Do you know anyone who just quit the sport for no other reason..?

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by gbcoupe

Probably shouldn't have been posted, but well intentioned I'm sure.

Agreed, how about the authors @Jeff N and @gbcoupe take their two posts down.

[maxim809]

Answering the original question literally, I think there is always a reason for quitting.

Semantics aside and answering the spirit of the question, what I have observed is many people drop off this sport in their late 20's / early 30's, then one by one some of them make a comeback 5~20 years later.

Where I live, this age range is when many start having their first born. I think it's great they are focusing on their child and making a sacrifice to tag team with their spouse. It's a great reason to quit or take a long hiatus from the sport.

Leaving the inherent risks to cycling out of it, there is a time commitment to cycling outdoors. Even with proper planning it is difficult to disappear for 2~6 hours with an unpredictable newborn. The few times you can make it happen you cherish it so much more.

There's a shift towards less riskier hobbies that keep you closer to home and easier to "plug and unplug" from.

I think this trend applies to all hobbies that are both time consuming and hard to stop/pick-back-up on a whim's notice. Shooting 18 holes of golf with the mates is hard to transition in and out of too.

If and when the kids start maturing, it's easier to pick up hobbies that allow us to momentarily go out of orbit again. When things start stabilizing is different for each of us. Until then, there is Zwift.

[jtakeda]

Originally Posted by C40_guy

Agreed, how about the authors @Jeff N and @gbcoupe take their two posts down.

I think Jeff N.s post is unrelated to the other one.

I read it as a friend of Jeff’s had that experience.....


But for OP. I don’t think it’s ridiculous to change your habits for your family. You might not necessarily have to quit cycling but maybe change your habits.

Whether that be switch to dirt. Or ride at dawn to get out with no traffic. Or maybe ride withal a rando group so you’re doing brevets with a group and have some safety in numbers. It’s nice to have the structure of the event to keep you motivated but also have a group of folks so you don’t feel so alone on the road as vulnerable

[m_sasso]

Originally Posted by mcteague

Ha, ha...just ask Phil Gaimon how that went.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/l...e-crash-445863

Tim

I honestly don't understand the point of your post, other than to let us know Phil crashed on a track.

I can possible imagine you would believe riding on the streets is safer than riding in a velodrome?

I would love to ask Phil about his crash, would he rather have crash in the street or on a track? Want to gamble on his answer?

[gbcoupe]

Originally Posted by C40_guy

Agreed, how about the authors @Jeff N and @gbcoupe take their two posts down.

Originally Posted by jtakeda

I think Jeff N.s post is unrelated to the other one.

I read it as a friend of Jeff’s had that experience.....


But for OP. I don’t think it’s ridiculous to change your habits for your family. You might not necessarily have to quit cycling but maybe change your habits.

Whether that be switch to dirt. Or ride at dawn to get out with no traffic. Or maybe ride withal a rando group so you’re doing brevets with a group and have some safety in numbers. It’s nice to have the structure of the event to keep you motivated but also have a group of folks so you don’t feel so alone on the road as vulnerable

Related or no (hopefully no). Post deleted.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by m_sasso

I honestly don't understand the point of your post, other than to let us know Phil crashed on a track.

I can possible imagine you would believe riding on the streets is safer than riding in a velodrome?

I would love to ask Phil about his crash, would he rather have crash in the street or on a track? Want to gamble on his answer?

I'm reminded of what our instructor at Dick Lane told us about crashing on the velodrome. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's usually bad.

Track is definitely safer than, say, your Saturday morning crit, but I wouldn't say it's risk free.

[Dead Man]

Originally Posted by djdj

OP -- ignore the keyboard macho men. If you are not comfortable riding -- for whatever reason -- you should do something different with no qualms or hesitation. Life is much too short to engage in a hobby you don't fully enjoy. My only advice is not to sell your bike(s) just yet, as you may later find you want to get back on the road. Keep us posted on how things go!

keyboard macho men.. brother, i can assure you i am as comfortable riding a road bike as i am tapping about it on the internet.

however... after getting absolutely baked last night doodling around on my
phone, it occurred to me a better way for those of us semi- or fully condescending to the OP in this thread would have been to have made the exact same points we made except to have done it in an encouraging way, rather than using a i-just-cant-even-fathom-your-concern kinda way.

i had a crazy girlfriend not long ago... drove me ****ing insane- almost as insane as her. i finally figured out the best way to comm w her was to tap out what i really wanted to say when she was getting all psycho on me, then edit and rephrase everything in a positive way. man.. that was a great realization. you can pretty much always still say everything you want
to say, but without the spite and condescension, if ye just change your tone.

bitch still burned my house down tho.

[mj_michigan]

As an engineer I like to look what the numbers say.
The data in this study suggests that riding in Chicago area is about 3 to 5 times more risky than driving a vehicle (US average) per mile. However, adjusted for speed, it is between the same and 2x as risky per hour of activity.

[Jeff N.]

Originally Posted by gbcoupe

Related or no (hopefully no). Post deleted.

Mine too. Jeez...just telling of the reason a friend quit riding. I fail to see what the big deal is. I'm taking it down, fer cryin' out loud.

[ultraman6970]

Ex tracker here... i have to agree that probably is safer to ride in the track than in the street. I do agree that crashes are rare in the track and usually are due to somebody's negligence. Personally got some accidents and some were big but got lucky and went out of those unharmed.

Seen really stupid track accidents that were not even going super fast, and those guys ended up in coma for a month. Remember another team mate, he was just going in the blue area, super slow, dont ask what happened but the next i saw was that the dude flipped over and broke one front teeth.

Saw another after a sprint to go straight and hit the fence at the upper banks, 1 month in coma. Same situation, this one doesnt remember jack or why he did what he did, his fault.

Seen 3 guys over my life time as a tracker, to get CPR because their heart stopped right there due to the accident. You go sprinting like 60 km/h and the next you know u fall flat over your back over the pavement, like a pancake. CPR, scary stuff.

I would love to see the reason why gaimon got the accident, personally i do not like the PA track but well.. guys go so fast and you just need one idiot that cant be honest enough to recognize that the other guy is better and they try to play dirty and thats how accident happens. There's a video in the same track of a guy that was banned for life because he hit the handlebar of another rider causing the guy a nasty flip, think the dude was mad because the other guy was better, which is ridiculous specially in the track, you can kill somebody.

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

I'm reminded of what our instructor at Dick Lane told us about crashing on the velodrome. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's usually bad.

Track is definitely safer than, say, your Saturday morning crit, but I wouldn't say it's risk free.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by ultraman6970

Ex tracker here... i have to agree that probably is safer to ride in the track than in the street. I do agree that crashes are rare in the track and usually are due to somebody's negligence. Personally got some accidents and some were big but got lucky and went out of those unharmed.

Seen really stupid track accidents that were not even going super fast, and those guys ended up in coma for a month. Remember another team mate, he was just going in the blue area, super slow, dont ask what happened but the next i saw was that the dude flipped over and broke one front teeth.

Saw another after a sprint to go straight and hit the fence at the upper banks, 1 month in coma. Same situation, this one doesnt remember jack or why he did what he did, his fault.

Seen 3 guys over my life time as a tracker, to get CPR because their heart stopped right there due to the accident. You go sprinting like 60 km/h and the next you know u fall flat over your back over the pavement, like a pancake. CPR, scary stuff.

I would love to see the reason why gaimon got the accident, personally i do not like the PA track but well.. guys go so fast and you just need one idiot that cant be honest enough to recognize that the other guy is better and they try to play dirty and thats how accident happens. There's a video in the same track of a guy that was banned for life because he hit the handlebar of another rider causing the guy a nasty flip, think the dude was mad because the other guy was better, which is ridiculous specially in the track, you can kill somebody.

Phil admits he crashed because he was stupid and did a dumb thing.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by Dead Man

keyboard macho men.. brother, i can assure you i am as comfortable riding a road bike as i am tapping about it on the internet.

however... after getting absolutely baked last night doodling around on my
phone, it occurred to me a better way for those of us semi- or fully condescending to the OP in this thread would have been to have made the exact same points we made except to have done it in an encouraging way, rather than using a i-just-cant-even-fathom-your-concern kinda way.

i had a crazy girlfriend not long ago... drove me ****ing insane- almost as insane as her. i finally figured out the best way to comm w her was to tap out what i really wanted to say when she was getting all psycho on me, then edit and rephrase everything in a positive way. man.. that was a great realization. you can pretty much always still say everything you want
to say, but without the spite and condescension, if ye just change your tone.

bitch still burned my house down tho.

“Playing the Dozens” cycling quartet: Dead Man, Colker, Beeatnik, and Doomsrideout. Beers, Bikes, Bud.

[dgauthier]

Originally Posted by Jeff N.

(...) I fail to see what the big deal is. (...)

+1.

I'm completely mystified as well...it's not like you had the temerity to criticize carbon fiber...

[mcteague]

Originally Posted by m_sasso

I honestly don't understand the point of your post, other than to let us know Phil crashed on a track.

I can possible imagine you would believe riding on the streets is safer than riding in a velodrome?

I would love to ask Phil about his crash, would he rather have crash in the street or on a track? Want to gamble on his answer?

Seriously? In a thread that suggested track riding to avoid the dangers of the street?

It was just a fun poke at the thought we can avoid all danger by riding somewhere else. Certainly not saying track riding is just as dangerous as the road, but safety and bike riding are not the best of friends. Moving the body much above walking speed will always have a degree of danger associated with it. I think you are just looking for an argument.

Tim

[benb]

Originally Posted by mj_michigan

As an engineer I like to look what the numbers say.
The data in this study suggests that riding in Chicago area is about 3 to 5 times more risky than driving a vehicle (US average) per mile. However, adjusted for speed, it is between the same and 2x as risky per hour of activity.

Averages lie... these #s mix in drunk kids on fixies and delivery riders in with serious roadies.

Not that I think urban areas are great destinations to move to if you're really a serious life long cyclist but the safety factors in a city aren't going to affect all riders the same.

Our chances of an accident are not dictated by the statistics generated from everyone else's behavior if everyone else is behaving in a bunch of different ways.