Fifty Plus (50+) - I guess I'm just lazy

As I read post after post listing riding skills and accomplishments that
I have no desire what so ever to match, it occurs to me that I may
just be lazy. While I can fully appreciate the training and dedication
necessary to race or ride weekly or monthly centuries, I just have
no desire to do that stuff myself.

Now I do love riding my various bikes, but for me a bike is just an easy
way to get around without walking. Kind of like walking while sitting down,
a real easy way to get from point A to point B and not burning any gasoline.
If I'm too lazy to even swing my leg over the bike, I've found that the scooter
I recieved this Spring is even easier (only I'm not sitting down) for just going
a few doors down the street.

I still consider myself a cyclist though. A slow, lazy cyclist.

As I read post after post listing riding skills and accomplishments that
I have no desire what so ever to match, it occurs to me that I may
just be lazy. While I can fully appreciate the training and dedication
necessary to race or ride weekly or monthly centuries, I just have
no desire to do that stuff myself.

Now I do love riding my various bikes, but for me a bike is just an easy
way to get around without walking. Kind of like walking while sitting down,
a real easy way to get from point A to point B and not burning any gasoline.
If I'm too lazy to even swing my leg over the bike, I've found that the scooter
I recieved this Spring is even easier (only I'm not sitting down) for just going
a few doors down the street.

I still consider myself a cyclist though. A slow, lazy cyclist.

I don't know that I'd call you lazy. Your motivation to ride is your own. It's not better, or worse, than mine or anyone else's...it's yours and yours alone.

Really, as long as you're content, that's all that matters. Just keep riding, and posting about it.

It's not lazy to ride for other reasons. I just want to lose weight (70 lbs. so far) and get in shape. I'm not in any hurry and I like to enjoy the scenery. Your reasons are valid too. Give yourself some slack. bk

Nothing wrong with riding when, where, why and how you want.

I don't see any difference between that and the people at work who want me to work full-time at the Central Branch of the library instead of part-time at my neighborhood branch.

It's not laziness, it's happiness. I'm happy working only part-time at a branch where I can get to know all the regulars. I've never been happy at a job before, never before looked forward to going to work. I don't want to change that.

No reason you can't apply the same reasoning to cycling.

I like to ride because I like to ride. But when I'm riding, I feel smug and superior to all the stupid moron drivers. That's a bonus.

Sometimes I would ride so slow that it would take me twice as long to get to my destination as usual. Thats one of the delights of bicycling. You could never do it in a car.

I like to ride so that I have something to do with the bicycles that I build.............:twitchy:

Now I do love riding my various bikes, but for me a bike is just an easy
way to get around without walking. Kind of like walking while sitting down,
a real easy way to get from point A to point B and not burning any gasoline.
If I'm too lazy to even swing my leg over the bike, I've found that the scooter
I recieved this Spring is even easier (only I'm not sitting down) for just going
a few doors down the street.

I still consider myself a cyclist though. A slow, lazy cyclist.

Cyclist covers a broad range of riding styles:) I just like to get outdoors and enjoy the local area at a slower pace.

I also use my scooter around the neighborhood. My son and his family live a couple blocks from me and I've been going over there to ride with the 4 and 6 year old granddaughters. They think it's cool.

I've ridden many thousands of "junk miles" with great pleasure, and I hope to ride many more.

In other forums, I've learned, you'd get a showering of HTFU

Here, you'll get a showering of "Happycycling From The Unanimous":thumb:

Nothing wrong with that -- the cycling world is a "big tent" with room for all sorts of folks.

Maybe this will help you feel better. I was at least 40, maybe 50, before I realized that cycling was often regarded as exercise. I'd always thought of it as how one got around when driving was too inconvenient and walking / running too sweaty. I'd do a long, uphill ride and never think of it as a workout, because I was "cheating" by using a vehicle. If I'd run instead, that would have been exercise, because running was alwys defined as "exercise."

Paul

If you can answer the question "Did you have a good time?" with a big yes, that's all that matters. People ride with different things in mind, my husband is a wannabee racer, me I'm more the beach cruiser type. When we are on the tandem, we are a little bit of both.

I like to ride because I like to ride. But when I'm riding, I feel smug and superior to all the stupid moron drivers. That's a bonus.

and how do you feel when you are driving..............

OK . . . . . Do we need another 50+ sub-forum?

To me, bikes are fun. When I'm riding I'm out having fun. When I ride my old Navigator (now pretty much only when my wife wants to go along too) it is fun. When I ride the road bike it is fun and much more athletic (can't believe I'm using that word with something I do...) but it is fun too. Ride for fun. Ride for profit if you can counter the price of gas along the way (hard for me). Ride to ride because riding is FUN!

I almost wrecked it for myself by thinking I needed to go farther, faster, and steeper. i got sick, ached for a few days, and felt sorry for myself. Now I just ride - however fast, far, or steep that seems like the thing to do that day. Sometimes, I just walk the bike if I want to enjoy the place where I am. Tomorrow, I am calling in sick and taking a long, slow bike ride to nowhere in particular, just for the pleasure of it. A mental health day.

Really, as long as you're content, that's all that matters. Just keep riding, and posting about it.

Should be the official BF mantra.

If I have a ride to train for- I will train for it. Climbing a mountain will mean lots of repeats up the steepest hills I can find in my area. Doing a longer ride and I will do 40 miles at a good pace for me and then do the 5% drag for 2 miles that I hate (Good boredom training). Going out with the youngsters for a 20 mile paced ride and I won't bother- because I won't be doing it.

I ride because I want to. I ride because I like it. I no longer ride with others that will make me do something that I do not want to do. I have no goals that have to be done so just enjoy the rides.

So perhaps I am getting lazy myself- but I enjoy my rides. Whether it be a 50 miler over the hills- or a 20 mile round trip with a break in the middle for PIE.

As I have stated in more posts than anyone might like to read, I bike (and do other exercises) for the following reasons:

1. Smiles per mile

2. The solitude and my own personal "zen," and at times the companionship of those I occasionally desire to share my bicycling with.

3. The beauty and peace of nature and the refreshing to my soul of those encounters (early this morning I was able to observe three deer up close for some period of time, including a yearling).

4. The physical fitness and physical well-being that comes from my various activities.

My decision to start swimming in December has proven to be an excellent choice, and combining the early morning rides with the swimming is a superb conditioning activity for me at 68 years old. I have been thinking today about adding a 1/2 hour walk (I have a neat place to walk on the ride) so I will get a sort of triathlon effect. However, running, for me, is out.

I no longer record or track my miles, check the percentage grade of hills, revel in super-human feats or otherwise push myself beyond what I think I should do.