Do you have any weird riding habits?
#1
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Do you have any weird riding habits?
I'm a little OCD about certain things. Nothing that would actually benefit me, just weird stuff. One of those things is I don't like to cross my path. By that I mean I don't like going back over a path I've already crossed. Think of the vintage Tron cycle game. I do this with both cycling and when I run. I intentionally plan my routes so that I never cross back over where I've already been. The only exception to this quirky rule I have is when I do some sort of interval. There's a place here that's arrow straight and mostly flat for three solid miles. I will often do sprints on this section where I'll ride loops, one direction sprinting, back the other direction in recovery, then sprint, recover, and so on. But that's the only exception.
No idea why it bothers me to do this but I avoid crossing my path like the plague.
No idea why it bothers me to do this but I avoid crossing my path like the plague.
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I'm a little OCD about certain things. Nothing that would actually benefit me, just weird stuff. One of those things is I don't like to cross my path. By that I mean I don't like going back over a path I've already crossed. Think of the vintage Tron cycle game. I do this with both cycling and when I run. I intentionally plan my routes so that I never cross back over where I've already been. The only exception to this quirky rule I have is when I do some sort of interval. There's a place here that's arrow straight and mostly flat for three solid miles. I will often do sprints on this section where I'll ride loops, one direction sprinting, back the other direction in recovery, then sprint, recover, and so on. But that's the only exception.
No idea why it bothers me to do this but I avoid crossing my path like the plague.
No idea why it bothers me to do this but I avoid crossing my path like the plague.
And I try to stop my workout on a nice round number, or an interesting one, for distance and/or time. If I can stop at 10.00 miles, for example, or at 1:23:45 time, I always do, even if I have to go a little beyond my destination or stop the timer a little before the end.
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Just one. All my rides the past few years have started and ended at home.
Thinking of breaking this habit soon but I hate wasting riding time by driving to a starting spot.
Thinking of breaking this habit soon but I hate wasting riding time by driving to a starting spot.
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Maybe more tendency than habit - to drift left in the lane. Not a good behavior. If there's traffic I can keep right without effort, but on a quiet country road it takes constant attention to keep the bike right.
Last year I went to the UK for a ride, and was curious to see if my tendency to drift left would be the same. The answer: left. I hugged the left edge of the road.
Weird.
Last year I went to the UK for a ride, and was curious to see if my tendency to drift left would be the same. The answer: left. I hugged the left edge of the road.
Weird.
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I am no longer using toe clips on most of my bikes. They are vintage bikes. But I still will ride in tight circles (space permitting) rather than stopping at an intersection waiting for traffic to clear.
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Somehow, long ago in Tucson, i developed the habit of riding with my left eye closed. This was in the Cretaceous period, before sunglasses were invented. I have to remind myself not to, now that I have photochromatic lenses. Otherwise it's apt to start stinging from sweat. Yeah, weird, I know.
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If this counts, I usually make a rolling mount onto the bike when starting out.
I'll put left foot on the pedal at about 10:00, push off with right foot and the left's downstroke, then throw my right leg over the saddle.
I'll put left foot on the pedal at about 10:00, push off with right foot and the left's downstroke, then throw my right leg over the saddle.
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I'm not ocd with crossing paths, it's mainly due to having the ole cycling devices not recognizing that I'm heading back using the opposite side of the road.
I think tech had gotten better.
My weird thing is likely, not having interests in riding with anyone. Have I? Sure. Did I like it, nope.
I think tech had gotten better.
My weird thing is likely, not having interests in riding with anyone. Have I? Sure. Did I like it, nope.
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#9
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I won't cross at a intersection or trail crossing if a car stops for me when they have the right-of-way. I wait for them to continue on. Some get really mad.
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My unusual habit.
when riding solo, I check behind me before I snot rocket!
Barry
when riding solo, I check behind me before I snot rocket!
Barry
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On road rides, if I see some clean, shallow sand washed into a pile at the end of an entering road, I like to ride through it to "make my mark". I like it when I see that other cyclists have done it, too. The tire marks in the sand is kind of like communicating to eachother. I know that sand is technically supposed to be avoided, and on group rides, fellow riders even point it out, but every once in a while, I am "feeling my oats" and just plough through it, and if I slide a little.., that just helps keep my bike handling skills up-to-par.
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I'm not terribly OCD about it, but I like to do loops as well.
Sometimes I play a game where I try to plan a ride so that I don't go over any railroad crossings (overpasses are fine), and don't go through any underpasses. Kinda tough right now, since one of the roads I use for that game has been dug up to replace a culvert for ~3 months.
Sometimes I play a game where I try to plan a ride so that I don't go over any railroad crossings (overpasses are fine), and don't go through any underpasses. Kinda tough right now, since one of the roads I use for that game has been dug up to replace a culvert for ~3 months.
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I prefer to end my rides on an odd number of kms.
Last edited by Reynolds; 09-13-23 at 12:28 PM.
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If I am touring in a rural or semi-rural area, there is no one in sight and i have to take a leak, I'll stop and go while still straddling the top tube. Very liberating.
In 2008, I did Velo Quebec's Le Grande Tour. It was not uncommon for men to stop, walk a several feet off the road and pee with their backs turned, even as other riders, including women, went riding by. I saw people do this even when they could have walked another 30' into the woods.
In 2008, I did Velo Quebec's Le Grande Tour. It was not uncommon for men to stop, walk a several feet off the road and pee with their backs turned, even as other riders, including women, went riding by. I saw people do this even when they could have walked another 30' into the woods.
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I wave at all other cyclists.
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#21
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If I am touring in a rural or semi-rural area, there is no one in sight and i have to take a leak, I'll stop and go while still straddling the top tube. Very liberating.
In 2008, I did Velo Quebec's Le Grande Tour. It was not uncommon for men to stop, walk a several feet off the road and pee with their backs turned, even as other riders, including women, went riding by. I saw people do this even when they could have walked another 30' into the woods.
In 2008, I did Velo Quebec's Le Grande Tour. It was not uncommon for men to stop, walk a several feet off the road and pee with their backs turned, even as other riders, including women, went riding by. I saw people do this even when they could have walked another 30' into the woods.
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#22
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I have a pre-ride habit that veers into OCD territory.
I carry a small card holder / money clip with my DL, a credit card and a little cash. I always load it in a specific order otherwise I just feel off and that something is going to go wrong on the ride.
I carry a small card holder / money clip with my DL, a credit card and a little cash. I always load it in a specific order otherwise I just feel off and that something is going to go wrong on the ride.
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#25
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I don't mind crossing over, but I do my best not to repeat any segments that I have ridden, even in the opposite direction. Thus, I strongly prefer loops over out and back routes. I think this preference stems from loops feeling like one has been to and seen more places. The slower I go, the stronger this preference. Thus, when I go hiking with my wife, I suggest that (1) we drive separately to the end point where she would leave her car; (2) I drive her in my car to the start point where I would leave my car; (3) we hike together to the end point; (4) I drive us back in her car to the start point to retrieve my car; and (5) we separately drive home. (Yes, this suggestion is really impractical.) She looks at me like I am crazy and asks why we don't just take one car to either the start point or the end point and hike out and back?