When am i no longer a beginnner?

Phill B

Hello chaps, as the title says "when am i no longer a beginner?"

What is the protocol for this? is judged by how long i have been a road cyclist (14 months)?

Is it based on miles covered (i try to average 150 miles per week)?

Or is it to do with average speed (17-18mph depending on lenght of ride)?

Do any other noobs ever wonder about this question or is it just me?

springtide9

It's generally when you are pleased that your 'average speed is now ....' and you post in the Beginners forum, and people comment that you are not a beginner

There is no definition. If you joined a club, you would be a beginner. If you started racing, you would be a beginner. There will always be people more experienced than you, and always be people less experienced.

So you are not a beginner, you are an individual. But if you are wanting an official statement, I think after 12 months you are not what this forum considers a beginner.

Peddle Up!

With every passing day I feel more and more like a beginner at everything.

I dunno if that helps, at all.

danowat

Why the need to categorize yourself?, there will always be someone faster / slower with more / less knowledge about cycling than you, it doesn't matter what pidgoen hole you put yourself in, it's all down to perception.

Phill B

I understand that there will always be people far better than i will ever be and to another cyclist with 30 yrs riding in the bank i would be considerd a beginner. I suppose like many things it is all relative and can not be as black and white as i first thought.

karlth

There's also the "been MTBing for years just got a road bike" beginner who's very different from the "never cycled since I was a kid, just got a road bike" beginner.

NITR8s

Dont forget the all the gear no idea begineer, who has a better ride than everyone else in the cycling club but has never ridden any longer than 5 miles before.

Teece

There's a bloke just started working at my college and I met him in the bike racks. He was getting off a fixed wheel vintage frame with no brakes.
He explained that he had just started cycling again and hadn't cycled since he was a kid.

I nodded and smiled but made it obvious that I didn't believe him!

team47b

when you stop posting your average speed

Mikey23

I think you stop being a beginner when you realise that you are no longer soaking up information and knowledge from others but are starting to give it out to others ...

ianbar

i do 100 miles a week done a few sportives and been riding for 18 months now, i still class myself as a beginner don't know when i won't maybe next season...

Dmak

When you stop asking silly questions!

Really though it's just when you know your s*** You'll know.

rolf_f

When you no longer desire deep rim wheels!*

*I'm joking!

kieranb

when you don't worry about being a beginner any more or wonder if others on your ride/commute route can tell if you are one or not.

But definitely, as said already, when you stop asking silly questions or the balance of seeking advice to giving advice turns.

mattshrops

When you stop posting your stats in the hope someone will give you praise

simon_masterson

Mikey23 wrote:

I think you stop being a beginner when you realise that you are no longer soaking up information and knowledge from others but are starting to give it out to others ...

This.

Fitness and speed are separate areas of proficiency; not all cyclists are wannabe racers.

I personally stopped feeling like a 'beginner' when I felt like the working parts of a bike were no longer a complete mystery to me, that I had some degree of competence to make my own choices of parts and upgrades, and that I had sufficient conviction to advise others.

karlth

Probably when you've replaced a set of forks.

smidsy

The day after you start :-)