[Closed] let's have a positive thread about cycling

I smile every ride, even a bad ride is a good ride

I've met some great people through cycling

I went out on Saturday morning for what is now looking like my last road ride of the year (loads of snow fell yesterday) and although I was woefully underprepared for the temperature (-5), I loved it. No road rage, no angry motorists, just a crisp, sunny morning alone with my thoughts.

cycling is awesome, I swear I'm addicted, always thinking about my next ride. Feeling over time my rides getting faster & being able to hold a good speed through self powered motivation is very enjoyable.
I love being outside & riding rural roads, I feel free being able to turn off wherever I like, looking for new tracks. I also get to explore places I've never been before.
I get exercise to help burn off the calories.
I get to indulge my other passion of music, as I always cycle with tunes on. A new mix by favourite djs will always get me pumping harder.
It's good to have a hobby, I'm just glad I've got one & it's not a sedantry one like knitting or gaming.

bikes have brought me experiences that i would never have had unless i got there by bike.
bikes rock

After four weeks off the bike, injured, I have just cycled home through rain, sleet, snow, slush and ice. I now have a cup of tea in my hand and a smile on my face.
😀 😀

I smile every ride, even a bad ride is a good ride

I've met some great people through cycling

Amen.

Whenever I sit looking out the window on another grey, wet miserable day, procrastinating as to whether to venture out or not, I always justify going out by the thought that I have never, ever regretted going riding, but have in the past regretted not going out.

As RD says above, even a bad rides a good un.

I took a spill in the ice on the way in this morning (not so positive) but then I had 4 other cyclists stop to help me up. Reaffirmed my faith in people. I was then able to return the good deed by helping up someone else who did the same thing.

Last Friday we went to Cannock for the last ride of a specific group of mates as one of us is moving back to Canada. It was a great ride with good friends that never would have had so many shared experiences if it wasn't for cycling. 🙂

Commuting is not an option so I have to suffer the hideous train ride, but my happy story is that I went out on Saturday and had an immensely tough 21-mile ride locally - it was nothing but a continuous long hard slog up through the mud (I deliberately started low down and I live quite high up). And it was sooooo satisfying for that, I was absolutely wiped out afterwards. Lovely.

Last year I met a couple from NZ, by chance on an organised ride. They were here for 6 months, and I ended up riding with one or other of them very regularly, I now keep in touch, as they've gone back to Dunedin, and consider them good friends. I'll always keep in touch with them, and hope to go over there sometime, as they're always on about it!.

All down to a chance meeting, on bikes 😀

I went for a road ride last Friday lunchtime and really enjoyed it. Part way round is a narrow road cars can't use and 3 horse riders were coming down. I stopped, leaning on the verge to let them pass and they all smiled and said hello (talking horses!). The last one said "Watch out for the ice up there". Nice.
Going to do the loop again today 🙂

Gosh what a short thread. Just goes to show eh?

Sunday morning ride with Clink on the Mendips. Picked a route with well drained trails and were only troubled by two short sticky bits. Otherwise it was all fast going. Straining up the climbs, chatting on the flat bits and wheee on the descents!

It was good to catch up

Sunday at Glentress in the snow, It was absolutely stunning, the landscape around was a beautiful mixture of white and the last of the autumn colours still poking through.

I would never have seen it if I hadn't got out on the bike

cycling is just ace innit

i can't wait to get back on my bike...
i've been feeling pretty miserable for the last fortnight as i havent ridden due to a knackered seatpost (awaiting parts from Canada), a knackered pinch bolt on the fork lower (now replaced), a dying rear brake (needs replacing) and a knackered left arm that means i cant grip the bars for more than 10 minutes.
i've been really grumpy at work because i have to now rely on public transport and at home as i can see the bike sat in the kitchen begging me to fix it up asap...
my only comfort has been food and now i've gained 4lbs!!

Had a very pleasant, sunny 25 mile off road ride on Sunday morning. Was planning to pop out to see a mate in the evening. It was chucking it down. I didn't even contemplate taking the car for the journey of 5 miles. Waterproofs? Check! Lights? Check! Arrived soggy but grinning.

My commute is 3 miles. Somehow this morning, that was extended to 15.

I love riding bikes me!

I love dark cold rides at this time of year. absolutely love it.

I commute by bike everyday, and even when I am exhausted I love the ride.

I get to ride through a nice park, followed by the university, so get to enjoy lots of nice views.

at the pretty young lady students you mean? 8)

Mountain biking can clear my head in a few minutes any time it needs clearing. Out the door, on the bike pedal away down the canal and 2 or 3 minutes later I'm on twisty singletrack in the woods and free as a bird.

Loving the pitch black, silent nights on the ways up around our way (though that was before the ice).

jekkyl - Member
at the pretty young lady students you mean?

Possibly... 8)

I right like bikes me, they're proper fun and good for your health. Can't wait to get 5 stitches out me knee and go for a ride. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! 😀

Looking back, the smileys in my two posts suggest something a little bit creepier than just happening to notice as I ride swiftly by.

Trust me. I just happen to notice as I ride swiftly by.

I was thinking of starting pretty much this thread this morning. I had woken up in a bit of a grump with a horrible day ahead that I really wasn't looking forwards to. Weather was cold, wet and drizzly to boot.

However a couple of 'good mornings' from other dads on the school bike run and 'hellos' on the way in to work soon took the edge off the worst of it. You just don't get that in a car

love it. Can't imagine life without it

I went over the bars on Wednesday night in Wharnclilffe woods, landed on some rocks and hurt my back.
Every time I get a twinge of pain, it makes me think of that ride in the dark, with my friends in the woods.

yep, Afan this Sunday, it was cold, wet, muddy and absolutly brilliant

imagine life without it

My worst nightmare!

Cycling has been a big thing in my life ,I struggle to think of anything negative about it.
Without it,I would not be the person I am now.
I am good with that.

Through simply riding a bike , I have the following;

A Great bunch of mates and social life
interesting and varied people to ride with on a regular basis,
Freedom from the monotony of work,
A proper hobby that also keeps me fit,
The opportunity to experience the outdoors whenever I feel like it,
Something to look forward to.

We're having our MTB Xmas do on Saturday , there's 48 of us!!!! 😀

Oo-er, I just did the loop I mentioned above. Somehow I managed to not pack my cycling shorts and had to ride in baggies and boxers.
Bit nippy!

Bought myself a road bike for winter riding on saturday.

On sunday went for a early morning road ride with 3 others and I loved every minute of it 😀

Did 53 miles even through it was freezing.

Six months ago I started making more of an effort to regularly commute by bike.

Since then I've shed 25lbs. 😀

I had an Ace ride today.... and never left the comfort of the gym 🙂

I FRICKIN LOVE BIKES ME.

I have a 35 mile round trip commute on t'road bike which I do up to three times a week. Less so lately because of the weather. It always makes the day start well.

Haven't been MTB'ing much of late but got out early doors Sunday with a mate. Lovely crisp morning, frosty/icy but sunny and bright. Nowt better.

Positive?

I thought cycling WAS the positive bit in life....

... it IS, my idea was to balance all those "cycling is so dangerous/ near miss" stories with hundreds of reports of cycle journeys that went well.

I mean, you hear about one fatality (which is very sad) but the news reader never says "And in today's news, 1 million cyclists rode to work, they all had a really nice time, and no-one got knocked off their bike".

Upped the mileage lately. In the car this weekend my girlfriend reached over and squeezed my... thigh... and said "ooh, very toned - muscly!" followed by a little noise of approval. She then kept squeezing it on and off for the rest of the journey.

When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.

My 2nd hand Brompton has already paid for itself in saved bus fares. 🙂

A few hours spent riding my bike in the woods [i]always[/i] [url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/the-simple-pleasures-of-mountain-biking ]straightens my head out[/url].

I'm not the fastest or the most skilled of riders. In fact I get my arse kicked, more often than not, when riding with friends. BUT I'd never give it up, unless there was a *very* good medical reason,as the feeling of being "out there" is the most addictive of drugs.

Despite being old enough for a bus pass (which I christened at the weekend), I wanted to save £1800 a year by cycling into work all the way and back again instead of buying a rail season ticket, so after prevaricating by thinking of all the reasons not to, I manned the ferk up and bought a road bike.

After two months of crippling pain but persistant cycling, I now find it doesn't hurt (well, perhaps just a little bit) and I am comfortably managing 40 miles a day, 200 miles a week up and down the incredibly dangerous A24.

One of the benefits of taking this much excercise is the discovery that I can lose weight AND eat the most humungous amounts of food at the same time...

*Sigh* Dreams of the day when I can live somewhere where I can ride to work *Sigh*

Karinofnine - Member
... it IS, my idea was to balance all those "cycling is so dangerous/ near miss" stories with hundreds of reports of cycle journeys that went well.

I mean, you hear about one fatality (which is very sad) but the news reader never says "And in today's news, 1 million cyclists rode to work, they all had a really nice time, and no-one got knocked off their bike".

Got you. Well, I've never been killed, and had hundreds of nice days out.

honourablegeorge: I've never been killed either! Coincidence 🙂

I got a bit wet yesterday but luckily I'm not made of sugar and anyway I soon dried out, I didn't "catch [my] death of cold" either (something I hear often from the non-cyclists at work).

got fed up with relying on public transport...took nearly 90 minutes to get home last night (6 mile journey) including waiting 45 minutes in the cold waiting for the stupid bus...while the wife phones me to ask "where the hell are you?!"
cue the reason to fix the bike up
rode into work today...temp on phone said -3.
face felt like a sheet of ice, water in the camelbak tubes was colder than ice, toes started to curl, finger tips numb (endura strikes-absolutely useless!!), speedo stopped working.....
but boy did it feel good!!
my work colleagues think i'm bonkers!!

Rode the trails on Sunday in brilliant sunshine, enjoyed the sections we'd spent Saturday fixing, bumped into two people I knew, had a nice bacon roll at a cafe full of mountain bikers, ran into someone else who I went riding with ages ago and had a nice chat, and saw a kingfisher by the river on the way.

I watched the sun rise and rode into work chatting happily to my wife, yeah my hands were really cold and I should have used full lengths not 3/4's but it gave me a reason to swear lots when I got to work, and I really like a good swear!

Yesterday: sunshine, blue skies, me & mah dawg. (bit too muddy, but hey ho)

[IMG] [/IMG]

Since I started mtbing many years ago I've seen and been to places I never would have if it weren't for my bike .
I've also met some great people and have many happy memories, cycling is fantastic .

She then kept squeezing it on and off for the rest of the journey.

hope you weren't driving 😯

I look forward to my commute because I do it by bike. I enjoy getting out into the hills even more.

The pain fills my void and the pleasure encourages my soul to soar..

And if I didn't ride I would have the legs of an hirsute 11 year old girl with knobbly knees

m8 x 1.5

This week I have walked to work instead of cycling and although its still exercise, it not the same as cycling. When I ride I dont feel sluggish and dont feel guilty about stuff I eat and drink. One day I was struggling on the last bit of a climb and an old chap (walking down the hill) started clapping and said "go on!, almost there-keep going". Made me feel great and I raced the last bit to work. 🙂