bike burn-out......

On Oct 2, 3:54 am, Crescentius Vespasianus <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

After cycling my ass off for a decade,
I'm experiencing bike burnout. Nothing
seems to excite my anymore about it.
One thing that really depresses me, is
the constantly rising prices for parts,
so I only buy stuff to replace broken or
worn out stuff. I know a 10 speed won't
make you faster than a 9 speed, I know a
fancy race wheel will eventually leave
you stranded, etc. Even though they try
to re-invent cycling, it's usually the
tried and true that will make you happy.
Tired of the ever increasing traffic,
that really takes away from the magic of
cycling. Forcing me to drive ever
farther to experience the road the way
it should be experienced. I've worked
in more running, and look for other
non-cycling activities to do, but I
still do a lot of cycling just out of
habit. Is there a cure for bike burn-out?

Just think, Jobst has been cycling his ass off for five decades.
Jobst, any advice?

IMO, you should find some people to ride with. Riding with others
obviously gives you the opportunity to socialize, but on top of that,
it usually exposes you to different routes.

Also, the way you feel has nothing to do with cycling. It has to do
with the feeling of obligation -- the belief that you have to ride or
else something will happen to you. Well, you don't. You are forgiven
in adance for not riding. I commute year round because it is
convenient and the right thing to do, but during the winter, I ski. If
I don't feel like riding on the weekend, I don't. I'm not training for
racing anymore, and I can burn billions of calories chasing my son
down Mt. Hood. When I feel like riding on the weekend, I get my
friend to go with me (who will be in the middle of his cross season),
and we catch up on news while he recovers. I struggle, but he
accommodates. He also knows a lot of weird routes close to home, so
it is always interesting -- if not a little dangerous. -- Jay Beattie.

Jay Beattie said:

...
IMO, you should find some people to ride with. Riding with others
obviously gives you the opportunity to socialize, but on top of that,
it usually exposes you to different routes....

Should we be inflicting ourselves on others?

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
A Real Cyclist [TM] keeps at least one bicycle in the bedroom.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Oct 2, 8:54 pm, Crescentius Vespasianus <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

After cycling my ass off for a decade,
I'm experiencing bike burnout. Nothing
seems to excite my anymore about it.
One thing that really depresses me, is
the constantly rising prices for parts,
so I only buy stuff to replace broken or
worn out stuff. I know a 10 speed won't
make you faster than a 9 speed, I know a
fancy race wheel will eventually leave
you stranded, etc. Even though they try
to re-invent cycling, it's usually the
tried and true that will make you happy.
Tired of the ever increasing traffic,
that really takes away from the magic of
cycling. Forcing me to drive ever
farther to experience the road the way
it should be experienced. I've worked
in more running, and look for other
non-cycling activities to do, but I
still do a lot of cycling just out of
habit. Is there a cure for bike burn-out?

Single speed - so refreshing. Then maybe fixed. Or urban MTB.

After cycling my ass off for a decade,
I'm experiencing bike burnout. Nothing
seems to excite my anymore about it.
One thing that really depresses me, is
the constantly rising prices for parts,
so I only buy stuff to replace broken or
worn out stuff. I know a 10 speed won't
make you faster than a 9 speed, I know a
fancy race wheel will eventually leave
you stranded, etc. Even though they try
to re-invent cycling, it's usually the
tried and true that will make you happy.
Tired of the ever increasing traffic,
that really takes away from the magic of
cycling. Forcing me to drive ever
farther to experience the road the way
it should be experienced. I've worked
in more running, and look for other
non-cycling activities to do, but I
still do a lot of cycling just out of
habit. Is there a cure for bike burn-out?

Crescentius Vespasianus said:

After cycling my ass off for a decade, I'm experiencing bike burnout.
Nothing seems to excite my anymore about it. One thing that really
depresses me, is the constantly rising prices for parts, so I only buy
stuff to replace broken or worn out stuff. I know a 10 speed won't make
you faster than a 9 speed, I know a fancy race wheel will eventually
leave you stranded, etc. Even though they try to re-invent cycling,
it's usually the tried and true that will make you happy. Tired of the
ever increasing traffic, that really takes away from the magic of
cycling. Forcing me to drive ever farther to experience the road the
way it should be experienced. I've worked in more running, and look for
other non-cycling activities to do, but I still do a lot of cycling just
out of habit. Is there a cure for bike burn-out?

Institute the 100 mile rule. Don't haul your bike anywhere to ride
unless your destination is 100 miles from where you live. Learn to
enjoy the sights and sounds around you when you ride. Give your high
dollar bikes away to charity and start over with a simple inexpensive
bike and convince yourself how much it beats walking.

Crescentius Vespasianus said:

Quoted message said:

---------------
Oh, I do the commuting thing too, that's why I drive into the country on
weekends to remind myself what it's like to ride a bike where I hear
birds, not just roaring noise of cars. Commuting is also more car
dodging, and you really can't ramp it up, like you can on the open road.

Commuting isn't much fun. There is pressure to get somewhere at a
particular time. That's too much like work.

I'm talking about leisurely riding at a speed of oh, I dunno, 5 MPH. Why
do you want to "ramp it up?" What's the point? Are you practicing for a
race? Does it make you happy to go fast? If so, no wonder you are jaded.

Try this:
Take your time, there is no rush. Explore. See somebody doing something
interesting, like framing a house, or using a TV camera to inspect
sewers (they might let you look), or gosh, what is that? "Hey Mister,
what is that thing?" You'd have to be a pretty smart guy to know
everything about everything you would see on a typical ride around a
city. If you ride those "magical roads" out in the sticks all there is
to see is weeds growing.

The point isn't to ride your bike. The point is to go out and see new
things. The bike just makes it possible to see those new things. Range
is limited by walking and you don't see very much in a car because you
whiz by too fast to see much of anything. In a car, stopping to ask a
question or say good morning is problematic.

Maybe you ride your bike the way you drive your car? I see people doing
that all the time. They come hammering along and whiz past me, while I'm
on the side of the road, waiting while my dog pees, and they see the
basket on the front and the lack of proper jersey and I guess they think
I am some sort of a nut. They won't even nod. They seem to be very
intent on "doing" something important, I don't know what it is. All they
are doing is riding a bicycle, something any 5 year-old kid can do. Why
make it into something it's not?

I guess I am just not a real bicyclist. I am riding a bike that I
literally found being thrown out for junk and fixed up. I've also never
worn anything made from Lycra in my life or any of that other gee-gaw
clothing they sell at the bike stores these days. It doesn't interest
me. What kind of crazy person buys shoes that they can't even walk in?
Why spend $2000 on a bicycle? I don't obsess about weight or
aerodynamics or speed or whether I am getting power on the upstroke, or
the brand of my derailer, or any of that other nonsense. I'm not racing.
I'm never going to be the next Lance Armstrong. In fact, I've recently
set my bike up so that I can sit more upright to be more comfortable in
my old age.

Sometimes it is work to be a kid again, but not much.

Tom \'Johnny Sunset\' Sherman said:

Should we be inflicting ourselves on others?

Sounds fair to me-- they inflict themselves on us, don't they?

Burn out? Maybe it's getting your curiosity satisfied-- like seeing
what's on the other side of the mountain, you know?

Cycling, like many other pursuits, is an obsessive kind of thing (five
hours' suffering on that hard little saddle, nose to someone else's
butt?).

Maybe you're becoming happier and better adjusted, and you just don't
know it yet. --D-y

On Oct 2, 6:54 am, Crescentius Vespasianus <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

After cycling my ass off for a decade,
I'm experiencing bike burnout. Nothing
seems to excite my anymore about it.
One thing that really depresses me, is
the constantly rising prices for parts,
so I only buy stuff to replace broken or
worn out stuff. I know a 10 speed won't
make you faster than a 9 speed, I know a
fancy race wheel will eventually leave
you stranded, etc. Even though they try
to re-invent cycling, it's usually the
tried and true that will make you happy.
Tired of the ever increasing traffic,
that really takes away from the magic of
cycling. Forcing me to drive ever
farther to experience the road the way
it should be experienced. I've worked
in more running, and look for other
non-cycling activities to do, but I
still do a lot of cycling just out of
habit. Is there a cure for bike burn-out?

Cure for bike burn-out? Yeah. Try taking public transportation for a
week.

/s

In article <[email hidden]>,

Crescentius Vespasianus said:

After cycling my ass off for a decade, I'm experiencing bike burnout.
Nothing seems to excite my anymore about it. <snip> Is there a cure
for bike burn-out?

I find by the middle of August I am tired of riding the same roads. So
I buy a bike map (or this year, look at bike mapping sites like bikely)
and find new roads to ride. I shamelessly capitalize on the experience
of others to improve my cycling experience.

Something that has really perked me up is to do something outside my
norm: go on an occasional tour, do a brevet, go on a cycling weekend
somewhere. There's the sub-24-hour (S24O) bike camping trip. Take a
camera on rides and stop to take photos. My friend Jim's photos while
biking as an example:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/twowheelflight/

Sometimes the cure for burnout is to take a break. Go on just short
rides, or no rides at all. Read a book instead. Play Frisbee.

And finally riding with friends. IMHO there are few things finer than a
lovely day spent on the bike on good roads with a good friend or three.
Too much riding with only myself for company gets old- it is just not
that interesting to talk to myself for hours at a time. Last weekend I
did a 70+ miler around Lake Pepin with a group of people, only two of
whom I had previously met. I had a wonderful time- a great ride on a
great day with the bonus of meeting new people.

On Oct 2, 6:54 pm, Crescentius Vespasianus <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

After cycling my ass off for a decade,
I'm experiencing bike burnout. Nothing
seems to excite my anymore about it.
One thing that really depresses me, is
the constantly rising prices for parts,
so I only buy stuff to replace broken or
worn out stuff. I know a 10 speed won't
make you faster than a 9 speed, I know a
fancy race wheel will eventually leave
you stranded, etc. Even though they try
to re-invent cycling, it's usually the
tried and true that will make you happy.
Tired of the ever increasing traffic,
that really takes away from the magic of
cycling. Forcing me to drive ever
farther to experience the road the way
it should be experienced. I've worked
in more running, and look for other
non-cycling activities to do, but I
still do a lot of cycling just out of
habit. Is there a cure for bike burn-out?
From what you are writing it sounds like you live in an area less and

less likeable for bicycle riding. I've known places like this. Some
places are so spread out due to urban sprawl that it takes an hour of
riding just to get to an area that's pleasant. Commuting to work,
riding to do mundane earrands can be depressing sometimes espicially
when traffic sucks. Unfortunately, there is only one cure that
afflicts your bicycle pleasure, that is you need to move. You should
consider moving to an area that has good weather, hills, mountains,
lakes and streams and near the ocean if possible. Sounds like
California doesn't it?

Crescentius Vespasianus said:

Sometimes when I ride

Quoted message said:

with a newbie, it is so painful to hear some of the things they talk
about with respect to riding and bikes, because I remember saying some
of the same stupid things a decade ago myself. Some people actually
listen to the wisdom of experienced riders, and go through the learning
curve quite rapidly, I on the other hand had to learn everything the
hard way.

I don't understand. Is that what you guys talk about out there? How to
ride a bike and get tips on whatever new thing there is to buy? I don't
really know because I ride by myself and with my thoughts. I've never
been on an organized ride.

When you ride with someone else in their car, do you talk about gas
mileage, or what air filter is the best, or whether automatic
transmissions are better now than manuals? Those were really big topics
of conversation when I was a kid and muscle cars were the thing. But it
was pointless since none of us kids could drive.

Is there a cure for bike burn-out?

Quoted message said:

From what you are writing it sounds like you live in an area less and

less likeable for bicycle riding. I've known places like this. Some
places are so spread out due to urban sprawl that it takes an hour of
riding just to get to an area that's pleasant. Commuting to work,
riding to do mundane earrands can be depressing sometimes espicially
when traffic sucks. Unfortunately, there is only one cure that
afflicts your bicycle pleasure, that is you need to move. You should
consider moving to an area that has good weather, hills, mountains,
lakes and streams and near the ocean if possible. Sounds like
California doesn't it?

Damn computer is acting up. This third time shoud do it.

To: Crescentius Vespasianus

Quoted message said:

From what you are writing it sounds like you live in an area less and

less likable for bicycle riding. I've known places like this. Some
places are so spread out due to urban sprawl that it takes an hour of
riding just to get to an area that's pleasant. Commuting to work,
riding to do mundane errands can be depressing sometimes especially
when traffic sucks. Unfortunately, there is only one cure that
afflicts your bicycle pleasure, that is you need to move. You should
consider moving to an area that has good weather, hills, mountains,
lakes and streams and near the ocean if possible. Sounds like
California doesn't it?

Quoted message said:

Why are you driving out in the country to cycle? Why do you think that
is the only place to cycle? I grew up "out there" in the country and
used my bike to get to school every day. It beat taking an
hour-and-a-half school bus ride every day. I could sleep later and get
to school in 35 minutes on what you would consider "magical roads." My
bike parts wore out because the roads weren't all paved.

For me, cycling is not recreation, but decent, cheap transportation.
"Recreation" seems like a hobby to me and like most hobbies, I would
tire of it and find something else to do. As I said before here,
"spinning" would bore me to tears.

So put a basket on your bike and use it to go grocery shopping. Pay your
utility bill in person. Deposit your checks at the bank. Take a nice,
leisurely ride in the mornings and meet your neighbors. Stop and talk to
them. If you have a dog, put a leash on him and he will happily trot
alongside of you while you are low/lowest gears. He will let you know
when he wants to stop and rest. He needs the exercise. You get to see so
much more by going slowly.

I think you have fallen for the bicycling as a sport hype that's been
spread like stinky manure by the manufacturers. It's not about that.
It's about working it into your lifestyle and dong it every day, not
just on the weekends or when you want to work out or when the weather is
nice or when you feel like it.

When approached this way, it never gets boring. And if it does, plug in
an MP3 player.

---------------
Oh, I do the commuting thing too, that's
why I drive into the country on weekends
to remind myself what it's like to ride
a bike where I hear birds, not just
roaring noise of cars. Commuting is
also more car dodging, and you really
can't ramp it up, like you can on the
open road.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

IMO, you should find some people to ride with. Riding with others
obviously gives you the opportunity to socialize, but on top of that,
it usually exposes you to different routes....

Should we be inflicting ourselves on others?

---------------
exactly! Especially when you're jaded
like I am. Sometimes when I ride with a
newbie, it is so painful to hear some of
the things they talk about with respect
to riding and bikes, because I remember
saying some of the same stupid things a
decade ago myself. Some people actually
listen to the wisdom of experienced
riders, and go through the learning
curve quite rapidly, I on the other hand
had to learn everything the hard way.

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving."
~Albert Einstein

"Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride." ~John F. Kennedy

"The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of
transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in
heart." ~Iris Murdoch

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the
human race." ~H.G. Wells

"The bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created: Converting calories
into gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent of three thousand miles per gallon."
~Bill Strickland

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live." ~Mark Twain

"It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best,
since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember
them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses
you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven
through as you gain by riding a bicycle." ~Ernest Hemingway

"Think of bicycles as rideable art that can just about save the world."
~Grant Petersen

"Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia." - ~H.G. Wells

"The bicycle is a curious vehicle. Its passenger is its engine." ~John
Howard

"Crescentius Vespasianus" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

After cycling my ass off for a decade, I'm experiencing bike burnout.
Nothing seems to excite my anymore about it. One thing that really
depresses me, is the constantly rising prices for parts, so I only buy
stuff to replace broken or worn out stuff. I know a 10 speed won't make
you faster than a 9 speed, I know a fancy race wheel will eventually leave
you stranded, etc. Even though they try to re-invent cycling, it's
usually the tried and true that will make you happy. Tired of the ever
increasing traffic, that really takes away from the magic of cycling.
Forcing me to drive ever farther to experience the road the way it should
be experienced. I've worked in more running, and look for other
non-cycling activities to do, but I still do a lot of cycling just out of
habit. Is there a cure for bike burn-out?

After racing, coaching, (15 years) and working in cycling (8 years), I
was burned out too. Didn't really ride for another ten years. Got
back into it from an invitation to a group ride of guys my age. I
really like the low key social contact. One thing about being older
is that there is much less techno weenie behaviour, so what and how we
ride is less important than it was when I was younger. The guys seem
to like having people to ride with and drink coffee with.

The other thing I love is taking kids out; my own best of all, but
others with them are great too. I started an elementary school bike
club and arrange the coaches and the schedule, and watching them get
turned on is one of life's great pleasures.

I have a friend (ex racer, ex coach) who had an absolute blast
teaching a 50+ immigrant woman to ride a bike who had never ridden
before.

One thing still on my list for when I get bored is to do long
wandering rides like Jobst Brandt's, on gravel and other unlikely
places.

On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:16:25 -0500, Tim McNamara
<[email hidden]> wrote:

[---]

Quoted message said:

My friend Jim's photos while
biking as an example:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/twowheelflight/

Some nice photographs there. Does he develop the black & white stuff
himself?

On 2007-10-02, Grolsch <[email hidden]> wrote:
[...]

Quoted message said:

"The bicycle is a curious vehicle. Its passenger is its engine." ~John
Howard

Is that _the_ John Howard? If so I'm surprised he didn't say "The
bicycle is a curious vehicle. Its engine is in a car in front of it."

🙂