Confessions of a cake-hating heretic

[Cyril Haearn]

I'm with the OP on this. I'm much happier cycling on my own for all the reasons he mentioned plus I like listening to music while I cycle which is a bit antisocial. Last group ride I went on one guy held everyone up because of a poorly maintained bike. Ruined the ride.
On the contrary I enjoy running in a group and do a lot more social running.
I also don't like stopping for ages. I'd rather get refreshments after the ride.

Might be best not to listen to music while cycling
I do not use the radio while driving either
But I do sing myself most of the time

[eileithyia]

Have not read all the replies but;
1. I can cycle alone and enjoy the countryside
2. I can and do enjoy my own company.
3. Yes have used it as time to work through some problems
4. Yes I have varied my route as my fancy takes me, one reason I do not prescribed routes on garmins... much easier to make it up as I go along or if i spot something on the map when in unfamiliar territory that takes my fancy.
5. I can still stop when and where I want for sustenance.
6. It's great to have some company
7. Chatting to others helps the journey pass when the going gets tough
8. Being with others helps me put my own problems in perspective and can lift my mood
9. We can share observations of thing seen en route, learn about new things or even discover new routes that I might not have used bu they know.
10. We are not cafe to cafe for nothing but cake doesn't always have to be on the menu, indeed have made conscious decision to cut down on cake this year...

[hercule]

Most of my riding is done on my own... the local cycling club seems to go at a hectic pace and that is beyond my comfort level. I also find in groups I’m more worried about others' bike handling skills. Plus as a mostly recumbent rider I find others tend to look down on me

However, it does prompt a question that I have wondered about... how on Earth do cafe focussed riders do it? Either I get very cold after stopping for 10 minutes or more, or my legs turn to lead and getting going again is very difficult. I’d have to take a complete change of clothes with me for the return leg (and indeed when I ride over to visit my parents I have to do this for the trip home).

I have no objection to cake, my other passion is running which is mostly cake centric too

[Cunobelin]

Sorry, not sure I fully understand....are we suggesting that some people are now taking the outlandish step of actually getting on a bike and propelling it by their own efforts between cafe stops?????? Oh what is the world coming to; won't somebody think of the children?

Jamie Oliver does......

[pwa]

I tend to cycle alone or with family, but for quite a few years I did several audax rides each year and they are essentially long or very long rides punctuated by food stops. You can ride in a group or solo as you prefer. The cafes can be pretty spread out, sometimes thirty miles or more apart, and a quick cake fix (or beans on toast if you like) keeps your energy up for the next leg. If your ride is going on for 300k it makes sense to keep the calories going in. The danger is, of course, that another cyclist not on the ride sees you going into the cafe and assumes you have only done ten miles and are spending more time scoffing that cycling.

[Peter W]

Well of course it's not wrong to stop -briefly!

On a normal road bike ride over moors or dales of around 30 to 50 miles, with loads of climbing, I tend to stop around halfway (either time or miles depending) usually for a drink and a banana. The sense is that I'm then farthest out, and will then be heading back. I find I get a thing about certain circular routes, and my current rave is that Masham, Lofthouse, Pately Bridge one. (Either direction.)

I really enjoy that quick 5 minute stop at Pately town centre, opposite the Spar shop and the narrow main street climb out. But the other day I made the mistake of popping into the Spar store and buying a steak pie. (Packeged cold one.) I only managed to munch through three quarters of it in the alloted 5 minutes, and ditched the remainder in the rubbish bin in my impatience to 'get going' again.

Surely, I'm not the only one who would find any longer break would tend to destroy the whole feeling and purpose of the ride, and the drive to do both it, and the bike (not to mention myself) justice? Resting too long would mar that feeling of accomplishment.

[mercalia]

Peter W. How old are you? I bet you are some young guy with more energy than a power station. Some of us old farts need to have a break or realise there is more to life and cycling than putting in the miles. When I was younger I used to get the thrill of just bombing along, not now, been there done it.

[mjr]

Surely, I'm not the only one who would find any longer break would tend to destroy the whole feeling and purpose of the ride, and the drive to do both it, and the bike (not to mention myself) justice? Resting too long would mar that feeling of accomplishment.

For me, the ride is not the purpose of the ride.

[Cyril Haearn]

What do you eat then? Do you like porridge?

I led a few clubruns but once the clubmates carried on straight home instead of obeying my instructions to turn down yet another tiny lane, no discipline, grrr

Going alone is good for meeting people too, a single person is much freer to stop, I have occasionally been invited in for tea and something to eat. People are so interesting

Is there an organisation for loners, to gang up to promote our interests?

[Vorpal]

And here I thought that the point of riding my bike was to get to the cake.

p.s. I don't need to be with a group to eat cake.

[pwa]

Well of course it's not wrong to stop -briefly!

On a normal road bike ride over moors or dales of around 30 to 50 miles, with loads of climbing, I tend to stop around halfway (either time or miles depending) usually for a drink and a banana. The sense is that I'm then farthest out, and will then be heading back. I find I get a thing about certain circular routes, and my current rave is that Masham, Lofthouse, Pately Bridge one. (Either direction.)

I really enjoy that quick 5 minute stop at Pately town centre, opposite the Spar shop and the narrow main street climb out. But the other day I made the mistake of popping into the Spar store and buying a steak pie. (Packeged cold one.) I only managed to munch through three quarters of it in the alloted 5 minutes, and ditched the remainder in the rubbish bin in my impatience to 'get going' again.

Surely, I'm not the only one who would find any longer break would tend to destroy the whole feeling and purpose of the ride, and the drive to do both it, and the bike (not to mention myself) justice? Resting too long would mar that feeling of accomplishment.

Can't fault your choice of terrain, though last time I went up the hill from PB to Brimham Rocks I was attacked by biting flies. That made me go a bit faster!

How long to spend at food stops is something that has probably divided cyclists as long as there have been cyclists. And the answer is "whatever works for you". When I first did audax rides there was an old cyclist called Jack Easson who, in spite of being in his mid seventies, could still squeeze out a 600km ride inside the stipulated 40 hours. With a smile on his face. One of his tricks was to spend very little time at the control stops. He would go a bit slower than a lot of the younger participants but catch them up as they scoffed at the next cafe. He'd be off again before they remounted, and they would pass him further up the road.

[Peter W]

Mercalia. I was 80 years old in November last year. My normal cycling is over the Yorkshire Dales, and Yorkshire Moors, taking in all the usual popular cicuits and climbs. (Buttertubs, Stang, Tan Gill, Oxnap Scar etc etc.)

For the last several years I've fitted 1:1 ratio bottom geras to both my road bikes for those steep long climbs. but just this year I've found 1:4 climbs a bit more difficult on that ratio, so I've adapted both bikes (older 9 speed Spesh Roubaix - new 11 speed Spesh Roubaix) with 12/36 cassette and MTB Deore mech with 50/34 compact rings on old Roubaix - 11/34 cassette with sub compact 48/32 rings on new Roubaix, to give one step lower bottom gearing for long steep climbing.

It would be easy to misunderstand what motivates some of us oldies. I am not chasing my youth by trying to compete with younger fitter riders, but simply competing with myself to at least limit inevitable decline into something quite acceptable. It would be failure if those climbs were not still attainable.

I suppose that's why a degree of impatience is evident, by not wanting to rest for too long.That kind of smacks of giving in! It gives a great deal of joy and satisfaction to complete the 'mission' on my terms. (The worst time funnily enough was on turning 40, and starting to think I was past it. That now seems ridiculous, so here's to the next 10 years!

[robing]

I'm with the OP on this. I'm much happier cycling on my own for all the reasons he mentioned plus I like listening to music while I cycle which is a bit antisocial. Last group ride I went on one guy held everyone up because of a poorly maintained bike. Ruined the ride.
On the contrary I enjoy running in a group and do a lot more soccial running.
I also don't like stopping for ages. I'd rather get refreshments after the ride.

Might be best not to listen to music while cycling
I do not use the radio while driving either
But I do sing myself most of the time

Only one serious incident in over 20,000 miles and that wasn't music related

[Peter W]

P W A Yes, it rings true. (Mid seventies rider, big grin on face.) I know that feeling well!

[bovlomov]

And here I thought that the point of riding my bike was to get to the cake.

p.s. I don't need to be with a group to eat cake.

I'll let you into a secret. You can omit the bike riding stage altogether, and go straight for cake eating. Evidently a lot of people aren't aware of this, and they waste a lot of time and energy riding about in circles, under the misapprehension that the cake will only appear to them after they have performed that ritual. There's really no need.