Great Joy!

[Bicycle]

I cycle quite a lot and so do our children (12,15,17).

My wife does not. She rode a sit-up-and-beg, rod-braked girl's bike with a whicker basket (we still have it) as a 6th former, but had scarcely ridden since. She'd sort of wanted to but just couldn't get her head round it.

The thaw started at the weekend....

2 days ago she went out on an old Pinarello road bike of our daughter's, but with flat pedals.

5 miles. Hated it. Neck and palms sore.

Yesterday 8 miles. Hated it. Only neck sore.

Today she went out and hated the first couple of miles. By the time we got home (8 miles) she was tired but could see what was fun about it. Nothing sore.

She's made me promise to go out with her again tomorrow and is thinking of cancelling her gym membership.

She still thinks it's mad to fix your feet to pedals and she thinks road bikes are stupid and wobbly... but she's got the whole cadence thing and looks the part when she has a push. I think she's seen the light.

Refuses to wear full-on cycling clothes (but accepts gloves, helmet and lycra shorts make things better).

I think the number of cyclists in the UK just reached n+1 .

I've kept my gob shut for 24 years and have never even suggested a ride... so this is a triumph of my silent hope and her (very) slow-burn curiosity.

Hurrah!

 

[coffeejo]

 

[Seigi]

If only I could get mine interested. Surprisingly she couldn't even ride a bike until I taught her, we were outside for about 3 hours trying to get her to be able to ride it proper (I wouldn't let her have dinner until she could do a lap! Am I cruel?

).

Sadly, it sorta backfired on me because she had a sore rear for about a week, didn't shush up about it and doesn't want to touch another bike again despite my frivolous efforts. Part of the reason of her not really knowing how to ride a bike was because, in a funny incident 3 years ago when she was 'first' learning, she for some reason was learning on a BMX (without brakes) and up ahead was a cattle grid....She fell down it, the only thing that stopped the whole bike going down was some bars on the back wheel

 

[NormanD]

Oh you sad sad sad sad man, or you will be very soon if SWMBO takes up cycling too, think of the cost involved in a new bike, clothing, accessories and the like, your poor wallet is going to take an awful beating your life has now ended, pray to god for more overtime

Good luck trying to convince her to give up now

 

[pepecat]

After the sky ride in brum this year my o/h decided she might like a bike. Ten days later she had one from decathlon, we went out at the weekend- did a very lesiurely ten miles round the park on Sunday, with lots of stops, but now she's talking about taking bikes to France/Netherlands next summer and doing a cycle holiday thing. I've only responded to her, never said ' you should get a bike'. The quiet enthusiasm has rubbed off!

 

[G-Zero]

Nice one

My OH has a decent MTB, but can I hell inspire her to ride it regularly. She's well in to running at the moment and I can't tempt her back in to the saddle.
We're taking the bikes to France in a week or so and they're our main transport for shopping & visiting places once we're on site, so hopefully that will get her interested again.

 

[Bicycle]

Another 8 miles today and she was slightly cross about hills and gears and I don't know what all else...

But still came home happy to have done it.

This is wonderful for me, but it has nothing to do with anything I said, as I said nothing.

The final triumph will be when she asks what the trick is with clipless pedals...

She's already saying her feet move on the pedals at high cadences...

Conveniently, the daughter whose bike she rides is leaving home in a few weeks - so won't need the bicycle...

Is there such a thing as win-win-win?