Amen – waste of bandwith

I like riding solo or riding with my club. But then my club is more like a collective. There are no membership fees, there is one type of person in the club (i.e. they like riding bikes) and everyone ships in and leads rides. The benefits are that its sociable when you want it to be, you can club together for transport to ride a different place and you can find new trails etc. There arent any downsides in our club apart from the waiting around when someone gets a puncture.

Then again – I like going out on my own too.

The other alternative is that you set up a club/collective so that you run things how you think they should be done – i.e. with respect for other landusers etc. That way, you make friends and get out and ride. A club doesnt have to be a big organisational thing – just arrange where and when to meet and go for a ride. No money need be involved etc.

Anyway – hope you can get motivated…

i see a vicious cycle developing (if you'll pardon the pun)

1. ride in a group
2. get dropped due to lack of fitness / skill so dont like riding in a group
3. ride alone
4. no motivation = lack of fitness / skill
5. desire to improve & be pushed = ride in a group

repeat until dead / nervous wreck.

only you can break the cycle mate, take up fishing.

only you can break the cycle mate, take up fishing.

or you could sell it instead :o)

Tried fishing, scared the bejesus out of me when I caught a fish. You should see the size of the teeth on those things! 😯

TF, thanks for that, I was wavering for a bit, but you settled my mind. 😉

I can't listen to music when I'm riding. One of the points of getting out is to get away from things, and manufactured noise is one of them, so that idea's out. How do you really push yourself when you're on your own though? Without other riders around I find I just ease up and won't push the pedals till I can't anymore.

It's the same when it comes to the lairy stuff. Before I rode in a club / group environment, I had no idea that some stuff could actually be ridden. Even now, I still need to see a better rider than me actually ride a section before I would even consider it.

I dunno, maybe I should just take up fishing. Apologies for all this wastage of valuable bandwidth, especially to Heather 😉 Just feeling a bit poop at the moment.

B. 😀

It may be worthwhile trying to get to the root of the problem here?

Who in particular do you feel is ruining club rides for you and have you brought it up with them? You might find that the people in question are fairly reasonable and like someone says above can meet you halfway, "divorcing the club" seems a little drastic if you haven't tried to hug it out first surely?

The same surely applies to dmiller? If other club members had known that a short cut through a 50yd tarmac road in a church yard was going to have him bitching about the club on STW before brining it up with them then they could have apologised to him and thrown in a few hail Mary's for good measure.

As far as motivation is concerned my advice would be to just go out and do it, you may not enjoy the first dozen or so rides much but you can't decide it's not for you on the strength of a few naff rides?
🙂

ss – I supose its easier to say somethings on an internet forum than look for the conflict in a group situation? Perhaps I felt that, maybe mistakenly, I recgonised a few people as a certain type that no amount of discussion would change thier mind and simply came to the conclusion that I would rather just ride my bike than stress and worry about club runs?

I'm wasn't getting at you at all by the way – I have not ridden enough with you to know you. Seriously, I meant in no way to offend you.

Beagy – riding on your own at night makes things way more interesting. CV is a lot more intense when its dark and your alone. Although I always make a point of making sure that my good lady knows what time I'm due back and the route I'm on. But then I am a bit of a loner and do enjoy my own company – perhaps we differ there?

Ok Steve, main problem is I've been waiting over 6 months now for an apology over the 'doctored' email I was sent that's only intention was to drive a wedge between me and a good mate. The author, who'll remain anonymous, let's call him 'The Don', seems to think it's a big joke. I on t'other hand seem to think otherwise.

It's a tangled love life saga, way better than Tomas' Eastenders. It's not going to be resolved, so like Shane, riding off into the sunset. I'm going to 'don' my silly hat, and exit stage left.
8)

"doctored" emails?

Please tell me it was a teenage boy that did it and not a grown adult?

Im in the best club- it's me and my mates who ride bikes. If I didnt like someone, I wouldnt go riding with them the same as I wouldnt go for a pint with someone I didnt like!

Beagy, everyone knows Pedro's views. Or at least they did but they have changed. I don't actually dislike any one person in the club and I won't air my views because life is too short (seriously, I mean this – it's not worth being unhappy about things for more than a (very finite) 5 minutes). I wouldn't like to be treated in such a way, and I have been disappointed in the past. Therefore, I mostly ride on my own nowadays, which is rubbish. I am a social animal, as you know, and sometimes I cannot stand cycling on my own. If I am, especially at night, then I go out on the roadbike instead. Seriously, I'm now too old (31!) to get involved with "politics" and petty rubbish. I would like to ride with them but do not. Perhaps I am very childish!

Anyhow, you have my number, I hope there are times that we can all go out with this club and there are others when we just do our own thing. I'm disappointed with some of my riding friends who either don't want to go out with me, or just don't go out at all anymore. However, I'm still going to be their friends I hope but I'm just looking for more people to join our wee "group". So give me a shout, I'm invariably out and if I REALLY need to, I'll drive, pick you up, whatever. (I like to ride from my front door because there's so much stuff on my front door but happy to adapt for folk like you). PLUS, what I would get out of it is to finally learn some skills from a riding god such as yourself…!

Wotcha mate – long time no see and all that.

I kind of drifted away from the club due to working way off in the Lakes and just generally being too knackered to do anything when I was home. Then moving out to Doune didn't help… and then abandoning ship altogether and relocating to the Lake District. It's a great shame, the club always used to be such a welcoming group of people and a lot of fun – I of course include you in that!

Motivation has been in short supply with me of late too, so I know what you are on about (I think I have managed to get out two or three times in the last year!). No idea what to suggest, but if you are down this way ever then give me a shout as I am always more than happy to share some fine single malt with your good self 😉

I really need to fall in with a bunch of reprobates in the old SBC mould down here… miss that camaraderie you know! I keep thinking I need to get at least some fitness behind me again first though – took a ride up the local hill t'other day (erm… cheeky trails stylee) and minced my way down in a deeply embarrassing fashion! And this is no North Third we are talking about here… infact I suspect Dumyat or even the Wally Molly would look like a World Cup downhill course in comparison (well… maybe not – it was perhaps about the same level of complexity as the Monument… about the same hight too!)

Anyway – email is in profile (I think), keep in touch mate 🙂

Joining clubs is frought with ego's and one upmanship, I've never joined one for that reason (trained previously for 15 years within another sport club/country enviroment and had enough).

Now I enjoy going riding with my mate's when we all e-mail,text or call for a run and also enter events which gets competitve to the point only of piss taking !

Plus nothing can compare with going out early in the morning or late evening on your todd enjoying the peace (or that's just my excuse to get away from the wife and kids for a few hours) and you own pace.

I'm not knocking club enviroments before some clown tries to shoot me down, just not for me, and it's not the end of the world if you choose to leave BD. Motivation comes different to each of us in a different ways.

Mine is I just love riding my bike, darkside or Mountian bike 😉