What do you think about whilst riding your bike ??

simon_ramsey
simon_ramsey Posts: 116
edited August 2009 in Commuting chat
As well as the physical benefits of riding your bike it is also good for the mind - de-stressing etc. I often find it gives me time to think & quite often come up with some creative solutions for some of my work whilst on my morning / evening ride. Other mornings some of the things that come into my mind are quite bizarre.

This morning's thoughts were "If I encourage an RLJ'er across a busy junction and he gets splatted would I be culpable for assisted suicide ??" (Must have been the Debbie Purdy case that I read about in the paper).

"What is the FCN of a Black Cab ??" as I had sort of raced one and hit 28mph on the flat.

What did you think about on your ride in this morning ?? (or do you have answers to the above ??)
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Comments

  • prawny
    prawny Posts: 5,439
    I have on more than one occasion thought about starting this thread :lol:

    Usually I sing to my self, or when something interesting happens think about posting on here but never do.

    Recently I have been wondering where that cliking/grinding is coming from.
    Saracen Tenet 3 - 2015 - Dead - Replaced with a Hack Frame
    Voodoo Bizango - 2014 - Dead - Hit by a car
    Vitus Sentier VRS - 2017
  • Paulie W
    Paulie W Posts: 1,492
    If you are able to 'think' then you're just not riding hard enough - my only 'thought' is to focus out the pain!

    That or about girls...
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    What do I think about?

    Curing the economic crisis in a way that benefits wider sub-groups of society.

    What cadence is best for various sections of the route?

    Which route option to take?

    Is that sheep looking at me in a way that might be described as 'normal'?

    Why is it 43 years since the World Cup win?

    Can I beat the hour with this blustery changeable wind? [No.]

    Might there be a nice girl on a horse, or a girl on a nice horse, further up this lane?

    How & when should I set about resolving the week number / month dichotomy that plagues the Stats Page when a week rolls into a new month? That's the one that gets me most, but then a sheep looms into view, or a horse etc, and it's gone. Some other time maybe.
  • dirk_van_gently
    dirk_van_gently Posts: 826
    Great idea for a thread.
    What do you think about whilst riding your bike ??
    Everything and nothing, sometimes simultaneously, and at the same time.
    I have been known to sing, and also talk to myself.
    Have solved complex technical work issues whilst riding, so does that mean that my boss needs to shell out some overtime? :D
    If you see the candle as flame, the meal is already cooked.
    Photography, Google Earth, Route 30
  • Agent57
    Agent57 Posts: 2,300
    This morning, I thought about how I need to get some stiffer-soled shoes for riding to work in. When I used my old road bike, I used proper stiff cycling shoes and SPDs. Now I'm using my old MTB. It has flat pedals, so my cycling shoes are no use. The ones I'm currently using are far too soft and flexible.

    I also wondered how fast I was going. On my old road bike, I have a cyclocomputer. There isn't one on the MTB, so I don't know how much slower I'm riding.

    Then I thought about how I find it easier to look behind me without a rucksack on my back; a benefit of swapping to a pannier.

    When I went back and thought about how much faster I'd be going on my old road bike and proper shoes.
    MTB commuter / 531c commuter / CR1 Team 2009 / RockHopper Pro Disc / 10 mile PB: 25:52 (Jun 2014)
  • Greg T
    Greg T Posts: 3,266
    ChrisInBicester wrote:

    Is that sheep looking at me in a way that might be described as 'normal'?

    Might there be a nice girl on a horse, or a girl on a nice horse, further up this lane?

    Are you also a keen consumer of Absinthe?

    I keep mine in my desk drawer, a couple of sharpeners in the aftenoon jelly fishes the purple in Spitfire accuracy.

    Lovely.
    Fixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.

    What would Thora Hurd do?
  • il_principe
    il_principe Posts: 9,155
    Speed speed speed speed :lol:
    Mmmm she looks niiiiice :D
    Arg, Bus! Evade Evade :shock:
    Numpty :shock:
    Numpty :?
    SCALP! :twisted:
    Numpty :x
    RED LIGHT YOU TW@T :evil:
    Flick the bars, take the apex... 8)
    How fast am going? :?:
    What's that shadow behind me :?:
    Bloody wind :roll:
    Sodding mincabs :roll:
    Could be on the tube :D
    Hahahahah stupid Hybrid - you so sloooooow. :wink:
    Yey! Bikes! :D
    Noncholant SCALP :twisted:
    FARK,watch where your going you myopic to$$er. :o
    Beer, mmm beer.
    What can I tart next? :?:
  • Porgy
    Porgy Posts: 4,525
    edited July 2009
    Il Principe wrote:
    Speed speed speed speed :lol:
    Mmmm she looks niiiiice :D
    Arg, Bus! Evade Evade :shock:
    Numpty :shock:
    Numpty :?
    SCALP! :twisted:
    Numpty :x
    RED LIGHT YOU TW@T :evil:
    Flick the bars, take the apex... 8)
    How fast am going? :?:
    What's that shadow behind me :?:
    Bloody wind :roll:
    Sodding mincabs :roll:
    Could be on the tube :D
    Hahahahah stupid Hybrid - you so sloooooow. :wink:
    Yey! Bikes! :D
    Noncholant SCALP :twisted:
    FARK,watch where your going you myopic to$$er. :o
    Beer, mmm beer.
    What can I tart next? :?:

    yeah that's about right - but with worse language and nothing rude about hybrids :evil:
  • Roastie
    Roastie Posts: 1,968
    Friday before last I saw a particularly good looking woman in heels who looked, er ... particularly good.

    While staring (and likely salivating) I wondering exactly why it is girls look so good in heels, and if I'd be staring if she was wearing practical shoes.

    This was all horribly interrupted when I noticed I was hurtling towards a stationary cab.

    @Il Principe : Classic!
    David
    Engineered Bicycles
  • Deadeye Duck
    Deadeye Duck Posts: 419
    Usually a combination of:
      Hmm, I wonder if my pedal technique is wrong, what if I was to do this... HILL! PUSH! Don't slow down! Probably should have had a drink before now... Must clean bike soon. Does he even realise how closely he just past me? I'm doing 30, how fast was he going?
    Schwinn Fastback Comp : FCN 5
    The Flying Scot : FCN 515q6cuv.png
    My Life, My Bike & My Xbox
  • Chewy Cheeks
    Chewy Cheeks Posts: 234
    Overtaken by a granny - I'll catch her later :roll:

    whos going to overtake me next - feck not two at a time :cry:

    Am I the only one who stops for Red Lights :shock:

    I wonder who else riding along here is a Bike Radar poster

    On the way home - why is it soooo windy

    I love chips and beer me
    No Babbit No, Look what Birdy doing
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    Usually on my commute I think about being a professional road racer and being the only black guy to ride in le Tour de France.

    Over the course of my seven mile commute I would have played out my entire career which normally includes winning the UK Tour series, being signed up by Team Sky, riding and winng the Veluta, Giro and Le Tour, many classics and generally becoming a cultural icon bringing professional cycling and cycling in general to black people in Britain.....

    Then I pass a fit girl and I check our her ankles (yes I'm an ankle man, slender sculptured ones.... I know, I know I've just become even more weird). Then I'll think about buses, taxi's and chasing that pr*ck that passed me too close.

    After all that I'm back in my happy place thinking about becoming a bike designer/builder ala Boardman, Merckx et al having retired as one of the all time greatest cyclists ever. My bike's are so popular and my use of carbon so effective I win awards, save the Brtish economy and put British bikes on the map.

    Well you asked.
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • d21dga
    d21dga Posts: 113
    Why am I so unfit?!!

    Hopefully in a couple of months my mind will be able to concentrate on other things! 8)
  • hisoka
    hisoka Posts: 541
    Work and sex.

    Usually, but not always, unrelated thoughts.

    Too honest? maybe. :twisted:
    "This area left purposefully blank"
    Sign hung on my head everyday till noon.

    FCN: 11 (apparently)
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    what's the time?
    <sigh>
    <sigh>
    how do my legs feel?
    Oh fark - that bloody mile straight
    i hate this village
    please God don't let me die, don't let me die...
    LOOK you farkin' fool!
    I'm alive for another day!
    Ah... downhill to warm up properly
    trees, birds, sheep. cows,...
    feck dog dog feck dog feck arse WA!
    I swear that bloke's a terrorist
    I hate this hill, bloody road surface!
    I am WAY out of shape - why does that never get any easier???
    Scmooooth
    Bloody school kids - no you CAN'T 'look'
    move you daft tart!
    God this bike is HEAVY
    HILL!!!! WOOHOOO!!! Lemme get 30 lemme get.... CHRIST!!!
    thank you thank you thank feck off thank you thank you feck off
    what's the time?
    how do my legs feel?
    <sigh>
    what's the time?


    Reverse exactly for trip home (thanks to IP for inspiration)
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
    2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
    2011 Trek Madone 4.5
    2012 Felt F65X
    Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter
  • Agent57
    Agent57 Posts: 2,300
    Kieran_Burns wrote:
    why does that never get any easier???

    It never gets easier. You just go faster. :D
    MTB commuter / 531c commuter / CR1 Team 2009 / RockHopper Pro Disc / 10 mile PB: 25:52 (Jun 2014)
  • Paulie W
    Paulie W Posts: 1,492
    DonDaddyD wrote:
    Usually on my commute I think about being a professional road racer and being the only black guy to ride in le Tour de France..

    I know this isnt the place to ask this but does anybody know how many black guys have ridden the tour? I think there were a few French riders of African or Carribean descent in the early years but I cant remember any in recent times.
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    Agent57 wrote:
    Kieran_Burns wrote:
    why does that never get any easier???

    It never gets easier. You just go faster. :D


    ummm..... :oops:
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
    2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
    2011 Trek Madone 4.5
    2012 Felt F65X
    Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    Paulie W wrote:
    DonDaddyD wrote:
    Usually on my commute I think about being a professional road racer and being the only black guy to ride in le Tour de France..

    I know this isnt the place to ask this but does anybody know how many black guys have ridden the tour? I think there were a few French riders of African or Carribean descent in the early years but I cant remember any in recent times.

    Why are you ruining my cycle-dream. In my mind I want to be the first. I ride every commute hoping to be discovered.

    Can't wait for tonight I'm going to tear up the road.
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • biondino
    biondino Posts: 5,990
    Paulie W wrote:
    Whackin'
    Goombahs
    Going to the mattresses
    Pasta fazul
    Pussy
    Big Pussy
    Whackin' Big Pussy
    RIP ya fat snitch m***********
    Grecian 2000

    Fixed your post.

    (sorry - it's what I had been hoping for when I saw you'd contributed to the thread :) )
    My Focus / My Bob Jackson
    Blog (incl. bikes)
  • Agent57
    Agent57 Posts: 2,300
    Paulie W wrote:
    does anybody know how many black guys have ridden the tour?

    None. Not one. Ever. Unless I'm mistaken...
    MTB commuter / 531c commuter / CR1 Team 2009 / RockHopper Pro Disc / 10 mile PB: 25:52 (Jun 2014)
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    I very never nearly think about sex on my commute. Which is strange because all other times its on my mind...
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • Paulie W
    Paulie W Posts: 1,492
    biondino wrote:
    Paulie W wrote:
    Whackin'
    Goombahs
    Going to the mattresses
    Pasta fazul
    Pussy
    Big Pussy
    Whackin' Big Pussy
    RIP ya fat snitch m***********
    Grecian 2000

    Fixed your post.

    (sorry - it's what I had been hoping for when I saw you'd contributed to the thread :) )

    I also think about canoli and sleeping on a pool table, and ma.
  • Paulie W
    Paulie W Posts: 1,492
    Agent57 wrote:
    Paulie W wrote:
    does anybody know how many black guys have ridden the tour?

    None. Not one. Ever. Unless I'm mistaken...

    Well for DDD's sake I'll accept that

    But I have a big old picture book with lots of photos from early tours and there is at least one possibly two which shows a rider of afro-carribean descent.
  • secretsam
    secretsam Posts: 5,098
    They are all trying to kill me
    They are all trying to kill me
    They are all trying to kill me
    They are all trying to kill me
    They are all trying to kill me

    Especially that goon on the Brompton (what is it with those things?)
    It's just a hill. Get over it.
  • Agent57
    Agent57 Posts: 2,300
    Paulie W wrote:
    Agent57 wrote:
    Paulie W wrote:
    does anybody know how many black guys have ridden the tour?

    None. Not one. Ever. Unless I'm mistaken...

    Well for DDD's sake I'll accept that

    But I have a big old picture book with lots of photos from early tours and there is at least one possibly two which shows a rider of afro-carribean descent.

    I've hit Google. I did see mention of Moroccans in the 40s or 50s, and a comment here mentions Abdel Kader Zaaf getting the Lanterne Rouge, andhis palmares lists some apparances in the Tour (abandoned in 1948, 1950, 1952, 66th in 1951).

    Alternatively, maybe the photos are of South American riders.
    MTB commuter / 531c commuter / CR1 Team 2009 / RockHopper Pro Disc / 10 mile PB: 25:52 (Jun 2014)
  • Paulie W
    Paulie W Posts: 1,492
    Agent57 wrote:
    Paulie W wrote:
    Agent57 wrote:
    Paulie W wrote:
    does anybody know how many black guys have ridden the tour?

    None. Not one. Ever. Unless I'm mistaken...

    Well for DDD's sake I'll accept that

    But I have a big old picture book with lots of photos from early tours and there is at least one possibly two which shows a rider of afro-carribean descent.

    I've hit Google. I did see mention of Moroccans in the 40s or 50s, and a comment here mentions Abdel Kader Zaaf getting the Lanterne Rouge, andhis palmares lists some apparances in the Tour (abandoned in 1948, 1950, 1952, 66th in 1951).

    Alternatively, maybe the photos are of South American riders.

    Not South American but maybe North African but I think these photos are from earlier. I'll have to dig out the book.
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    I've seen footage of Eddie Merckx with oily dirt all over his face. Will that do?
  • bigmat
    bigmat Posts: 5,134
    Depends how you classify "black" I suppose, there are plenty who you wouldn't call "white". There was I think a Tunisian guy this year, couple of Japanese, and some of the South Americans are mixed race / indigenous appearance, Alvaro Mejia comes to mind - closer to black than white in my memory at least. Don't think there have been any Afro-Caribbean heritage riders though, which is strange when you think that there are all kinds of African physiologies, in athletics they compete from sprints to long distance so I think their absence from the pro peleton must be more of a cultural thing.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/41991871@N ... otostream/
  • Agent57
    Agent57 Posts: 2,300
    That could change!

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/ja ... -de-france
    MTB commuter / 531c commuter / CR1 Team 2009 / RockHopper Pro Disc / 10 mile PB: 25:52 (Jun 2014)

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