Giving up riding on the road
#151
Full Member
Do whatever you feel safest with honestly. You are bound to get some snarky comments on here but your health comes first. Transitioning to gravel or just seeking out more paved bike trails are good alternatives.
If you can run or swim sure why not. I stopped running because I kept getting hurt and I hated it even though I am probably a better sprinter on foot compared to cycling. Whatever keeps you healthy and active
If you can run or swim sure why not. I stopped running because I kept getting hurt and I hated it even though I am probably a better sprinter on foot compared to cycling. Whatever keeps you healthy and active
#152
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It is not just an issue of road riding or not, but of limitation.
To get the mileage I want and also stay off roads I deem unsafe, or just obnoxious due to noise, traffic volume and fumes, I need to ride on roads, MUP's, dirt and grass, all on the same route, and the MUP's require frequent unclipping to safely cross intersections.
My routes involve about 10% off-road, 30% MUP and 60% roads. I sold my road bike and now ride a hardtail 29'r with slicks, and a hybrid because of this.
But I love everything about bikes; looking at them, cleaning and maintaining them, riding them, talking about them, etc. Most of all, of course, riding them. I like to ride fast, I like to ride slow, I like the exercise and the scenery, I like it all. But most of all I love to explore on them. I am an old guy and remember as a kid and young man I could go wherever there was a road (except highways) and there were roads everywhere. Mountain bikes had not been invented but we road our old single speed bikes, and then our 3 speed "English Racers", everywhere, including off road and we could explore to our hearts' content.
Those days are gone where I live, and I suspect most places. I ride the same few routes over and over and the vast complex of roads are off limits, not because I will not ride on roads, but because I will not ride on just any road, regardless of traffic.
To get the mileage I want and also stay off roads I deem unsafe, or just obnoxious due to noise, traffic volume and fumes, I need to ride on roads, MUP's, dirt and grass, all on the same route, and the MUP's require frequent unclipping to safely cross intersections.
My routes involve about 10% off-road, 30% MUP and 60% roads. I sold my road bike and now ride a hardtail 29'r with slicks, and a hybrid because of this.
But I love everything about bikes; looking at them, cleaning and maintaining them, riding them, talking about them, etc. Most of all, of course, riding them. I like to ride fast, I like to ride slow, I like the exercise and the scenery, I like it all. But most of all I love to explore on them. I am an old guy and remember as a kid and young man I could go wherever there was a road (except highways) and there were roads everywhere. Mountain bikes had not been invented but we road our old single speed bikes, and then our 3 speed "English Racers", everywhere, including off road and we could explore to our hearts' content.
Those days are gone where I live, and I suspect most places. I ride the same few routes over and over and the vast complex of roads are off limits, not because I will not ride on roads, but because I will not ride on just any road, regardless of traffic.
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#153
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But I love everything about bikes; looking at them, cleaning and maintaining them, riding them, talking about them, etc. Most of all, of course, riding them. I like to ride fast, I like to ride slow, I like the exercise and the scenery, I like it all. But most of all I love to explore on them..
#154
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#155
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I will not ride them on a road.
I will not ride them in the cold.
I will not ride a recumbent trike.
I do not like them, Mike I Bike!
I will not ride them in the cold.
I will not ride a recumbent trike.
I do not like them, Mike I Bike!
#156
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One bike. Two bike. Red bike. Blue bike.
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#158
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#160
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I've just started using a camera for the first time after 10 years of road riding, i fell like this is a slippery slope. I also don't road when its been miserable all night as i feel drivers are just more stressed and there is the obvious visibility issues.
#161
Newbie
For me, biking is exercise and a form of meditation (the movement and quiet). Although I live in a bike-friendly beach town, during the last few years the meditation part of cycling has suffered since I’m usually on orange alert due to reckless drivers who overshoot stop signs (when the bike lane crosses an intersection), who shoot out of driveways or parking lots without looking, and who think its fun to scare cyclists. Road rage sometimes seems directed at cyclists. But pedestrians can be just as dangerous. More pedestrians on multi-use paths or bike lanes are walking around with headphones or ear buds on and can’t hear a bicycle horn. (I’m always trying to anticipate their moves.) Then there are the pedestrians who stare you down and stand their ground on bike lanes or paths when all they have to do is move over less than a meter. (To keep going, I swerve onto slippery grass or loose gravel.( While I could ride on gravel, falling on my bad knee would be disastrous. So I still ride on roads, but compared to a few years ago, I’m more anxious, less relaxed, and having less fun. Maybe I should think of road cycling like dodge ball.