When it comes to riding, how do your GF, wives, partners etc react to your riding and perhaps on some occasions obsessive/passionate behaviour ?

I only ask (and I know she will be reading this) that last night I think my GF was a little pi$$ed off that whenever we go away on a holiday/trip I always take the bike, however I dont ride all that much when away, just a couple of hours here and there…

Don’t always take a bike when you go away

You’re new at this relationship malarkey aren’t you?

Always a dangerous subject!
Its all about balance but I’m too scared to write anything else in case I incriminate myself.

Think the word “Tolerate” is quite relevant here.

The past 3 years of her birthdays and out yearly anniversary i have been away on my bike, without her 🙄 usually in the Scotland area 😆

My Girlfriend bikes too, so it’s not such an issue. We don’t always take the bikes, though, as I find it easier to be settled and enjoy other activities if i know I can’t be biking!

I’ve never really had a problem with it, some GF’S have wondered why I do it, most have been supportive, and liked the benfits of a fit BF! I even dated someone who was into MTB herself, that was good in most respects, but could be a double edged sword, missed the ‘me time with bike mates’ as I would ride with her on Sunday’s instead of the club scene, still that’s someone else’s (probably someone on here) double edged sword now.

How about just riding for one day when on holiday, make sure the other half has something they want to do at the same time?

last time I rode with a lady friend I though it was the end of my friendship.
“The saddle is cutting me in half”
“No I can’t ride down this step”
“I hate you”
“It’s muddy”
“The saddle is cutting me in half”
“Bikes are for idiots”
“The saddle is cutting me in half”
“I hate you”
“It’s too steep”
“I hate you”
“The fu***ng saddle is cutting me in half”

Well you gto the drill

dunno, my ex thought it was a bit mad, but then again I did tell her I was only sleeping with her becasue she lived near the Peaks!

Anyway that post ride endorphine buzz has its uses 😛

Mrs NBT was a mountainbiker and got me into it, so no problems there.

Thats why we have a tandem -if she wants to play we take the tandem, if not I take the solo.

Its all about compromise and give and take and being reasonable

thisisnotaspoon – Member
dunno, my ex thought it was a bit mad, but then again I did tell her I was only sleeping with her becasue she lived near the Peaks!

Anyway that post ride endorphine buzz has its uses

😆

My Wife, is great about it, i was riding b4 i met her so she cant say to much as its something i have alway done since she new me, only thing she doesnt like is the bike been in the house if i am doing any work on it.
She loves reading and she has even come with me, i buy her a brew and cake at a cafe, i go off riding and she enjoys the sun and reads for a hour of two.But one thing we do do, is make saturday our day to do something together.
It works for us anyway.

Take some golf clubs and perhaps a fishing rod too………… then when she complains about you going on your bike for a few hours you can then turn the tables and tell her you’re going to sacrifice a round of golf (4hours) and a fishing session (anything up to 24hrs) to spend more time with her, going for a 3 hour ride is the shortest option. Easy

Find a local spa and drop her off………and if you pick her up 3 or 4 hours after you said you would she will be so worried about you that she will be all joy and smiles when you do eventually turn up in one piece, safe and well!

SiB

you are an evil evil man!

and i’m taking notes :p

I dont take the pi$$ and ride all the time, to be fair I only tend to ride in the mornings for an hour or two and certainly not every day.

I’m a morning person and the GF isn’t, so I usually ride in the morning as it can be a while before the GF wakes up, then gets up, faf around getting ready etc………I can be out on the bike and back before the actual day starts…

Yes we do other stuff, walk, chill out, eat, drink, relax…. I understand its about give and take. we have been togther just over 4 years, you would think she would be use to it by now ! 😉

L am liking Sib’s ay of dealing with it 🙂

Sadly I cannot use Sib’s way of doing it, as the gameplan would have been given away by now.. 🙂

Good idea though!

the missus kicks me out of the house or gets worried if i dont get out on the bike for a few hours at least once every 2 weeks.

she does roll her eyes as everthing i see i assess as being rideable or not. i zone out when i’m considering stuff apparently.

If you only started biking part way through a relationship then alot of compromise is needed.

If you’ve always ridden alot then nothing should change, change my habit change me…not good change.

What sharki said.

derisive resignation… but to sharki’s point it’s always been the way

Go out for a ride with some mates on Sunday morning and then phone her from the pub to say there will be 4 extra for Sunday Lunch. Thought I would be killed but she even got the beers in! Domestic Goddess! Of course I will have to return the favour shortly, I’m sure.

my girlfriend has always known about my love for two wheels, and when we moved in together was a bit concerned about having the bike kept in the flat, as we have no outside or garage storage space. i’ve obviously persuaded her though as now there are two of them… building up to another!

I miss having the missus in tow.
was going to do something romantic like buy her a new fork, but then we split up.

the new lady cant ride a bike, and has no desire to…

Simple, she watches crappy soaps on tele as her hobby and reads lots of books, I mountain bike as a hobby. This includes fettling with it in the lounge, dropping fork oil on the floor, spinning a newly made wheel and forgetting about the oil in the nipples, oops. etc etc

I tolerate her pass time, she tolerates mine.

Plus, I never take the p155 and always come back when I said I would, or before. She worries

I have always been riding, right from the start and I have always made a point of saying…’its my passion’….

I’m too old to change now 😉

Find a local spa and drop her off………

I did that.
She went mad at me.
She said she went round the whole shop in 5 mins.
Mr Karpal wasnt too impressed either.

What annoys me is that if she asks if its ok to go out I dont moan, I see it as a great opportunity to spend some quality time with just me & the boys (age 3 & 20 months). If I mention going out the first thing she will do is look for a reason why I shouldnt.

Balance and compromise – last week we were down Afan way and got to go out on bike on 3 separate occasions, she was cool with it because we had a week away and managed to do other things too.

September is a different kettle of fish – 2 weeks in Croyde and hopefully I’ll get to surf everyday, but I’ll balance it with the sight-seeing thing with her and the dogs too.

You could always trade her in with for a model with similar interests – very tempting at times I’ll admit.

I got into riding after Jnr was born as we couldn’t afford gym fees/the time.

Jeez, we were both so naive…..several bikes, thousands of pounds, and days away later…..

That said, she knows if I don’t ride, I get cranky, and she’ll send me out for a ride. When we go away, I’ll take the bike and maybe have a half day at a trail centre and another half day pootling while she has the kids. We’ve planned holidays around places that can cope with biking and young kids. (And would recommend Dumfries and Galloway to anyone!)

She moans about the washing from daily commuting, but accepts that the flip side is we save £100 per month on petrol/car costs.

I’m reasonable in my expetations – we can’t afford for me to go away for weekends with mates regularly, so I don’t do it.

And it works both ways – if she wants a day/weekend away, she knows I can’t refuse, and I get some proper time with the kids while they are small, which is lovely. They really enjoy helping daddy wash bikes or helping fix punctures

That said, our calendar is pretty full for months in advance as it takes a fair bit of planning to fit in planned rides/events, kids parties and activities and friends and family. Being married to an organisational genius who could have planned the D-Day landings in an evening certainly helps

The wife isn’t too bothered really, infact my next door neighbour says he wishes his girlfriend/wife to be in 4 weeks was more like mine as I can get away with pretty much anything.

An added bonus is she loves having a lie in on Sunday morning, so I can often get out and be back just as she’s finished getting ready.

the first interaction i had with MrsMW was to let her feel the weight of my bike

i think it was a good start 🙂

her bikes are all lighter than mine though now 🙁

the first interaction i had with MrsMW was to let her feel the weight of my bike

8)
.
mrs_oab knows who I am, what I love doing and that being outside biking/walking/canoeing is just what I do – and that I am miserable without it.
She also enjoys (in fair weather) joining me – she loves canoeing and sailing; loves a gert big mountain walk and enjoys a good mtb. She has been ill the last few years so less mtb, but she is now getting back into it, especially as the kids now are. Generally she loves outdoors , unless you are out long enough that a shower is missed or a no2 is needed (ie a wild camp!) 😉
I try to be patient and careful – aim for good weather, bought her some decent kit, try for adventurous and fun level, rather than adventurous and challenging level etc etc (a mis-adventure is the last thing we / I / She need…) Being prepared to duck out is key, and insisting that we duck out (despite her wanting to go) has been a good thing at times.
I also take bike / canoe / boots a lot on hols, but also am prepared to head for some shops / her kind of stuff in return.

He doesn’t mind it, so long as I don’t go too much faster than him uphill.

Spend time with her too you dumbo.

Actually you go off and ride and someone else will ride your GF…

You need balance and she needs to be kept on her toes too but not to the point where she gets so pissed off that she goes elsewhere for attention.

Don’t always give in but don’t always take the bike=balance it and her.

Depends if you love the bike more and it gives you a better ride then stay with the bike.

Quite lucky really as my Mrs has a horse and that takes a lot of her time up, she has a decent bike but only rides on gentler stuff, I took her to Cannock and there were tears.
I manage quite a few weekends away with the lads, ride every Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturday all day.
On Sundays usually we do something together like go down the pub for the afternoon. I personally wouldn’t want her to be everywhere with me as it would probably spoil it for both of us.

Well Mrs Grips is fantastic.. she’s supportive of my efforts to train and she bravely bikes along with me too fairly regularly (or did before the pregnancy lark). Actually, she does enjoy it too although since we have a lack of particularly suitable places to go she’s been in at the deep end a bit which has caused a few problems – but not with me.

It’s also a bit of the opposite situation to kona_uk – she’s a morning person and I’m not, so I often end up going out really late at night…

She has a habit though of picking up a book and then being completely oblivious to the world:

Me: “So I think I’ll go for a ride,”
Her: “K,”
Me: “I’ll be four hours,”
Her: …
Me: “I said I’ll be four hours,”
Her: “K,”
Me: “Bye.”
Her: “Bye.”

After the ride:

Me: “I’m home!”
Her: “Were you gone?”
Me: “Yes, for four hours.”
Her: “Four hours? Oh my gosh, is that the time?”

And so on. Works out quite nicely 🙂

I never fail to be amused/mildly agitated by this theme. Most of the inconsequential talk on forums passes me by, and I am sure I will regret posting this when the responses start coming in….but…

The amusing part is the slightly Masonic camaraderie, where blokes get together to whine about their partners, much like the equally irritating, women-whining-about-men that our culture is saturated with – as seen on such abysmal TV programmes like ‘Loose Women’ (humorously slated here: Scaremongering TV).

Generalisations about either sex, coming from men or women really disappoints me, as it must surely impact on the quality of the relationships you have? For example, I have known women who believe certain, negative, things are true of all men and this has meant that a lot of their relationships have failed because they have been too stubborn to look past those falsehoods.

A depressing proportion of people in this culture are pretty apathetic about life so I don’t doubt that the women in your life are more partial to soap operas than actually taking part in life by doing something like riding a bike, or other creative/active outlet – but you then complain that it doesn’t fit with a pastime that you are passionate about, so then arguments about time spent thinking about/talking about/riding bikes or keeping bike related paraphernalia in houses, ensue. This debate brings into question the quality of relationships that people will stand for, and why you choose a partner who is so different to you(Not saying that all your gf’s should be riders, but if its active vs. inactive we’re talking, then that’s quite a big difference in lifestyle needs…)? I see so many people who simply plod along, not taking life by the nuts, settling into sub-standard relationships with people around them, choosing partners who are intolerant of each others leisure time persuits….

Whilst making this feeble attempt to comment on an age old debate, I am a self-confessed hypocrite – I am always trying to better myself and improve my communication with others, but I still have a 6hit time of it sometimes and make my fair share of generalisations/accusations/reactionary statements. So please bear that in mind before sending any un-constructive comments my way…

Oh yeah, I accept that – Masonic camaraderie is a harsh way of putting it, but I couldn’t bring myself to edit it out…

😀

Loose women? I ask you!

That’s a bit harsh kunoichi. I didn’t think that many people here were complaining about their partners interests not matching their own. Most people here probably found a happy medium before getting married/going long term.

Complaining about inequality of giving and taking as takisawa was would be almost certainly not limited to biking and hobbies, so that’s a personality thing.

Hmm… I’ve only ever been out with girls who ride bikes, usually as much as I do. Does this mean that I’ve been particularly fortunate?