Things I've seen when riding my bike

[Cwrw666]

Men of a certain age or weight shouldn't wear Lycra, to be honest I don't get why your average cyclist going out for a ride needs to wear it, I guess if you are riding competitively you need it the rest for me are just Wiggins wannabes.

Speaking as an ex cyclist who used to wear lycra despite what I looked like wearing it - compared to wearing normal trousers and say a fleece, lycra adds about 5mph to your cruising speed due to the massive reduction in wind resistance. It's bad enough having to slog up hills but at least with lycra on you can zoom down the other side.
For a comparison try freewheeling a Landrover down a hill compared to your average saloon car.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

If that is the case and you are racing I can understand why you would wear it, if you are a fifty year old lard arse what is the point.

 

[Halfacrem]

If that is the case and you are racing I can understand why you would wear it, if you are a fifty year old lard arse what is the point.

Saves 1/10th getting down the pub?

 

[Bad_Gerbil]

us Mountain Bikers never wear lycra and usually go out of our way to be
as scruffy as possible.
I'm lucky in that I'm in the countryside and have watership down on my
doorstep, so don't come into contact with many cars. Although dogs/squirrels seem to have a magnetic attraction to my front
wheel (although haven't run a dog over yet).
BG

 

[pms67]

Me too,grey squirrels and pigeons are my animals of choice to dodge as i fly down the hill from my work,one of these days its going
To end badly

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Saves 1/10th getting down the pub?

:lol: .........

 

[nigelnorris]

I'm of a certain age and weight and I wear genuine cycle shorts because I also ride up to 80 miles at a time; just for fun.

Did "Lap the Lough" in 2013 and at 84 miles I doubt if my backside would have coped with ordinary shorts.

http://www.lapthelough.org

PS

I don't see why I should sacrifice my comfort to protect the sensibilities of others! They don't have to look! :whistle::whistle:

This. Lycra has no belts or straps or seams, nothing to pinch or scratch or rub. When you're sat cramped up for a long time all you care about is comfort. I'm sure everyone here will agree when I say that what's best in any situation, for any of us, is that it's what makes you comfortable and to hell with what other people might think. And when I say a long time, a typical Saturday or Sunday club run is 60-80 miles, try doing that in jogging bottoms and trainers, you'll soon know every stitch and seam by the way it rubs.

 

[nigelnorris]

I like the sound of Audaux, "complete distances within a specified time." Or not in my case. Complete the distance a thats about it, sounds about right for me

Problem is that the distance can be big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it can be. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to some of the Audaxes.

For example the flagship UK event is London-Edinburgh-London, about 900 miles in 5 or 6 days something like that. Entrants sleep about three hours a day and spend [literally] the other 21 on their bikes.

And that's peanuts compared to some of the continental ones.

 

[nigelnorris]

Same here, I may kick myself for asking but what does Audax mean?

The organisation is based in France, must be a French word, no idea how it translates though.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

With cycles the thing i found uncomfortable was the saddle not my clothes, give me one of these -

Over one of these any day -

Or even better -

 

[brumbrew]

This. Lycra has no belts or straps or seams, nothing to pinch or scratch or rub. When you're sat cramped up for a long time all you care about is comfort. I'm sure everyone here will agree when I say that what's best in any situation, for any of us, is that it's what makes you comfortable and to hell with what other people might think. And when I say a long time, a typical Saturday or Sunday club run is 60-80 miles, try doing that in jogging bottoms and trainers, you'll soon know every stitch and seam by the way it rubs.

Fair point but why do they make em in drastic loud 80s shell suit colours? I mean come on!

My jaunt is 28 mile total a day, don't do it every day as I have the option to catch the train to. And yes sometimes I take my bike on the train. (Waits to be lambasted)

I do it in my work clothes.

Have to put on a pair of the missus spanxs and go for an early morning test ride ;-)

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Don't forget the carrot and two satsumas. :lol:

 

[nigelnorris]

With cycles the thing i found uncomfortable was the saddle not my clothes, give me one of these -

Real men sit astride a "Real Man" saddle:

http://sheldonbrown.com/real-man.html

 

[Chippy_Tea]

That'll outlast the owner not just the bike. :lol:

 

[nigelnorris]

Fair point but why do they make em in drastic loud 80s shell suit colours? I mean come on!

Because the brighter you are the less likely it is that you'll end up as hamburger underneath some **** in a Chelsea Tractor.

I'm taking a bit of a liberty with that because replica kits do suck really badly, but dayglo colours can do wonders when appropriately applied.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Because the brighter you are the less likely it is that you'll end up as hamburger underneath some **** in a Chelsea Tractor.

Not much chance of this guy getting run over.

 

[brumbrew]

Because the brighter you are the less likely it is that you'll end up as hamburger underneath some **** in a Chelsea Tractor.

I'm taking a bit of a liberty with that because replica kits do suck really badly, but dayglo colours can do wonders when appropriately applied.

Yea I get that. I'm hi vis clad but not yellow, pink, green and white all in one. Someone needs to 'ave a wurd' with the designers.

Back to the topic though. Saw a heron fishing in the brook today. I don't know who was more startled.

 

[terrym]

Because the brighter you are the less likely it is that you'll end up as hamburger underneath some **** in a Chelsea Tractor.

I'm taking a bit of a liberty with that because replica kits do suck really badly, but dayglo colours can do wonders when appropriately applied.

No amount of dayglo, lycra or other purpose made cycling clothing; nor the most expensive cycling helmet; nor the lightest, best equipped, latest cycle....will prevent you getting squashed by a Chelsea tractor or any other motorised road vehicle unless, as a cyclist, you realise how extremely vulnerable you are on the roads and adopt an overriding sense of self preservation and responsibility to yourself and other roads users, and even then your chances of an accident are only marginally improved.
I am now only an occasional cyclist, only because I consider UK roads to be too dangerous, but when I travel our congested roads and observe the antics of many cyclists who seem to believe they are indestructible and have special privileges compared to other road users, I am truly shocked on occasion.

 

[nigelnorris]

No amount of dayglo, lycra or other purpose made cycling clothing; nor the most expensive cycling helmet; nor the lightest, best equipped, latest cycle....will prevent you getting squashed by a Chelsea tractor or any other motorised road vehicle unless, as a cyclist, you realise how extremely vulnerable you are on the roads and adopt an overriding sense of self preservation and responsibility to yourself and other roads users, and even then your chances of an accident are only marginally improved.
I am now only an occasional cyclist, only because I consider UK roads to be too dangerous, but when I travel our congested roads and observe the antics of many cyclists who seem to believe they are indestructible and have special privileges compared to other road users, I am truly shocked on occasion.

That's awfully pessimistic. Thing people forget is that cycling and getting heart healthy saves an awful lot of lives each year. Too many avoidable cyclists deaths for sure [and even as a cyclist I'll admit they're ofetn at least partly rider fault, passing vehicles on the left is a big problem, especially where inexperienced riders are concerned], but the way to fix that isn't to just stop cycling and give up the roads.

Admittedly a biased source but Cycling UK says this:

Is cycling really that dangerous?

No. In general, cycling in Britain is a relatively safe activity.

Using official road casualty and road traffic reports, population stats and the National Travel Survey, Cycling UK calculates that, on average:

One cyclist is killed on Britain’s roads for every 27 million miles travelled by cycle - the equivalent to over 1,000 times around the world;
Each year, there are 8 million cycle trips for every cycling death;
The general risk of injury from cycling in Great Britain is just 0.05 injuries per 1,000 hours of cycling.
Also:

According to a paper that looked at sports injuries, tennis is riskier than ‘outdoor cycling’ (5 injuries per 1,000 hours for tennis, 3.5 for cycling). ‘Rowing machine exercise’ came in at 6 injuries per 1,000 hours;
You are more likely to be injured in an hour of gardening than in an hour of cycling;
As mentioned above, the health benefits of cycling outweigh the injury risks by between 13:1 and 415:1, according to various studies.

 

[chub1]

Cycling? What's that? I just like riding my bike. :lol:

The word cycling bring up images of lycra, tour de france and (shudder) competiveness.

I often take one of my clients for a walk in Richmond park. It's quite well used and known by the cyclists of London because it's roughly circular, nice surfaced roads and nice views. But being in Richmond (one of the richest boroughs in London) you get loads of try hards wearing and riding the most expensive cycling gear known to man. It often seems to me they just go there to be seen.
I rode my bike round the park once but got bored as I find riding my bike in a circle quite tedious.

My wife and walked from Robin Hodd Gate down To Roehampton Gate a few weeks back. Stopped for a drink at the cafe.Absolutly rammed with cyclists, most of whom were sensible but a fair few thought it ok to actually ride up and on the planked entrance patio with people sitting at tables some with little kids -total a/holes.Also plenty of maniacs on the gravel walkways/cycle routes as well who would happily run you down if you didn't take evasive action:-o.
Won't be going through there again any time soon