DnvrFox

How about a thread dedicated to simplified bicycling?

Just jumping on your bike and going somewhere for the pleasure of riding.

Two miles

Five miles

Ten miles

Snail's pace

Grocery store and back?

Jeans, levis, regular shorts, tennis shoes, boots, loafers?

Where it doesn't take one 20 minutes to find all the "right" paraphernalia to ride?

No bragging about your distances, how great you were in the pace line, how fast you climbed the hills, how amazingly far you went?

Is it too late in our human evolvement to simply enjoy, and write about, simple bicycling?

Dedicated to ILTB (an inside joke).

DnvrFox

Evidently, it is!

Too sad.

Digital Gee

Well, this morning I need to retrieve the cat transporter box from the garage which I rent six blocks away for storage, because she needs to visit the vet today (hairball issues). I'm debating whether to take my new bike to get it, but not sure if I can fit the carrier on the rack on back of the bike. I suppose I'll try it and if it doesn't fit, ride back and get the car.

I-Like-To-Bike

DnvrFox, are you surprised at the lack of interest in the subject of your OP by the regulars on this list? I'm not. A thread not wrapped up in (or quickly becoming about) pseudo competition with other cyclists or stopwatches, the "right" product to buy for improving performance or impressing the other club members, or demonstrating an oh-so-clever wit/repartee? Not on this list, my comrade in appreciating Simple Bicycling without the "Performance"/Goal setting Hype.

wobblyoldgeezer

Or maybe 33 minutes is a little too short a wait for a response?

Personally I'm all for using bikes for running errands, and I'm sure many others are too. Did the grocery run this morning on my spouse's hybrid with the panniers and trunk rack. However, I didn't feel impelled to start a 'just went shopping' thread.

But I'm sure you're right, there's a place and a shared satisfaction in simply going about one's business with the help of 2 wheels.

Let's see how the thread develops

bcoppola

Alas, Dnvr et al, with my current job and commuting situation, biking of any sort has been difficult to fit in, especially now that the days are shorter. And what I did was mostly fitness rides in full Lycra on my road bike from the office after work before the long drive home.

Alas, not enough to keep my deskbound bottom and middle from ballooning.

But this weekend looks gorgeous here. So tomorrow I might just jump on the ol' Frigid Rigid 820 and just mosey. Maybe to the local cider mill. Could be my last chance till I'm relegated to the Tour de Basement.

Suzie Green

Does this mean I don't have to wear my helmet any more? Yay!!!

roadfix

I've been doing it for years! Hop on the bike, ride around mi barrio, stop at Starbucks or similar, sit out in the patio with coffee and reading material, pose, people watch, and imagine what else I can do to my bike(s). Total miles, 10 miles tops.

stevesurf

Same here; a short ride over to Starbucks, sometimes catching up on some forums via iPhone, talking to fellow caffeine addicts. Short of the Random NYC Rides, this is the most [local] fun.

cranky old dude

Tomorrow's ride should qualify. With the temp in the upper 40's
I'll be wearing jeans and a sweatshirt with sneakers and a helmet.
I'll jump on the Sun and go where-ever, and end up at home......
or don't recumbents count. I've never worn cycling specific garb
on my recumbents, to me they're just jump on and ride bikes.
I am guilty of recording mileage though so I hereby disqualify
tomorrows ride. Sigh, oh well.

Rumblejohn

I ride every morning during the work week, about 10 mi on the local bike path through a nature park. It is a paved trail through the woods. Deer, wild turkey, coyote, bobcats, wild boar, alligators, snakes, and an occasional bear share the woods with me. Great way to start the day! Weekends, I'll jump on the bike to run errands, or go to the store, without much thought as to appropriate attire.


John

RedC

The doctors won't let me ride until Thursday (2 weeks after surgery) but I'd love to ride just anywhere. As much as I enjoy posting and participating in the "how far, how fast and what kind of new equipment" threads I still like just riding to the store, to work, wherever.

howsteepisit

There is no such think as simple cycling. Riding a Bike is hard, painful, only ment for euro-peasants who are so poor that suffering is a step up. WE need drugs and special exercise to cycle properly. Ask the pros. Bikes must be borderline painful to be considered a proper fit. And don't even ask me about clothes. Get with the modern program folks. Cycling its the new torture!

wobblyoldgeezer

Oh and

I've never thought of this forum as a bragging forum.

Much more a 'I'm delighted at my progress' or 'I had a wonderful, challenging ride and I'd like to tell you about it' forum. And a place where people state and get support for personal problems and disappointments. I'm sorry to hear it characterised as a show off, gear obsessed forum. Never has seemed that way to me. Sure, many examples of 'I love my new bike', but why not?

And if people crack jokes and tease each other, and get familiar with the idiosyncracies that frequent posters display, it strikes me as a very pleasant virtual club.

Many people ride bikes for utility or short local journeys. Not many of them post about these trips, because they're entirely matter of fact, and all 'em Danes, Dutch and folk from Delhi haven't come across the forum

Red Rider

+1.

Digital Gee

I see your +1, and raise you +1.

Retro Grouch 

Ain't gonna work, Denver.

What you're talking about is a non-competitive bicycling thread. The problem is that competitiveness works both ways. Once people start talking about how non-competitive they are, some yahoo will will outdo them "Oh yeah, well I only rode 1/2 mile and had fun doing it!".

Artkansas 

Like the rest of us, I was busy with other things.


Actually riding like that deserves no more comment than walking from the bedroom to the living room. It should be a part of everyone's life, as fundamental as getting breakfast.

Me, today I went over to the apartment office and paid my rent, then went and paid my storage rent, stopped at the creek but all was quiet except for the fish. Went by the bank and over to the Goodwill store looking for a pressure cooker. On the way back I found a 9/16" wrench and I stopped off at the creek again to see what I might, but I had to keep going because there was a big beautiful heron fishing in the creek. The only way to keep it from flying away was to keep moving. Later, I intend to go to the library.

Drive, take a bus, pedal or walk. I leave that to your imagination.

BluesDawg

Patience, Dnvr, patience.

The only rides I've been up for for the past few days is hopping on Kemo Sabe and riding down my long, winding gravel driveway to the mailbox and back. Blue jeans, sneakers, cotton shirt, jacket and a baseball cap has been the uniform of the day.

Robert Foster

This is just why I got into cycling, the simple relaxing ride just because. Yes I enjoy my club rides but I have as many miles on my Revive. Pull up to a coffee shop with a relaxing bike and people you don’t even know come up and talk to you. It might be the only time I read a newspaper and, once the election is over, there might be something worth reading. It is also a good excuse for a cinnamon roll or a piece of pie.

staehpj1

I tend to agree with this. Also, I am more likely to walk for short errands and am not inclined to want to go hang out at Starbucks using any mode of transport. What is there to say about riding to the grocery store. It just doesn't require comment.

I-Like-To-Bike

Not much time for riding today; too much college football to watch. I rode my bike over to the grocery about 1.5 miles away to pick up a few snacks. Also checked out the menu and setup of a newly opened restaurant. Shorts and t-shirt, my standard bike uniform when the weather is warm enough; "dressing" preparation time =0.

Last night after the trick or treaters were gone and after watching an old movie on TV with my wife (Scarface 1932) I rode my bike over to the local casino, 5 miles away, to enjoy the costumes being worn at the Halloween party. No costume for me though, just shorts and a casual shirt and vest. The weather has been superb for this time of year.

roadfix

Why do you hate posing with your bike?

I-Like-To-Bike

Maybe so, but a reader of this forum might suspect that such "simple" riding or interest in non competitive cycling is a case of man biting dog for the posters of this list.

Neil_B

Not to thread hijack, but some of us don't get pleasure out of turning pedals for the sake of turning pedals. I ride to get from one place to another, or to see things best experienced on a bike. Sometimes that's a short distance, and sometimes it's a longer one.

Last Sunday I rode to Reading, PA, and back, a 40 mile round trip on the Thun Trail. I didn't go because I wanted to experience back pain, butt pain, neck pain, etc. I did it because I wanted to see the fall leaves. And, pace ILTB, I wore cycling specific clothing to minimize the discomfort.

I think it was worth it:

Schuylkill River near Reading, PA: