Do you have the drive to ride?
03-04-10, 10:27 AM
#1
out walking the earth
Thread Starter
Do you have the drive to ride?
Just sayin'
This sport isn't as easy as everyday folks imagine it. In a world where if you do a spin class people want to know if you're training for 'the marathon,' people don't appreciate how much suffering there is to be had on a bike.
This sport isn't as easy as everyday folks imagine it. In a world where if you do a spin class people want to know if you're training for 'the marathon,' people don't appreciate how much suffering there is to be had on a bike.
03-04-10, 12:37 PM
#3
Has coddling tendencies.
So are you saying that those who do push through the suffering are masochists?
03-04-10, 12:42 PM
#5
purity of essence
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: NH
Posts: 2,260
Bikes: 2018 Giant Trance 2, 2019 Trek Farley 7, 2017 Jamis Renegade Exploit
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 37 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 26 Times
in
11 Posts
It's a hard sport. For me, anyway. Hills especially, and there are nothing but hills where I live.
Basically, my cycling goals are to have more endurance for distance and be a competent climber - or should I say, a more efficient climber.
Basically, my cycling goals are to have more endurance for distance and be a competent climber - or should I say, a more efficient climber.
03-04-10, 12:48 PM
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Sacramento, California, USA
Posts: 40,865
Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Canyon Exceed, Specialized Transition, Ellsworth Roots, Ridley Excalibur
Mentioned: 68 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2952 Post(s)
Liked 3,106 Times
in
1,417 Posts
Normal people have no idea how much work it takes to be mediocre at this sport.
03-04-10, 01:07 PM
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Medina, OH
Posts: 5,804
Bikes: confidential infromation that I don't even share with my wife
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 35 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Normal people have no idea how much money it takes to remain mediocre at this sport.
03-04-10, 01:16 PM
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Sacramento, California, USA
Posts: 40,865
Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Canyon Exceed, Specialized Transition, Ellsworth Roots, Ridley Excalibur
Mentioned: 68 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2952 Post(s)
Liked 3,106 Times
in
1,417 Posts
03-04-10, 01:19 PM
#9
Should Be More Popular
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Malvern, PA (20 miles West of Philly)
Posts: 43,027
Bikes: 1986 Alpine (steel road bike), 2009 Ti Habenero, 2013 Specialized Roubaix
Mentioned: 560 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 22572 Post(s)
Liked 8,918 Times
in
4,152 Posts
Wait, is this a parody of Machka's thread or not?
03-04-10, 01:21 PM
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Medina, OH
Posts: 5,804
Bikes: confidential infromation that I don't even share with my wife
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 35 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
You can imagine my coworkers response when they heard that I got a $1,000 set of carbon race wheels for my 56th birthday.
03-04-10, 01:21 PM
#11
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
If the legs stop working I'll get a hand bike.
03-04-10, 01:47 PM
#13
You gonna eat that?
I don't ride competitively. I never will. (Okay, never say never, but prolly not.) So, why the hell do I ride?
I don't know.
I just do.
I don't know.
I just do.
__________________
I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.
Originally Posted by bragi 
"However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.
Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
03-04-10, 01:58 PM
#14
slow up hills
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 4,931
Bikes: Giant TCR, Redline CX, Ritchey Breakaway, Spec S-works epic
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
03-04-10, 02:07 PM
#15
SLJ 6/8/65-5/2/07
Oh so true. I mention a 35 mile ride to co-workers and they go all oooh and aah and I know that A. the distance isn't much and B. I was chewing my handlebars to stay on for 20 and was way off the back for 15.
And I don't ride with Lance either.......
And I don't ride with Lance either.......
__________________
“Life is not one damned thing after another. Life is one damned thing over and over.”
Edna St. Vincent Millay
“Life is not one damned thing after another. Life is one damned thing over and over.”
Edna St. Vincent Millay
03-04-10, 02:32 PM
#17
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Cobourg Ontario Canada
Posts: 2,206
Bikes: ParleeZ5/Parlee Chebacco/Trek Farley/Cannondale Slice/Burley Tandem
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 19 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 10 Times
in
4 Posts
Right now no, I fought that f'ng swivelling headwind all morning 3hrs of that was enough. I'll say yes tomorrow morning thou!
03-04-10, 02:41 PM
#18
Peloton Shelter Dog
It's the hardest thing I do.
Nobody cares.
Of course, I am well aware of this.
Nobody cares.
Of course, I am well aware of this.
03-04-10, 02:46 PM
#19
Peloton Shelter Dog
Come to think of it, I've never had another hobby that really compares. They were all fun much of the time. Cycling sucks much of the time. But the rewards I derive are far greater.
Ultimately the fact that nobody cares and that much of the world seems to think I'm insane for doing it in the first place is part of the attraction. That's how I'm wired.
Accordingly, you should all go eff yourselves and carry on.
Ultimately the fact that nobody cares and that much of the world seems to think I'm insane for doing it in the first place is part of the attraction. That's how I'm wired.
Accordingly, you should all go eff yourselves and carry on.
03-04-10, 03:28 PM
#20
You gonna eat that?
Lots of reasons. I do it because it's fun. I'm reasonably fast for a short burst when I'm riding with my club's middle group. I have no problem keeping up. I could probably build on what I've got so far and be reasonably okay or at least not embarrassing. But to work it harder I think would take all the fun out of it. If I had to ride because I was training for a race, and had to worry about cadence and all kinds of other techinical stuff, it just wouldn't be enjoyable anymore. My wife got me a Schwinn Cutter single speed for Christmas. It's a 2009 bike made of Hi-Ten steel, so it should be a dog, but I love riding it. Why? No clue. It's just fun.
Maybe some day "fun" will include riding flat out, chasing the @ss of some guy who just passed me, but not right now. Also, I've got a kid in college and another that's just been slow to figure out what he wants to do in life. So my best bike is a 1987 Schwinn Prelude I got from a pawn shop. I couldn't drop $3k on a bike right now. When I can afford to do that, maybe racing will hold more appeal for me.
Have you ever considered stamp collecting?
Maybe some day "fun" will include riding flat out, chasing the @ss of some guy who just passed me, but not right now. Also, I've got a kid in college and another that's just been slow to figure out what he wants to do in life. So my best bike is a 1987 Schwinn Prelude I got from a pawn shop. I couldn't drop $3k on a bike right now. When I can afford to do that, maybe racing will hold more appeal for me.
Come to think of it, I've never had another hobby that really compares. They were all fun much of the time. Cycling sucks much of the time. But the rewards I derive are far greater.
Ultimately the fact that nobody cares and that much of the world seems to think I'm insane for doing it in the first place is part of the attraction. That's how I'm wired.
Accordingly, you should all go eff yourselves and carry on.
Ultimately the fact that nobody cares and that much of the world seems to think I'm insane for doing it in the first place is part of the attraction. That's how I'm wired.
Accordingly, you should all go eff yourselves and carry on.
__________________
I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.
Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.
Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
03-04-10, 03:34 PM
#21
Banned.
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,669
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
03-04-10, 03:46 PM
#23
RustyTainte
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: 28012
Posts: 12,340
Bikes: zilch
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
If I could describe, in one word, the feeling I get competing in a bike race, it would go here: "_____________."
03-04-10, 03:58 PM
#24
Banned.
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Post-partisan Paradise
Posts: 4,938
Bikes: GF Wahoo '05, Trek T1000 '04, Lemond Buenos Aires '07
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 7 Times
in
2 Posts
Well, I care.
Not a lot, mind you, but I have some small wisp of compassion stirring in my soul for you.
Come on, cycling is fun until you make it suck.
Running always sucks. The only time I enjoyed running is when I stopped.
Cycling is different. You get to be out in nature, look at wildlife, appreciate the scenery, unless you have your head up your butt and you're trying to pretend you're El Pistolero or something.
Or until you reach a hill.
Not a lot, mind you, but I have some small wisp of compassion stirring in my soul for you.
Come on, cycling is fun until you make it suck.
Running always sucks. The only time I enjoyed running is when I stopped.
Cycling is different. You get to be out in nature, look at wildlife, appreciate the scenery, unless you have your head up your butt and you're trying to pretend you're El Pistolero or something.
Or until you reach a hill.
Last edited by The Weak Link; 03-04-10 at 03:59 PM. Reason: I care deeply.
03-04-10, 03:59 PM
#25
Peloton Shelter Dog
