Finding fun on the bike again

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
crossy
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Finding fun on the bike again

Post by crossy »

For a while now I’ve been finding it really difficult to find any enjoyment on the bike. I started doing Audax a couple of years ago and was stressing about speed all the time. I’m not a quick rider I used to have a wired computer set up displaying distance and speed, I used tipex to cover up the speed part. I’ve just got a Garmin 1030 plus I set it on battery save so the screen goes off after about 30 seconds. I was out yesterday with the screen off but recording for 29 miles, I stopped at a cafe I’d been meaning to go to for a while. On the way home I went past a farm yard, looking around I saw a flock of Starlings they were all over the area in trees, on a phone line in front of me flying down to puddle in front on me to bathe and drink really nice. That ride took me around 3 to 4 hours but who cares not me. More rides like this is going to be a priority for me now. Sorry for the rambling.
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hercule
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Re: Finding fun on the bike again

Post by hercule »

I took the Garmin mounts off most of my bikes, and the old LCD computers, some years ago. I do record on my watch or phone, but neither are just under my nose giving mute disapproval.
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Cowsham
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Re: Finding fun on the bike again

Post by Cowsham »

Don't apologize -- for me this is mostly what cycling is about. I do some commuting ( more in better weather ) but I only enjoy commuting when I give myself plenty of time to get there. Finding myself doing more leisure riding these days especially during winter.
I think you do more harm than good stressing about time/speed unless you're enjoying the competition.
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Nearholmer
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Re: Finding fun on the bike again

Post by Nearholmer »

A good proportion of my bike riding is off road, often on bridleways, where all thought of speed and timings goes out of the window. I do look at speed when I get home, just out of curiosity, and it rarely goes much above 12 mph average, and sometimes is as low as 8mph.

Do I get a thorough lot of fresh air and exercise? Definitely. Cross country bicycling can be pretty arduous, in fact slow going correlates with hard going. Do I get to see deer, pheasant, rabbits, hares, sheep, horses, cattle, etc etc, and get into rarely visited nooks and crannies of the landscape? Very much. Do I get covered in mud and cow cr@p? Frequently.

The best measure IMO is “hours of enjoyment”, and while many enjoy hours of going far and fast on roads, there are other ways of getting “cycling enjoyment hours”.
Stradageek
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Re: Finding fun on the bike again

Post by Stradageek »

Yup, ditched all means of recording ride stats years ago. On a 'laid back' bike it's even more relaxing - latest best moment was watching two kites and a buzzard circling above me around a bright daytime moon, magical :D
francovendee
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Re: Finding fun on the bike again

Post by francovendee »

Whilst I'm envious of the power, speed and distance a 'good' cyclist can manage, in reality my meandering at slow speed,I never average above 10 mph, suits me down to the ground. Wandering without time constraints and using your chosen means of transport gives you the opportunity to just stop when you see something interesting.
I remember a year back talking to a chap who was cycling from the Dordogne to Hertfordshire. I asked him when he planned to reach his destination?
His reply was "when I get there I'd be able to tell you". He had an idea of his general direction but didn't plan daily routes.
I thought this was a very relaxed way to travel.
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Audax67
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Re: Finding fun on the bike again

Post by Audax67 »

crossy wrote: 29 Jan 2023, 6:06pm ... Sorry for the rambling.
Don't be. If you can make the switch to taking pleasure from your surroundings you're more than halfway to forgetting the speed thing. And stopping at good cake/coffee places gives you an extra incentive as well as fuel. If you're enjoying the views and the wildlife, maybe try carrying a capable camera rather than just a phone and stopping to capture a good view now and then.

Have fun!
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PH
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Re: Finding fun on the bike again

Post by PH »

Well done for rediscovering the pleasure, wherever it comes from.
I find there are two parts to enjoying my rides, the planning and the ride. The second is where the pleasure is, the first what gets me out the door. Even most of my touring has some box ticking element, BCQ, Cathedral Challenge, A to B, theme... it doesn't necessarily add much to the cycling, but I can rarely find the motivation without some purpose. The same with Audax, they've been some of my most memorable rides, they'd probably have been just as good if they hadn't been events, but then I wouldn't have done them! I'm possibly a little envious of those who can just go for a ride, though from what I've seen that can also become routine. The point is we don't have to define ourselves as X type of cyclist, just keep finding whatever makes us ride and that can change day to day, month to month, year to year...
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Cugel
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Re: Finding fun on the bike again

Post by Cugel »

Audax67 wrote: 30 Jan 2023, 8:49am
crossy wrote: 29 Jan 2023, 6:06pm ... Sorry for the rambling.
Don't be. If you can make the switch to taking pleasure from your surroundings you're more than halfway to forgetting the speed thing. And stopping at good cake/coffee places gives you an extra incentive as well as fuel. If you're enjoying the views and the wildlife, maybe try carrying a capable camera rather than just a phone and stopping to capture a good view now and then.

Have fun!
A camera is certainly a means to alter one's view (ha ha) of how to conduct a bicycle ride. Taking a camera along with the intention to use it in recording scenes and occurrences, to act as prosthetic memories, puts one in a state of looking so that the pedalling becomes a means of getting to the looking rather than just getting along as fast as possible.

After a lifetime of racy-style cycling, mostly with a club (and even the solo rides regarded as an opportunity to "train") I, like the OP, have gradually moved to a more contemplative mode of cycling. Taking the camera and also the ladywife - who is naturally less racy and more contemplative - induces that different yet very pleasant mode of cycling "to be in, and to see, the world".

Mind, I still get hot and sweaty trying to stick on the ladywife's back wheel as we ascend the long steeps. She's 35kg lighter than me and turns up her e-bike motor on the hills, the rascal. So the usual camera is a water, dust and impact resistant item that can live in the rear jersey pocket without dissolving in it's sweat-bath - one of these:

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympus-tg-6-review

"Tough" by name and tough by nature. Not the best landscape camera in the world but a lot more convenient to carry on a bicycle than a "proper" camera, even in bad weather. The images from RAW mode, treated via Lightroom and Topaz noise reduction & sharpening algorithms, can be very good indeed, especially if they're to serve as prosthetic memories viewed on a large screen rather than as vast printed enlargements for hanging on the wall.

Cugel
“Practical men who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence are usually the slaves of some defunct economist”.
John Maynard Keynes
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Audax67
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Re: Finding fun on the bike again

Post by Audax67 »

My usual carry is a 10-year-old "toughened" Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS3, which is more than adequate for shots of cake etc., but can also be used one-handed when riding. My occasional half-decent one is a 1 Nikon J1 with its 30-110mm lens, which is the equivalent of 81-297mm. The Panny covers 25-125 equiv. Having the more complex (but not very) camera along for birds etc leads to longer pauses. Good for candids, too, when you're sitting at an outside table watching the world go by.
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brianleach
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Re: Finding fun on the bike again

Post by brianleach »

I am not sure having fun and using a Garmin type device are mutually exclusive or perhaps its because I am old.

I always use a Wahoo Roam but it never dictates how I ride. It has useful things like the current time and temperature easily visible. It tells me how long I've been out and how far I've travelled but why would that spoil the enjoyment. If I feel like stopping and staring I do, if I don't I carry on. Yes it has my current speed but who cares.

It records my route on Strava and at the end of the year I get a fanfare for how ever far I've ridden and how many metres I've climbed but it is just that, a record not any sort of target.

Like any device it is how you use it not what it can or can't do.
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Cugel
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Re: Finding fun on the bike again

Post by Cugel »

brianleach wrote: 31 Jan 2023, 4:27pm I am not sure having fun and using a Garmin type device are mutually exclusive or perhaps its because I am old.

I always use a Wahoo Roam but it never dictates how I ride. It has useful things like the current time and temperature easily visible. It tells me how long I've been out and how far I've travelled but why would that spoil the enjoyment. If I feel like stopping and staring I do, if I don't I carry on. Yes it has my current speed but who cares.

It records my route on Strava and at the end of the year I get a fanfare for how ever far I've ridden and how many metres I've climbed but it is just that, a record not any sort of target.

Like any device it is how you use it not what it can or can't do.
One question then: if the data from the devices you mention doesn't alter your cycling behaviours, why do you want the data?

Cugel
“Practical men who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence are usually the slaves of some defunct economist”.
John Maynard Keynes
brianleach
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Re: Finding fun on the bike again

Post by brianleach »

One question then: if the data from the devices you mention doesn't alter your cycling behaviours, why do you want the data?
I like to recall where I've been, how far it is and whether I want to do the route again. The Strava data helps in retrospect. I suppose I'm saying it is changing my behaviour if I use it to decide whether I go on the route again but it doesn't have any effect on the ride at the time.

Also handy to send the route to others if they want to follow it perhaps.
crossy
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Re: Finding fun on the bike again

Post by crossy »

Out on the bike collecting 3 town and villages ended doing the old fashion rough stuff pushing the bike along a muddy track. Just started wearing hearing aids on the bike never realised the birds made so much noise. Only downside is I thought my bike was really quiet that was squeaking as well I could hear it through the hearing aids. Just under 40 miles who cares how long it took me :)
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Audax67
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Re: Finding fun on the bike again

Post by Audax67 »

:D Glad you enjoyed it. My ears are getting a bit duff these days, so if I hear anything squeaking it must really be in need of attention.
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