The intercom is totally ace, we have a right moan / running commentary going when we're out and generally have far more of a sociable time. Also mega for confirming road is clear for overtakes or "watch that corner" kind of stuff. You're right there.
Well, well. What an interesting thread. And there was I imagining that everyone was doing massive miles while I weeded the carrots. I don't know if I've lost my biking mojo, but it's been damped down considerably over the past years and I think I know why this is: 1. In my 30s I lived in a flat. So naturally at the weekend I wanted to get out and about and biking was how I did it. Now I live in a house and I am happy in it. 2. My house has a large garden that needs a lot of work and inspires its own projects: should I plant a tree here? What happens if I rip out the virginia creeper and replace with honeysuckle? Isn't it about time I put in some crocuses? I realise that this sounds very boring to some, but creating your own environment to live in is in fact very rewarding. 3. As I am so happy at home, I find it hard to be arsed to get out and leave it. 4. What really pisses me off is the radars and police repression. They are everywhere now. I think I ride quite safely, but I don't ride legally. The way I ride used to involve a very infrequent small fine - I have never lost my licence. Now it will involve a prison sentence if I happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. 5. All my friends have mainly stopped or at least they have severely curtailed their riding. The days of long weekends away with a dozen other people are well gone. 6. They've made the roads faster, wider, less interesting, and then they've put speed traps on them. 7. My parents sold their house in Gascony (and died, in one instance). So that's scuppered one 1'000 mile round trip that I used to do every year. 8. Cheap air travel has made long bike trips a bit pointless. If you want to get to the other end of Europe, you hop on a plane for peanuts and you're there in a couple of hours or so. What's the point of squaring off your tyres on an endless motorway? 9. Bikes used to be fun at about 70 mph. Now they are fun at 90 mph+. It's the law of diminishing returns. 10. I've got a lot on. Apart from the cooking, there is the gardening, the writing, the guitar-playing. Then I probably ought to be at the gym, or riding my pushbike. Got to keep those pounds off. None of these things involve a potentially crippling fine. 11. Summers have got so bloody hot. Do I want to sweat in the skin-tight leathers? I'd sooner be in shorts. But I only bike in leathers - found that out the hard way. 12. Trackdays are great. But they are a rich man's pastime. There aren't any tracks near here and I don't have the cash even if there were. And I'll stick myself in a gravel trap eventually. I already have. It's inevitable, or you're not trying. So what happens? I haven't been to the Alps (just up the road, really) for years. I just know that if I have any fun on them I'm going to fall foul of the law. Just look at what happened to 44 Teeth. I use my bike to commute to work and then look worriedly at my postbox for weeks. I need to go to France for a weekend away. This is fun when it happens, but even the French have become overkeen on laser binoculars. Let's face it, this game is nowhere near as fun as it was in the early 90s when my 851 was exotic and I rode it fast on fairly empty roads down in Provence and visited the Bol d'Or religiously. Or you could call it "just getting old". Bummer.
But maybe not in mid-winter in the snow. I like 44 Teeth. They are very funny and the Bike Battle Italia was particularly hilarious and quite instructive.
I also love the 44 teeth stuff, the more bike related content the better! I’m sure it’s been said but I find planning rides a good way to motivate yourself. Simply leaving the house and taking the same routes to the same old cafes gets pretty boring. Plan or download some slightly more adventurous routes with a beginning, middle and end.
Interesting reading this, I started biking at 32, went mad with it and had 70 + bikes in that time but have completely lost my mojo now and have stopped riding. I witnessed a fatality last year in Rathmell, 36 year old bloke on a gixxer crashed into a cyclist, biker died and cyclist seriously injured. I got home to my two kids who are 3 and 7 and thought, I can’t do this anymore. Even before this I wasn’t really enjoying it, no time, young kids and my bottle going did it for me
Glid wrote “look what happened to 44teeth” or similar? Just wondering what they did as I don’t watch them.
Yes, it was about CHF 4'000 and they were doing speeds I regularly do in the country, the speeds that Ducatis need to do to keep them comfortable. The only reason they didn't both get a fine is that a car was obscuring the number plate of the second bike. A couple more kph and it would have been a jail sentence, albeit suspended, and the bike confiscated. We are talking in excess of 85 mph - so no big deal, it's not like they were doing over a ton and even then, so what if there's no one about? It's not like hitting an old lady over the head.
Can’t fault you, Kids come first, I packed up until my daughter was 16, back on bikes for 7 years now, it’s still a selfish decision though, still so far so good, touch wood and all that!
Had small breaks in biking down to 'mojo' , children, life etc. But always come back. Have to say though that the law is now way over the top for speeding and, EU regs aside, we are all (independent countries) being steered towards an Orwellian society. Fairly shit tbh. Don your gilet jaune now, and forget the Brexit twaddle!!! Dont forget, the rich always get away with this shit, then jet off to somewhere exotic and blast about in speed boats, yachts and fast cars. They are only concerned about you doing what they say, not as they do. Fek me, sound like gunsnbombs Had my 3rd visit to Switzerland last year, enjoyed several fantastic passes. Cant see me returning though, they have sucked the life out of life itself. Sad.
+1 on the Swiss +1 on the Orwellian You realise what we need is a half-decent gig and a Russian base east of Moscow?... you know that is where liberation lives now?
I lost me mojo for months, I've only just started twitching again. All the above's apply I suppose. But, the hardest thing, well for me, is getting clobbered up and getting the bike out. As soon as I'm on it and pull away I'm sound.
Have yet to get the cover off the bike this year and getting worried that I'm subconsciously avoiding riding despite having a practically new bike, my first Ducati, just waiting there for me to ride. There's been a lot going on over the winter, divorce proceeding but not concluded, teenage kids to deal with and a lovely new woman in my life. However, once I do get around to it I know that'll be it and the shackles of SAD will be cast off. Used to ride all year but it's now, if I'm honest, a hobby more than anything else. As to the profusion of traffic, road conditions and speed enforcement, I agree it's getting towards the ridiculous though there are some areas of the country where it is less pronounced and the use of the Mk1 eyeball and a dash of common sense is usually sufficient to avoid 'additional taxation'.
Just out for a ride before the rain starts on the 900ss, no traffic to speak of, I’m staying within a 15 mile radius of Home so I know where the speed cameras are, after an hour of spirited riding I feel great, at Starbucks now sitting next to my bike listening to it tick as it cools, enjoying the hot oil/metal aroma, life doesn’t get much better, come on guys, get up early and get out there, you’re a long time in a box!.
