a genuine question

Frank the tank

How do you find cycling as a sociable passtime/hobby/sport.

In my life I've persued three sports football, tae-kwon-do & cycling.

on a social side I must say cycling is the least sociable of them, even when you go out with a group you may strike up a conversation with one or two,it is not a we're in this thing together sport, we're all in it for what we can get out of it.

I must say cycling is a way of life and I love it but by and large cyclists as individuals are a bit off scue and I'm one.

Do you agree?

Sorry if I've caused any offence to anyone that was not my intent, it's just an observation.

softlad

Sorry, I completely disagree.

Belonging to and riding with a racing club is probably the most social thing I have ever done. club runs, tea stops, club meetings, club dinners, social rides - I would argue completely the opposite.

The number of people I met through racing was huge and there was a real sense of camaraderie before, during and after the races - we all rode in the same division and you would get to see mostly the same guys week in/week out.

Frank the tank

No need to say sorry "softlad" it was a genuine question I posed.

The club I belonged to was not great. I did enjoy my cyclo x experiences and the MTB races I participated in but the club runs I went on were odd. Consequently I now do most of my cycling on my own. I do go out now and again with lads from work though.

finchy

University martial arts clubs are always good for the social side, I find that the atmosphere's better in 5-a-side than 11-a-side footy.

I think that for cycling, you've probably just got yourself into the wrong club.

synchronicity

I do a lot of riding on my own, so I agree with you.
But I do think cycling is as sociable as you make it IF you make the effort to join a club and go on rides, races, cycling holidays etc...

Sirius631

I do a lot of my riding on my own. I don't think it's the club, I think it's me.

nasahapley

I agree with the OP to a certain extent; in my experience many cyclists can be quite insular (how many 'Why don't roadies say hello' threads have there been?!), but then I took up cycling seriously precisely because it's a sport you can do by yourself, and I'm sure others have too. I packed in rowing partly because of the faffing around that comes with trying to organise a crew and having to rely on others, but one thing I do miss is the brilliant social (read 'heavy drinking') side of the sport. Most clubs must be fairly sociable though, I mean what's the point of having a club of misanthropes?

teagar

Depends on the club really!

I rode with the Cambridge cycling club once and they were unbelievably friendly (even lent me an inner tube!), whearas the uni team last year just spat me out the back and didn't wait to tell me how to get back... :shock: They're much nicer this year mind.

Speaking of rowers... They tend to fall into two types I find. The " I want to be Sir Steve" group, which is a worryingly large proportion of rowers, and the beer crews who have a bit of fun on the side...

I'm guessing cyclists probably fall into similar catagories.

ride_whenever

With cycling, it depends on what they're looking to get out of it. Most of the cyclists i know are really friendly and normally stop at the pub halfway round!

As for rowing, i think teagar, you're being a bit unfair. It's a very competative sport, and you can enjoy a lot of sucess in it, but most of the rowers i know (except the olympian 8) ) party pretty hard too.

Airwave

The bigger the club,the more idiots there are within!

teagar

ride_whenever wrote:

most of the rowers i know (except the olympian 8) ) party pretty hard too.

I'm assuming partying hard doesn't mean drinking themselves into paralysis...? :roll:

Maybe I'm just not so keen because I get the raw end of the deal coxing them 8)

Still, did find one group of rowers who I get on with very well - still go out occasionally when we all find ourselves near the river.


I do think that in most cycling clubs there is less of an emphasis on the competition than in rowing, no? There might be the odd ridiculous chain gang, but never the whole club.