Cycling UK Forum

My rides are often contemplative,
Last year, surgery recovery meant I just spun the pedals around some very local lanes near the Pollensa Park hotel, I was totally in my element, exploring lanes we often don't use, found birds, streams, gardens, small holdings and generally had a great time....

Oldjohnw wrote:

hemo wrote:All my rides are solo and contemplative.

Same here. Whether a day's bumble or a multi-day camping trip. Fresh air, bird song, scenery. My own thoughts or even a blank mind (how can you tell the difference?).

Ah but if you only ever ride solo then you are missing out on the benefits of riding with a group, such as people pointing out interesting half-hidden things that you never noticed even on a familiar route, chat to keep the hard miles ticking over, or assistance when something unexpected breaks and you weren't carrying the necessary effigy/tool to fix/prevent it.

mjr wrote:

Oldjohnw wrote:

hemo wrote:All my rides are solo and contemplative.

Same here. Whether a day's bumble or a multi-day camping trip. Fresh air, bird song, scenery. My own thoughts or even a blank mind (how can you tell the difference?).

Ah but if you only ever ride solo then you are missing out on the benefits of riding with a group, such as people pointing out interesting half-hidden things that you never noticed even on a familiar route, chat to keep the hard miles ticking over, or assistance when something unexpected breaks and you weren't carrying the necessary effigy/tool to fix/prevent it.

You're right, I'm sure. But I'm a miserable bu***r. Always have been. Done all my big walks solo. I tried walking with someone else and couldn't stand it. I can't see how cycling would be any different for me: plus I know I couldn't keep up.

Like minds here!

There is another side to this, then. Easy training, like effortless, done 10 days on the trot actually makes you very fit, minimising fatigue. I did a trial on myself years ago following 2 months off due to broken ribs. Cycled really easy, 15m per day, average for 10 days, took 3 days off and did a hard hilly 50 miles with friends. I couldn't believe how fit it made me. Dr.Phil Maffetone, inventor of the pulsemeter and a famous American doctor/trainer is a great promoter of this.

Recumbent riding has added cloud and kite/buzzard watching to this contemplative pastime - it can go too far however, I once found myself closing my eyes as I cruised along but quickly opened them again reminding myself that this is probably not a good idea

OH bought me the following book a couple of years ago.....lovely read

Mindful Insights for Cyclists by Nick Moore

Ha ha as someone who rides both solo and in a group it amuses me that I am usually the one pointing out interesting things to others in the group... usually a bird spotted.... or the local deer population, it often amazes me that people can be out cycling (or even in the car) and not see the world around them...

eileithyia wrote:Ha ha as someone who rides both solo and in a group it amuses me that I am usually the one pointing out interesting things to others in the group... usually a bird spotted.... or the local deer population, it often amazes me that people can be out cycling (or even in the car) and not see the world around them...

Are you the rider that everyone else curses for making random hand-signals?

I sometimes ride with a friend who is a keen birdwatcher and has eyes like, well, a hawk, and is also good at identifying birdsong. I consider myself reasonably observant but she will call out the name of a bird before I’ve even noticed it.

It's my favourite kind of cycling.

For the most part, the more I've stopped to look at something or take pictures, the more I've enjoyed a bike ride.

I'd rather come home with pictures of lynx tracks than a personal best.

Oldjohnw wrote: plus I know I couldn't keep up.

I ride with groups where everyone can keep up.

PH wrote:

Oldjohnw wrote: plus I know I couldn't keep up.

I ride with groups where everyone can keep up.

I could quickly ruin that!

I have not had a 'bike buddy' now for twenty years since my friend passed away at a young age. When I was cycling with him I was always holding him back because I could not get to the same level of fitness and that made me feel a drag? Since then its all been solo rides, slowly, I average 10mph and my bikes reflect my idea of cycling. They are heavy plodders, covered in racks, bags and all sorts of junk that to me is essential like a monocular and a bag of butties! Its nice to cycle alone and stop when you want and walk or stare but sometimes I miss that voice shouting at me to use the big ring as he waits!
Patrick

I’m on a ‘contemplative’ ride today, I’m also nailing down a new ride for the BC guided rides. It’s lovely out today in my neck of the woods. It’s quite marked how many ‘hibernating roadies’ are out today. The pain etched on their faces as they tackle anything more than a speed hump speaks volumes . I’m enjoying a very nice “Black Forest Roulade” and a coffee, and enjoying the views of the River Test at present, it’s not quite the raging torrent that it was over the past few weeks.

Most of my rides are solo, but contemplation is far too big a word for my thought processes. They're more like "watch out for that idiot... what on earth has she got on her head... I could do with a coffee'n'cake pause... who was that masked man?" I'll usually have a tune going round in my head, too. I remember once getting infected with Babushka; it took weeks to recover and my hippocampus hasn't looked the same since. Then another time I did a 160k with Bobby Macgee and Me grinding away in the hindbrain, and a 200 to the theme of Bertolucci's 1900. And there's one hill that usually starts Queen's '39 - it helps me get up it.

Funny things, brains.