At what stage are you classed as a "cyclist"?

rafregt1
rafregt1 Posts: 52
edited February 2016 in Road general
The title says it all......

Thoughts??
«1

Comments

  • 97th choice
    97th choice Posts: 2,222
    When you're riding a bike. Do you think you're a cyclist whilst your driving a car?
    Too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye, aye

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  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 17,222
    rafregt1 wrote:
    The title says it all......

    Thoughts??
    If you are riding a bike and you or anyone else who is riding a bike does something that is perceived to be wrong.

    If you are fat and driving a taxi, you are a cyclist if you or anyone you know has ever owned a bicycle.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,347
    97th choice wrote:
    Do you think you're a cyclist whilst your driving a car?
    Yes, I do. I also think of myself as a driver, a husband, a photographer..... What I am doing at a specific time does not change me as a person.
    To answer the OP, probably someone who is happy to ride more than (insert random number) 10 miles.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • iPete
    iPete Posts: 6,076
    When you choose to ride a bike somewhere but have access to a car or public transport.
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    Obviously you're a cyclist when you're riding a bike - that's a given. But I think the OP means when can you call yourself a cyclist even when you're not riding. I guess it's when you ride your bike on a regular basis, doesn't matter if that's for fun or commuting or whatever.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,700
    I like the bikesnobNYC definition of "Someone who rides a bike even if they don't need to"
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 7,579
    I think he means 'cyclist' as opposed to 'someone who rides a bike'.

    I'd say when you ditch the baggy clothes, put the lycra on and clip in.
    But others may disagree!
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    ddraver wrote:
    I like the bikesnobNYC definition of "Someone who rides a bike even if they don't need to"

    Is the guy who rides to work on a beat up MTB because they can't afford anything else a cyclist or not? I guess you'd only really find out if he was given alternatives.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,700
    Dorset Boy wrote:
    I think he means 'cyclist' as opposed to 'someone who rides a bike'.

    I'd say when you ditch the baggy clothes, put the lycra on and clip in.
    But others may disagree!

    Exactly - the guy going to work on a bike becasue he has no other choice - not a cyclist, the food delivery guy riding a bike as a delivery vehicle - not a cyclist
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • haydenm
    haydenm Posts: 2,997
    When you treat it as a hobby rather than just a mode of transport I would guess. Or when you spend most of you time on here when you are meant to be working...
  • ayjaycee
    ayjaycee Posts: 1,277
    edited February 2016
    When you start really missing the riding after a couple of days off the bike.
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  • mamil314
    mamil314 Posts: 1,103
    Everyone on a bike are cyclists. When off the bike, only people who make living from cycling, are cyclists.
  • haydenm
    haydenm Posts: 2,997
    mamil314 wrote:
    Everyone on a bike are cyclists. When off the bike, only people who make living from cycling, are cyclists.

    I can see where you are coming from but if someone asked me at work if I was a cyclist I would certainly say yes, they clearly know I'm not a professional cyclist however. I'm a guitarist too but I don't make money from that. I don't think the definition of a cyclist is someone who makes a living from it unless they are answering in that context
  • davep1
    davep1 Posts: 837
    ayjaycee wrote:
    When you start really missing the riding after a couple of days off the bike.

    Bingo! Or...

    ... when your pc knows "BBC weather" is one of your favourite sites, because you need to plan your week's riding around the worst of the rain/snow/wind/temperatures...

    ...or when you get a buzz from walking past all the skanky smokers standing round on the steps before work starts, in your silly shoes/tights/helmet...

    ...or when you realise you haven't bought some kit for your cycling for a few weeks, so you are perfectly "justified" in surfing Wiggle/Chain Reaction/Ebay...
  • bompington
    bompington Posts: 7,674
    ... or when you see a sign saying "cyclists dismount" and you think "oh no we don't"
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,700
    :lol::lol: (thinking of Putney Bridge 2 years ago...)
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • Baron Ban Ana
    Baron Ban Ana Posts: 39
    ... when you dont talk to anyone for days because you can't find the cause of the creak when you pedal

    ... when you are excited for thursday's as you know thats when the new magazines come out in the shops

    ... when pasta is the only meal choice the night before a ride, regardless of how much your other half moans about it
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,347
    Baron Ban Ana wrote:
    ... when pasta is the only meal choice the night before a ride, regardless of how much your other half moans about it
    You do know that other options are available that are just as effective.
    Don't you?
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • 97th choice
    97th choice Posts: 2,222
    Well if we're going to be serious about it, then you can only call yourself a cyclist when you shave your legs.
    Too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye, aye

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  • IanRCarter
    IanRCarter Posts: 217
    97th choice wrote:
    Well if we're going to be serious about it, then you can only call yourself a cyclist when you shave your legs.
    And when you're asked why, you give many different answers but will never admit the truth - Because it's what the pro's do.
  • chrisaonabike
    chrisaonabike Posts: 1,914
    When you think about it enough to post a definition on a forum.
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  • byke68
    byke68 Posts: 1,070
    Is it a trick question?
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  • okgo
    okgo Posts: 4,368
    FTP over 300 watts, less than that you're just a commuter.
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  • florerider
    florerider Posts: 1,112
    PBlakeney wrote:
    Baron Ban Ana wrote:
    ... when pasta is the only meal choice the night before a ride, regardless of how much your other half moans about it
    You do know that other options are available that are just as effective.
    Don't you?

    yeah, but if I go out for pasta with the mistress she thinks I'm a cheapskate.
  • damocles10
    damocles10 Posts: 340
    Going to a meeting in Lycra....I've actually done that. Ooops, I did cycle to the meeting btw.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,347
    florerider wrote:
    PBlakeney wrote:
    Baron Ban Ana wrote:
    ... when pasta is the only meal choice the night before a ride, regardless of how much your other half moans about it
    You do know that other options are available that are just as effective.
    Don't you?

    yeah, but if I go out for pasta with the mistress she thinks I'm a cheapskate.
    Lobster and rice. :wink:
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • joe2008
    joe2008 Posts: 1,531
    after the first mountain stage
  • doug5_10
    doug5_10 Posts: 465
    Transition from a bumbly into a cyclist happens when you discover that cycling shorts are actually meant to have things that go up over your shoulders and that wearing underwear is to be sneered at whilst shaking your head in condissention.
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  • verylonglegs
    verylonglegs Posts: 4,023
    florerider wrote:
    PBlakeney wrote:
    Baron Ban Ana wrote:
    ... when pasta is the only meal choice the night before a ride, regardless of how much your other half moans about it
    You do know that other options are available that are just as effective.
    Don't you?

    yeah, but if I go out for pasta with the mistress she thinks I'm a cheapskate.

    Just order a £30 bottle of wine to go with it.
  • e17blade
    e17blade Posts: 215
    My stepmum was a proper racer back in the Beryl Burton days and she always says that "you aren't a proper cyclist until you have repaired a puncture by the roadside in the snow".

    Harsh.

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