One close pass can completely ruin an otherwise pleasant ride.
One close pass can completely ruin an otherwise pleasant ride.
I've just got used to ignoring them - no point letting it ruin your ride...
It's not the close pass, that ruins your ride, it's your response to it, that does that :), forget about it move on.
Yeah, very true. I'm pretty good at ignoring it most of the time, but the odd one still manages to get under my skin.
Beer gets stronger at the end of a ride.
Yeah was just coming on to say, from my daily commutes, you just have to trust the cars approaching from behind aren't going to mow you down while simultaneously accepting the possibility that they might.
For me, one of the ‘formative’ elements of cycling is the bonk/knock/misery of riding home after completely running out of energy on a long ride. I can count multiple tales of abject grovelling after 40+ years of cycling - I once insisted stopping about 2 miles from home to visit a shop as I didn’t think I’d make it home 🤣 Once you’ve been there, you recognise the symptoms and just prepare for the long, slow grovel home as it often felt like a winter right of passage before fitness returns and the warmer days of spring. I’ve also pushed people most of the way home. It’s also resulted in countless amounts of ribbing and piss-takes from my buddies, both give and take.
I’ve also been with less experienced riders who also don’t want to appear to want to enjoy their ‘right of passage’. We still laugh at the guy who insisted we divert back via Basingstoke station so he could take the train back to Farnborough rather than to a nearby cafe where we suggested he stopped, ate something and ride home slowly.
A better bike won't make me a better rider, too many bikes and too much money spent before I finally admitted this
RE bonking, one of the biggest personal lessons I've learned my be changing riding and eating patterns to be able to ride with far slower changes in energy levels. To the point where I see gels and the like as one of the biggest mis-sells of the bike industry. Sold by the 100s on counter tops in so many shops, the number of riders riding at an intensity where they're a better idea than normal food is very low. The mcdonalds wrapper/redbull cans of trailside litter too.
Every 3rd snot rocket will land on your shoulder
The fact that padded shorts can do as much harm as good, or at least they're not needed for a few hour's ride and the longer the ride the more problematic they can be.
that singlespeeders that boast of having a bike with nearly nothing to go wrong on it, are the ones that can make a trailside faff of epic proportions when they break something!
that hooning a rigid bike with modern geometry over silly stuff, makes you smile like a 6 year old jumping off homemade ramps on a grifter
if you are loosing your mojo, stop doing it for bit, or find a new place to ride, new folks to ride with
Do Not check your disc/pad spacing by spinning you wheel really fast and then sticking your hand in to adjust to the calliper!
For me, one of the ‘formative’ elements of cycling is the bonk/knock/misery of riding home after completely running out of energy on a long ride. I can count multiple tales of abject grovelling after 40+ years of cycling – I once insisted stopping about 2 miles from home to visit a shop as I didn’t think I’d make it home 🤣
Been there, done that!
Once I fell in through the door and ate a tin of rice pudding followed by a tin of custard. Straight out of the tins.
the bike industry will always wait for the beardy weirdies to suss out stuff before nicking: the wheel size, the geometry, the fork offsets the suspension design etc.. and making it "the next best thing"
That if you have warm and dry hands and feet then riding in poor conditions is actually quite fun. I was reminded of this yesterday in the driving rain and slop.
the bike industry will always wait for the beardy weirdies to suss out stuff before nicking: the wheel size, the geometry, the fork offsets the suspension design etc.. and making it “the next best thing”
But...Standards!! Comes the cry the cheap seats. You can't have it both ways, either bikes improve or we carry on riding bikes with the same dimensions that roadies were using 25 years ago, and must never move.
Ride the bike you enjoy, not the one you think you should have
Every 3rd snot rocket will land on your shoulder
As long as it's yours, and not somebody else's, I don't have a problem with that.
The fact that padded shorts can do as much harm as good, or at least they’re not needed for a few hour’s ride and the longer the ride the more problematic they can be
Yep, threw mine in a bin three days into a multi-day trip in 1992 - and never worn them since. Learned that a sweat soaked bacterial sponge pressed tight against my ringpiece wasn't the way to go.
Even if I cycle all day, I'm still able to eat more calories than what I've burnt off 😬
Pee when you can, not when you have to.
- Singlespeeding makes you a better rider - not necessarily a fitter or stronger rider - but it makes you learn to carry momentum and to look further ahead up the route or trail to see what obstacles are coming up.....
- Often the most fun bikes are the least expensive or least well equipped bikes
- if you finish a ride and you are completely famished, you didn't fuel well enough during the ride..
- You really don't need a full face helmet for Thetford (or an e-bike)
@spooky_b39
Less is more
...unless you're talking about cake.
Controversial as this may seem N+1 isn’t really necessary.
And you don’t really need to rotate chains all the time.
– You really don’t need a full face helmet for Thetford (or an e-bike)
You don't even need a mountain bike....
Less is more
…unless you’re talking about cake.
I've migrated onto cooked breakfasts - a full English at the cafe stop...
Cleaning dog muck off your tyres before taking your bike for a service does lead to a better welcome from the mechanic!
When removing Shimano bleed-pots, they can empty themselves in less time than it takes to figure out you've not put the plug in.
– if you finish a ride and you are completely famished, you didn’t fuel well enough during the ride..
You’ve obviously never ridden far or hard enough 🤣
40 years ago, ‘sports nutrition’ was a distant concept - used to ride with guys like John Woodburn, ex-LEJOG record holder where going out all day with more than 1 bottle was considered ‘soft’
where going out all day with more than 1 bottle was considered ‘soft’
Christ,that's most of my club mates. #partcamel but not as attractive 🤣🙃
Good tyres and brake pads are always worth it
Riding trousers are the best invention since disc brakes and dropper posts
Yeah was just coming on to say, from my daily commutes, you just have to trust the cars approaching from behind aren’t going to mow you down while simultaneously accepting the possibility that they might.
Schrodingers commute?
There's always someone fitter and/or faster than you.
Related to that...
Blingy gear ≠ good rider
Tubeless tyres are the best thing ever (if you live in an area with lots of thorn and gorse)
I've learnt: Never pay RRP for anything bike related. Shop around if urgent (especially ebay), otherwise wait for sales.
Things I have learnt about cycling:
1) This time of year (Dec - Feb) it is very easy to lose motivation and pile on the pounds/lose all fitness
2) Obsessive cleaning of your bike is NOT necessary
3) Bonking feels horrible and eating/drinking appropriately is a small price to pay to avoid THAT feeling
4) Being outside is as important as riding my bike
If you cruise past someone on a climb or overtake a roadie when you're on your MTB, don't smugly assume you're fitter than they are.
They might be at the tail end of a 100 mile ride, or a massive week, or have a cold and be riding anyway etc.
Predictability = safest around drivers Also, giving a little goes a long way.
Having a 5min bike cleaning regime is game changing: Whole drivetrain (thanks to degreaser, park chain cleaner, scrubbing brush for cassette) + warm soapy wash down with a big sponge of the whole bike is achievable in just a few minutes. Such a pleasure being in that rhythm [of then coming back to a near immaculate bike].
Finding and using cafes with adequate outside seating is an absolute pleasure.
Trips away (Yorkshire, Alps, whatever) with mates are often some of the best memories in life.
Most long rides with someone else are an adventure.
Offroad, fun and fulfilment is the only metric
ate a tin of rice pudding followed by a tin of custard. Straight out of the tins.
You say that like its weird!!
1: I didn't need 27 gears
2: If you wait long enough it will come back into fashion
3: I really, really like being on my bike. I don't have to go far, or fast, or have great trails, or have a purpose - I just like cycling.
If you pack a bike for air travel and don't take the rear derailleur off you will eventually get a bent gear hanger
Steel gear hangers can be bent straight again.
I like 'cycling' to go places, I don't like pretending by sitting on a hamster wheel in the garage/on the patio.
It took me 30 years to realise this...
If you cruise past someone on a climb or overtake a roadie when you’re on your MTB, don’t smugly assume you’re fitter than they are.
They might be at the tail end of a 100 mile ride, or a massive week, or have a cold and be riding anyway etc.
Or when life hands you an ego boost rather than a kick in the nuts TAKE IT!!
Most advice on the internet is worth exactly what you paid for it.
If you're going to have a mechanical, it will ALWAYS happen at the furthest point away from the car/home.
This will ALWAYS coincide with that glorious sunshine you've enjoyed for the last week turning rapidly to horizontal hailstones
If you cruise past someone on a climb or overtake a roadie when you’re on your MTB, don’t smugly assume you’re fitter than they are.
They might be at the tail end of a 100 mile ride, or a massive week, or have a cold and be riding anyway etc.
Or when life hands you an ego boost rather than a kick in the nuts TAKE IT!!
Of course, if you're finishing an epic off=-road ride after a massive week and have a cold when you cruise past the roadie then you can just assume that they are crap. 😀
