Great Cycling Quotes

I came out for exercise, gentle exercise, and to notice the scenery and to botanise. And no sooner do I get on that accursed machine than off I go hammer and tongs; I never look to right or left, never notice a flower, never see a view - get hot, juicy, red - like a grilled chop. Get me on that machine and I have to go. I go scorching along the road, and cursing aloud at myself for doing it.

H.G. Wells, The Wheels of Chance

I couldn't have put it better myself. That is exactly how I behave much to my distaste at times too

"In 1904 20% of journeys were made by bicycle. I want to see that figure again. And if you can't turn the clock back to 1904, what's the point of being Conservative?"

Boris Johnson

"What is Chris Hoy going to do next ?"

"The day that Chris Hoy talks about Chris Hoy in the third person is the day that Chris Hoy's head disappears up Chris Hoy's arse."

as quoted on this promising-looking new site: http://www.londonaletaster.co.uk/

I came out for exercise, gentle exercise, and to notice the scenery and to botanise. And no sooner do I get on that accursed machine than off I go hammer and tongs; I never look to right or left, never notice a flower, never see a view - get hot, juicy, red - like a grilled chop. Get me on that machine and I have to go. I go scorching along the road, and cursing aloud at myself for doing it.

H.G. Wells, The Wheels of Chance

#goesoutandbuysthewheelsofchance

^
No need to pur-chase,
http://www.online-literature.com/ great site with lot o stuff and not only books but H G W short stories - worth the look .
also from The Wheels of Chance, a delightful description of a journey o'er the bars

"so that its stoppage necessitated an inversion of the entire apparatus,--an inversion in which I participated."

"bikes are sweet for picking up girls, because if they say no, you can discreetly follow them home"

bloke in starbucks last week

**Phil Ligget **"Once they level they'll turn left onto the runway and the speed they're going there's a very good chance they'll take off.
Paul Sherwen "They need to take off because this runway looks like an aircraft carrier"

*Tour de France 2010, stage 12 ITV Coverage.
*
My favourite bit of commentary from this year's tour. What is Sherwen on about?

My favourite Phil Liggett moment from youtube (I'm too young for it live, obv):

Just WHO is that rider coming up behind, because that looks like Roche!
That looks like Stephen Roche!
IT'S STEPHEN ROCHE! who's come over the line, he almost caught Pedro Delgado. I don't believe it.

My favourite Phil Liggett moment from youtube (I'm too young for it live, obv):

Just WHO is that rider coming up behind, because that looks like Roche!
That looks like Stephen Roche!
IT'S STEPHEN ROCHE! who's come over the line, he almost caught Pedro Delgado. I don't believe it.

That footage is awesome. Old enough to remember it and they were resigned to him losing time as they had no idea where he was.

link?

I watched it on TV in a bar in France. The French commentator was doing his nut too.

"Shut up legs"

Jens Voigt

"I like my gearing, how I like my women... 16-44"

+1

"I like my gearing, how I like my women... 16-44"

Ageist.

Life is like riding a bicycle - in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving. ~Albert Einstein

"I thought of that while riding my bike"

              **Albert Einstein**
              On the Theory of Relativity.

I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle; I want to ride my bicycle; I want to ride my bike; I want to ride my bicycle; I want to ride it where I like...; I don't believe in Peter Pan, Frankenstein or Superman; All I wanna do is bicycle, bicycle, bicycle...

              **Freddie Mercury**
              Queen 1978.

Ride lots.

              **Eddy Merckx**

Lucretius could not credit centaurs;
Such bicycle he deemed asynchronous.
'Man superannuates the horse;
Horse pulses will not gear with ours.'

Johnson could see no bicycle would go;
'You bear yourself, and the machine as well'.
Gennets for germans sprang not from Othello,
Ixion rides upon a single wheel.

Courage. Weren't strips of heart culture seen
Of late mating two periodicities?
Did not once the adroit Darwin
Graft annual upon perennial trees?

I've got a bike. You can ride it if you like.
It's got a basket, a bell that rings and
Things to make it look good.
I'd give it to you if I could, but I borrowed it.
You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world.
I'll give you anything, ev'rything if you want things.
I've got a cloak. It's a bit of a joke.
There's a tear up the front. It's red and black.
I've had it for months.
If you think it could look good, then I guess it should.
You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world.
I'll give you anything, ev'rything if you want things.
I know a mouse, and he hasn't got a house.
I don't know why. I call him Gerald.
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world.
I'll give you anything, ev'rything if you want things.
I've got a clan of gingerbread men.
Here a man, there a man, lots of gingerbread men.
Take a couple if you wish. They're on the dish.
You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world.
I'll give you anything, ev'rything if you want things.
I know a room of musical tunes.
Some rhyme, some ching. Most of them are clockwork.
Let's go into the other room and make them work.

"People ask me whether I actually enjoy cycling. This question surprises me, since the answer is so obvious. Yes, cycling is enjoyable, and one can even give enjoyment to others, at times, but all in all it's a rather banal question.

The divine surprise comes when you discover that beyond enjoyment lies the thrill of la volupté. The voluptuous pleasure you get from cycling is something else. It does exist, because I have experienced it. Its magic lies in its unexpectedness, its value in its rarity. It is more than a sensation because one's emotions are involved as well as one's actions. At the risk of raising eyebrows, I would maintain that the delight of cycling is not to be found in the arena of competition. In racing the threat of failure or the excitement of success generates euphoria at best, which seems vulgar in comparison with la volupté.

The voluptuous pleasure that cycling can give you is delicate, intimate and ephemeral. It arrives, it takes hold of you, sweeps you up and then leaves you again. It is for you alone. It is a combination of speed and ease, force and grace. It is pure happiness."

From the autobiography "Tomorrow we ride" by Jean Bobet

‎'Anybody who rides a bike is a friend of mine'?
Gary Fisher - preface to the book of Super.Naive by Erlend Loe (good read)

Definitely corny...a little bit true though, yes...

"People ask me whether I actually enjoy cycling. This question surprises me, since the answer is so obvious. Yes, cycling is enjoyable, and one can even give enjoyment to others, at times, but all in all it's a rather banal question.

Or for a different take by Lance Armstrong on a similar question.

"Once someone asked me what pleasure I got out of riding my bike for so long. "Pleasure?" I asked. "I don't understand the question. I didn't do it for pleasure. I did it for pain"

link?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQojh-wqL04"]YouTube-
1987 Tour de France - La Plagne[/ame]

"Shut up legs"
Jens Voigt

Quality.