My gains

In article <[email hidden]>, junk@ardo-
howe.co.uk says...

Quoted message said:

In another thread, Tony Raven was having a bit of a mump about the
current state of this newsgroup and the net in general. I didn't
disagree with most of what he wrote, but it did set me thinking about
what my subscribing to this NG had given me. I first chanced upon it
about three or four years ago and since then I have read much and
written a little. I've kept clear of all the debates about plastic hats
and mad motorists, not out of lack of interest, but mainly because by
the time I get round to opening the thread, the usual suspects have
banged out all imagineable points of view. I've tried to contribute the
odd nugget of information and to throw in an occasional witty remark
(Mrs G says I'm doing well in my efforts to become a wit; I'm half way
there already :-) ).

However, mainly I've learned from this group. I was an experienced solo
recreational cyclist, who had a couple of decent bikes and kept them
well maintained and as well used as time permitted. But I hadn't given a
huge amount of thought to the business of cycling, nor bothered much to
keep up to date. Since venturing on this group and learning from the
experience of others I've moved to clipless pedals / shoes; experimented
with saddles and saddle positions; replaced the faded jerseys with
modern kit (some of it Aldi specials, of course); added a GPS unit to
the tourer; learned how to ride in a group; and much more.

And in addition to these cycling specific benefits, I've learned other
stuff just by listening in. I was a regular PC user at work, but I just
used the thing as a management tool and knew nothing beyond what my IT
department provided. This group has since introduced me to Ebay (gee,
thanks ;-) ), Linux, Firefox, Thunderbird, etc., and even got me
motivated to learn basic HTML and write originally our business website
and then a personal one.

If I'm getting less out of urc now than before, it's partly because I've
drunk greedily from the well in the past and have less thirst now and
only partly because the group has become dominated by slagging matches
over speed humps and counts of expired mammalia. I still enjoy reading
ride reports and people's experiences on the road. I just enjoy
conversing with other cyclists. If you all wander off to forums and
places I can't be bothered with I won't fret - but I will be the poorer.

I found this group when I was looking for some advice after a
car hit me and found this group such an interesting place that
it's the group I've stayed subscribed to for the longest. There
is a lot of good discussions and I wish I could contribute more
but when ever I have something to say I find that someone has
already said it.
--
Cheers
the.Mark

the.Mark said:

There
is a lot of good discussions and I wish I could contribute more
but when ever I have something to say I find that someone has
already said it.

Damn, you beat me to it.

--
Don Whybrow

Sequi Bonum Non Time

A child of five could understand this! Fetch me a child of five.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

the.Mark said:

There
is a lot of good discussions and I wish I could contribute more
but when ever I have something to say I find that someone has
already said it.

Damn, you beat me to it.

Yes but your grammar would have been better.
--
Cheers
the.Mark

in message <[email hidden]>, Brian G

(') said:

In another thread, Tony Raven was having a bit of a mump about the
current state of this newsgroup and the net in general. I didn't
disagree with most of what he wrote, but it did set me thinking about
what my subscribing to this NG had given me. I first chanced upon it
about three or four years ago and since then I have read much and
written a little.

Your article gave me great pleasure (and I've been and had a little browse
round your website, which I also admired). When I first came to this
froup - and it cannot have been long before you did - I'd been a liesure
cyclist for 40-odd years - but I'd never been a member of a cycling club,
didn't know what an audax was, never ridden a time trial, and barely even
seen a cycle race.

Now I'm chairman of a cycling club, organise races, get soundly beaten in
time trials, and ride the occasional audax. I wouldn't say this froup
is /entirely/ to blame... but it is certainly culpable.

I'm off to be a member of the 'routing/derouting crew' for the Girvan this
weekend...

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
Ye hypocrites! are these your pranks? To murder men and give God thanks?
Desist, for shame! Proceed no further: God won't accept your thanks for
murther
-- Robert Burns, 'Thanksgiving For a National Victory'

"the.Mark" <[email hidden]> a écrit:

Quoted message said:

There is a lot of good discussions and I wish I could
contribute more but when ever I have something to
say I find that someone has already said it.

Surely it's better to ask yourself, "if I wait half an hour, will somebody
else post this?", then wait half an hour. It saves an awful lot of bother in
the long run.

James Thomson

Brian G said:

In another thread, Tony Raven was having a bit of a mump about the
current state of this newsgroup and the net in general. I didn't
disagree with most of what he wrote, but it did set me thinking about
what my subscribing to this NG had given me. I first chanced upon it
about three or four years ago and since then I have read much and
written a little. I've kept clear of all the debates about plastic hats
and mad motorists, not out of lack of interest, but mainly because by
the time I get round to opening the thread, the usual suspects have
banged out all imagineable points of view. I've tried to contribute the
odd nugget of information and to throw in an occasional witty remark
(Mrs G says I'm doing well in my efforts to become a wit; I'm half way
there already :-) ).

However, mainly I've learned from this group. I was an experienced solo
recreational cyclist, who had a couple of decent bikes and kept them
well maintained and as well used as time permitted. But I hadn't given a
huge amount of thought to the business of cycling, nor bothered much to
keep up to date. Since venturing on this group and learning from the
experience of others I've moved to clipless pedals / shoes; experimented
with saddles and saddle positions; replaced the faded jerseys with
modern kit (some of it Aldi specials, of course); added a GPS unit to
the tourer; learned how to ride in a group; and much more.

And in addition to these cycling specific benefits, I've learned other
stuff just by listening in. I was a regular PC user at work, but I just
used the thing as a management tool and knew nothing beyond what my IT
department provided. This group has since introduced me to Ebay (gee,
thanks ;-) ), Linux, Firefox, Thunderbird, etc., and even got me
motivated to learn basic HTML and write originally our business website
and then a personal one.

If I'm getting less out of urc now than before, it's partly because I've
drunk greedily from the well in the past and have less thirst now and
only partly because the group has become dominated by slagging matches
over speed humps and counts of expired mammalia. I still enjoy reading
ride reports and people's experiences on the road. I just enjoy
conversing with other cyclists. If you all wander off to forums and
places I can't be bothered with I won't fret - but I will be the poorer.

I'll stand up for this NG.

No, it is not perfect, being full of posts by imperfect people (myself
being the least perfect of all).

But of the general cycling NGs I've found, this the best signal to noise
ratio and generally the best advice.

Tony, and others, don't give up on this group. Take a sabbatical,
update your filters, but don't give up. I appreciate your input. This
group would be the less without you.