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Posting fatigue

The forum has been a bit quite lately, meanwhile the news section is hopping with stories about police, cycling casualties, hi-viz, hgvs, helmets, headphones, health and safety, blaa, blaa, blaa. It is like a cycling silly season. Do you ever just read a thread and think 'urrh why bother.' You have something to say, but you don't post because there are already 50 replies to a thread. You think, I can't say anything original, or someone will just contradict me for the sake of it. If I post a moderate view* it will just be swamped by others with extreme views and who wants 50 notifications of updates in their email inbox. Roll on the new year when people might start talking about mechanicals, events and racing.

*I wear a helmet to go out training or commute to work, but will happily wobble to the local shops without one if I am wearing street clothes. But the debate is always dominated by people saying helmets are useless (yes idiots if a truck drives over your liver a helmet is not much use, but that isn't what it is for; no common sense some people,) or that they should be compulsory (draconian nonsense, reducing cycling and impacting health, criminalizing casual riders.) The status quo is already the answer to the debate but polarization and 'winning the argument' with more and more preposterous examples always seems to be the name of the game. Tiresome.
This is NOT a request for another helmet debate just an example of another unwinnable war [remember the end of WarGames - 'the only winning move is not to play.']

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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10 comments

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daviddb | 10 years ago
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I've always thought the C.C.forum was a bit "quite" as you put it...

:~}

Posting fatigue is for wimps....

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step-hent | 10 years ago
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Yep, Bikeboy76, I feel the same. But at least there is a bit of debate going on in the real world, too, which might actually result in a bit of a shift in attitudes. Or not. Either way, we'll all still ride bikes.

Anyway, don't worry, it's already December. Racing starts in Jan, and before then we have to have all the new kit sponsors announced, new kits designs unveiled, gossip about which rider's wife doesn't like which other rider, stand-offs and snubs at the training camps and then lots of staged photos of the riders 'training'. Whilst all that is going on, we can all follow Northernbike's sensible advice - I've got some cake on the way this afternoon and maybe some more wheelbuilding planned for the weekend.

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Northernbike | 10 years ago
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I find riding my bike to be a joy and a pleasure and I know alot of people get all sorts of things from doing the same; fitness, being outdoors, exploring, the wind in their hair, companionship, getting their hands on a shiny new bit of kit, eating cake, but so much of the positive stuff is filtered out by the internet, and not just on here, to leave just a depressing residue of accidents & conflict and London & the south. Yes, accidents and London are a reality and mustn't be ignored but they are not the whole story of cycling. Come on internet people, lighten up for a bit; go and eat some cake and come back and write about something nice.

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Leviathan replied to Northernbike | 10 years ago
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Northernbike wrote:

I find riding my bike to be a joy and a pleasure and I know alot of people get all sorts of things from doing the same; fitness, being outdoors, exploring, the wind in their hair, companionship, getting their hands on a shiny new bit of kit, eating cake, but so much of the positive stuff is filtered out by the internet, and not just on here, to leave just a depressing residue of accidents & conflict and London & the south. Yes, accidents and London are a reality and mustn't be ignored but they are not the whole story of cycling. Come on internet people, lighten up for a bit; go and eat some cake and come back and write about something nice.

Thanks NB, I will eat some cake for you.

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OldRidgeback | 10 years ago
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I get really fed up with the debate over cycle helmets. It's all been said before on this website and the arguments just go round in circles endlessly.

I'm a London cyclist. I ride about the same as I have done for the last few years, though I'm not racing at the moment due to an injury and I'm only training instead to keep my fitness levels up.

Incidentally, other road users are endangered by crap driving as well. I had some numpty in a Toyota try and squeeze past me on the inside when I was on my motorbike yesterday. My mistake was to be driving at the speed limit and to be riding slightly to the right of the centreline, where the asphalt join is and where it's more slippery.

I was in the car yesterday with my son and as we overtook a few cyclists (giving adequate room) I pointed out to him that none of the riders was 'claiming the road' and instead they were all riding close in to the kerb. I had half a mind to open the window as they drew alongside at the next set of lights to give them a piece of my mind for not riding properly.  1

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William Black | 10 years ago
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Since joining instead of finding any relevant tips/news for road cycling on Road.cc I've found my road miles have plummeted and I'm far more inclined to stay either indoors or train on the mountain bike.

I can only suggest that's in no small part due to the high bias content of road deaths/london/traffic related topics rather than anything aimed at the 'sporting cyclist'. It would be nice if they had a section that had all of the 'news' and then the rest of the forum for 'cycling'.

Is it just me but immediately after reading about deaths and the general injustice surrounding sentencing and stuff and going for a ride I'm put in a mindset that every dick in a car is out to kill me/passes me within an inch?

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Shouldbeinbed | 10 years ago
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The whole notion of internet forum would shrivel & die without strident views & picky a'holes. The quiet time is also not confined to this forum or cycling, people are complaining in my other interests its all gone quiet.

I don't do training rides, I just ride.

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Stumps | 10 years ago
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Concur with the southern bias towards news reports, mind you a lot of them revolve around the very sad topic of someone having been killed so i cant blame road.cc for reporting them.

As for training rides, at 47 years old i'm more into just tootalling about having fun.

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Bagpuss | 10 years ago
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At the moment the majority of news and threads generated from the news are London-centric. And I'm quite glad I don't live there.

Gritty training rides? Mine are all Epic.  3

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Raleigh | 10 years ago
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Nobody talking about gritty training rides.

My rides are the grittiest btw.

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