Things I Think About When I Cycle...

Programming, God, why do I ride fixed when I keep getting overtaken by multi gear bikes on the flat and it hurts up the hills - stuff like that

Usually I am trying to work out whether what I had for breakfast has made me particularly quick today or there's a strong tail wind. Other times I wonder whether I've suddenly got shit at riding a bike or if there's a head wind.

One day I will probably get up early enought to leave early enough to do a 180 endo / skid and ride back the other way for a bit to work it out. Not tomorrow though. Too tired.

"Programming, God, why do I ride fixed when I keep getting overtaken by multi gear bikes on the flat and it hurts up the hills - stuff like that"

I never (read rarely) get overtaken. I'd never publicly admit to being overtaken.

In no particular order;

Fuck that was close
Loser
Wanker
Have I put my invisibility cloak on by mistake?

And on the days when nobody tries to maim or kill me;

I love cycling
Haha! the suns out and you are stuck in traffic
Haha! its raining and you are stuck in traffic
Haha! its Friday afternoon/Monday morning/anytime in between and you are stuck in traffic
My legs look goooooood

Quite often it's " how can my nose produce so much snot " , sometimes I see how many of the 360 degrees I can get drive out of - usually it's " must fix that little niggle when I get home " and I always, without fail, forget.

Strangely rugby. I played when I was young an now, in some weird residual memory thing, I remember playing as I ride. I'm a lot better in my head than I ever was.

I never (read rarely) get overtaken. I'd never publicly admit to being overtaken.

No problem admitting this, the flat bit of my commuting I used to ride on a 50/11 ratio, which is quite a bit higher than I could ride round here on my fixie (now my only bike), so I would be surprised if I wasn't passable. Maybe that's part of the beauty of it, you either learn humility or you can feel superior to all those anxiously competive types - take your pick as an affirmation of your existential freedom, you see cycling gets you thinking about all sorts of stuff and fixed gear riding is a great way to ponder what Heidegger calls 'throwness' as freedom and brute contingencies collide and we realise our freedom through transcendent detachment. Cor, bet that makes you want to get on your bike

I have no idea what the fuck that^ means...

Cunt.
Cunt.
Cunt.
etc

Depends where:

In London/Essex: Mixing cyclists with a few kilos of cycle with up to 40 tonnes of machine, is as mismatched as eating a plate of sausages and jelly. General awe and respect of folk who ride miles in this every day. How can authorities get away with mixing raised iron grates, manholes, blocked and overflowing drains, potholes, slippery lines, poor surface repairs from utility companies, litter and other junk - then add a splash of tarmac to bind them all together and call it a road? All this as well as the weather and other road users!

Off road away from traffic: General sense of calm and sorting out of thoughts and enjoying the moment.

Rural Perthshire (sadly rare these days): What is that odd smell (?) - oh yes, clean air! Who jacked the hills up yet again? Astonishment at riding some back roads for miles without seeing a car, and remembering why I like cycling.

@dimi
dont hold back, just say it

sometimes i think of what would happen if i get squished by a lorry, usually go on to think... 'hope its quick and painless'
.
love riding through traffic feeling really smug and imagining how i feel when im stuck in traffic in my van

Depends how far I've cycled.

10km - big bowl of Alpen
40km - fat peanut butter sandwich
70km - Ben'n'Jerrys 'half baked' icecream
100km - a 8 person tear'n'share chocolate chip brioche

Always washed down with a cold brown ale. But then climbing the stairs makes me think about cold brown ale. So that probably doesnt count.

You can get peanut butter in Norway?

It's advisable to have a contact in your phone labelled as "ICE", although some kind of lockscreen-widget might be preferable as some banking-related and enterprise wifi apps require you to use a number or pattern lockscreen.

"Are those girls looking at me or my pink bike?"

amazing what riding a pink bike (mine) does to people's ingrained stereotypes of gender and colour. Particularly people in leesh wear being dragged along by a Staffie, and people in cars who shout 'gayer' as they pull round you....

go figure

It's advisable to have a contact in your phone labelled as "ICE", although some kind of lockscreen-widget might be preferable as some banking-related and enterprise wifi apps require you to use a number or pattern lockscreen.

My lock screen image.

Am I doing it wrong?

"hello world"

Won't help you much.

thought have been cycling past same dead rat near old st and thought "is it you are another one because youve been there for most of the week"

I'm reading Atoine de Saint-Exupery's Terre des hommes at the moment.

The foreword has a great bit about how the earth teaches us more about ourselves than all the books in the world because it resists us, and how self discovery comes when a man measures himself against an obstacle, but to do this he needs an implement. And it could be a plough, or a carpenter's plane, or in his case an aeroplane, but for me it's a bicycle.

I suppose on longer rides you have to think about why you're doing it a little, or you'd quickly lose motivation. I was definitely getting plenty of resistance from the world (well, the wind) yesterday.

I was also thinking more banal things, such as "Oh look, the Malverns", "Oh look, a buzzard", "It's stopped raining, finally", "Oh, it's started again" and "I'm fairly sure I'm the youngest person in this tea room".

You can get peanut butter in Norway?

Yes.

Alpen is rare and expensive.

B'nJs ice cream is £7 a tub.

I should try and steer my mid cycle cravings towards pickled herring and dried makerel.

Do people really think of stuff other than food when cycling?

#bitofagreedycnut

I have no idea what the fuck that^ means...

Sorry, thatks the problem with posting from a blackberry, takes too long to explain things but thanks for not understanding, you know how it is with cycling... I am misunderstood therefore I am

Sorry, thatks the problem with posting from a blackberry, takes too long to explain things but thanks for not understanding, you know how it is with cycling... I am misunderstood therefore I am

I used to use a Blackberry Curve. There's nothing wrong with it that would stop you writing as coherently as you usually do.

Oh.