Personally, I agreed with quite a lot of it but for me his delivery was just a little OTT in places.

The only bit that I thought was right off the mark was the bit about you can always find time. Coming from someone lucky enough to work in the business that was a bit rich. I would love to not have to be away from the house for 15+ hours a day and have perfect trails on the doorstep. Not choice but reality for me.

Lol, seems to have touched a nerve with the forum massif then! I wonder how many of these replies are covering up their sadness at not being able to ride due to other things in their life.

maxray – Member
I wonder how many of these replies are covering up their sadness at not being able to ride due to other things in their life.

Certainly not mine 8)

Not me either.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNxygsLGHSQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player [/video]

Eh no point just really enjoyed this…….. 8)

Lol, seems to have touched a nerve with the forum massif then! I wonder how many of these replies are covering up their sadness at not being able to ride due to other things in their life.

Nope not me. Love riding bikes, love my sons MORE.

maxray – Member
Lol, seems to have touched a nerve with the forum massif then! I wonder how many of these replies are covering up their sadness at not being able to ride due to other things in their life.

Far from it maxray – you’ve completely missed my point, and I suspect plenty of other people’s too.

“Time changes everything, except something within us which is always surprised by change.” Thomas Hardy, I think?

i have just got in from a lovely 3 hour ride with other forum users. I am now sitting here drinking tea eating cake.

I wonder how many of these replies are covering up their sadness at not being able to ride due to other things in their life.

Not me. Many of the ‘other things in life’ gave me every bit as much pleasure as riding a bike – some of the them much, much more.

Making work/life balance decisions isn’t an exact science, but I can say now looking back after trying to get that balance right for nearly 40 years of adult life, biking is pretty unimportant compared to many things in life. Not even in the top ten once you add in kids.

A previous post mentioned Benji is recently married, which would indicate he has limited experience of the compromises that family life entail. I hope for the sake of his new wife and any kids they might have that he grows up quickly.

Likely Lads

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3XY-u8RANA[/video]

Lol 😀 nope , no nerves touched..

Finally got round to reading it. Each to their own as long as there having fun and not hurting anyone its all good.

Agree re bikes being tools but I really think people miss out by dismissing whole aspects of cycle sport. Cyclocross is the new bandwaggon, after that it’s going to be all about touring. You can already see it coming with the popularity of bivvying growing.

I thought it was quite a good piece of writing and has achieved exactly what it was designed to do, provoke discussion. Despite recognising myself as the prime target for at least one of his complaints (actually I suspect I *am* the target for that one), I thought he got his opinion over very well. Job done IMO. It’s almost back to the first few years of the magazine.

Pretty much what Samuri says here. Its a good discussion piece.

In terms of stages of life, I guess I’m further ahead with ‘children et al’ but he sounds like every other ‘no dependents’ adult I know – simply no comprehension of the competing demands of family and sprogs, or the fact that life changes and other competing priorities can and do curtail riding time, or music listening time, or going to the pub time, or watching the telly time, etc…

Theres plenty of (deliberate, I suspect) binary opinion, but broadly I agree with him especially about old bikes. They really were crap in comparison to modern stuff.

Its quite amusing to read some of the defensive stuff on this thread. He much have touched a nerve.

I do enjoy a preaching rant about people giving up riding from some one who works in the bike trade, you could even take his view point seriously if he didn’t right nice riding in the hills articles for the CTC mag eh ;0)

as a piece of tongue in cheek writing I though it was very funny, some folks really need to lighten up 😆

maxray – Member

Lol, seems to have touched a nerve with the forum massif then! I wonder how many of these replies are covering up their sadness at not being able to ride due to other things in their life.

I’m not covering up anything, go back and read my first post and come back and look me in the eye with your smug attitude.

Oh and I will still be out tomorrow night for a ride, but it will involve carers looking after my wife while I enjoy myself 😕

Its quite amusing to read some of the defensive stuff on this thread. He much have touched a nerve.

Thinking about it, I reckon that a lot of people work hard, have a lot of responsibilities, have less disposable income and kind of rely on riding when they can. To be told by someone who works in the bike trade that what they do isn’t enough and that they’ve effectively sold out is like a red rag to a bull.

Still waiting for the author to post on here….

Probably still in bed

Still waiting for the author to post on here….

Probably still in bed

Why sleep when you can be out on your bike?

Same goes for having a poo.

Why sleep when you can be out on your bike?

Same goes for having a poo.

now I’m getting on a bit I live in fear of combining the first and last.

I’ve only metaphorically cacked myself whilst riding, so far, though.

People need to recognise that the article was written as a challenge and thought piece, no-one really believes that Benji is shallow enough not to realise that life involves compromises are they?

His central point (from my reading) was ‘Don’t give up on riding ‘cos it’ll take something away from your core.’ was valid. Even MrOvershoot recognises that riding a bike is critical to his well being (albeit that he has limited time to do it).

is benji the tall one with the stubble? if it is he ignored me at MM when i told him he’d get told off by the marshall for pitching his chair next to the hole everyone was falling off in, this was shortly before someone told him it might not be a good idea to sit there and to shift it

not read the article though, my copy is still in Tesco

It”s the first article in the mag that I’ve actually printed off to show people, I liked it.

Just re-read it, to see if I was being a bit harsh before.

I wasn’t. It just feels like someone being edgy for the sake of being edgy. It’s a bit ‘hipster’…

Reads as pretty tongue in cheek to me.

Enjoyed it for what it was – an opinion piece. I thought he made some good points. It was written in a polemic style so I don’t think he had an obligation to qualify everything he wrote to cover every readers circumstances.

@MrOvershoot – I didnt direct it at anyone in particular merely said it seemed to have touched a nerve, which seing there is 4+ pages of replies to his article would suggest it is a valid point.

No smugness here, I have to balance my life like anyone else, I just didn’t take umbrage with Benji’s article and took it for what it was rather than seeing it as an attack on me. As much as people might protest I think we would ALL like to have more disposable time to spend getting out in the hills.

I wasn’t. It just feels like someone being edgy for the sake of being edgy. It’s a bit ‘hipster’…

What, like those weird people with singlespeed clown-wheeled bikes? Totally hipster.

I wonder how many of these replies are covering up their sadness at not being able to ride due to other things in their life.

Most of them. Me included. But I’d rather have my family than my bike.

If it was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, what Benji failed to realise is that it would wind up at least half the target audience of the mag. If it wasn’t tongue-in-cheek, what Benji failed to realise is that it would wind up at least half the target audience of the mag. All-in-all, bit of a bad judgement?
I’ll keep with my subsciption as I love the articles about riding different places, I find the gear reviews very well written even when its stuff I’ve no intention of buying, and the access stuff has been brilliant. But recently, a lot of the “thought-provoking” articles about general riding by Benji et al have been, frankly, rubbish and its a real shame they tend to be the first articles in the mag. That pro and con of winter a few months ago was a complete waste of paper and ink.

Reads as pretty tongue in cheek to me.

except there was no humour

I enjoyed that, I agree with a lot of it despite being guilty of a lot of it, so I deffo think some people could do with lightening up…

That said, I don’t know what Benji’s plans are RE kids but if he does plan on having them, I’d say be prepared to take some of that back 😉

Kids are harder than they look! I’m a die-hard biker and when I’m old and wrinkly and ready to go, I’d rather die on my bike than in my bed. BUT. Being a Dad is waaaaay cooler, and soon I get to play bikes with the boy as well!

magazines are ephemeral, why all the consternation over something somebody has written in a magazine that’s probably in the recycle bin by now.

That’s just how it reads to me, pointing the finger a pretty much every section of the bike community and the ingrained prejudicies within each little section of them.
I could be the blueprint for the not having time to ride, due to family, house, business (although I spend alot of time at events and races allowing of people to ride/race) , however I’m not offended and it’s being changed slowly as things settle down and I make more time to ride, not taking any offence from it at all.

I liked it, I could almost hear the collective teeth grinding of STW forum members thinking “how dare he say my choices are wrong?!?! I bet he doesn’t even have a life or a heart or a soul or a wife or kids, and he’s probably ginger! I hate him, I hate him, I love my road bike, and how dare he suggest I stop watching grand designs and go for a ride??!?! Doesn’t he know my personal situation?!?!”

Seems like he loves riding his bike, it’s a provocative bit of writing and I have a feeling he knew a lot of what he wrote would get a reaction, especially from the overly sensitive STW types. If I were to write a blog or forum post on the subject I’d be writing the same thing… and probably watering it down with phrases like “as long as you’re on a bike having fun then it’s all good” “it doesn’t matter what bike you’re on” and “if you’ve got kids or an ill relative then that should take priority over riding as chances are they’re important to you”… but that polite stuff would just be included to slow down the kinda reaction seen in this thread… if I was in a position to write a piece that would be published and would provoke a reaction/discussion then I would.

I’ve never met the guy but I’d like to ride with him, and I think that if I turned up on a singlespeed cross bike that’s got an element of retro about it he’d chuckle, make a joke (as I would) and we’d still go out and enjoy a ride together 🙂

successful article me thinks.

successful article me thinks.

think so i bought a years an online subscription on the back of it that i otherwise wouldn’t have so.

What, like those weird people with singlespeed clown-wheeled bikes? Totally hipster

Ahh…. I see what you’ve done there. I don’t wear skinny jeans though. And I’ve got brakes too.

(sigh…)

I liked it, I could almost hear the collective teeth grinding of STW forum members thinking “how dare he say my choices are wrong?!?!

I’ve never met the guy but I’d like to ride with him, and I think that if I turned up on a singlespeed cross bike that’s got an element of retro about it he’d chuckle, make a joke (as I would) and we’d still go out and enjoy a ride together

exactly!

maxray – Member

@MrOvershoot – I didnt direct it at anyone in particular merely said it seemed to have touched a nerve, which seing there is 4+ pages of replies to his article would suggest it is a valid point.

No smugness here, I have to balance my life like anyone else, I just didn’t take umbrage with Benji’s article and took it for what it was rather than seeing it as an attack on me. As much as people might protest I think we would ALL like to have more disposable time to spend getting out in the hills.

I know you didn’t direct it anyone in particular & TBH my replying late at night was probably not the best thing to do after having to dash back from work in the afternoon to get my wife off the floor crying in pain, it sort of spoils the day!

My only real gripe about the article was the slightly preachy “I can do it so why aren’t you” stance.
Hell even my wife gets cross with people who can do but don’t, she used to be very fit & active but now that’s been taken away from her she knows how precious it is.

wwaswas is spot on with his observation that cycling is critical to my well being, without the time on a bike I think I would have probably cracked up by now.
I don’t know about anyone else but people often ask me “what do you think about on a bike while your riding?” My answer is always “Nothing” and its absolutely brilliant as I think it gives me a chance to recharge?

I don’t know about anyone else but people often ask me “what do you think about on a bike while your riding?” My answer is always “Nothing” and its absolutely brilliant as I think it gives me a chance to recharge

+1

almost zen like with the added bonus of endorphins and stuff buzzing through you for hours afterwards.

An absolute quality article. Frankly – its the reason I got a subscription to Singletrack in the first place. Because I don’t want to read bland anodyne crap. There’s a whole world of that out there. We’re awash with it. The internet hasn’t revolutionised that. Its just multiplied the volume of it.

Just brilliant to see something that’s provoking a bit of debate. I’d started to think that was a capital offense to actually print anything – anywhere – that might run the slightest risk of offending the multitude of people out there who are just itching to be offended. **** ’em! Which seems to have been Benji’s attitude. Hats off to him

offended people

I think mike ferrentino’s article is worthy of a mention too. Another belter. And, as people have pointed out, maybe a style in which Benji might be revisiting in a few years.

Just a great mag this month though. More of that please chaps 😀

So, the article was “edgy”, “tongue in cheek”, “a polemic”, “provocative”, “meant to cause a reaction”

On the forum, that’s called trolling – only some of the regular posters are better at it 😆