Fifty Plus (50+) - Cycling as a factor in job/life choices? Anyone else?

Hello again

I might have mentioned this before, but

Life here in a not very oppressive part of the Middle East has been good for 7 years. I came with 5 in mind.

I ride bikes a lot here, lead the 'not so demanding' group, and try to hang on the back of the tough guys. All good.

However

Things are changing. Promotions of fellows maybe not ideal, work complications, - hey, if it was easy they wouldn't call it 'work'.

And I've just been back to Yorkshire UK my 'land o'heart', and to Sussex UK where I studied, and the smells of fresh grass and rain, and the lanes and keen cyclists out on a weekend seem different from the refinery gasses and dry sand.

Going back to better cycling seems attractive. Am I missing something? Oh yes, pay!!!!

Hello again

I might have mentioned this before, but

Life here in a not very oppressive part of the Middle East has been good for 7 years. I came with 5 in mind.

I ride bikes a lot here, lead the 'not so demanding' group, and try to hang on the back of the tough guys. All good.

However

Things are changing. Promotions of fellows maybe not ideal, work complications, - hey, if it was easy they wouldn't call it 'work'.

And I've just been back to Yorkshire UK my 'land o'heart', and to Sussex UK where I studied, and the smells of fresh grass and rain, and the lanes and keen cyclists out on a weekend seem different from the refinery gasses and dry sand.

Going back to better cycling seems attractive. Am I missing something? Oh yes, pay!!!!

Cycling is influencing me to a great extent.

I recently relocated from Chicago to NE Ohio and find the local cycling here in Ohio to be huge improvement. I'm also planning to retire where the climate allows year-around cycling and the terrain is unmatched anywhere.

There are a lot more important things in life than money.

There are a lot more important things in life than money.

us poor people always like saying that, we're geniuses.

us poor people always like saying that, we're geniuses.


If we're so smart, why aren't we rich? ;)

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, he said:

“Man.

Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.
Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.

And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present;
the result being that he does not live in the present or the future;

he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

There is a lot to be said for retirement and I can recommend it. No stress- no strain and few commitments. Just my time to do what I want--

This morning and a neighbour wanted to ride- 1 hour later and we were in the Lanes around East Sussex dodging the wind- and smelling the freshly mown grass. Didn't get the rain but I do remember what it was like. We are in drought conditions over here and that came about 2 days before we had 3 months rainfall in April.

And Pay? You will be eligible for the state pension and according to Cameron--That is enough to live on---What more incentive do you need?

In a micro way, I chose my present house partly because it was next to a bike path. Those .5 miles away across the 4 laner were not even in the running

There are a lot more important things in life than money.

Yup, couldn't agree more

But

My own pockets are unstuffed. However, kids are well educated but not yet solvent. I'm not here for me! Recipients are important in life

. . . smells of fresh grass and rain, and the lanes and keen cyclists out on a weekend . . .Going back to better cycling seems attractive. Am I missing something? Oh yes, pay!!!!

Winter?

Winter?

Bingo. We have a 'to the point' winner. I came to this area in 1980 and got in a car parked in 45 C to think 'oh yeah - chilly begone'

Well, my job is going reasonably well and it pays well, but I'm considering retirement so I can cycle more. Let's see what the financial adviser comes up with. I still get up wanting to do a day's work for at least a day's pay, but it wouldn't take much to have me running out the door so to speak.

Well, you don't have to be into Zen to view your life holistically, although it helps I suppose.

There is a cardiologist here who took a big pay cut so he could be more active in his cycling. He's a cat 1 or 2 and trains all the time. He's a brilliant cardiologist and an animal. I hate his guts.

j/k ;) Right now the only way I'd work in such a way to deprive me the opportunity to ride is if that was the only way to put food on the table.

I'd love to retire (yeah, right... I'm only 53) and move to an another area. I'd love to ride and be able to do all the outdoor 'stuff' I never did growing up, but I suspect that's probably not going to happen. At least not for a long time. :twitchy: So I keep on going back to work, despite being burnt out. But until someone figures out how to live income-free, I guess that's how it has to be. :notamused:

Well, I've found that usually bicycling finds a way to fit into my life.

Does moving so that I could be close enough to my job to commute entirely by bike count? Before I moved I was doing a multi-modal commute: bike-train-bike, but I was spending 3 hours a day getting to and from work.

Where you are is less important than what you do with where you are. Seems to me you have some experience with that. From your posts I get the impression you've made the best of your 7 years. You'll likely do the same wherever it is you land up next. For me family and then career (in that order) always came first, and hopefully will for a bit longer.