forum addiction
anothersam
Posts: 5
I have an addictive personality, but few addictions. Don't smoke. Don't drink. Don't do drugs stronger than paracetamol, which is bad enough. I cycle; and forum. Occasionally both at the same time.
Usenet was the gateway drug, the Cycling Plus forum (now BikeRadar) my first taste of the harder stuff. Every post was another hit. Sometimes there were good trips, sometimes bad, it depended on the quality of the mix. So I grew my own. That wasn't a panacea, but it did offer the opportunity to make my own mistakes, which is strangely more satisfying than enabling those of others.
'Another cycling forum' (some people name their dog 'Dog') achieved critical mass, as we say in the forum and bombmaking biz, when C+ experienced difficulties and a cadre then a cascade of regulars immigrated. It lasted about three years and then went pear or mushroom shaped, accounts vary.
Whether or not I did a good job as admin could be argued until the cows come home, if any cows are interested. It no longer exists, which is silent testimony for the prosecution. And now I have an image of a Gary Larson cow being cross-examined in a courtroom on the far side...
Correction: acf continues to exist, but as a blog. Here's the site. Here's a timeline written by a noted historian/retired bloviator. And here's a picture of a bike I think Gary Larson would like.
It also goes on, after a fashion, at Yet Another Cycling Forum, started by people who fled or were expelled, and oh, this is starting to read like Exodus: When will we find the promised land? I don't know if they've found it there, but it seems to be working for them.
Then we have CycleChat, which found its own critical mass in the afterbirth of the clearly fecund BikeRadar forums, mixed metaphors be damned. Friendly, or so it says on the tin, and in my limited experience it is. Lots of traffic. Nice logo. Surely CycleChat is of interest to an addict such as myself, no?
Well, no. I mean, I've posted there, it continues to tempt. It's not them, it's me.
My wife and I live in the countryside. It's gorgeous. We have no immediate neighbours, are not overlooked by anyone but sheep, insouciant deer, the odd badger. Every time we come home, and I mean Every Single Time, we both feel pleasure right down to our toes as we come down that drive. The only hitch is, we've arrived at the point of no return. Having lived in New York City and London and Tunbridge Wells long enough to get disgusted, we now require more elbow room (mind the genoci-- erm, Manifest Destiny). So even if we saw a perfectly lovely semi-detached that we could actually afford and that had oodles of charm and a ballroom in the loft and rainbows sprouting out the back garden, we couldn't move. We are, in a word, stuck. And so am I.
Having run my own forum and administrated another (C+, briefly, the user become the dealer), I can't settle down in one run by somebody else, at least not a cycling forum. There are too many things I'd want to change. It's kind of like being offered a bike on the condition that you keep all the original parts on it.
The upside to all this is, perhaps it will cure my addiction.
Step one: admit you have a problem
Step two: do a personal inventory, possibly have a car boot sale
Step three: make a list of the forums you've been to, post in them, flush out fellow addicts who might themselves discuss the nature of addiction and how much of this is tongue-in-cheek
Step four: go out for a ride, unless it's raining
Step five: learn to like the rain
Usenet was the gateway drug, the Cycling Plus forum (now BikeRadar) my first taste of the harder stuff. Every post was another hit. Sometimes there were good trips, sometimes bad, it depended on the quality of the mix. So I grew my own. That wasn't a panacea, but it did offer the opportunity to make my own mistakes, which is strangely more satisfying than enabling those of others.
'Another cycling forum' (some people name their dog 'Dog') achieved critical mass, as we say in the forum and bombmaking biz, when C+ experienced difficulties and a cadre then a cascade of regulars immigrated. It lasted about three years and then went pear or mushroom shaped, accounts vary.
Whether or not I did a good job as admin could be argued until the cows come home, if any cows are interested. It no longer exists, which is silent testimony for the prosecution. And now I have an image of a Gary Larson cow being cross-examined in a courtroom on the far side...
Correction: acf continues to exist, but as a blog. Here's the site. Here's a timeline written by a noted historian/retired bloviator. And here's a picture of a bike I think Gary Larson would like.
It also goes on, after a fashion, at Yet Another Cycling Forum, started by people who fled or were expelled, and oh, this is starting to read like Exodus: When will we find the promised land? I don't know if they've found it there, but it seems to be working for them.
Then we have CycleChat, which found its own critical mass in the afterbirth of the clearly fecund BikeRadar forums, mixed metaphors be damned. Friendly, or so it says on the tin, and in my limited experience it is. Lots of traffic. Nice logo. Surely CycleChat is of interest to an addict such as myself, no?
Well, no. I mean, I've posted there, it continues to tempt. It's not them, it's me.
My wife and I live in the countryside. It's gorgeous. We have no immediate neighbours, are not overlooked by anyone but sheep, insouciant deer, the odd badger. Every time we come home, and I mean Every Single Time, we both feel pleasure right down to our toes as we come down that drive. The only hitch is, we've arrived at the point of no return. Having lived in New York City and London and Tunbridge Wells long enough to get disgusted, we now require more elbow room (mind the genoci-- erm, Manifest Destiny). So even if we saw a perfectly lovely semi-detached that we could actually afford and that had oodles of charm and a ballroom in the loft and rainbows sprouting out the back garden, we couldn't move. We are, in a word, stuck. And so am I.
Having run my own forum and administrated another (C+, briefly, the user become the dealer), I can't settle down in one run by somebody else, at least not a cycling forum. There are too many things I'd want to change. It's kind of like being offered a bike on the condition that you keep all the original parts on it.
The upside to all this is, perhaps it will cure my addiction.
Step one: admit you have a problem
Step two: do a personal inventory, possibly have a car boot sale
Step three: make a list of the forums you've been to, post in them, flush out fellow addicts who might themselves discuss the nature of addiction and how much of this is tongue-in-cheek
Step four: go out for a ride, unless it's raining
Step five: learn to like the rain
0
Comments
-
W
T
F0 -
Anothersam, are you well?
Do you feel better for getting that lot off your chest? :?Tail end Charlie
The above post may contain traces of sarcasm or/and bullsh*t.0 -
Step 6: Put down the knife. Walk slowly to the door with your hands on your head.0
-
Er ah um OKI don't do smileys.
There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda
London Calling on Facebook
Parktools0 -
Crikey. Im not a doctor, but id prescribe a room with soft walls and nice little red sweets every 4 hours.0
-
Yes I know what you mean...... * examines non existing fluff on tie, then wanders away *0
-
This forum needs you as much as you seem to need it.
Note to everyone else, lets not scare this one away chaps?0 -
Did you lot read all that? I gave up after one sentence :shock:0
-
what a first post! (and no, I didnt read it all!)0
-
-
What an awesome, parambulating, bombastic, erudite and comprehensively useless pile of shite.
Welcome Brother!0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:
I think this one is just starting to get a bit furry around the edges on this forum! But anyway, what film is it from?Faster than a tent.......0 -
-
im worried by the amount of posts i have on internet forums. genuinely. not sure how with the amount of posts i have on this forum, and 2 others that i still have a job...BMC TM01 - FCN 0
Look 695 (Geared) - FCN 1
Bowman Palace:R - FCN 1
Cannondale CAAD 9 - FCN 2
Premier (CX) - FCN 6
Premier (fixed/SS) - FCN30 -
anothersam
Joined: 26 Sep 2010
Posts: 1
=
Addiction or obsessive compulsive lurker ?Giant XTC Pro-Carbon
Cove Hustler
Planet X Pro-Carbon0 -
Redhog14 wrote:It might be Citizen Kane...
Looks awfy like Citizen Kane, or it could be Montgomery Burns in the Simpsons MovieYou've no won the Big Cup since 1902!0 -
Anyhoo, OP lives a solitary existence in the country.... I'll bet even the Jehovah's Witnesses are scared to knock his door.You've no won the Big Cup since 1902!0
-
that first link is pure genius.....0
-
wannabfit wrote:that first link is pure genius.....
Totally...
"She had a fit when I did the London-Edinburgh-London run. We were living in Edinburgh at the time, and I insisted on riding to and from the start of the event. So that made it Edinburgh-London-Edinburgh-London-Edinburgh. What's the big deal? It just makes sense. I needed to warm up and warm down."The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.0 -
I'm having a serious case of de ja vu (a bit like last saturday seeing the same stretch of the A1) or however the f its really spelt.
But I am proud to stand up (okay, I'm sat down, minor matter), and say/type this:
"My name is DD (well it's not actually but you get the picture), I USED TO BE ADDICTED TO BIKE RADAR, BUT I'M NOW CURED"
All Hail I hear you cry...
Love n hugs
DD0 -
It's not addiction, it's FOMO................ right, on to the next topic !Science adjusts it’s beliefs based on what’s observed.
Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved0 -
Dollop0
