Stalwarts, beyond mere utility, what has kept your interest in cycling through the meny decades?

[biker38109]

I see quite a lot of old timers here, some pushing nearly a half century or more in this cycling game.

I am speaking to those who enjoy cycling as a hobby, or even way of life, not simply as a workhorse mode of transport.

What has kept your sustained interest in this area over all the years?

[Cugel]

I see quite a lot of old timers here, some pushing nearly a half century or more in this cycling game.

I am speaking to those who enjoy cycling as a hobby, or even way of life, not simply as a workhorse mode of transport.

What has kept your sustained interest in this area over all the years?

Cycling can be one of the primary modes for we modern do-littles to stop the rot due to over-comfortable or indolent lifestyles polluted with junkfud & drank and other rotting compounds. Few who neglect any form of such artificial exercise will remain in good nick, as can be seen on any street in Blighty or the Western World. Cycling delays the rots whilst offering several other advantages and pleasures.

Cycling is on that quite narrow line of going about where the amount of going about is substantial, for the efforts made - but slow enough and immersive enough to keep one connected to the what's left of the real world. Other modes of machine transport tend to put you in a box, cutting you off from reality as you're whisked from A to B as fast as possible. Walking is good too but - it can take a long time to go far. Running hurts.

Unlike running, football or several other physical exercise modes, cycling isn't ballistic (unless you fall off). It's much kinder to joints and other body parts easily degraded by thousands of high-impact movements.

A bicycle is a very adaptable machine, especially these days. One bike can be used in several very different modes with only a few changes in its parts. It can be a very pleasurable and useful prosthetic for we pampered modern softies.

The various feelings, both mental & physical, induced by cycling can be very pleasant to the point of addictive. I fret when weather or other circs stop me going out on the bike just to ride about. Unlike other sorts of addiction, it generally does much more good than harm.

[ANTONISH]

I see quite a lot of old timers here, some pushing nearly a half century or more in this cycling game.

I am speaking to those who enjoy cycling as a hobby, or even way of life, not simply as a workhorse mode of transport.

What has kept your sustained interest in this area over all the years?

Nearly half a century? - that seems quite youthful to me.
It depends what you want from cycling.
Some may want vigorous exercise where you can push yourself to your limits.
Others may want a more pedestrian pace.
Some enjoy long distance cycling and touring.
I'm starting to feel the effects of ageing, I don't climb hills easily these days but it's good to get outside even if it's just a few miles of "pottering".

[biker38109]

Cycling is on that quite narrow line of going about where the amount of going about is substantial, for the efforts made - but slow enough and immersive enough to keep one connected to the what's left of the real world. Other modes of machine transport tend to put you in a box, cutting you off from reality as you're whisked from A to B as fast as possible. Walking is good too but - it can take a long time to go far. Running hurts.

Indeed, that is exactly why I have taken it up again!

I like walking but once I got used to the local walks and wanting to try farther afield I felt cycling could do both the mode of transport and feeling similar connection of being outdoors whilst also getting some decent exercise.

Cycling is somewhat more limiting compared to walking in terms of route one can take when out at the location but made up for in the distance one can travel. I was thinking I could also do cyclocross (my new bike is remarkably light compared to the last one) to also use footpaths but would have to get some good waterproof cycling boots for that as my big walking boots would be no good for cycling!

I could drive but I get paranoid my vehicle will get stolen. The farther I would walk from my parking spot the more anxious I would become which ruined the walks.

So cycling filled the gap between the two.

The last few rides though I am feeling that I am getting used to the rides the increased perimeter that cycling has afforded me . I do hate the thought of having to constantly be seeking novelty though. Perhaps I will get to a stage where there are enough locally that they can be cycled (ahem) with enough to keep the mind interested. Similar to meals I found I have leveled off at around 7 different meals that I generally cycle through the week and rarely feel I want to add more except the odd change and back to the standards.

I am waiting to move soon though so will have all new places to ride and lots to do at new location anyway.

[biker38109]

Nearly half a century? - that seems quite youthful to me.

Half a century of cycling not total age.

[Carlton green]

I might not be what others would describe as a stalwart, but whilst not covering vast distances I’ve cycled for many decades.

There are just so many things to love about cycling and they’ve kept me doing it. In my youth it was the liberty to explore new places and meet friends with barely an expense above a bit of effort - ah, mobility. Of course cycling is free from so many financial burdens and only the other day I thought what a tiny amount I’d spent on my bike compared to the annual costs of running a car. Provided the weather is kind I like to be out in the fresh air rather than enclosed in a box and the slower travel gives opportunity to view one’s surroundings and to maybe have thoughts to spare rather than all focussed on the road. Exercise, in moderation, is good for us and I’m delighted to take some of that ‘medicine’ via cycling, why drive to the gym to use their spinning bikes when you could ride your own bike for free, etc. When out on the bike, whether in town or country, you can stop and park up with relative ease and for free, how liberating is that .

There are downsides though and they have to be managed as best you can. The hills are steep (up and down too), motorised traffic can be horrid and to some extent or other too often limits where one can go, and then we have the weather. To be fair the weather is mostly not an issue, but when your bike is your only transport then on occasion it can be somewhat challenging. Planning, preparation and flexibility help with the downsides mentioned above.

I like walking but once I got used to the local walks and wanting to try farther afield I felt cycling could do both the mode of transport and getting me to places I would not reach if walking alone.

I could drive but I get paranoid my vehicle will get stolen. The farther I would walk from my parking spot the more anxious I would become which ruined the walks.

So cycling filled the gap between the two.

Ah, a kindred spirit. I regularly take my bike somewhere, park it up in some out of the way hedge and walk on from there.

[Nearholmer]

Fresh air; exercise; getting deep into the countryside, the mental “flow” and resultant de-stress that comes from being totally absorbed “in the moment”; feeling the seasons and the turning of the year; comparative independence from high technology (slightly illusory that one); the feeling of freedom and possibility; the opportunity for tinkering.

Zen and the Art of Pedal-Cycling, basically.

[al_yrpal]

I restarted cycling at age 64 in 2006 and got fit rapidly cycle touring in the highlands, islands and nearby France after discovering I was diabetic. I lost nearly 50lbs in flab too. Since then back in South Oxfordshire as well as touring I did loads of MTBing in the Chilterns until 2019 when I moved west. Down here there were lots of stinking hills when I was living in Devon. That tempted me onto an ebike.

Now in my early 80s I do are fair bit of ebiking everywhere giving it a bit of welly to retain my fitness.

Looking at many of my lifelong friends, only one seems as fit and capable as me, he has two collies and walks them twice a day! Many others who dont cycle seem to have physically deteriorated or died with all sorts of nasty physical conditions.

I love cycling. Being out in the fresh air with the sights and sounds of nature has been good for my body and mind. It reminds me of my childhood and youth when I cycled, toured and later raced, a simpler but better time.

So, there was a long gap from age 18 to 64 when I did only a little leisure cycling, but after that the pleasure came right back and stayed with me...

Al

[Carlton green]

comparative independence from high technology (slightly illusory that one)

H’mm, illusionary? Admittedly there are downsides but a three speed hub gear is low tech and (well I have found it to be the case) very liberating. I never thought I’d say this but the SA AW hits the heart of cycling for me: gets me about, costs peanuts, and has been utterly reliable. Why not go back in time to the ‘golden age’ of cycling, fit an SA AW to an OK bike, set it up well and enjoy .

[roubaixtuesday]

Cycling for leisure is joyful; cycling for utility is convenient.

[Nearholmer]

a three speed hub gear is low tech

A huge illusion.

A three-speed hub gear is seriously “tech”, in the sense that it is made using very precise lathes, gear-hobbing machines, sheet-forming machines, and a lot more besides.

It’s actually higher tech than a derailleur system; one could make a basic but functional one of those using only sheet steel, hand-tools, and a great deal of skill and patience.

[biker38109]

a three speed hub gear is low tech

A huge illusion.

A three-speed hub gear is seriously “tech”, in the sense that it is made using very precise lathes, gear-hobbing machines, sheet-forming machines, and a lot more besides.

It’s actually higher tech than a derailleur system; one could make basic but functional one of those using only sheet steel, hand-tools, and a great deal of skill and patience.

Indeed, I still have no clue how hub gears work. It is just that the tech is hidden right?

It kind of boggles my mind when I have seen mention that hub gears can be lower than normal derailleur gears yet take up a fraction of the space with nothing in view.

[biker38109]

Speaking of the weather, my desire to ride has plummeted today now it is more autumn feeling out.

Perhaps I will get into the groove of cycling in less clement weather but I picked it up in the height of summer.

Rain will probably be the biggest dampener, also cold on the hands.

[Jdsk]

a three speed hub gear is low tech

A huge illusion.

A three-speed hub gear is seriously “tech”, in the sense that it is made using very precise lathes, gear-hobbing machines, sheet-forming machines, and a lot more besides.

It’s actually higher tech than a derailleur system; one could make basic but functional one of those using only sheet steel, hand-tools, and a great deal of skill and patience.

Indeed, I still have no clue how hub gears work. It is just that the tech is hidden right?

It kind of boggles my mind when I have seen mention that hub gears can be lower than normal derailleur gears yet take up a fraction of the space with nothing in view.

Sheldon Brown:
https://sheldonbrown.com/internal-gears.html

Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hub_gear

Jonathan

[Cugel]

Cycling is somewhat more limiting compared to walking in terms of route one can take when out at the location but made up for in the distance one can travel. I was thinking I could also do cyclocross (my new bike is remarkably light compared to the last one) to also use footpaths but would have to get some good waterproof cycling boots for that as my big walking boots would be no good for cycling!

You might be surprised at where a bike can go. Consider the rough stuffers and their antic routes!

When I were younger, 257 years ago, I had a flatmate & friend who was a very good racing cyclists. He had a thing about winter training that could be summed up as rough-stuff +++. He dragged me on some truly frightening yet inspirational rides over the Lakeland Fells and some of the Yorkshire Dales green roads (mostly bogs) as well as through snowclad landscapes containing drifts that needed wading through. Although I didn't go on it myself, he once took a Sunday ride, in the depths of winter, from Lancaster up and over Helvellyn via Striding Edge (up) and Thirlspot (down). It became legendary, especially the riding down the Thirlspot side, which seemed suicidal to me.

I wouldn't recommend such antics but .... it shows where a bike can go if you're determined and don't mind hoisting it up rocky escarpments on your shoulder for long periods, with a 300 metre fall on either side if you make a mis-step.

NB It may be illegal to ride a bike on many footpaths.

The last few rides though I am feeling that I am getting used to the rides the increased perimeter that cycling has afforded me . I do hate the thought of having to constantly be seeking novelty though. Perhaps I will get to a stage where there are enough locally that they can be cycled (ahem) with enough to keep the mind interested. Similar to meals I found I have leveled off at around 7 different meals that I generally cycle through the week and rarely feel I want to add more except the odd change and back to the standards.

I am waiting to move soon though so will have all new places to ride and lots to do at new location anyway.

I lived in and around Lancaster for 51 years and knew an awful lot of the local roads within a 30-odd mile radius. But never all of them. It's surprising how many interesting routes you can perm, especially when you get resilient enough to do 60+ mile rides as a matter of course. Better from the likes of Lancaster than the middle of Birmingham or London, though.

We moved to West Wales hinterlands five and half years ago. I reckon I still have about 1893 miles of roads hereabouts to explore for the first time - although I now also know every bump, bad camber and raggy bit outside the farm entrances for miles around.