOM through reception at my work.
4. Training. Having read up on the 'Margarine Gains' approach used by the beloved sky team, I decided to embark on this myself, and whilst Ed (OP) alluded to people weighing their food as part of training, I wonder, just how many actually weigh their, ahem, 'droppings'? Surely we can all agree that there is no progress unless there is more 'output' than 'input'? So this sort of attention to detail means I am certainly a cyclist, surely?
5. Team sports. I do actually like team sports and cycling IS a team sport, as long as I get to win. For this reason, I hired a personal trainer who helps me with my wind-assist Strava KOM's. Whether via motor-pacing me at my local trail centre or by driving alongside me in his estate car at my usual 25 (kph) racing speed during my commute (or more importantly, everyone else's commute), I feel the warmth and inclusion of being part of a team. One that I pay for.
6. Better than Golf. Ball based sports, whether stick or stickless, are a bit naff IMNSHO. You can certainly see that this sort of thinking is catching on as more people leave the golf course to take up cycling now that the MAMIL and FOSOBIL generation are taken more seriously. Thus, Estate Agents, Photocopier supply sales executives and other bastions of society will be making their way onto our roads to become one of us, the cyclingists. Thus I have a new peer group of the golf-bat set. No bad thing I am sure you will agree.
7. The Highway Choad. Now that us cyclingistadors are the King of the road, it makes sense to adapt a few rules for us and the Freds / former golfists that aspire to be like us. Obviously, there are many, but here are a few:
a) Red lights are dropped from being 'advisory' to 'disregarded' in status. In extremis, when passing the red light, divert to the pavement and use pedestrians as a cushion if your brakeless bike fails to stop in time. Cover your arms, them sleeve tattoo's ain't gonna grow back themselves.
b) Bike lights are no longer required - Why should I spend £11k on a stealth 'black-on-black' bike only to have to put crimble decorations on it? Similarly, wearing all black clothes at night, cycling the wrong way down a one way street with headphones on, checking your emails on you black iPhone, is also acceptable. Feign outrage at anyone not in total agreement.
c) 1st rule of Highway Choad, don't read the Highway Choad. Do things that make a mockery of the Highway Choad, such as, pulling up to someone indicating to turn right, on the wrong side of the road and pointing to them that you are going straight ahead. Tell them that 'I know what a highway codes is' so you sound like an authority on the subject of road craft. Use snark intonation for this.
8. Bike Drugs. As a committed clenbutacyclistador, everyone expects and no one cares that you may take drugs. In fact, people are a little bit miffed when you state that you don't or are against it. Thus, use this opportunity to mention a bunch of other personality defects (such as hatred of other people) in there whilst they are mulling the fact that they probably aren't going to find you wired up to blood-bags whilst eating EPO and AICAR for your tea. Similarly, turning down recreational pharma at parties is pretty easy as 'you have a club run in the morning and don't want to pulled by the police when driving there'. Not that you have a car, well, not one that you mention on club runs anyway.
9. Doing the right thing for the environment. Cycling is a very green sport, mostly as all bikes now are made of carbon and, as most things in the world are made of carbon, that makes them 'carbon neutral'. It is therefore with great pleasure that you can but a new Carbon bike for a small outlay of only £4000.00 and upwards yearly and know you are doing great things for the future of the world. Telling people about this frequently also improves self worth, especially if you have a new iPhone to tell them about at the same time. I recently combined this by wearing my Rapha Nadal cycling kit, to emphasize the point. Best day of my life.
10. SPD-sandal wearing communists. Cycle touring is for older people, worry about that when you get to that age. Touring clothes / equipment should only be considered when you are no longer cycling to be attractive to others, or you cannot bray about your latest KOM thru the memorial gardens / cemetery / other place of solemnity.
11. Good for the economy. Cyclists are known to be healthier, more punctual workers with less time off. They are also more likely to spend thousands of pounds on needless, overpriced cycling equipment that makes big cycling brands have massive headquarters and expensive lawyers. All in turn makes the people of the world, (the ones worth speaking about) happier and more fulfilled.
12. Boris Johnson. Boris Johnson. Boris Johnson.
13. There is no 13.
So, those bee my humble reasons for biking. I hope you all, in some way, find a little bit of your own thoughts in there.
NeilM":qxowdw45 said:
X 2
I am a cyclist ,and proud too . Sure I'm not proud when I see people jumping red lights , not using lights at night or riding the wrong way up one way streets .
But I love cycling , the freedom to go where and when I want , without the hindrance of traffic jams . Meeting like minded people and getting technical help in building bikes , such as this -my only- forum .
It makes me feel at least 10 years younger when I'm going well - albeit 10 years older on a bad day - , and I still try to be competitive when I see someone up ahead , despite not racing for 6 years now .
Also , I can hit the biscuits without fear of putting on weight !It's also cheaper and faster to ride the 11 miles to work .
So none of the categories are relevant to my reasoning , athough I do hate football
incorrigible
Senior Retro Guru
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This other thread explains it all, at least for me anyway:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=282065
It's always been about having fun and enjoying life. I'm usually happiest when riding a bike.
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=282065
It's always been about having fun and enjoying life. I'm usually happiest when riding a bike.
aguycalled80
Retro Guru
I'm not a cyclist, I'm a mechanic.
I'd wager that most people here if asked what their idea of heaven was, would say "sunshine, never ending singletrack/mountain roads, and my favorite bike."
I'd say "a garage full of parts."
I used to ride a lot, but in the last 15 years, I get far more satisfaction in building and repairing than I do from riding.
I'd wager that most people here if asked what their idea of heaven was, would say "sunshine, never ending singletrack/mountain roads, and my favorite bike."
I'd say "a garage full of parts."
I used to ride a lot, but in the last 15 years, I get far more satisfaction in building and repairing than I do from riding.
technodup
Senior Retro Guru
If you ride a bike you are a cyclist, end of story.
Coming up with reasons why you count and some hipster on a fixie or teen on a BSO don't, or vice versa is bent.
Plus cycling is NOT cool. Never has been and likely never will be. Functional, green, healthy, efficient and many other things. But not cool. And it will never make you more attractive to anyone else, unless it's another cyclist.
Coming up with reasons why you count and some hipster on a fixie or teen on a BSO don't, or vice versa is bent.
Plus cycling is NOT cool. Never has been and likely never will be. Functional, green, healthy, efficient and many other things. But not cool. And it will never make you more attractive to anyone else, unless it's another cyclist.
Results now in.
After statistically valid analysis, it's clear that most cycle because they don't like people (with the subtext that they wanted to put 'makes me more attractive to the opposite sex' but were too misanthropic to do so). It's also clear, from regression analysis, that those who consider themselves cyclists almost certainly are not.
And with that a Merry cycling Christmas
After statistically valid analysis, it's clear that most cycle because they don't like people (with the subtext that they wanted to put 'makes me more attractive to the opposite sex' but were too misanthropic to do so). It's also clear, from regression analysis, that those who consider themselves cyclists almost certainly are not.
And with that a Merry cycling Christmas
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None of your reasons cover it for me.
I ride(not as much as i used too admittedly) because, since i was 3, i always have.
Plus now my son is older we can spend some quality 'father - son time' on our bikes
*Ed - surely your reason isn't in the list either?? I can't see anything referring to sado masochistic tendencies
I ride(not as much as i used too admittedly) because, since i was 3, i always have.
Plus now my son is older we can spend some quality 'father - son time' on our bikes
*Ed - surely your reason isn't in the list either?? I can't see anything referring to sado masochistic tendencies
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