A simpler time

[Drago]

Helmets. Road rage. Daily Mail. Hi vis. E bikes. Close passes. Ronnie Pickering. Carbon fibre. Strava. Clipless pedals. Electronic shifting. Fixies. Adventure bikes. Heart rate monitors. Bluetooth connected gears. Hydraulic discs. Chris Boardman refusing to ride on the road. Suspension. Death kill slaughter. 29ers. Cheap far eastern carbon. Expensive far eastern carbon. Online only retailers. Indexed gears. BMX Bandits. Lance Armstrong....

Such a simple pass time or method of transport has become so damnably complicated. Does anyone hark back to simpler cycling time when one simply climbed upon ones bike and rode it? Ones cycling progression was simple - kids bike, cast off bigger bike, racer? Where the only drugs a professional cyclist might partake of was Woodbines? Where you weren't considered a slavering lunatic for riding a bike on a road because it was simply such a common eight back then?

Why is something so simple now so complicated, and are things any better, are we any happier with cycling today than we were back then?

 

[Mugshot]

Helmets. Road rage. Daily Mail. Hi vis. E bikes. Close passes. Ronnie Pickering. Carbon fibre. Strava. Clipless pedals. Electronic shifting. Fixies. Adventure bikes. Heart rate monitors. Bluetooth connected gears. Hydraulic discs. Chris Boardman refusing to ride on the road. Suspension. Death kill slaughter. 29ers. Cheap far eastern carbon. Expensive far eastern carbon. Online only retailers. Indexed gears. BMX Bandits. Lance Armstrong....

We didn't start the fire!!

 

[Drago]

That's given me my first chuckle of the morning!

 

[Markymark]

The change happened when everyone bought >= 1 car.

 

[Lonestar]

Pedestrians who don't look and pedestrians on mobile phones.Bradley Wiggins car commercial.
Car drivers on mobile phones.Car drivers speeding.Boy racers.Road Tax.Red lights jumpers.Uber drivers/Addison Lee.
Chris Grayling dooring syndrome.

 

[gaijintendo]

I remember hearing the famous line in a movie.

"You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow."

That's an over simplification if ever I heard one. That's not how you whistle: That's how you blow.

I forgot my point.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Where the only drugs a professional cyclist might partake of was Woodbines

I still take Jamaican Woodbines to keep up the tradition.

 

[captain nemo1701]

The change happened when everyone bought >= 1 car.

I blame Tory transport policy from 1979-1997 which favoured car use. The public bought it, built lifestyles around the car and now it's a problem with congestion & pollution, are reluctant to change.

 

[Drago]

I still take Jamaican Woodbines to keep up the tradition.

See, even that was ruined when the rule was formed that you had to pass it to the left hand side.

 

[welsh dragon]

You don't have to become fixated with all of the above. I'm not. I don't have any gizmos, or gadgets. I just ride my bike when i want, and sod anyone or anything else.

 

[Oldfentiger]

Helmets. Road rage. Daily Mail. Hi vis. E bikes. Close passes. Ronnie Pickering. Carbon fibre. Strava. Clipless pedals. Electronic shifting. Fixies. Adventure bikes. Heart rate monitors. Bluetooth connected gears. Hydraulic discs. Chris Boardman refusing to ride on the road. Suspension. Death kill slaughter. 29ers. Cheap far eastern carbon. Expensive far eastern carbon. Online only retailers. Indexed gears. BMX Bandits. Lance Armstrong....

Such a simple pass time or method of transport has become so damnably complicated. Does anyone hark back to simpler cycling time when one simply climbed upon ones bike and rode it? Ones cycling progression was simple - kids bike, cast off bigger bike, racer? Where the only drugs a professional cyclist might partake of was Woodbines? Where you weren't considered a slavering lunatic for riding a bike on a road because it was simply such a common eight back then?

Why is something so simple now so complicated, and are things any better, are we any happier with cycling today than we were back then?

Yep - remember those days.
Me, Wilf, Greg and Mawbs, all 14 year-olds with "racing" bikes of various ages.
We'd set off on a Sunday morning, from Whittlesey which is near Peterborough, and ride to Hunstanton and back.
That's a round trip of 96 miles.
Dressed in T shirt, Jeans and plimmies. So no lycra or padded shorts etc.
Saddle that came with the bike.
Orange squash in the water bottle.
Saddlebag containing packed lunch, spanner, puncture repair kit, and rain cape.
No bypasses round Wisbech or Kings Lynn.

We only had one drama.
I had watched a bit of the Tour de France on the telly, so I was now an expert on how to go fast.
I instructed my mates to ride single file and close together, and take turns at the front.
Coming back through Wisbech Wilf was on the front, and Wilf was always the cautious one amongst us.
We were overtaking a bus which was stopped, but then the bus driver indicated to pull away.
Three of us decided we could still get past, but Wilf was being Wilf and put his brakes on.
Carnage.

Happy days.

 

[LonesomeWanderer]

You don't have to become fixated with all of the above. I'm not. I don't have any gizmos, or gadgets. I just ride my bike when i want, and sod anyone or anything else.

Indeed. I don't have a heart rate monitor or bluetooth connected gears on my handlebars. I don't even have a Christ Boardman on there....

 

[LonesomeWanderer]

Indeed. I don't have a heart rate monitor or bluetooth connected gears on my handlebars. I don't even have a Christ Boardman on there....

Hmmm. Maybe I'll leave that typo.... seems accurate.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

I knew Drago reminded me of someone

 

[gaijintendo]

[QUOTE 4991736, member: 259"]I often wonder about this. Car ownership is usually higher in the Netherlands than in the UK, but they don't seem to have the same problems (or fewer anyway).[/QUOTE]

Legalise it?