Addiction 2023.2
04-07-23, 12:18 PM
#451
VFL For Life
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 52,249
Bikes: Velo Volmobile
Liked 2,064 Times
in
1,444 Posts
04-07-23, 12:22 PM
#452
serious cyclist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Austin
Posts: 21,147
Bikes: S1, R2, P2
Liked 3,685 Times
in
2,028 Posts
04-07-23, 12:27 PM
#453
VFL For Life
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 52,249
Bikes: Velo Volmobile
Liked 2,064 Times
in
1,444 Posts
Likes For Velo Vol:
04-07-23, 12:32 PM
#454
-------
The used car market is really tight. When my son got the Bronc, he sold his 5 year old Mazda3 with 36k on it for $500 less than I paid for it new.
The 2 year old Jeep with 22k on it was traded for less than $3k less than I paid for it new.
The 2 year old Jeep with 22k on it was traded for less than $3k less than I paid for it new.
04-07-23, 12:37 PM
#455
Should Be More Popular
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Malvern, PA (20 miles West of Philly)
Posts: 43,664
Bikes: 1986 Alpine (steel road bike), 2009 Ti Habenero, 2013 Specialized Roubaix
Liked 9,590 Times
in
4,437 Posts
Likes For datlas:
04-07-23, 01:01 PM
#456
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Yucatán. México
Posts: 7,166
Bikes: 2022 Gt Avalanche
Liked 2,163 Times
in
1,370 Posts
I went on a group(of two) ride this morning, and it was so much fun we plan to do it again on Sunday. On the subject of addiction: In my younger years--into my fifties, I was addicted. In those times it never crossed my mind to consider if I might be going too far, or might get too tired. I just went, almost every day. By those criteria I am no longer addicted. But two or three times per week with a controlled distance is still nice. Even once a week, as it has been lately.
04-07-23, 01:06 PM
#457
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Yucatán. México
Posts: 7,166
Bikes: 2022 Gt Avalanche
Liked 2,163 Times
in
1,370 Posts
Good Friday, in a devoutly Catholic culture. I expected a lot less traffic than we saw. Sunday might be better yet. There was no rush hour traffic, true. But those who were out were in a hurry. What a surprise!
04-07-23, 01:09 PM
#458
Senior Member
Lease on this one is up; dealer has been hounding us to turn it in/lease a '23. Nuh uh; our residual/option price is stupid low, mileage is under 60k kms; lease interest rates are waaaay up. We know our '19 would show up on the lot for near 2.5 - 3x that residual; we could flip it in a few days for at least 2x. We debated keeping our '15, but this one has the extra safety bells/whistles and posh touches we wanted, we're happy with it, so it stays for at least a year or two.
04-07-23, 01:20 PM
#459
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: 757
Posts: 11,725
Bikes: Madone, Emonda, 5500, Ritchey Breakaway
Liked 5,667 Times
in
2,412 Posts
You have got to be kidding me.
Likes For bampilot06:
04-07-23, 01:26 PM
#460
serious cyclist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Austin
Posts: 21,147
Bikes: S1, R2, P2
Liked 3,685 Times
in
2,028 Posts
04-07-23, 01:39 PM
#461
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: 757
Posts: 11,725
Bikes: Madone, Emonda, 5500, Ritchey Breakaway
Liked 5,667 Times
in
2,412 Posts
I actually agree with you 100 percent on this.
Likes For bampilot06:
04-07-23, 01:43 PM
#462
cowboy, steel horse, etc
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: The hot spot.
Posts: 46,116
Bikes: everywhere
Liked 8,602 Times
in
4,586 Posts
04-07-23, 02:09 PM
#463
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: In the foothills of Los Angeles County
Posts: 26,339
Liked 10,264 Times
in
4,975 Posts
Yardwork done for today and I can ride tomorrow. Gotta pick a club and route. Main club has an 80 mile route with 5K. I like the route but am concerned about who will be there. Decisions.
Last edited by big john; 04-07-23 at 03:19 PM.
Likes For big john:
04-07-23, 02:34 PM
#464
serious cyclist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Austin
Posts: 21,147
Bikes: S1, R2, P2
Liked 3,685 Times
in
2,028 Posts
I don't like Corollas. No matter how they're gussied up. I drove the old XR-S and it was better than the normal, but it's not a hot Civic. The platform is simply much inferior to the Civic, and that's not something that can be fixed with suspension and engine changes.
04-07-23, 02:38 PM
#465
VFL For Life
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 52,249
Bikes: Velo Volmobile
Liked 2,064 Times
in
1,444 Posts
I watch/learn from/enjoy all kinds of stuff I would not otherwise get to see.
YMMV.
Last edited by BillyD; 04-08-23 at 08:00 AM.
04-07-23, 03:01 PM
#466
serious cyclist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Austin
Posts: 21,147
Bikes: S1, R2, P2
Liked 3,685 Times
in
2,028 Posts
04-07-23, 03:04 PM
#467
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Yucatán. México
Posts: 7,166
Bikes: 2022 Gt Avalanche
Liked 2,163 Times
in
1,370 Posts
Likes For seedsbelize2:
04-07-23, 03:08 PM
#468
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Yucatán. México
Posts: 7,166
Bikes: 2022 Gt Avalanche
Liked 2,163 Times
in
1,370 Posts
C'mon Humbug. Tell us what you really think.
Likes For seedsbelize2:
04-07-23, 03:10 PM
#469
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Yucatán. México
Posts: 7,166
Bikes: 2022 Gt Avalanche
Liked 2,163 Times
in
1,370 Posts
04-07-23, 03:12 PM
#470
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Yucatán. México
Posts: 7,166
Bikes: 2022 Gt Avalanche
Liked 2,163 Times
in
1,370 Posts
Society went down the rathole long before YouTube came along.
#PR
#PR
Likes For seedsbelize2:
04-07-23, 03:14 PM
#471
Mostly Harmless
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: At Large
Posts: 57,098
Bikes: Have two wheels
Liked 4,968 Times
in
2,661 Posts
04-07-23, 03:51 PM
#472
cowboy, steel horse, etc
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: The hot spot.
Posts: 46,116
Bikes: everywhere
Liked 8,602 Times
in
4,586 Posts
04-07-23, 04:07 PM
#473
Habitual User
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Altadena, CA
Posts: 8,636
Bikes: 2023 Niner RLT 9 RDO, 2022 Trek Supercaliber, 2018 Storck Fascenario.3 Platinum, 2003 Time VX Special Pro, 2001 Colnago VIP, 1999 Trek 9900 singlespeed, 1977 Nishiki ONP
Liked 8,972 Times
in
4,204 Posts
YouTube is what I choose to make of it. I enjoy watching videos about things that interest me - bikes and bike racing, F1 racing, MLB, music, cooking, and a few other things. If there's something I don't care for, I don't watch it. Recently, I browed through a full-length (5+ hour) video of a gravel bike event that I'm doing next weekend. It was very helpful for letting me know what to expect on my ride in terms of terrain and effort required. This week, I've been starting off my workday mornings with a cup of coffee and highlights from Tour of the Basque Country.
__________________
Platypus gravelus.
Platypus gravelus.
Likes For Eric F:
04-07-23, 04:15 PM
#474
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2021
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 2,192
Bikes: addict, aethos, creo, vanmoof, sirrus, public ...
Liked 1,531 Times
in
779 Posts
This is something I've pondered many times. For me, it's not specific to cycling. It's about doing something where I feel skilled/talented/accomplished, and the process of getting to that level of competence. Throughout my life, this has been expressed in a variety of activities including ice hockey, cycling, music, and coaching. It's times when I haven't had an outlet of some sort that I feel my worst. In the last 20-ish years, being involved in those activities has been supplemented by participating in discussion forums. Sharing knowledge and experiences with people who are equally excited about the activity is something I enjoy. It's also a really good way to accelerate the learning curve for a new activity.
Had that problem since April of 1982 when I traded a cigarette addiction for a cycling addiction.
Seriously, I had two days in a row off this week due to bad weather and besides trying to eat everything in the house, I huddled in a recliner and felt like ****, seriously depressed.
Seriously, I had two days in a row off this week due to bad weather and besides trying to eat everything in the house, I huddled in a recliner and felt like ****, seriously depressed.
Some folks have proposed an exercise addiction disorder and published criteria, but it's widely agreed that exercise is a mood elevator, by whatever mechanism, and that humans are adapted to be on the move over much of their lives.
I will also note anecdotally that endurance athletes tend to be a wee bit on the neurotic side and might not have the merriest baseline. I think it was LAJ of blessed memory who told the joke about a bike racer who was participating in a behavioral economics experiment where they were offered the proposition of receiving 10 bucks while their worst enemy received a million. The rider responded, "Hell yeah, I could use a million bucks!"
I will also note anecdotally that endurance athletes tend to be a wee bit on the neurotic side and might not have the merriest baseline. I think it was LAJ of blessed memory who told the joke about a bike racer who was participating in a behavioral economics experiment where they were offered the proposition of receiving 10 bucks while their worst enemy received a million. The rider responded, "Hell yeah, I could use a million bucks!"
I tend to go through obsessions. In the mid-90s I was obsessed with cycling, which lasted till about 2001, and was overtaken by traditional archery (recurves and longbows, no wheelie-bows, and no sights), which lasted till about 2008, and was superceded by watchmaking and collecting, which lasted till 2020 and was replaced by cycling again.To be fair, for most of that time, I was still riding, except for a couple years in the mid 00's. Maybe 1000 miles a year on average.
Anyhow, what I notice about each of these is what I think of as an "altered state of consciousness". In archery, to succeed, your sole focus must be on the shot you're currently executing, but you don't THINK about the steps at a conscious level, because practice engrains them in muscle memory. BUT you need to focus solely on the shot, and the target - and not just the target, but the precise point on the target you want to hit. You have to push everything else out of your mind.
Similarly, in watchmaking, you have to be calm and focused, or parts go flying. You're solving problems in a microscopic world, looking through a loupe which blurs everything but the work in front of you.
Cycling, I find, requires just enough conscious attention that it reduces your ability to think about all the other crap of daily living, or at least to the extent that it's not as prominent. I've often had a problem find a solution while cycling without consciously thinking about it while riding. And even after a really ****** ride, with wind and/or rain and maybe even a near bonk, I generally feel better mentally than when I started.
Oh, and here it is Friday, and I haven't ridden since Sunday because of the cellulitis, and almost certainly won't ride till the middle of next week at the earliest. So I'm kinda grinding my teeth a bit here.
Anyhow, what I notice about each of these is what I think of as an "altered state of consciousness". In archery, to succeed, your sole focus must be on the shot you're currently executing, but you don't THINK about the steps at a conscious level, because practice engrains them in muscle memory. BUT you need to focus solely on the shot, and the target - and not just the target, but the precise point on the target you want to hit. You have to push everything else out of your mind.
Similarly, in watchmaking, you have to be calm and focused, or parts go flying. You're solving problems in a microscopic world, looking through a loupe which blurs everything but the work in front of you.
Cycling, I find, requires just enough conscious attention that it reduces your ability to think about all the other crap of daily living, or at least to the extent that it's not as prominent. I've often had a problem find a solution while cycling without consciously thinking about it while riding. And even after a really ****** ride, with wind and/or rain and maybe even a near bonk, I generally feel better mentally than when I started.
Oh, and here it is Friday, and I haven't ridden since Sunday because of the cellulitis, and almost certainly won't ride till the middle of next week at the earliest. So I'm kinda grinding my teeth a bit here.
reading all of the above... i guess the question is, do the downs and ups average out higher than just finding something less involving/time consuming/expensive/dangerous. like reading bad sci fi novels or learning finnish.
i tend to be obsessive about my hobbies, attempting to enter the mental state described by genejockey where you are engaged, but not completely absorbed, with some parts of the conscious mind shut off or completely focused on the problem at hand. for me it was originally cars, then photography, then running, then drone building and aerial photography, now cycling. i can see this one lasting longer than many of the others (photography is still with me but much of the magic is gone) but the downs lately have felt fairly severe.
and a national record holding cyclist was killed tuesday afternoon by a drunk driver on a road i ride on twice per ride. hit head on in a bike lane by a vehicle coming the other direction, presumably speeding and swerving/drifting all the way across the road. vigil tonight but i don't think i'll make it.
__________________
04-07-23, 04:42 PM
#475
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: 757
Posts: 11,725
Bikes: Madone, Emonda, 5500, Ritchey Breakaway
Liked 5,667 Times
in
2,412 Posts
So I am a little frustrated. Before I traded my cervelo in, I expressed that I wanted trek to make an aluminum version of the emonda that was as competitive as the allez. The ALR 5 was marketed towards beginners so it had slacker geometry and the frame was built more rugged so is heavier than the allez. I wanted trek to make an aluminum emonda that was designed for crits, more aggressive and as light as possible. I was told they had no interest.
3 months later this drops. I immediately called and said I want that, i’ll trade mine in. Waiting for a response.
3 months later this drops. I immediately called and said I want that, i’ll trade mine in. Waiting for a response.
