It's just great isn't it. Not really done much for quite a while due to work, life, bit of a lung infection, family stuff back up north, but got out tonight and did 17 miles down the canal path and the local reservoir. 

Despite knowing the physical principles that keeps a bike upright, there's still a bit of me that thinks it's voodoo. I didn't realise how much I missed shooting down a hill with a cool wind in my face, splashing through muddy puddles and getting covered in the stuff.

That's it really. Expecting to wake up tomorrow stiff and sore. Worth every twinge. 

I'm 50 now and since I first rode without stabilisers aged 4, I have loved cycling. It never fails to make me smile, feels like the closest thing to flying. It feels like freedom and magic all rolled into one. Greatest invention of all time. 

Not for several years now, but me and the chaps did a few long rides over several days on alternate years... Glasgow to Inverness, Chepstow to Holyhead, Hadrians Cycleway.  Stacks of fun. Today I realised how unfit I've let myself become so I'm intending to sort my shit out and get fit enough to do the Scottish ride in summertime next year. I'll be 50 at that point too. Bring it on! 

Chepstow to Holyhead ruined me. Those Welsh hills just don't quit. 

When I was doing some support work in an assisted living facility, I found a local project called Bikes Without Barriers. It was a project with a range of adapted cycles. The benefit to the guys we took was enormous!

I remember one guy in particular who was quite new in the unit and he always had a totally blank expression on his face, you got no emotion ever from him. So him and I were on a side by side tandem together and I suggested we "races" back to the base. We got up quite a speed and he just let out the biggest belly laugh ever and was beaming from ear to ear. There is just something magic about going fast on a bike!

Yep, bikes are fab 😊 

Occasionally I have a ride over to Keswick via Greystoke and use the old railway line route into town from Threlkeld.

Going along that path makes me smile at the thought of being a steam train as I go through the cuttings, through tunnels and over bridges.  I wish I had a realistic steam whistle synthesiser to use instead of a bell.  I'm sure pedos and dogwalkers would take more notice than my bell.

Aside from my family it’s quite easily the best and most important thing in my life. I love every aspect of it. 

I'm logging off now...couple of hours to get the missus and get home, then I shall be out again...

Surely this is a heresy which should result in an immediate lifetime ban from a climbing forum.

😃

Cycling, I get into the flow, and mentally it is just as refreshing as being in the mountains. I used to cycle for utility (commutes / shopping) and keeping fit for mountaineering. Now when I cycle it’s mostly for its own sake. It is a joy.

It's wonderful! When I was doing my MSc I lived about 5 miles away from campus so would cycle in most days. It wasn't that pleasant a ride but there was a good cycle superhighway and it was the quickest way to commute, plus it would give me a decent 30-40 miles a week of cardio. But after I moved from the suburbs of Leeds to a town on the outskirts it wasn't as appealing - the roads are busy and dangerous and the towpath in really poor condition, unfit for a road bike really. I tried a few times but gave up after a particularly jarring ride when my pannier rack was vibrated straight off my bike!

I recently discovered that the towpath had been resurfaced so I dusted off my roadie after a 4 year break and have started occasionally cycling in to uni. It's 15 miles along the Leeds-Liverpool canal, with an uphill mile on the road at the end. Takes about 15 minutes longer than getting the train (though there's obviously then some faffing with showering and changing at work) but it's such a joy to whizz along, seeing the herons and the ducks and the dragonflies on the water (less appealing is the surprising number of topless old men wandering along...). I had forgotten how to change gears but luckily the muscle memory of unclipping my cleats has stuck! I've been riding in and then bringing my bike home on the train while I build up a bit of fitness (and to avoid the afternoon heat) but would like to work up to riding in and out twice a week. So yeah, definitely feeling the joy of riding my bike at the moment!!

I can get from home to work via canal path and the Fallowfield loop (old converted railway line), and it's about 17 miles in total, with about 2 miles touching roads.

Or I could do it in 13 miles all on road...I prefer option 1 as it's much safer and prettier

Apart from the time I cycled into the canal...but I've talked about that a lot on here already.

Just come back from 4 days of cycling around Normandy.

You see so much more on a bike than in a car and experience all the aromas, from the hundreds of roses that were in bloom, to the delicious boulangeries and the less alluring muck spreading!

We also spotted a lot of birds of prey and had close encounters with the local feline population.  Thankfully didn't encounter any riots. 

At the start of the Covid lockdown, I started working at a care home about 30km away from my house. As there was almost no traffic on the roads at the point, I had a blissful couple of months of bike commutes. It did make my work days really long, as the shifts were 12 hours, so I was out the house for 15 hours on work days, but those rides were what kept me going. The weather was glorious, I watched sunrises and sunsets from the saddle, smelt the gorse coming out etc. Bliss 😊 (My colleagues thought I was bonkers! 😂)

This is *exactly* how flying feels. It shouldn’t be allowed.

I do like a bit of cycling too, which has the advantage that a lot more virtuous physical effort is involved.

ff

Back in the 90s I was very much in to cycling, started with cross country and progressed to down hill racing. It was great fun. 

Earlier this year I dug out my bike, I sold all the downhill stuff but I still have my rigid fork steel frame Kone Cindercone. 

Bloody terrified, these days I'm more used to a 250 to 300kg motorbike and the push iron is so twitchy it's unreal. I'm sure I could get back in to it if I tried but it's certainly not easy. 

120 miles in the saddle today. 

The ride up from the Haweswater bottom carpark feels like flying.   The gradient is really easy so you can still pedal nicely yet you are rising up with space to your left and looking down to Haweswater as you rise above it.  Gets me every time.  Easy to imagine you are flying.

and lets also hear it for the joy of beasting oneself racing uphill, hill after hill just for the pleasure of knowing you can. 

Obviously I don't know what it is like to be able to fly, but I do sometimes dream that I can. It involves desperately hard flapping of my arms until I eventually rise slowly upwards until I just can't keep it up and I sink slowly down to land in an exhausted, sweaty mess. So in many ways it is a fairly good reflection of my experience of cycling. As for this "freedom" thing, I just don't get it. To me a bicycle is a straitjacket. Getting to where I get off it and bin the loathsome thing and start walking freely and am able to enjoy my surroundings and think straight again is what gives me a sense of freedom.

is it possible that you haven't ridden a reasonably decent bike that was a reasonable fit to your body shape?

And also maybe lacking suitable gearing to make it better too. 

But yes, I regularly have to hold myself back from stopping people and asking them to let me put their saddle up for them! 😂 I find it painful to watch the position some people ride in, and then it's no wonder they find it hard and unpleasant!

Bends my head that someone can describe a bike as a straitjacket

On that first Scottish ride I was passing through so many different types of landscapes...woods, valleys, lochsides, forest paths, a big slog over drumochter pass...breathtaking.  And on some days I probably saw about three people between sun up and sun down. 

The more I'm talking about it, the more I'm itching to get fit again to do it in 2024.  I don't understand how that that is restricting ones freedom.

But hey ho.  each to their own.

I can appreciate walking too of course!  But I think the range that you can cover on a bike appeals to me as well.

Here's to 2024...

It is a contraption you are attached to. You can only go where there is a suitable surface. Pretty limited really.

It really isn't limiting at all, quite the contrary. A road bike with 25mm tyres has a limited range of surface compatibility yes, but a gravel or mtb can go onto pretty rough terrain and be fun. I recently rode my gravel bike (no suspension) from Ambleside to Pooley Bridge via High Street, then returned along the Old Coach Road and Thirlmere. Most of that route I wouldn't consider walking as the distances are so long and the terrain underfoot is dull, although the views are spectacular. On the bike it was a brilliant journey. Yes there were times I needed to get off and push, so what, walking is okay. But the feeling of cruising across that plateau is wonderful.

Another benefit I'm noticing is I use the car much less now. For exercise I used to drive to a starting point then either walk/run/scramble. Now all my exercise (apart from climbing) is done from the doorstep. Cheaper and less polluting

Well, yes, it sometimes allows one to do the boring bits more quickly (the only time I use mine).

It is possibly a factor, though I am certainly never going to have any other use for a bike than approaching a hill or climb up a track that I can't drive up (so probably a handful of times a year). A cyclist friend suggested I go to this place https://www.thebikestation.org.uk/ which recycles old bikes and will build one from old bits to your specifications. So what I need is one ok on gravel tracks, an upright sitting position, comfy saddle and just a few reliable, ideally hub, gears (I just can't be doing with the gears on the various bikes I've had since the hub ones I had as a child). 

Again, each to their own but I think that points to a limited point of view and mindset really.  Genuinely find it sad that you think of a cycle as 'limited' when it's opens up so many different areas.

Bloody hell, they're about as complicated as a tin opener.

Where do you live.  I've got a spare bike.  I'll take you out.  I'll change your mind.

edit: Sorry, I misread that, I thought you said you couldn't be doing with gears in general...)

Well, I've managed to master the tin opener on a Swiss army knife, though usually struggle with others. Anyway, the complicated, heath robinson, malevolent clusterf**ck of cogs, levers and cables on a bike bears absolutely no comparison to any tin opener I've ever come across. 

Well it obviously opens up no places I can drive, so is really only ever any use when it is preferable to walking but where I can't drive. And given that I infinitely prefer the actual process of walking, it is, for me, only preferable occasionally as a time saving device at the start or end of a walk.

Hehe. I appreciate (going by your previous posts anyway) that you enjoy being contrary but if you're able to be a maths teacher, you're able to work out derailleur based gears...;p

Cable pulls chain one way and gives you lower gears, spring pulls chain the opposite way to give you higher ones. Clicky levers on the handlebars control how much. 

This is like trying to explain the attraction of climbing-if it needs explaining, they're unlikely to ever understand....

Obviously in theory. In practice a different matter. 

If only long distance trains booking and carriage was as easy with a bike as without.  People might stop driving to locations with their bikes. Alas…

Thanks, I’m going to give that a go, not ever having done anything except walking and scrambling in the Lake District. If only it weren’t so far away … but I have friends in Gatehouse of Fleet who want me to visit and a couple of other possibles so I’m hoping to multiply the reasons and end up with a good visit.

Robert, the key is to admit defeat. Then you can snatch a victory from its jaws by taking it to your local bike guy and giving him some business. Age is like the bus pass; you must use it to your advantage!

definitely an advantage for the older rider...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-29061328

Agreed. Tried doing it by train once and it was touch and go whether we actually made it, despite making reservations. 

All the other rides had to involve vans and cars to drop off points. 

I had a bike in 1998 with little awkward levers on the cross bar which where fiddly as hell. I then got hit by a car, broke my leg and went completely off cycling for about  20 years in which time they seem to have evolved in simple me-proof switches right beside my thumbs. 

Seriously, they really are a lot more simple than your average tin opener. 

I think you're right... 

Great thread TC!  Bloody love cycling I do.  Off on a bike-packing trip at the end of next week for a couple of days, can't wait.

Jealous! 

Most likely on the down tube, not the crossbar - so even further to reach...

That said, as a teenager in the 1970s I completed a youth hostelling tour of the West Midlands and part of the West Country on a bike fitted with such gears.  (OK, on a couple of occasions we did cheat a bit and hop on a train - which was dead easy in those days because every train had a guards van.  I can recall train-hopping with my bike as late as the early 1980s.  That it is so f-ing difficult these days is just a disaster IMO.)

Indeed.  So much easier to use these days.  And indexed gears are an order of magnitude easier to set up compared to the witchcraft required to get my derailleurs running smoothly back in the day.

In use yes, but I can understand why folks may still be put off by the maintenance*.  Although as I say, modern derailleurs are much easier to set up and look after.  The increasing prevalence of 1x drivetrains and the associated demise of the front derailleur also helps in this respect, front derailleurs somehow still managing to retain some of the malevolent resistance to adjustment which has been largely dialled out of their rear-end cousins these days.

* That said, another great thing about a bike IMO is how straightforward it is to look after yourself cf e.g. a car.  Most people should be able to manage the basic to moderately advanced jobs - such as fitting a new chains and rear cluster - themselves, given a minimal amount of guidance and some self-motivation.

Your right. I didn't know the name for it... I was being lazy. 😂

So when you say indexed, you're talking about the fact you click the selector and it jumps to exactly the right place and selects the gear? (I really am that clueless about terminology) 

Precisely that.  No fiddling about coaxing it from one gear to another, just tap the up or down trigger and it's done.  Some modern indexed shifters can even shift two or three steps in one go by pressing it a tad further; useful if, for example, you suddenly realise that you're in rather too high a gear for what's immediately ahead of you.  And as I say, setting them up and adjusting them is very straightforward on modern designs.

Don't get me wrong: I enjoyed riding my 5x2 10-speed with downtube shifters back in the 1970s (partly because I'd built the bike up from a wreck myself) but I enjoy riding my modern 1x 11-speed with indexed shifters even more.  The controls feel much more intuitive, so using them becomes more or less instinctive rather than requiring a degree of concentration and a delicate feel like the old style shifters did.

It's really very straightforward Robert. That bit at the back is called a grump, the grump is connected to the whinge which is in turn connected to the crank. The curmudgeon sits on the saddle and turns the crank making the whole thing move. 😀

I and a mate went from the West Riding for a trip on bikes that had changers on the down tube. They were fine. I had a Claud Butler and he had a Peugeot. We went round the Dales youth hosteling. Nowadays, I'm not sure parents would allow it, as we were 14 years old.

The following year we went down to Cheddar gorge and back, and had a great time. The only strange thing for these days was that we had capes for the rain, which were ungainly, and a bit cold when wearing only shorts.

I still use my drop handle bar old hybrid lots, and it has the gear changers on the end of the handle bars. They can be indexed, but I tend to use them in infinitely variable lateral shift mode. I find them fine.

I love cycling. For fun and just getting around town. We cycle up to our local climbing wall three times a week and it helps with the warm up, especially in winter

Ok, I laughed at that 😂

I had a Halfords 5 speed with cages for feet and cape tucked under saddle, did a lot of miles on that in the 70’s. 

The difference is that, whereas climbers tend to just accept that some people don't like or have no interest in climbing, cyclists get all evangelical and tend to tell people they're doing it wrong or have the wrong attitude or whatever.

Don't worry, I have never done anything else but take it to my local bike guy. The gears might behave for one outing, but next time, a few months later, they won't work again and I'm back to leaving it in one gear and pushing at the slightest hint of an uphill (which is actually a nice respite from the peddling hell anyway).

Maybe a man of your advanced years needs a moped?

Love it as well, had a Raleigh with downtube friction shifters I used for short commute in the mid 90s, stopped for ages then had a go on my little brothers modern roadie in 2013, bought one a month later ( at 46 years old) and not looked back. First few months was tough but got to 50 probably 4st lighter, probably as fit now as I've ever been. Climbing improved as well due to lightness.

Done 50 miles in the sun round Northumberland this morning, feels so good.

Enjoy your rediscovering 

Mark

You can love cycling without having to love every bike.  There are bad bikes that just never can be quite right.  I bought one in 1989 and only changed it in 2013.  I did lots of cycling but it was never quite right.  I could never get the adjustments on the derailleurs so everything worked at all ends all ranges.  I accept that it was just never a bike that worked properly and I should have changed it much much sooner.  The bike I replaced it with is much better in every way.  So was the £5 police lost property auction Carlton that I had in the 70s at university (probably fished out of the river by the Durham police) and rebuilt myself, learning all about derailleurs in the process.  Ran like a dream.

But the 1989 Peugot was just wrong, always.  just like the bike you describe.  You could not trust it.  You can trust a good bike with good gears to do what you want it to.

And breath. You need to get out on your bike a bit 😂

......or just have the wrong bike😡

😉

Canals are great. I’m fully behind the campaign challenging the state of our rivers (spearheaded  by Fergal Sharky and others), but what’s interesting is the most waterways near me and you have improved. Partly due to starting off at a low baseline (Manchester Ship canal now has all sorts of wildlife in it, the river Douglas that starts off as a large brook in Wigan is now a great fishery and has water voles and otters), but canals have improved their water quality. I heard that the spread of the banded demoiselle in NW England (saw a few today - amazing damselflies) is mainly due to the interconnected canal network and the improved water quality. In fact, couple of years ago the fire brigade in Wigan got called out to rescue a great white egret that had got stuck close to Wigan Pier. I’ve seen mink, kingfishers, terns. 

I think you're right, Robert.

Me and thee should do a long bike trek together mate. We can argue about the monarchy whilst sweating up hills. Netflix would snap up the rights and we'd make a ton. 

Canals are lovely round here with a couple of tiny bits being the exception. I love seeing the ducking making their appearance each year. And there's a couple of herons that do the rounds as well 

We cycle to Stalybridge quite often. A word of advice, don't fall off and dump your ebike in the Huddersfield Narrow. My mate & bike fell in a few months ago. After I fished it out it with a stick, it cost him about £500 for a new battery & service. Ouch!!!

I've already fallen into that canal between Staly and Ashton. Held onto the bike and managed to get out safely but cut my leg on some debris, and ended up with a manky skin infection which took three courses of antibiotics to get rid off.

Happy days... 😂

Fake news! I myself journeyed when young to the headwaters of the mighty Douglas high up beyond the cloud forests of Rivington Pike. After days of searching, existing only on crisps and black pudding, the true source was located close to the almost inaccessible summit of Winter Hill. Today, a thousand foot high metal pillar has been erected to commemorate this event.

And this is the hymn: youtube.com/watch?v=dTAAzgiPnDE&

Are you playing into this a little by this point? I can't see how you can teach maths to a high level but can't just see how bike gears work. Anyway, like gears in a car (or do you drive an automatic?) once the gears are set up correctly - and you can pay someone to do that if you really have to - you don't really need to understand them, you just push the little level one way or t'other until the pedaling feels right again.

I see it much more as BBC 2 or even 4 sort of thing!

Was going to say "if they don't do it, Sky will" just to get an Alan Partridge reference in there 

If there’s a single aspect of cycling I love the most it’s riding uphill, especially in the Alps or Pyrenees. Nothing better on a bike than 15-20km of 7-12% with stunning views and a coffee at the top.

And touring.

A chopper?

I have reverted to friction shifters as I prefer them over indexed.  Nice and simple to maintain and they don’t destroy cables.

My house backs onto the Floop in Levenshulme. Such an awesome cycle/ footpath. My commute is on there  then picks up the wilmslow road cycle path. Feels so much safer than going straight down upper brook street. 

That might be where you're going wrong: you should be concentrating on riding the bike, not making it even harder on yourself by trying to sell stuff at the same time (and I can well imagine that would be hellishly difficult in the middle of nowhere in the Highlands).

Being serious, though: I was beginning to think that maybe this was a case of the old workman/tools cliche.  But a bike on which the gears "won't work" after "a few months" of idleness having been ridden just once after having had them correctly adjusted sounds like a dreadful heap that would be best sent for recycling into dog food cans.  My gravel bike - which has very much mid-range Shimano gears - hung on the wall of my garage for nearly a year at one point, due to a combination of injury, and getting a new mountain bike, but it all worked perfectly, with no adjustment required, when I started riding it again.

It would seem grossly unfair to damn all bikes, and cycling in general, on the basis of what seems to be one very poor example of the technology.

Or maybe my "local man" is rubbish and it was not correctly adjusted. But I am now convinced whatever that I need a bike with just a few cogs rather than about a million. 

No, I've hated cycling over the lifetime of several bikes. I just find it horrible - it's not for me.