Back when riding was fun

[csm]

Not that it isn't now but I was thinking during today's ride around south jersey.... Ignorance was bliss. Not worrying about hills, or time, or wearing the right layers, brining enough snacks, weather, route, etc.
just went out and rode. Sometimes the more info available to us to more we worry.

Though I realize in Stone Harbor, NJ there isn't much worrying about hills. I think I had 9'of climbing today and 35' yesterday.


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[oliver1850]

I can relate. Used to go out for 80 miles with 1 water bottle and nothing to fix a flat. Now I often take a bike with a rack so I can carry all the crap I think I might need.

[Anarchist]

Most of my rides are on my "work truck" bike.

Fenders and lights and a big carradice.

I can be as slow as I feel like, or I can get frisky and confound people.

Mostly just fun.

[Jaq]

Yeah, rare's the day that I just hop on and go. Ditching the computer helped, but even then, most days it's a workout squeezed in before work, or school, or chores, or whatever.

[AJM100]

+1 . . . seems like even non-competitive casual cyclists don't just ride, they "train" . . .

non-competitive riders need to lose the computer, power meters, etc. . . .

and just ride . . .

[Black Dog]

+1 . . . seems like even non-competitive casual cyclists don't just ride, they "train" . . .

non-competitive riders need to lose the computer, power meters, etc. . . .

and just ride . . .

Haha. So true. Almost everyone on a bike now is competitive is some way shape or form every time they ride.

[TimD]

Though I realize in Stone Harbor, NJ there isn't much worrying about hills.



Not many turns, either :)

[Aaron O]

I don't train and the only riding metrics I care about are how much I enjoyed the ride. Sure...most of the ride I try to go fast and push, but that IS fun. I don't care about how fast I am, I don't care about how much faster someone else is. I'm not being paid to be fast.

It's taken me a while to rationalize being slow this well!

:p

[fishwhisperer]

Yeah, rare's the day that I just hop on and go. Ditching the computer helped, but even then, most days it's a workout squeezed in before work, or school, or chores, or whatever.

i'm in the same boat. love when i can get out and roll a long one, but most days i'm hitting it hard and fast.

nothing beats just heading out without a destination or time limit, though.

[Steve in SLO]

Agree that ditching the computer is key.
I have a few vintage steel bikes that are not exactly "go fast" by today's standards so there is no pressure to push hard. When I want a low key ride I pull one of them out and enjoy the day.

[witcombusa]

Riding is still fun, has always been fun.

Ride mostly empty back country roads and dirt.

If you can manage to screw that up with electronics or moron riding partners than you're doing it wrong...

How hard is it just to enjoy the day on a bike?

[dlui]

Haha. So true. Almost everyone on a bike now is competitive is some way shape or form every time they ride.

blame Strava

[buddybikes]

Enjoy it while you can...
Used to do those back to back centuries, jump on bike and ride a metric without thinking back in my 20s and 30s

Now with pain from many places and stiffness, I am happy completing 1.5 hr ride and just getting worse...

[RyanH]

I was up in SLO last week and that was the most amount of fun I've had on a bike in a long time. Riding in Nice, FR was the same way. So, I think a lot of it has to do with cycling becoming routine when you're riding in your local area.

[David Kirk]

I've changed the way I ride over the past few seasons and it's worked very well for me.

I tossed the computer and I don't carry a phone. I don't look at the map afterward to see how far I went so that I can check my average speed. I always throw two large bottle in the cages and a bit of food in my pocket and that gives me options should I feel good and want to wander more. I rarely plan where I'm going to go before I leave the house and instead I start pedaling and then see how I feel, and how the winds are, and then the ride takes shape.

I wasn't feeling all that well the past few days and stayed off the bike until today. Today I got on and felt pretty good so I ended up doing about 2 1/2 hrs on the bike with two major climbs. I had no idea if I'd feel good or not and thought I'd be gone for 45 minutes or for hours and not making firm plans adds to the fun. It was a good ride and I have no idea how far it was or how fast I went. I measure rides by how good it felt to be out and that's it.

dave

[inkandsilver]

Occasionally I think it would be neat to have the information from a computer or GPS -- but to me it's just not worth it, overall. It feels free.

[Tickdoc]

Agree that ditching the computer is key.
I have a few vintage steel bikes that are not exactly "go fast" by today's standards so there is no pressure to push hard. When I want a low key ride I pull one of them out and enjoy the day.

+1. This key to having fun in my book, and as a bonus it makes you wicked fast when you get back on black plastic.

[fogrider]

Well the days of going fast are in the past...while I'm not slow, I'm not going to keep up with the young kids out there today. but I like to have the old computer...ok, I have gone to a garmin. riding is still fun, I just need to get in a ride and get back to the family for whatever is happening Sat. afternoon. Once in a blue moon, I can find time to get out for a longer ride.

[93legendti]

I used to come home from a ride to my wife and young kids and complain about someone silly in the group-one day I realized that was the wrong thing to say after a ride away from the family.

Now, I have fun on every ride - sometimes it's a fast descent, the feeling of arcing a nice turn, combining routes to make a new interesting ride, or lots of hills. I rotate between 5 bikes so I don't get stale and can't wait for my next ride.

[Ray]

I'm lucky I guess - it never stopped being fun for me. When I was riding fast(er) and long and hard and measuring distance and speed, it was because that was fun to me then. When it wasn't, I eased up and ditched the computer. Then health forced me off the bike for a couple of years - that was NOT fun. Now I'm back on it, riding less than I ever used to, both in frequency and distance, I'm slower than I ever was, but just by virtue of being able to ride again, I'm having a stone blast every time I throw a leg over a bike.

I still ride with a phone, but I almost never use it on a ride. There are three people who's calls I'll answer when I'm riding and they each have their own ring tone and almost never call when I'm riding. I don't make any calls except in the case of emergency which I think I've had to do two or three times over the years... I know the mileage of almost any ride I do around here from all of the years I was riding with a computer, so I usually have a pretty close idea of my distance for a given ride, but I don't keep track of it or care. And I have no real idea about my average speed. It just doesn't matter to me anymore...

-Ray

[Wakatel_Luum]

I missed the days of riding when I was a teenager...no computer, a bike made up from the parts bin, my old woollen school socks used as thermal shoe covers...so many hand me downs but so much fun...I've even gone back to down tube shifters...

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/14/f552945d7e64eb2c96d8eed1c4745879.jpg

[weisan]

Come to think of it, I have this forum community to thank when it comes to keeping the main thing being the main thing. Over time, as I read and observed what my pals were saying (or complaining) around here and I realized one thing: what applies to one person may not always transferred to another...for whatever reason...so QUIT following the crowd! Exercise some independent thinking and develop an understanding about yourself, your own limitations (young kids, other life commitments), how your own body respond, what makes you tick, ask yourself the question, why do I ride in the first place, what do I really want to get out of this....

Again, quit comparing and contrasting, know your own situation and adapt.

Find your own happiness.

[oldpotatoe]

Riding is still fun, has always been fun.

Ride mostly empty back country roads and dirt.

If you can manage to screw that up with electronics or moron riding partners than you're doing it wrong...

How hard is it just to enjoy the day on a bike?

It's not, IMHO..too much emphasis on 'gear'..object of the ride is the ride..supposed to be fun..when it isn't-do something else.

Yesterday, late start, warm, windy, tired but I'm glad I rode..a 'bike path bounce around'...no goal other than turning the pedals..glad I did.

[fuzzalow]

What weisan-pal said ^^ is the essence of simplicity and the basic truth of the riding experience. HaHa, who'ddathunkit, there is actually a payback that feels like it is worth it in being an adult! Free at last from the adolescent corrosion of conformity! Bike-boi bravado! Cycling douche-bag tribalism! Self-worth consumerism & competition! Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty we are free at last!

I ride with a powermeter or a GPS watch most of the time. Having a computer on the bike doesn't change the ride, the mindset or the experience for me one bit. I am not ruled by my technology. Riding free and riding well is both a state of grace and a state of mind.

[Gordito]

I can relate. Used to go out for 80 miles with 1 water bottle and nothing to fix a flat. Now I often take a bike with a rack so I can carry all the crap I think I might need.

I know that "less is more" is trendy but are you actually forcing the trait to the point of not bringing water nor a couple of tools and tubes? :o :o :o

I keep a saddle bag with all the tools necessary, I just fill up a bottle or two (one is enough since there are a lot of water points around here to refill), take my keys in the back pocket and go for a ride. How is that complicated?

About dressing I'd rather thank our modern era to have the choice of comfortable clothes for whatever weather.

[smontanaro]

A few years ago, I "ditched" the display unit of a computer without realizing it on a ride. I haven't replaced it yet. I do have a drawer full of old Avocets and similar which I've not tested. Can't remember where I got them.

Back in the 70s when I was in college, probably still at USC (before I wised up $-wise and transferred to UCLA), I rode a Schwinn Continental. I decided one day I'd go visit my great aunt Ella, down in Balboa. I just hopped on and rode down there. Didn't tell her I was coming. Stayed the night and rode back the next day. Nothing to it. Today, an overnight trip would require a bit more planning, though I do ride much better bikes (and bikes which fit me better). I doubt I'd drop in on anyone unannounced either. :)

[benb]

It's easy to blame cycling trends (Strava, Computers, use of Smartphones, whatever) when the real reason could be changes in your own life outside of cycling..

All that "just take off stuff on your bike without a care in the world" stuff is mostly the realm of young single people with next to no responsibilities. Strava, computers, etc.. have nothing to do with me not being able to ride like that anymore. For me it's all that I have a wife & kid waiting at home who wouldn't appreciate it if I just disappeared for the day and was totally unreachable.

Computers, etc.. have never caused me to ride harder. I'll treat every day like a race without a computer.. I usually use the computer to tell me when I need to slow down.

[inkandsilver]

I really like this thread; thanks. And no, there's certainly nothing wrong with having/using the technology if that's part of what makes you happy. Just do it (as we should do everything) consciously.

[benb]

I'd mention I REALLY miss those care-free/responsibility-free days when I could indeed wake up on a Saturday and just take off and ride my bike all day without even knowing where I was going to end up and what time I'd get home, knowing no one was going to be calling me going "Where are you!?"

[alancw3]

i remember vacationing in long beach island n.j. many years ago (like 1985) and getting up at 5:30am and riding the entire length of the island. so much fun and very level. probably about 25 miles overall but just a great easy time/ride. i did that ride for two weeks every morning and it was great.

[Aaron O]

I've changed the way I ride over the past few seasons and it's worked very well for me.

I tossed the computer and I don't carry a phone. I don't look at the map afterward to see how far I went so that I can check my average speed. I always throw two large bottle in the cages and a bit of food in my pocket and that gives me options should I feel good and want to wander more. I rarely plan where I'm going to go before I leave the house and instead I start pedaling and then see how I feel, and how the winds are, and then the ride takes shape.

I wasn't feeling all that well the past few days and stayed off the bike until today. Today I got on and felt pretty good so I ended up doing about 2 1/2 hrs on the bike with two major climbs. I had no idea if I'd feel good or not and thought I'd be gone for 45 minutes or for hours and not making firm plans adds to the fun. It was a good ride and I have no idea how far it was or how fast I went. I measure rides by how good it felt to be out and that's it.

dave

I toss the phone in the saddle bag...that way I have it if needed, but I'm also able to ignore/forget it. I've had too many "honey, HELP" incidents not to bring a phone.

[icepick_trotsky]

http://trackosaurus.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/NoGarminNoRules.png

[Climb01742]

I've changed the way I ride over the past few seasons and it's worked very well for me.

I tossed the computer and I don't carry a phone. I don't look at the map afterward to see how far I went so that I can check my average speed. I always throw two large bottle in the cages and a bit of food in my pocket and that gives me options should I feel good and want to wander more. I rarely plan where I'm going to go before I leave the house and instead I start pedaling and then see how I feel, and how the winds are, and then the ride takes shape.

I wasn't feeling all that well the past few days and stayed off the bike until today. Today I got on and felt pretty good so I ended up doing about 2 1/2 hrs on the bike with two major climbs. I had no idea if I'd feel good or not and thought I'd be gone for 45 minutes or for hours and not making firm plans adds to the fun. It was a good ride and I have no idea how far it was or how fast I went. I measure rides by how good it felt to be out and that's it.

dave

i'm trying to take this approach more, but the one piece of 'technology' i can't seem to shake is my own brain. a not-so-little voice inside says harder, faster, longer. i try to ignore it. i'm not the athlete i once was. my body has accepted it (pretty well) but my mind? not so much.:rolleyes: but i'm trying.

[paredown]

Like a lot of guys who raced, the voice in my head saying 'harder, longer, faster' made me quit riding for a good number of years, since I could no longer ride at the level of performance that I once had. Being on the bike was tied with impossible suffering...

Then I came back to it--no question I was just different. I could relax, enjoy, look around and marvel at the feeling--like being a kid again.

The last constraint crumbled when I went on a tour with some great folks from California, who convinced me that stopping and getting off the bike to eat ice cream was a bona fida part of the experience and not to be missed. (Thanks Grizzly Peak Cyclists!)

So no computer, no competition, rarely a group--just me and the song my wheels sing. (Oh, and cell phone for emergencies.)

[SoCalSteve]

I think having a great cycling computer that is Bluetooth enabled to my iPhone ( so I can see texts and calls come in on the screen ) and my Bluetooth enabled headset so I can listen to the Amazon Prime music app makes cycling more fun...:p

I think riding is more fun now than ever before.

Yet another perspective...:beer:

[Plum Hill]

At 60 years of age, I may be the youngest person in a local group. Oldest is a CSI riding lady that just turned 90. But in between are a bunch of 65-70 year old Type A+ that think they're LA. There's been so much bellyaching lately that I've given up on group rides.
I headed out from home yesterday, riding through acres of soybeans and corn, passing through abandoned strip mines and the remnants of towns left behind. I stopped at a Casey's for a factory sandwich, visited a dive bar on the Kaskaskia River, rode by Heil Sound (something for the old rock'n'rollers to Google), and checked out the Bluegrass Shack. It was the longest ride I've done in ages, and pure bliss riding by myself. No bellyaching; no complaining; no manipulating. Best ride in ages. Yes, there was a computer and a Garmin (set on maps), but they didn't rule the ride. All I need is a radio to listen to the local FM station.

[Tin Turtle]

I headed out from home yesterday, riding through acres of soybeans and corn, passing through abandoned strip mines and the remnants of towns left behind. I stopped at a Casey's for a factory sandwich, visited a dive bar on the Kaskaskia River, rode by Heil Sound (something for the old rock'n'rollers to Google), and checked out the Bluegrass Shack.

This is how I ride. One other guy I ride with mostly, but sometimes I ride with the bike club if its a group I know and have fun with. And I have Strava hooked up, the phone in the bag, the tube, the tools. Its not like I am breaking anybody else's records, but I like knowing what I did. I have fun, been doing it since I was a kid.

[parris]

For me it comes down to one thing. The bicycle is quite simply... magic.

[benb]

The last constraint crumbled when I went on a tour with some great folks from California, who convinced me that stopping and getting off the bike to eat ice cream was a bona fida part of the experience and not to be missed. (Thanks Grizzly Peak Cyclists!)


Haha.. a couple weeks ago we had a power outage at work and got sent home.. enough IT infrastructure had to be shut down that I got the afternoon off with no family or work responsibilities and I took off to ride most of the afternoon away.

I stopped for ice cream and it was fun.. gotta get the kiddie ice cream though when you're out riding on a hot day.. even a small was too much for my stomach to be happy with while riding!

[Bob Ross]

Ugh, don't get me started; otherwise I'll start reminiscing about cycling when I was ~19-20 years old, riding around at night with no helmet aggressively disobeying traffic signals while stoned.

Was it stupid? In hindsight, hell yeah! But man was it fun!

[verticaldoug]

I missed the days of riding when I was a teenager...no computer, a bike made up from the parts bin, my old woollen school socks used as thermal shoe covers...so many hand me downs but so much fun...I've even gone back to down tube shifters...

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/14/f552945d7e64eb2c96d8eed1c4745879.jpg

running out of water, not having any money and looking around for a yard with a water sprinkler going so you can get a drink and not die.

[Black Dog]

running out of water, not having any money and looking around for a yard with a water sprinkler going so you can get a drink and not die.

Been there many times. Riding was such an adventure then, It is nice when we do rides that capture that. New roads, new places, real unknowns.

[Anarchist]

I missed the days of riding when I was a teenager...no computer, a bike made up from the parts bin, my old woollen school socks used as thermal shoe covers...so many hand me downs but so much fun...I've even gone back to down tube shifters...

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/14/f552945d7e64eb2c96d8eed1c4745879.jpg

That is beautiful .....