MAJs gay bikes [she’s in her fitness era]

That’s lovely. Hope the plant makes it

Having listened to disc brake noises for all of 10 minutes it’s radicalised me against them again.

Good really because I was almost becoming agnostic

My logic is flawed, but inferior brakes makes you slightly faster.

We’re on our way to the new forest!

The panniers are fucking heavy, god knows how people carry camping gear on top of this

Got 2 peoples stuff for 3 nights on here and fucking Blackfriars bridge felt like alp de huez

3 Attachments

We have made it,

Yha’s are lovely arnt they

Chips are lovely

Not lovely?

People who put chains and locks on public access gates, made our job 10x harder to get loaded bikes over and makes public access completely in accessible to those with a access needs.

Getting hate crimed by a guy on the train? Greeted my partner as a bloke and then when they were inconvenienced as my partner struggled to move their bike and told them to step back, seemingly decided they were a woman and unloaded a bunch of misogyny on them.

We finally get off the train, they do too, they throw a torrent of abuse at me and my partner, I’m asking them to leave us alone, go about their day, Whatever, threatens to come back and assault me.

Was equal parts bizzare and frightening, left us with an hour cycle on top of our planned cycle to the hostel, as we got off a stop early to escape him.

The forest is truly beautiful tho even if it’s got some twats and nimbys in it.

Got to meet a friend at the tail end of a new forest ride tho, and our land pod is lovely, I love YHAs, I love my bike.

Fuck transphobic misogynists

Fuck people who lock gates

3 Attachments

Sorry about the dickhead on the train, you shouldn't have to deal with that! Hope the rest of the trip cancels it out, looks fucking great.

What great weather to ride great bikes and camp in great spots!!

Jeez fuck those people. Hope you're okay

Trains have lots of cctv
Not worth ruining a lovely trip but worth reporting?

Day 2

Today we cycled to lymington

It’s not far from where we’re staying but Komoot sent us down a mile long section which can only be described as “a bog” , we had to hike it through this and my partner got absalutely destroyed by stinging nettles as I had Whack us through some dense holly due to degradation of the trail.

Making it to lymington we went to the pub and got a nice pint and an antihistamine (great combo).

I’m a coeliac and dairy intolerant and wanted chips, after my partner asked the barman if they did food and got a resounding no but a 3.50 pint, my partner said they’d just walk to the chippy and come back.

They arrive back 30 minutes later

Shell shocked

Apparently they asked the people for their allergy book and found the chips and the mushy peas were gluten free and ordered them, and the owner walks through and starts saying sternly to everyone they’re not, they’re covered in wheat and we fry them with the batter, to which my partner says “oh ok, but in the book they said .. can I have a refu….”. Before they get their words out lots of shouting ensues about how they won’t get one, they should have checked before they ordered , hot head stuff from the manager.. my partner just leaves and writes it off

So they go to the marks and Spencer’s, now for context before we get into this, my partner is nonbinary, often just gets seen as a bloke most days, but a butch lesbian if they’re not binding, and they’re made of strong stuff, they’ve been out since a teen, so they’re quite used to a range of reactions which they often meet with good humour or uncaring. But they hand on heart, swear down, this one lady followed them round the store sneering the whole time they were there, they double backed went back and forth, could not lose her, they were in shock, words from them “has this person never seen a lesbian before??!”.

Then they get back and need the toilet and order another drink, we still wear masks as I’m clinically extremely vulnerable and I’ve been locked inside for 2 years, it’s comfort more than anything, helps with the anxiety of enclosed spaces, but the guy at the bar just fucking lays into them, all kinds of anti masker stuff, just shite really, so much so the barman tells him to fuck off.

These events on their own would be whatever, but back to back and so close together it caused us to hightail it the fuck out of there

both of us have thick skin and are unbothered, we’ve asked the hostel to stay an extra night as there is so much to see . Two days, two weird incidents, travelling and being a trans/ gay couple in a place like this fucking sucks to be quite honest, And there is such shit bags in this Tory hell hole, it’s a real barrier to people. It’s not just trans or gay people, the stuff I’ve overheard people say casually is directed at anyone who doesn’t look like Boris or Carrie Johnson.

We took a scenic route through the forest and had a good
Laugh back, construction crew let us through a closed road, just a really beautiful place… filled with arseholes.

Cars pass wide tho

4 Attachments

Lovely.

If it wasn’t so sad, it would be overwhelmingly bizarre. Cannot fathom people unable to handle a couple people wearing masks. I don’t understand hating someone for their gender or their sexuality either, or being ‘something’ you don’t understand, just leave them be and put it out your mind, to actively get at someone just seems like… is that how you want to live your life, do you like carrying around that bile and letting it rot your soul.

I’m sorry Maj that’s so pointless and stupid. Glad you and your partner are ok.

Action shot with grimace is good, that’s so much off road route riding in the Uk, that ‘how is this the route it’s barely a track’ feeling

What kind of gravel bike is the last photo?

Fuck those people. Glad you're having fun despite them and extending the trip

Fuck sake. Sorry you've had a rough time of it down there (but also bits of a nice time??)

hope you can make the best out of the countryside.
some people are shit.

looks like a great adventure!
fuck the haters

just a really beautiful place… filled with arseholes.

This should be the New Forest strapline tbh. I've never ridden in the New Forest without someone being a twat. I only live 30 miles away but gi enterally give it a wide berth.

Did you make it to The Woods? Lovely people there and a great cafe.

Burley cider pantry is also fantastic.

Funny you say,

Today we rode to Southampton for dinner with a friend - they sent us a route through lyndhurst as my partner needed a tune up of their gears

Was lovely, they fixed the gears and I lolled it’s opposite a Ferrari garage

Tbqh today was beutiful, scenic and didn’t have any hate crime

Did a 6 mile smash from the forest into Southampton down a bleak cycle path, true disassociation hours as scouting for girls played on the clip on speaker

5 Attachments

Last day today, just did a mixed terrain loop and picked up some stuff for dinner

Having spent some time here now, done some miles on the bike, some thoughts

1) on road it was really nice, we did a few big hills (for me) and the bike got me up, didn’t have to get off, the runs into town on roads felt swift and fun, I almost wish I did more road

2) the bike shined most when we went places, like having to ride mixed terrain to lymington or Southampton I felt like I had the ideal bike, when we just did a day ride loop which was off road, it felt lacklustre

3) made me really want a hard tail mtb, or even a rigid, my partners ogre kept up over the whole trip, there was no reason to have tyres this small, they enjoyed the off-road on it more too

4) the bike felt really good on and off road with panniers, I was super impressed, as a light tourer, much like point 2, it really really excels

In conclusion?

I want a alloy hard tail with blue sid and dropper, running 2.2 semi slicks

5 Attachments

alloy

That clean country air has got to you

Give me a canyon with a blue sid, and a LARGE piece of leccy tape to block out the logo,

Maybe replace it with a decal which says

“P R O N O U N S”

Being a bike forum full of middle-aged men ( surprisingly few 'engineers' on this one ), someone surely has to point out that a steel bike frame is constructed from an alloy material too

I hate myself just a little bit more now

How do you Know I wasn’t just discounting carbon bikes???!?