Originally Posted by
jimmuller
Great thread!
JFB pointed me here and it does not disappoint…
Other members we've met and had the pleasure of riding with, people who are perhaps more often seen in the C&V than the 50+, include pastorbobnlnh, southpawboston, nlerner, ScottRyder, Ed., top506, BluesDaddy, sherborpeddler, ZIPP2001, cmolway, otg, JJScaliger, rootboy, bikemore, rholland1951, noglider, photogravity, ftwelder, bishbike, bikinggrrl. There are a few more I've missed or whose names I've misssspelllled or can't even remember. A few seem to have disappeared, all to our loss.
Riding a bike is great, but making new friends and riding with them is even better!
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
…I have thought of that [Metro Boston] thread as the cycling equivalent of “apres-ski” after a day on the slopes, where we gather to exchange stories, routes, photos, ribbing, and (?) tall tales...
I know
jmm from that Metro Boston thread, where we even have nicknames for each other, and he is an active contributor. I don’t read C&V, but I note that of the 20 names he mentioned, about seven post to that Metro Boston thread. So he must really get around. I do recognize
noglider, but he is from NYC. Recognizing
jmm’s writing style, I’m sure he misspelled “missspellled” intentinonlly.
Spinning off further afield from the original topic of “meeting with BF50+ members off the bike [in person],” namely by text, do other subscribers take note of particularly engaging, humorous, or otherwise distinctive writing styles? Writers you might read just because they are the authors, irrespective of the topic? I have a few, but I don’t want to be the first to mention any.
One element of style, if not substance, I enjoy on BF, especially Fifty-Plus was well stated in this post from Advocacy and Safety:
Originally Posted by
turbo1889
… First of all you have no need to apologize for a lengthy post, least of all to me of all people. Part of the reason I like forums as apposed to other forms of written communal internet forms is because I consider it the "long deep conversation format" rather then the quick short snappy sound bite like format like twitter and such.…
Okay, huge post, got to go to bed now.
…and another thing. I have received a few “Friend” requests over the years. What is the significance of that? A few were from names I didn’t even recognize. If anyone reading this sent me one, particularly whom I recognize and enjoy (and one is on this current thread), my non-reply is not a rejection. In fact one other is a family friend.
Finally,
Originally Posted by
DnvrFox
I sponsored a BFN 50+ rDenver area ide and met lots of folks - all who have left, I believe.
Then we had our first annual ride in Glenwood Springs, CO, where I met about 13 - all but one charming. But all of these were bike related. John E, as mentioned by him, and Nora and I enjoyed fish dinner in Carlsbad, CA - off the bike.
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
… Myself and a few other Fifty-Plus subscribers [including the Kentons] have been together on a few, some up to about four of the preceding eight [Fifty-Plus Annual] rides …
While DnvrFox and I have never met, or exchanged PM’s I recall him as the elder statesman of this Forum when I first joined BF, and we have chatted a bit
“entre nous” on the Forum. The Annual Rides he initiated have veritably defined my cycling year as I train for them. Just this week I posted to this thread on the Living Car Free Forum, “
What do you get from BF transportation forums?, these two items from my list of four:
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
…I happened serendipitously on Bike Forums in 2008, and it was frankly incredible to find a community that shared so many concerns I had kept to myself as a lone cyclist.
This enthusiasm has definitely increased my enjoyment of cycling. As far as improving it, what I have gotten directly from BF are:
- …the Fifty-Plus Annual rides that motivate me to train in the nice weather…
- the opportunity to post and literally "journal" my thoughts and activities about cycling and lifestyle (even if nobody else reads them), but which I wouldn't write down otherwise.
BTW, there was a Fifty-Plus thread last summer on a similar topic,
”How Do You Communicate on Forums vs Face-to-Face” that was eventually closed, apparently because the posts got so snarky and hostile. In contrast to the "long, deep, conversation formatdescribed above,
Frankfast wrote,
"Forums for me are just like fast food. If I want something healthy, I'll read some good fiction."