2023 - A full year of hobbies while waiting for Lotus...

[MPD]

I can't take on road biking. Too monotonous. I have been mountain biking since the late 80s and have tried road bikes here and there but never really liked it. I am now riding a 29er hard tail, completely self built using individual parts. I do some urban riding with it and like the ability to jump on and off sidewalks and walking paths as needed - when no pedestrians are nearby.

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nice ride with the 29s. I have a Trek Fuel EX8 that I don't use enough but this thread has me motivated to get back on the trails more and less on the road

 

[SmallerBaller]

hills suck but will make you a much stronger rider ... but a good bike and proper fit makes alot of difference. Get ready for your bum to hurt for about 2 weeks if you start riding regularly but then it will go away :-0

This prompted me to look up trails near me and apparently there is a 70+ mile flat trail that crosses through my town only a couple miles away! That could pair well when I need a break from the hills! Might even run on that every now and then, annoy the cyclists

nice goals. I wont ever get to those levels at my age now but we'll hold you accountable

You quoting that made me see a typo, the squat should be 315, not 351. But yes, please do hold me accountable! Running will probably be the hardest part to stay motivated for me. Not about numbers though, or comparing with what others can or cant do, it is about being better than you were previously in some way or another! I have gone to a few gyms in my days, and one of them was an actual body building gym where everyone was pretty much openly on gear. I was one of the smallest people there, including the women. Yes, really. Then I moved and joined another gym, and was one of the people in best shape at that one. I was about the same in both situations, and I think that is when I learned that everything is relative and my competition is with myself, and what others capabilities are or appearances dont matter to me!

 

[TomE]

Lot of riders who didn't know how to ride in a fast group.... Fortunately I'd put down a reasonably fast finish time in my event application so didn't have too many riders to contend with.
Still saw a couple of very bad accidents though.
I hope you weren't beat up too bad.

Luckily only grazes and winded for a couple of minutes. My initial concern was more about the bike and whether I’d be able to finish after all that training, but it was OK.

I was held for about 30 mins because of a bad accident ahead and also passed an ambulance crew tending to two riders who’d come off during a fast descent.

My main worry these days is a small minority of car drivers. There’s been a big increase in cycling in my area since the Olympics and RideLondon, which has led to frustrations between drivers and cyclists. I ride solo, early in the morning and on mostly minor roads to avoid traffic. The vast majority of drivers pass safely but there are some who just don’t know how to do that or don’t think. A small number will deliberately intimidate cyclists - I’ve had close passes, horn honking and engine revving on most rides.

Two years ago I was knocked off my bike by a driver who deliberately swerved into me and physically hit me off the road with his car. My daughter had a driver in an oncoming car cross over into her lane and force her to jump off onto the verge.

These things don’t happen often but do have a psychological impact on when, where and how you ride. We both now ride with bike cameras, daytime lights, real time position trackers and automatic incident alerting because we’re mostly riding on our own.

 

[Leonard]

Luckily only grazes and winded for a couple of minutes. My initial concern was more about the bike and whether I’d be able to finish after all that training, but it was OK.

I was held for about 30 mins because of a bad accident ahead and also passed an ambulance crew tending to two riders who’d come off during a fast descent.

My main worry these days is a small minority of car drivers. There’s been a big increase in cycling in my area since the Olympics and RideLondon, which has led to frustrations between drivers and cyclists. I ride solo, early in the morning and on mostly minor roads to avoid traffic. The vast majority of drivers pass safely but there are some who just don’t know how to do that or don’t think. A small number will deliberately intimidate cyclists - I’ve had close passes, horn honking and engine revving on most rides.

Two years ago I was knocked off my bike by a driver who deliberately swerved into me and physically hit me off the road with his car. My daughter had a driver in an oncoming car cross over into her lane and force her to jump off onto the verge.

These things don’t happen often but do have a psychological impact on when, where and how you ride. We both now ride with bike cameras, daytime lights, real time position trackers and automatic incident alerting because we’re mostly riding on our own.

Glad to hear you have kept it up, despite some close calls. Ive ridden and raced for a good 30 years and the last few I've stopped going out on the road as much. Every ride seemed to have a non fault near miss or some kind of confrontation with a motorist. So I've sold all my road bikes now and just have a lightweight gravel bike that I do a mix of road, offroad and bike packing on.
I feel really sorry for people that want to get into biking but feel like they are bullied by car drivers when they go out and simply become too fearful to continue with it. I wouldn't want anyone close to me to go out on the road alone now.
Have to partly blame our amazing British media for stiring up this them and us attitude between motorists and cyclists.
I so moving to mainland Europe as soon as I am able

 

[vision]

Glad to hear you have kept it up, despite some close calls. Ive ridden and raced for a good 30 years and the last few I've stopped going out on the road as much. Every ride seemed to have a non fault near miss or some kind of confrontation with a motorist. So I've sold all my road bikes now and just have a lightweight gravel bike that I do a mix of road, offroad and bike packing on.
I feel really sorry for people that want to get into biking but feel like they are bullied by car drivers when they go out and simply become too fearful to continue with it. I wouldn't want anyone close to me to go out on the road alone now.
Have to partly blame our amazing British media for stiring up this them and us attitude between motorists and cyclists.
I so moving to mainland Europe as soon as I am able

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have to say that is lovely and no knob to get hot or cold - very nice

 

[Leonard]

have to say that is lovely and no knob to get hot or cold - very nice

It's just ur actual nob that suffers

 

[kitkat]

Cycling for me is the primary hobby, and cars / waiting for the Emira is a secondary hobby.

I mostly ride road and all day gravel adventure stuff which amounts to about 8,000-10,000 miles/yr of fun. My usual morning climb is an HC climb in my back yard. Waiting for the roads to dry up a bit before I head out now!

 

[Nova]

Cycling for me is the primary hobby, and cars / waiting for the Emira is a secondary hobby.

I mostly ride road and all day gravel adventure stuff which amounts to about 8,000-10,000 miles/yr of fun. My usual morning climb is an HC climb in my back yard. Waiting for the roads to dry up a bit before I head out now!

That's a lot of miles. Your legs must be huge.

 

[Leonard]

Cycling for me is the primary hobby, and cars / waiting for the Emira is a secondary hobby.

I mostly ride road and all day gravel adventure stuff which amounts to about 8,000-10,000 miles/yr of fun. My usual morning climb is an HC climb in my back yard. Waiting for the roads to dry up a bit before I head out now!

Good mileage!
That was me in my prime you must still be young or not beaten up by life like me yet

 

[Leonard]

My usual morning climb is an HC climb in my back yard. Waiting for the roads to dry up a bit before I head out now!

What is your riding like where you are? Always wonder what it's like in the USA

 

[kitkat]

What is your riding like where you are? Always wonder what it's like in the USA

I’m in the San Francisco area so it’s pretty nice, I’m sure not everywhere else in the US is as nice for cycling.

 

[Leonard]

I’m in the San Francisco area so it’s pretty nice, I’m sure not everywhere else in the US is as nice for cycling.

That looks lovely and sunny