Ok, so we all know that biking is the best way to get around. But it does have some downsides. Today, I realised that there is no way to cycle around at night commuting without looking like an idiot. Hi viz and helmets just make you look stupid....
So what do you hate about cycling?
At the moment, as a committed spd rider of many years...... flat pedals. I have never ridden so badly.... or slowly..... or jumped so pathetically.
Knee pads.
Helmets.
Full Suspension.
Baggy shorts.
Biiiiig Camelbaks.
GPS navigation.
All of it, basically. It seems to be turning into a fashion rather than an activity, a leisure pursuit for the chattering classes rather than a sport.
As you were....
not being able to.
the people
for reasons a bit different to ton's (our third family addition arrived 9 weeks ago), but the same outcome. Simply not doing enough is the most frustrating thing.
Kev
riding
bikes
other cyclists
going outside
stw
not being able to.
This +1
I'm only 30ish and my body is giving up on me.
That and people who are bothered about how they look, or how others look when they're riding. Get a grip, riding a bike is supposed to be fun, and who cares if the bloke/lass in front/behind looks like a lycra condom or a stormtrooper. Life's to short to get het up about it.
Maintenance.
Too many [i]Rules[/i] ......... And people judging each other, see the [i]Stormtrooper[/i] thread
Tons plight puts it into perspective though, that is the worst bit really
Keeping up with the Jones's.
Articles like "what will you be riding next year?"
Macho ego/snobbery.
Not having the time to do more of it.
The expense.
Punctures (not been a while, which makes me feel it's due).
The conning of those new to the sport; Halfrauds etc.
Animal faeces.
Bike envy
cos it makes no difference what you ride, it's how you ride it
...and yet I still [i]WANT [/i] x, y z and it annoys the **** out of me
Having to clean the bike every bloody time i take it out at this time of year 👿
But i thank my lucky stars im in the position to be able to after a honking year of injuries 😀
STW lol
The mindless fashions
Expensive maintenance
Winter, injuries, ****ling, upgraditus.
Marketing guff like,
"Aggressive XC"
"All Mountain"
etc.
I suppose there's a mug round every corner.
Most of the riders/twunt's at trail centre's.
Big group's of slow riders that set off on a long downhill section, (just when you arrive at the top of the hill, when your not wanting to stop) and mince all the way down. Boils my piss that does. 👿
The impact it has on my credit card.
Hurts when you fall off
Punctures - they always ruin a ride for me.
I never really feel 100% confident after changing a tube at the road side / trail especially when there seems to be no underlying cause.
Less so on the road as normally much easier to find the cause, and CO2 pumps get the tyre to a reasonable PSI.
I found tubeless a pain. Fine until you get a puncture but I never got the kit to work.
Getting a new part that's been planned for ages and it doesn't ****in fit.
Who'd have thought after countless times of measuring my seatpost is 30.0 so doesn't fit my lovely new Reverb which is a standard 30.9. Didn't even realise anything comes in 30.0 any more FFS.
Also, it's an addiction. I don't like how I get when I've not been out enough (like now for some strange reason since I have plenty of time) turns me into a right grumpy git.
crikey - why are you remotely bothered by what other people use/buy/ride/do?
can't say my enjoyment of cycling has ever been affected by someone else having knee pads, or a GPS?
do what you want to do. let others do the same. does it really bother you that much?
Snobbery.
Idiot Motorists.
Dogshit.
Potholes.
Faceplants.
😀
The fact that all pedestrians hate you and think that you are about to rape them... the fact that drivers use their cars to bully you by revving and trying to overtake you when totally inappropriate.. the fact that the whole world is concreted and geared toward the machine (the car) that changed (ruined) the world....
Not really, I just like to think I'm making a contribution to the place.
🙂
Trail sanitisation
Like when you have your high power light on, and suddenly pedestrians think they should stare into your oncoming light, in a way they obviously wouldn't with a car light, and then have the audacity to complain your light is too bright...
Or the ****s in front who automatically assume you want to pass them, when you are quite happy to pootle and trundle at 3 or 4mph...
The mums and das that scoop up their shit looking children when a bicyle appear for fear that you might end their shit sperm ande egg creations..
other people doing 'MY' hobby.
As for mountain biking.. it a dream for most of us isn't it? Unless you live in Wales, Cumbria, parts of Scotland, or Yorkshire.. mountain biking in da UK is ****ing shit for most...
When my glasses fog up, and I can hardly see the road in front of me. Then, when I try to peer over my foggy glasses, having the night scene turn into something akin to a Monet painting.
not biking
The (marketing) idea that mountain biking is an extreme sport.
Old blokes who're so damn fit, you spend 75% of your ride 20 yards behind them trying not to cough up a lung catching them up. You know who you are!
Just jumped up ****s with a preconception of what mountain biking "should" be, how we should dress, what we should ride, what we should carry etc. They are the ones holding mtbing back and the quicker they're gone, the better IMO. Apologies for the rant.
Early to bed for you grumpy pants! 😉
Driving to rides.
Riding from my house.
Getting back to the pub carpark after a wet muddy night ride, soaked to the skin and shivering like a shiteing dog and loading the car and getting changed into dry gear only to have to unload the wet muddy bike and gear once you get home after having got warm in the boozer after a couple of scoops. No fun at half 11.
Nothing. Really, there is nothing I dislike. I'm just not getting enough of it.
OK there is one thing: wasting hard earned altitude on boring descents.
Cleaning the bike..
Actually, you're not wrong Crikey. I'm shattered after a weekend riding with a full camel bak. The knee pads can't have helped either. 😀
not enough Sundays in the week to go riding.
Cleaning the bike.
This is less of an issue if you largely don't bother*, But I'm fortunate to have the use of a garage to store my filthy machines.
*I do clean the drive-train and the suspension stanchions. And pick off the bigger lumps of mud.
Sticky pistons.
Some of the twunts who frequent cycling web-forums.
Nay-sayers and doom-mongers who resent progress and change in the technology used and the attitude of the sport itself.
Snobbery
Inverse Snobbery
Cliques
Cleaning bikes
Cleaning kit
Traveling to the trails
User conflict
Breaking bits
Wearing bits out
Crashing
Not being to keep up with the latest kit developments
Punctures
****s
****s
****wits
Cars
Arseholes
Sloppy emulators
Selfrightous pricks
Dickweeds
Cockbags
So basically crap people and thorns.
And not forgetting
**
*
*
And obviously ***********
The only real thing I don't like is getting home and having to wash the bike, freezing cold when all you want to do is get warm.
always needing more bikes.
"the next big thing"
i'm all for innovation, development yadda yadda, but i'm not keen on the guff that surrounds the marketing horseplop thats delt out.
Other bikers who ignore a cheery "Hello".
Not being able to because of bl.... family commitments!!
people who scoff when I don't return their cheery hello, because I'm trying to recover from riding up a hill over LT threshold.
Wot ton said.
And replacing broken parts is pretty annoying.
Maintenance and the accompanying expense
Dickhead car-drivers, and the various other motorized forms of attempted murder we have to watch out for.
Arsey walkers and horse-riders, although there's really not many of those about where I ride nowadays, and I can't remember the last time I had a proper run-in.
Things breaking or not working right, either on the bike or on me. I like fixing and tinkering, though; I just don't like it when busted stuff spoils a ride.
Those are all pretty minor annoyances in the grand scheme of things. Everything else about it is pretty smashing really... 😀
Uphills.
Cleaning my bike.
Not having an uplift nearby.
Breaking myself and having months of from riding.
Not being able to pull big whips!(this will be remedied by next year 🙂 )
Ticks, Cleggs and Midges.
Everyone else riding the trails that were nice and quiet in the 80s
The idea that somehow riding your bike at the speed and over the terrain you enjoy isn't good or 'rad' enough. That could be why I prefer to ride on my own. If I want to ride the bike of my choice and mince my way down a slope because I don't fancy a crash, then surely that's my perogative?
Cleaning my bikes at night in the cold in readiness for the next ride. Thankfully, so far, it's not been so bad. And the other thing that really bugs me are people worrying about the type of bike they ride, along the lines of "I've just bought x and have ridden it once and decided that it's too much bike for me because I might be tempted into doing something silly or I only ride at trail centers and all the magazines say I only need a singlespeed 29er with no suspension" If you like it, just ride it.
Oh, and why is it so bloody expensive!?
Many of the above, upgraditus a fair bit recently
Having ridden 'properly' for ~5 years I thought uphills might have become easier by now. They seems just as painful, admitedly I might be spinning a lot more in SPDs and a gear or two higher but ..
Cycling not doing anything about my michelin man tyre
Not really being upto singlespeeding
Riding solo, too often recently
Not knowing anybody with offroad lights
Riding with my brother for more than a day or two at a time - the level of incessant faffing gets to me
Other riding mates who at the merest hint of a cold, a chance of rain or temperatures less than ~10degC aren't interested at all
The winter bogginess of many ROWs
My job having loads of overtime when the weather is good for going biking
Wanting to find/ride new (to me) trails all too often
Snow, when its deep enough that its just in the way
Ice, and all too often on the best bits .. I give them a good go, but my falling reactions are getting slower
Breaking things
Nothing! Nothing at all! I've just spent tonight bringing up the rear. As always. Loved it! As always! On an inappropriate bike. As (nearly) always. Because it's my only bike* But I LOVE IT!
Now FFS Stop moaning and get on with it 😉
* road bike doesn't count
ermm...................................
not being out evey day.
injuries.
not having the latest must have kit.
dabbing.
snobbery, wild assumptions about my physique, slow people who don't pull over, fast people who think they have right of way because they can ride faster than me, people who can wheelie, roadies who don't say hello, mountain bikers who don't say hello, miserable sods, I could go on
Dog walkers!
Effing dog walkers who cannot control their animals. Their dogs (there are usually more than one) come running toward you get in front of you wheels and as you make your very best effort not to run it/them over the owner stands there shouting at said animals and giving you a look of disgust. This is not at speed either - this can be bimbling along chatting pace. Keep your dogs under control you muppets!
Dog walkers #2 - allowing your animals to crap in public and not cleaning it up. I don't care if it's a footpath brindleway or kids play park it's just not acceptable - at all.
I'm usually quite a calm person but these people make my blood boil.
Winter, injuries,[b] ****ling,[/b] upgraditus.
I just had to google "****ling" to see what I was missing 😯
dog eggs
Thick mud, I don't find it fun.
Having to drive at least 45 minutes to the nearest half decent trails, hour and a half to two hours each way if I want proper hills.
Expensive parts.
None of that really applies to bmxing though, just mtb.
pidgeon holes
riders who belittle other riders achievements
but mostly i hate the fact i have to sleep everyday and can't ride during that time 🙂
having a screwed back and not being able to cycle 😥
Skipping gears
Sticky brake pistons
Dog kenneth flicked up onto brake levers/gloves/lip/eye lid/camelbak mouthpiece 😯
Forums and how people give it the 'large' on them
People who moan
People who claim they dont moan but in reality moan more than anyone else.
People who judge
People who claim they dont judge but in reality judge more than anyone else.
People who use the term 'over biked'
people who dont like people who dont like the term 'over biked'
Halfords
Crap employees of otherwise good bike shops
Having to work meaning I cant ride
The fact that the wife will ride one piece of difficult black graded singletrack but refuse to ride the simple fun red piece of singletrack and then vice versa the week after.
When bikes fall apart in the middle of a field 20 miles from the car
The cost
Dog poo
getting lost
The conflicting thoughts about cleaning my bike after every ride or not cleaning my bike after every ride.
Riding on the road (not road riders before anyone gets a grump)
People who'll take offence about my comment above
The fact that ive sat here and typed all of this
......Otherwise I love the sport 😀
Hurtingness
Breaking stuff
Dropper posts
Sanitised trails
Breaking the nipple off a presta valve
Punctures
29ers - really don't see the point
Breaking a chain
Spinning out on a climb
Missing out on a ride
The people. Don't get me wrong there are some great people that I love biking with, it's just as a collective mtb'ers are a right funny bunch. I started late at 40 after having done rugby, football, golf, skiing, fishing and judo. Some of them almost semi professionally given that my employers let me do them in work time.
The wanting to be part of a scene but then not really committing to the bigger group I find quite funny. Everybody seems to eye up everybody else in an envious or disparaging way. Everybody's clique is better than the others and their trails are better etc etc etc. Everybody likes to think it's a real social sport but it's really not. I mean, how many of you are going to a mtb club Christmas dinner? I hate that. And the fact that the scene buy in has made it a stupidly expensive sport.
The boring 5 miles on a road or canal towpath I have to ride to get to anything vaguely interesting.
I try to tell myself "its all riding and its all good' but it isn't.
(nothing against riding on the road...on a road bike)
People who moanPeople who claim they dont moan but in reality moan more than anyone else.
People who judge
People who claim they dont judge but in reality judge more than anyone else.
This has to win the "ironing of the day" award!! 😉