croscoe

Being able to lie about how much you spend on bikes is a big plus when shes none the wiser.
I'm a jerk though so this is probably not the best idea.

Sirrus Rider

In this case I disagree. As long as she tolerates his cycling and tries it every once in awhile even if she doesn't make a habit of it is good. By pursuing her own hobbies it give them something to talk about.

dwilbur3

My rule is the 80-20 rule. Whatever in life is truly important to you, look for a partner that can give you 80% of what is really crucial. The other 20% you'll have to give up on. Over a lifetime you might 5% back but that's about it. (You'll also have to give up on 5% of the 80 so it balances out).

If Bikes are something you can't live without and something the S.O. can't live with, you'll have to bail. Otherwise, it might be a solo pleasure. (And as others have said, that can be a good thing too!)

badmother

Not sure if biking is just a hobby in this case since you are both car free. Makes a lot of things a bit more difficult.

Only you can decide if you should try to push her. She has indicated that the type of bike makes a difference. What about a cool folder? Practical to take on a bus or into shops, and some peopel find the small wheels less scary.

To make my son like biking I made sure when he was younger I did not give him any bad biking experiences. What about biking approx one kilometer down to a great lunchbar on sundays? I used to take the bikes on the car and go to a place with a great wiew, a nice beach (or shops since this is a young woman?) and so on. If I pulled him up a hill that was too steep then we sat down for an icecream and a proper rest. We brought food and made dinner and he and the dog was swimming.

Personally I would find a man who did not like bikes (both innside and outside the house) uninteresting in the long run. On the other hand a "full blooded roadie" that spends all his time on bikes and all his money on same would make me run in the oposite direction.

alpacalypse

Buy an Electra.

RickLafayette

My wife and I have been married 34 years. We go out every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night.
She goes out on Fridays and Sundays and I go out on Thursdays and Saturdays.

Juggler2

LOL! I've tried and tried, can't get my wife of 30yrs to ride. Well, she will ride once in a while around the suburb. I think she does it to appease me though. Fortunately my brother will ride with me, but his "motor" dwarfs mine!

Pocko

I've seen couples with identical interests whose marriages are unhappy or have failed.

I've seen couples with completely opposite interests that are happy, in stable healthy marriages.

There's a lot more to it than riding bikes together.


.

Garfield Cat

Having a girlfriend may also mean getting married and having children. Its all about your view of marriage and family. Its not about the bike.

-=(8)=-

My wife goes out on her StingRay once every six months. I understand her
interests to her are more interesting to her than mine are, to her......
Conversely, she lets me engage my two obsessions without question.
I encourage her interests, she encourages mine. At the end of the day we get
together over a cup of coffee and discuss our separate adventures. Works here !

DocM

If everything else is good, I don't see her non-cycling as a deal breaker. OTOH, if you want her to ride, go very, very slow. My wife was very active and outdoorsy (we were both big backpackers and hikers) and she showed some interest when I got a new bike. She'd been primed to be a gear freak from all the backpacking (what's the lightest tent? etc.), so she was interested in bikes. I bought her a cheap road bike for her birthday, and let her set the pace for rides we did together. Soon, she was riding more and more on her own, and, because she loves a challenge, she decided she wanted to train for a century. Now, almost nine years later, she races about 20 races a year and is training for her first triathlon in May.

Let her set the pace. Encourage her interest, but don't push her to do more than she wants to do. Make sure she sees other women riding, as that can be one of the most discouraging thing for women--the m/f ratios at races and charity rides are pretty skewed.

apclassic9

I think the OP had the right idea - that cycling is a hobby - and I also think that it's good for a couple to have separate interests. People who are attached at the hip through too many similar interests will get bored with each other much faster than people who have a variety of interests.

If the OP really really wants to go riding with his SO, go on vacation and rent cruisers for a few hours with plans to go not very far - see how that goes. Of course,the OP should also be prepared to spend an equal amount of time doing something the SO enjoys that the OP couldn't really care about!

Or, blast forward & get her a shiny green cruiser for x-mas & DO NOT complain when it collects dust!

Doohickie

Mrs. Doohickie and I did a bunch of our Christmas shopping today. We also went over to Whole Foods so she could stock up (she's doing a vegetarian/non-processed foods diet). On the way home we stopped at my LBS so I could show her some of the cold-weather gear I'd like to get for Christmasd. She even remarked that, "Debbie [the LBS owner, who goes to our church] has a nice little shop there." As we were driving, she said, "You know, it's really nice spending the day together."

Part of this, though, is that she works, I work, she has her hobbies and I have mine. In the end, we don't spend as much time together as maybe we'd like but that's good; it leaves us wanting to spend more time together. I wish I could get her on a bike, but she has some health problems that make this impractical.

I don't see it as a major deal breaker. If was wanted to ride more it would be tough, but my most regular ride is my commute, and usually once a week (but not necessarily every week) I do a breakfast ride with a club. There come times, I think, where Mrs. Doohickie thinks I'm spending too much time in the saddle, but then again I can see her point. We've got several remodeling jobs in work.

If you see a lot of "not quite this, but that" in my post, I think that says something about my marriage; there's a lot of give and take between us. It's worked good for us for 24 years so far.

5kdad

My wife hates cycling, or more exactly, hates the traffic zipping by her when I tried to get her to ride.
We've been married over 30 years, would be great to have her join me on some long rides. However, she's very agreeable to stay home, and come pick me up somewhere if I want to do a one-way ride.
I can usually find someone else to join me for a ride.

darkmanx2g

My gf wanted to ride with me as I got back into cycling. This made me very excited as we would go to local restaurants and starbucks to get around. Only problem is that she is much much slower than I am. To a point I have to ride in the granny gears on flats! I appreciate that she rides with me but on my free time I haul ass.

bikebuddha 

We've been married 17 years, I like cycling, sailing, hiking, and camping. She likes none of those things. But that doesn't stop me from asking her every weekend if she would like to go for a ride.

staehpj1

I don't see why it is a problem unless she doesn't support or at least tolerate it. You don't need to do everything together. My wife doesn't ride with me (she did back in the 70's), but she is always supportive of my crazy trips and never complains if I want to go ride, even when I took the summer off to ride coast to coast. What is important is that you are supportive of each other's interests not that you share all of them.

birvine

My wife of 3+ years had less than no interest in cycling when we met. Even when we were married she said she'd never come on a cycling tour - it was not her thing. Well, next week we're packing up the bikes and cycling in Cuba for 2 weeks. Have patience and don't force your cycling on her.

B

KatyBee

Partners who don't ride can make fantastic road crew. My husband is not biking at themoment - not because he's not interested but because of a long standing injury. He is a great roadie for myself and the kids. Of course he still has the biking interest, which helps.

ritepath

Find an alternate SO???

mackerel

Buy her a bike.
A while back I bought my girlfriend a bike.
She really got into it.

Now she is my wife and now she has six bikes