Oooh, don'tcha just HATE that?
 

I just retired, so I'm a bike commuter no more, but still a cyclist. Wouldn't give it up for the world. As a retiree, though, I feel entitled to be a (tongue-in-cheek) grouch. It's a quirk of human nature that no matter how many people in the world are suffering, no matter how dreadful the world's problems, we will always ***** and moan about trivia; be irked by petty inconveniences and setbacks. Cafe tables that wobble and dump your coffee into the saucer, for example. Ooooh! There's a lot in this forum about inconsiderate motorists, but what about the annoyances of cycling itself? Here are some of my pet peeves:

1. Helmets: I wear one, of course. Don't want a concussion any more than the next person. But they're a bother and a hindrance. Damn and blast all helmets! Do you like them? WHAT do you like exactly? The sweat pouring down into your eyes? The bother of what to do with the awkward bulk of them when you're off the bike? The havoc they play with your hair? Perhaps you think you look attractive in yours. You don't. You probably don't look much better than I do in mine... dorky.

2. Security devices; locks, chains, etc.: I grew up in the rural midwest, and the whole fun of cycling was the carefree spontaneity of jumping on, riding off, and dumping the bike at your destination, to pick it up again and ride off, unhindered. Another necessary evil: heavy U-locks, chains, all the fussing before and after you ride. Bah!

3. Other cyclists: Don't even get me started.

4. Thrown chains: When this happens I exhaust the vast store of expletives, curses, etc. I have at my disposal, but it's never sufficient balm for my soul. Late for the meeting with grease-blackened hands. Lovely. Oh, for the infallible Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hub of my youth!

I could go on, of course, but what do you just HATE about the activity you love (cycling). Oooh!

Nothing really.
For example, I love my helmet, security devices are fine, many other cyclists are a blast to ride with, and
I don't throw chains unless I am acting like an idiot.

I suppose I could put down the incessant whining in this forum as an annoyance but who really cares.

I like my helmet,
Good place to mount my mirror
and my red blinkie.

let me begin...

i dislike not having bike bike lanes on streets...i hate that this weekend alone 3 cyclist got ran over by cars, 2 of them by drunk drivers...a poor guy lost his face flesh and a ear!....

the law says the government has the responsibility to promote cycling and educate drivers...and they are failing big time......

i dislike only having 1 bike....no backup

Okay, it was just for fun. I also find a lot of other cyclists friendly, yourself included, no doubt. Still don't like my helmet, though.
Chas.

The lady who didn't see me as she pulled out from a parking lot this morning....luckily I noticed that she failed to look both ways ... or for that matter even one way.

The rest of it, I could live with.

Getting a freaking flat in the pouring rain.....Mobs of young men trying to scare me on the street......taking my bike on the train you have to stand up the whole ride....that is all for now.

I also got menaced, while riding, on the street by a group of young punks, so I can relate to that one, too.

Touché! :thumb:

One more getting asked how much my bike cost.....I was asked that on the train by a young lady and she had several friends with her (Guys and Girls about 15 to 17 years of age) I told her I don't like talking about that...lol....she looked shocked.

Yeah, my "other bike" is an electric assist which is great for commuting and shopping. When gas prices soared I had people literally demanding to know how much it cost. Some of them would really give me the third-degree and didn't want to let me go on my way; no kidding. It was weird. When gas prices went down, it stopped, thank God.

Not getting to ride.

i dislike exhaust very much.

You have an electric bike!!! Sweet!!!!

Agreed, semperfi. When my knees play up and I can't ride I give up the pleasures of riding and complaining. Dang.

Actually, my helmets mold my hair into a shape that usually looks better than it did before I put it on my head.

what don't I like?

Helmets - problem solved, I don't wear one. Don't get me started... read the helmet threads

Bike lanes- problem solved, I ignore them. don't get me started... read A & S

People who think their stories about what happened to brother Jim equal scientific inquiry

People who make lists about what they don't like

Okay, danarnold and others: I'll sign out of this thread now. People who make lists and whine are unwelcome. I see it's not the humor forum or the playful forum. Consider me humbled and corrected. Can you ever forgive? Buh-bye.

Got laid tonight??? Huh???:D

People that think I'm stupid for using my legs.

Or your a freaking nut case for riding????:D

Me too. I dunno about you, but when I'm wearing my glasses I just look stone cold and they don't touch me, they just try and scare me.

Has anyone started a club yet?

I noticed your in St Louis...where were you riding when you got messed with...I'm in St Louis too!

yeah, I don't mind the hair thing.

I do, however, get indentations in my forehead from the front pads (yet no discomfort to indicate I have it too tight), which make me look battered, or as if I have really bad complexion above my brow

1. Stop wearing one.
2. Get a krypto mini and keep it in your back pocket. You'll forget it's even there.
3. Go faster than everyone else.
4. Fix your derailleur, or ride a track bike.

1. My helmet has never bothered me.

2. so move back to the midwest. I don't lock my bike.

3. so move back to the midwest. There are hardly any other cyclists here.

4. I haven't thrown a chain in years that I had to actually stop and do anything about. Once in a while it'll come off a chainring in the front, but I can always just push it back on by moving the shifter and jockeying the pedals. But even that only happens maybe 3 or 4 times a year.

I really don't have anything that bothers me enough to call it a peeve. Maybe I need to move to the city where there are people doing stupid things, then maybe I can be irritated.

I hate it when I stupidly leave the house on the bike unprepared. Yesterday, I rode to work, thinking that I'd be back while it was still warm and sunny. Didn't get home 'til 10 p.m. Frozen, using my spare helmet that I hate, wearing no gloves, and having forgotten my house keys. Oh, and my u-lock was at my in-laws' house, so I had to rig something with a padlock from my backpack. Risky. Better planning would've prevented all of these problems.

I live in Michigan, and I use a lock. I've had a bike stolen, so I use a lock.

Don't worry about these guys. You wouldn't expect a bunch of people who get to regularly ride a bicycle would be so grumpy, but the Commuting forum in particular is full of folks who insist that riding bicycles and using the internet is 100% super-serious business.

Me personally? I hate rain when I'm commuting via bike. I'm not asking for solutions to riding in the rain, but I am saying that it plain sucks compared to the alternative: not rain. I'm guaranteed to get responses of "Oh well rain doesn't bother me, what's wrong with you?" and "Just wear $500 in outerwear and you'll be fine."

:-) I like riding in the rain in summer... I'd rather it was snow in winter though. Nothing like getting drenched until it feels like ice is forming on your legs. Snow just bounces off.

Mostly destination - I really don't like where I am working now, but at least I get to ride there.

Oh and my commute beater doesn't have a front derailler so the chain falls off pretty easily. I have just learnt to put it back on whilst pedalling.

I don't mind riding in the rain if I'm on my way home (so long as it's not a goddamn typhoon like I got caught in last month... That sucked). It annoys the crap out of me if I'm on my way in to work, though.

That is one more thing I miss about Albuquerque, though. Pretty much 48 weeks of dry weather, and rain only in the evenings the other four weeks.