u/DiscussionBoring1456

I need to tell someone this because I think I accidentally made cycling way less fun for myself for a while.

When I first started riding more, I was just happy to be outside and moving. Like I would ride for 30 minutes or an hour and come back feeling good because I did something, which was honestly the whole point.

Then I started trying to “get better” and that is where everything got weird.

I downloaded the big apps everyone uses to track rides and at first it was cool seeing the miles and speed and all that, but then every ride started feeling like a test I was either passing or failing. If my average speed was slower, the ride felt bad. If someone else had a better ride, I felt behind. If I took an easy day, it felt like I was being lazy even though I was literally still riding a bike.

The stupid part is the apps were not even doing anything wrong, I was just using them in the worst way possible. They showed me stats, but they did not really tell me what to do next, so I just kept guessing and turning every ride into some random attempt to prove I was improving.

One of the guys I ride with kept telling me I needed more structure and not just more numbers, and he mentioned a few simpler coaching style apps like Vali and stuff like that where the point is more following a plan instead of just staring at stats after the ride. I kind of ignored it because I thought I could figure it out myself.

I could not figure it out myself.

What actually happened is I started riding harder when I should have gone easier, comparing rides that should not even be compared, and making myself annoyed at a hobby I literally started because it was supposed to make me feel better.

Eventually I had to stop treating every ride like a performance review and just go back to riding with a real plan and a little less ego.

Anyway I did not quit cycling, but it is actually insane how fast “I want to get better” can turn into “why am I mad at a bicycle app on a Tuesday.”

I need to tell someone this because I genuinely thought about selling my bike for like 20 minutes after this happened.

So I was riding with a small group and I was already kind of nervous because I’m still not one of those people who looks natural on a bike, like I can ride obviously but some people look like the bike is part of their body and I look like I’m constantly trying to remember how balance works, also I’m a little overweight so that makes me even more self aware for some reason.

Anyway we stop at this light and there’s cars on one side, people walking on the other side and another cyclist pulls up too who looks very serious like full kit, clean bike, sunglasses, the whole thing and for some reason I decide this is the exact moment I need to act like I know what I’m doing.

The light turns green and everyone starts moving and I go to push off but my foot does this stupid half slip thing on the pedal and instead of just stopping like a normal person I try to save it because my brain would rather risk death than look slightly awkward for one second.

So now I’m wobbling trying to clip my foot or fix my pedal or honestly I don’t even know what I was doing and then I overcorrect so hard that I basically drift sideways at walking speed directly in front of everyone like the slowest crash in human history.

I didn’t even fall cool either, that’s the worst part, I kind of tipped, caught myself, almost saved it, then somehow made it worse and ended up doing that horrible awkward stumble where the bike is still between your legs and your fighting the handlebars like an animal.

Nobody laughed loud which made it worse. Everyone did the polite “you good?” thing which somehow feels more humiliating because now you know they saw the whole thing and decided to be merciful.

Then the serious cyclist just rolled away smoothly like nothing happened and I had to keep riding with the group while pretending my soul had not just left my body at an intersection.

For the rest of the ride I couldn’t even enjoy it because every little noise behind me made me think someone was remembering what happened and silently judging my entire existence.

Anyway I did not quit cycling but for a solid moment I understood why someone would just put the bike in the garage and become a walking person again.

I need to complain about something that is technically my own fault. I started cycling thinking it was going to be one of those simple hobbies where the expensive part was buying the bike and then after that you just ride it. That made sense to me. Bike purchased, hobby unlocked, no more major problems.

Unfortunately that was a lie.

Because then you need a helmet, and lights, and a pump, and tubes, and a saddle bag, and gloves, and bottles, and bottle cages, and chain lube, and better shorts because apparently normal shorts are a crime against your body if you ride long enough. Then once you have all of that, you start realizing there are better versions of the things you already bought, which is honestly worse.

The worst part is every single thing sounds reasonable. None of it feels like a luxury in the moment. It always feels like “well obviously I need this” and then suddenly your “cheap healthy hobby” has a shopping list longer than your actual rides.

I used to think people were exaggerating when they said cycling was expensive, but now I understand. It is not one big purchase that gets you. It is the endless small purchases that all seem responsible individually and insane when you look at them together.

Anyway, I am now realizing the bike was not the purchase. The bike was the entry fee.

I need to complain about something that is technically my own fault. I started cycling thinking it was going to be one of those simple hobbies where the expensive part was buying the bike and then after that you just ride it. That made sense to me. Bike purchased, hobby unlocked, no more major problems.

Unfortunately that was a lie.

Because then you need a helmet, and lights, and a pump, and tubes, and a saddle bag, and gloves, and bottles, and bottle cages, and chain lube, and better shorts because apparently normal shorts are a crime against your body if you ride long enough. Then once you have all of that, you start realizing there are better versions of the things you already bought, which is honestly worse.

The worst part is every single thing sounds reasonable. None of it feels like a luxury in the moment. It always feels like “well obviously I need this” and then suddenly your “cheap healthy hobby” has a shopping list longer than your actual rides.

I used to think people were exaggerating when they said cycling was expensive, but now I understand. It is not one big purchase that gets you. It is the endless small purchases that all seem responsible individually and insane when you look at them together.

Anyway, I am now realizing the bike was not the purchase. The bike was the entry fee.

I just need to vent for a minute. I’ve been riding more lately with a small group of people, and I thought improving at cycling was simple. Ride more, get faster, ride farther, repeat.

Unfortunately that is not what happened.

Now every ride makes me realize I have no idea what I’m doing. One person says ride slower to get faster. Someone else says do intervals. Another says more miles. Then someone says too many miles too fast is how you destroy your legs.

The worst part is they all sound right.

So now I’m riding more than I used to, but I still don’t know if I’m training, exercising, randomly surviving, or just buying more bike stuff while pretending it’s progress.

Anyway, I’m trying to actually get better without turning cycling into a second job, and I had to tell someone because my normal friends do not care about this at all.

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When I was first getting into riding, I thought I was way better than I actually was.

One time I was flying down this sketchy path way too fast, took a turn like an idiot, and didn’t realize how close I was to the edge until it was already too late. I hit the brakes, the bike started sliding, and for a second I genuinely thought I was about to go straight off the side of the mountain.

Thankfully I saved it, but ill tell you that I avoided that path for 3 years after that...

By the way, I started a small discord group, and I would love to get some more people into it. I am building an app for cyclists, and would love to get your thoughts on it. I just thought since we all love biking, i might as well make a tight community and an app so we can all improve together.

https://discord.gg/bwUxb9hC4Z

You dont have to join its up to you, but I want to hear more about other mistakes you made. Even if its just training mistakes (like one time I used a old mountain bike for a bikeathon and lost soo badly).

Asking for a friend here, as someone whos trying to progress his cycling ability.

Asking for a friend here, as someone whos trying to progress his cycling ability.

i have been cycling for a few years now and honestly most of my rides have just been ride whenever i feel like it and enjoy being outside: no plan, no intervals, and no real goals just miles.

Lately though ive been starting to wonder if i hit a wall because i keep seeing people improve faster than me while riding less and some of them seem way more intentional with what they do.

For people that actually got noticeably faster did it happen naturally from just riding more or did you eventually have to start tracking things and following some sort of structure.

Trying to figure out if im overthinking it or if at some point cycling turns into training.

Used to think the best way to cycle was just ride and enjoy it and ignore speed distance and all the numbers.

lately im starting to think i went too far with that because ive been riding for years with no real plan and watching people improve faster than me. Starting to think structure matters more than i thought.