Cycling and mid life crises...

rodgers73
rodgers73 Posts: 2,626
edited October 2010 in Road beginners
Just as I get into cycling and start to enjoy it again (not done any since my teen years) the media declare it to be a sure sign of a mid life crisis! I read a huge article on it on the BBC News website a few weeks back and now this -

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/soci ... 009303131/

I'm soon to turn 37 and fear my hobby is making me look an arse! :(
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Comments

  • rhext
    rhext Posts: 1,639
    Ha, beat me to it!
  • Peddle Up!
    Peddle Up! Posts: 2,040
    In the Blue Corner - a man enjoying a life-affirming, healthy, interesting pursuit that will add years to his life.

    In the Red corner - a collection of lardy-asred media wonks making up tales to fill column space.

    Ding! Ding! :)
    Purveyor of "up" :)
  • pilot_pete
    pilot_pete Posts: 2,120
    Whatever you do when over the age of 40, other than getting fat and working too much, is called a mid-life crisis by someone... :roll:
  • pilot_pete
    pilot_pete Posts: 2,120
    Whatever you do when over the age of 40, other than getting fat and working too much, is called a mid-life crisis by someone... :roll:
  • pastasauce
    pastasauce Posts: 221
    And this in the Guardian today ............ made me laugh ....

    7. Don't go buying midlife toys

    Nothing screams complete idiot more than the sight of a middle-aged man with a load of expensive gadgets. Not so long ago, you could identify these men by their sports cars or motorbikes. This year's midlife accessory is the fixed-wheel racing bike. You are not a courier; you are an overweight man whose reactions and balance aren't what they were. Ride one of these and you will certainly end up in A&E. Where the doctors will try not to snigger as they cut off your Lycra before wheeling you into surgery.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/ ... ife-crisis
  • Mr Dog
    Mr Dog Posts: 643
    Like it... chunky wasp.
    Would love to fight Clarkson.. for charity of course. Despite being stones lighter and having no reach it would be a one sided affair. 8)
    Why tidy the house when you can clean your bike?
  • Gazzaputt
    Gazzaputt Posts: 3,227
    As I 've cycled for years I'm thinking my mid life crisis should be some 21 year old buxom, blonde bird with as filthy mind as mine.

    Please.
  • acebobby
    acebobby Posts: 95
    What a load of rubbish, just like the mamil's thing.
    "43% of professional men aged 35-50 have spent more than £500 on a bike without really knowing why."
    where do they pluck a statistic like that from? have you ever asked someone why they bought a bike and their answer was I dont know?
    Cycling is one of the best things you can do for yourself exercise wise as its low impact, great for fitness, and encourages you to eat a bit healthier and drink a bit less, all positive but the press and the BBC want to embarrass you for trying to do yourself some good, whats that all about?
    And to top it off where do they get of saying 35 is middle aged!
    Sorry for the rant but there's much worse things we could be doing with our spare time and entities like the BBC should be encouraging people to live healthy lifestyle's rather than making them feel like a tit for it!

    Bobby
    getting faster, fitter, and skinnier by the day!
  • bompington
    bompington Posts: 7,674
    acebobby wrote:
    What a load of rubbish, just like the mamil's thing.
    "43% of professional men aged 35-50 have spent more than £500 on a bike without really knowing why."
    where do they pluck a statistic like that from? have you ever asked someone why they bought a bike and their answer was I dont know?

    Errr, the Daily Mash is not exactly a broadsheet newspaper, if you look very closely at the website you might just notice that it's a teeny bit satirical...
  • acebobby
    acebobby Posts: 95
    bompington wrote:
    acebobby wrote:
    What a load of rubbish, just like the mamil's thing.
    "43% of professional men aged 35-50 have spent more than £500 on a bike without really knowing why."
    where do they pluck a statistic like that from? have you ever asked someone why they bought a bike and their answer was I dont know?

    Errr, the Daily Mash is not exactly a broadsheet newspaper, if you look very closely at the website you might just notice that it's a teeny bit satirical...

    lol yeah no doubt, I just find the whole midlife crisis thing just gets a bit annoying!
    getting faster, fitter, and skinnier by the day!
  • bompington
    bompington Posts: 7,674
    acebobby wrote:
    bompington wrote:
    acebobby wrote:
    What a load of rubbish, just like the mamil's thing.
    "43% of professional men aged 35-50 have spent more than £500 on a bike without really knowing why."
    where do they pluck a statistic like that from? have you ever asked someone why they bought a bike and their answer was I dont know?

    Errr, the Daily Mash is not exactly a broadsheet newspaper, if you look very closely at the website you might just notice that it's a teeny bit satirical...

    lol yeah no doubt, I just find the whole midlife crisis thing just gets a bit annoying!

    You're right, it does - I know more than one guy whose life is falling apart in a way that coulld be called mid-life crisis: not just buying fancy toys or getting into new hobbies. All the fluff in the media is a bit insulting to a lot of people.
  • PatrickT
    PatrickT Posts: 20
    And I thought it was just my Harley Davidson and au pair sh***ing that qualified my midlife crisis!
  • Bozman
    Bozman Posts: 2,518
    Riding a bike til you pop, trackdays on a motorbike, going out drinking with your mates, where's the crisis in that?
    Having an 18mth old boy at 42, that's a bloody crisis!
  • Chrissz
    Chrissz Posts: 727
    Bozman wrote:
    Riding a bike til you pop, trackdays on a motorbike, going out drinking with your mates, where's the crisis in that?
    Having an 18mth old boy at 42, that's a bloody crisis!

    Pah! I started at the age of 44, and now, at the age of 48, have a 6month old son :!:

    Hard-core crisis LOL
    http://coastalcommando.wordpress.com/
  • plowmar
    plowmar Posts: 1,032
    Bozman says
    Having an 18mth old boy at 42, that's a bloody crisis!

    I thought they were a lot younger when you got them. :wink:
  • velvetytoast
    velvetytoast Posts: 161
    Articles clearly written by people who can't afford a mid life crisis.....
  • JKHinton
    JKHinton Posts: 70
    edited October 2010
    The only exercise, the guys writing these stories get at the weekend, is getting up from the sofa for the Pizza delivery :mrgreen:
  • Bar Shaker
    Bar Shaker Posts: 2,313
    Daily Mash is not intended to be taken seriously, chaps.

    It's very funny. Have a read of some of the other articles, such as this one
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  • AndyF16
    AndyF16 Posts: 506
    maybe it depends on how thick your skin is, but personally I find all this media bilge really rather amusing

    i've got 'back' into cycling at 39.5, and yes I've bought two decent (but not high-end) bikes in less than a year, but I do use one or the other at least 5 days out of 7 each week

    having been various degrees of lardy for pretty much 20 years, I'm finally doing something about it, to good effect so far and enjoying it all immensely into the bargain - hell, it even helped my decision to sell the business I've run for the past 14 years and have a year or two off :wink: i don't look that much of a tit, but really don't care who thinks I do :P
    2011 Bianchi D2 Cavaria in celeste (of course!)
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    2009 Orange G2 19" in, erm orange
  • Diogenes
    Diogenes Posts: 1,628
    velvetytoast wrote:
    Articles clearly written by people who can't afford a mid life crisis.....

    I am not so concerned about the tarts that think up stories in press, I am far more concerned about the fat little kids this grandfather blows away up hills, wondering if the buggers will live long enough to contribute to my pension.

    D :shock:
  • daveyok
    daveyok Posts: 69
    You're preaching to the perverted on this one!

    Turned 38 in the summer and got a carbon fibre road bike after years on my Univega mtb. Had exactly the same thoughts about mid-life crisis. Fact is I probably wouldn't have had the spare cash in my 20s. Also the more you get in to it the more you realise how useful the gadgets and specialist bits and pieces are. I'd like to see one of those hacks spend over five hours in the saddle in just a pair of denim cut-offs and a t-shirt on a chilly day in October!

    I'd embrace the bright colours (safe), the tights (warmth) and all the other things that seem to mark us out as having a crisis. Surely this would only be true if you gave up cycling 6 months after buying your expensive bike in pursuit of the next fad. But isn't that what teenagers do anyway?
  • Peddle Up!
    Peddle Up! Posts: 2,040
    Diogenes wrote:
    I am not so concerned about the tarts that think up stories in press, I am far more concerned about the fat little kids this grandfather blows away up hills, wondering if the buggers will live long enough to contribute to my pension.

    Yeh! :D
    Purveyor of "up" :)
  • masterchef
    masterchef Posts: 202
    JKHinton wrote:
    The only exercise, the guys writing these storys get at the weekend, is getting up from the sofa for the Pizza delivery :mrgreen:
    lmao
    best bike: raleigh avanti U6 carbon comp
    10m tt pb:23:42.
    25m tt pb: 1h 2min( only done 2)
  • rodgers73
    rodgers73 Posts: 2,626
    Went to see Dara O'Brien last night and he did a 5 minute section on buying an expensive bike and all the gear etc and how stupid he looked. Can't escape this theme lately!! :shock:
  • Lillywhite
    Lillywhite Posts: 742
    I'm 63, always wear lycra, with expensive helmet and carbon shoes and own a carbon Trek road bike with 11 speed group set.

    Have I successfully bypassed the mid-life crisis stage? :lol:
  • rodgers73
    rodgers73 Posts: 2,626
    I think you're dodging the grave rather than trying to recapture your youth! :D:wink:
  • kenniff
    kenniff Posts: 207
    Bought my first road racer and started at 50
    Ooooo looks a bit bad when you type it down.
    I wear what i want as long as its practical.
    All the gear
    no idea
    Is a common occurance in many sports but who are we to judge
    ENJOY
    I,m going to
    Easy life
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    rodgers73 wrote:
    Went to see Dara O'Brien last night and he did a 5 minute section on buying an expensive bike and all the gear etc and how stupid he looked. Can't escape this theme lately!! :shock:

    Only gay in the village is the mental image I have, :)
  • deswahriff
    deswahriff Posts: 310
    ...while mainly a runner, I've always cycled "a bit", but this summer really got into it with the incentive of a team triathlon...bought my first decent road bike in August - nothing too extravagent- bib shorts and proper shoes/pedals, so I guess I might fit the stereotype the press portrays .....well apart from, at 53, being a svelte 10 1/2 stone!!! ..can't say I see any lardy cyclists on my Sat morning rides.....

    ...btw I had my "mid-life crisis" years back in my 40's when I started playing guitar in a rock 'n roll band!!
  • snailracer
    snailracer Posts: 968
    Peddle Up! wrote:
    Diogenes wrote:
    I am not so concerned about the tarts that think up stories in press, I am far more concerned about the fat little kids this grandfather blows away up hills, wondering if the buggers will live long enough to contribute to my pension.

    Yeh! :D
    Well, those kids will probably wish you don't live long, so they won't have to contribute to your pension.

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