Does anyone cycle?

Susynan

We (OH - 75 and I - 74) have a motor home and often go away for a few days, or longer. Always take our bikes with us. If we’re not away, we generally go for a longish cycle ride at the weekend.

My OH and I have a campervan and 2 electric bikes. We go all over the place with them whenever we can, including the Continent. My balance is not great and I have been known to wobble off on occasion. OH is 80, I am 74 and he leaves me standing!

I hadn't cycled for years until lockdown when the gym and pool shut. My OH is a keen cyclist so I started going with him and took to it like a duck to water. Have now got a gorgeous Isla Janis bike for road cycling and a Trex sport hybrid. Last year I had quite a bad fall and ended up with a broken collar bone. I soon recovered but was more wary. I have just had a kit fitted to the Trex to give it a motor that I use on the very steep hills. Only do 10 to 15 miles at a time but may do more with the new kit.

No, even my neighbour has given up. Poor cycle lanes pot holes, but mainly people driving dangerously. Such a shame,as visiting family in Holland I see their cycle lanes. Mind you with motorised scooters allowed in them, you still take your life in your hands.

Down in North Devon at the moment and just my 3rd day of cycling, average 18 miles a day and plan for one more trip tomorrow. Karmalady I use something called Bot Butter on my bits as well as padded knickers. Makes a difference

Barmeyoldbat, that queen song was played when my husband left the church after his funeral. He was always a cyclist, schoolboy champion etc and he actually died on his bike, as he would have wanted. I never even had to put air into my tyres, maintenance was a steep learning curve afterwards

We used to live in a village near Cowbridge and then in Pontyclun and if dd ever decides that they would like to move back to Wales, I would follow her like a shot. I lived in Wales for 37 years

Barmeyoldbat, I used to cycle the taf trail. I loved cycling in wales, we used to take our bikes to west wales, oh that was so nice

There is a lady, several years older than me and she gets all her shopping via her tricycle. She has a wicker basket on the back. Good for her. She also attracts people who stop for a chat when they see her parked up

Right, saddles, they stop me going further. I have brookes saddles on my three bikes and the wide sprung saddle on my e bike is very comfortaable and I don`t notice it when cycling. The other two are different and both in process of being broken in. I wear padded shorts under trousers when on my ebike and padded leggings from fatladattheback on the other two bikes. Thinking about it, the saddle on my e bike has been used for 15 years. That is the solution

Re balance, cycling is so good for that. I can almost stand stillon my bikes. Btw, I have short legs and normal height body so cannot reach the road while sitting on my saddle. I have to jump off each and every time I halt, hence the balancing act

I have cycled, but I have dyspraxia and very poor balance and I struggled. I recently, when driving I came up behind a cyclist like I was, and I recognised myself, someone who you could see was balanced - just -, but the slightest thing could overset them - and it was terrifying to see them and it left me wondering about the 1,000s of drivers I must have equally terrified over the 4 years I cycled to and from work.

In the end one of my hips began to play up and I had to stop. Were I to cycle again, it would need to be a tricycle.

Weird - only not really, it’s down to algorithms I expect- immediately after posting here I got a pop up for the Col du Galibier in the French Alps - a high pass popular with cyclists .
Why weird? Because I au paired there in 1968 in my summer vac from university! I have never been back although D and SIL have had skiing holidays not very far away.
But what a blast from the past!

I wanted a Pink Witch more than anything but had to be content (!) with my older sister’s cast off (and cast iron, from the weight) black bike with a curved cross bar which was always slightly too big for me. No gears or anything and I used to have to lug it up and down the 23steps in front of our house to get to the road. Is it any wonder cycling and me never formed a meaningful relationship and I don’t think I could even ride a bike now 🚴‍♀️

My first bike was a Pink Witch, dad walked nearly 5 miles into town to buy the bike and cycled home.

Good to hear of others cycling well into their 70's. I ride to work on non-rainy days on my e-bike. We do have quite a few hills, so a regular bike would be work up a sweat!

Our town doesn't have cycle lanes, so my routes are limited, but I do love it!

I've never driven, so cycle everywhere. I don't see cycling as a sport. Two wheels are my form of transport and carrying. Having panniers and a front basket, it enables me to get a hefty amount of shopping from my nearest supermarket.

My first bike, in the 1950's when I was around 12yrs was a 'Pink Witch', there's been a succession since then but (hopefully) my last one I use now is a sturdy grey Raleigh.

After a toe operation in his early 70s DH was feeling seriously unfit so a friend suggested cycling. At first we hired bikes a few times and enjoyed it so much that we bought bikes and started riding on safe off road routes around London, often canal tow paths. It became a regular weekend activity and we covered most of the Lea Valley and a lot of the Grand Union canal. Sadly DH then diagnosed with dementia and eye sight got too bad to cycle safely. We miss it.

Karmalady, also 75, and I was out today cycling up the Taff Trail, Wales is a great place for cycling but only did 20 miles as I have chronic pain so it does limit mr. Good news is I have treatment for it and in a week or so should be so much better. Just love to cycle and often sing the Queen song I love My Bicycle when I am struggling up hill.

I love my cycling! I belong to 4 groups and go out 3 times a week all year round. Like you Karmalady, I wish I had got into it when I was younger, but realistically, I never had the time.
Luckily we live in an area that is ideal for cycling, very flat with lots of cycle lanes and country paths and trails. It's costal though, so we get lots of wind! We usually do about 30 miles a trip.
I'm off with 17 other ladies between the ages of 55 and 80 on a cycling tour in Yorkshire next week. Now that e-bikes are available it means that older/weaker cyclists can still keep up.

I used to cycle locally but have recently given up and just walk instead. I'm getting old and doddery and our local cycle paths are quite hazardous now with litter, glass, dogs/people just wandering about etc. Of course, the local pot holes are being filled - just in time for Ride London next week.

We (OH - 75 and I - 74) have a motor home and often go away for a few days, or longer. Always take our bikes with us. If we’re not away, we generally go for a longish cycle ride at the weekend.

75 now and still cycling and mostly without battery power and I can still get up local hills, albeit counting cats eyes to the top. Maintenance is on-going, doing it all myself. I only average about an hour on my hybrid or road bikes, lightweight road bike has rock hard wheel pressures and is skinny and flighty. If out for longer with very steep hills then e bike it is. I ride by myself and an hour is enough for exercise without being bored

I did think, briefly, about replacing my e bike, bought top of the range german bike in 2008. I had to do some serious maintenance on that bike last autumn, I had replaced a split washer incorrectly on the back wheel axis and ended up walking a long way home. Took me a couple of days to fix things as I had to replace the back tyre and adjust gearing, brakes etc. My mistake and I learnt from it. It is still a lovely, very free-rolling quality bike but V brakes and not discs. V brakes are quite messy to adjust.

It is really nice to see a few more people out on their bikes and to have better increased protection from law, I have noticed many car drivers giving me more space

Cycling is our main form of transport for local trips and we are grateful for the cycleroutes locally.
We have done several long distance cycle rides over the years and enjoyed the Rhine path in Germany - following a river helps with the navigation!

Georgesgran it drives me nuts when cyclists ignore decent cyclepaths! Having said that we used to live in West London where the cycle path alongside the A4 was well known for having a covering of broken glass - not compatible with bike tyres. It was also used as a handy parking space by householders.

I cycle everywhere local, but I wouldn't call it sport. I don't have any special clothing. We are lucky here in Germany in that we have a very good infrastructure for bikes and I live in the Rhine valley so it's very flat.

DH does the whole MAMIL thing and has several outings planned with his chums this year. Not for me!

I was never that great on a bike in my younger days so now ....no. I live in London and the idea of a white line keeping you safe from the rest of the vehicles on the road is ludicrous in my opinion.

Thanks for that ‘Barmey* but this is a wide track - maybe 10 or 12 feet with a six foot grass verge on long stretches separating it from the road. There are only 5 dropped kerbs in 5 miles, so hardly obstacles to ordinary cyclists, although I appreciate that some riding against the clock could find them a bit of a faff.

I bought an electric bike in 2020 and use it as transport to work once the weather warms up, and the streets sweepers remove the gravel from the road shoulders. Most of my trips are short, under 5 km.
We don't have specified bike lanes in my town, so I have to be careful on certain roads during busy times, but I do love it.

George gran, could be the cycle lane is not wide enough, many are narrow and allows cars to come to close to you. Also do cars park on it, meaning it puts a cyclist in danger when having to go around it. That’s all I can think of.

I apologies in advance! I live near a very busy dual carriage way, with a 50mph limit. The Council has spent God knows how much on a cycle way, dropped kerbs, etc that runs alongside and goes for miles, so can anyone tell me why most cyclists ignore it and use the main road? It causes havoc when buses have to pull out to pass and slows down all the traffic behind.
Genuine question - it puzzles me, as it would be a safer option.