Saved By The Bike
Addiction is typically defined as a bad thing. Addiction to drugs, to alcohol, sex or even work is usually portrayed as a condition to be battled, to overcome. The same sources may recommend a strict regime of regular exercise and healthy living as the perfect antidote to the bad addictions that befall an overwhelming majority of the general populace. We are convinced that an ‘exercise addict’, ‘gym junkie’ or ‘health nut’ is a tag that we should be proud to hang around our necks, not something to be fought. But take away the words ‘exercise’, ‘gym’ and ‘health’, and all you’re left with is an undesirable character of questionable sanity with bad skin and rotten teeth. And no-one wants to be that person.
I’ve known, and know, a lot of people with a lot of addictions during my life. Moreso, I’ve been/am one myself. Both good and bad. The one unifying addiction throughout has been Cycling. It seems Cyclists are of the predisposition that doing something, anything, is best done to excess. I don’t really have any Cycling friends who ‘just do it on the weekends’, as one might play golf or go to the movies or ballroom dancing. Ok, those ballroom dancers seem to be a bit obsessed, too. But Cyclists, no matter how hard they try to kick the habit just seem to keep coming back, over and over again. And I’ve never heard a doctor or so-called expert tell a Cyclist to give that shit up before it sends them to an early grave. So what we’ve got ourselves is a ‘good addiction’.
Long before I ever read the tale of Guns n Roses’ bassist Duff McKagan’s pancreas exploding and his subsequent absolution through mountain biking (in BIKE magazine sometime in the 90s), I’d been fighting my own demons, and using the bike to help conquer them. Still am. Being a hard-drinking/drugging bassist (then later a DJ) and mountain biker myself at the time, I drew a lot of comparisons between us. I took some inspiration from his story, despite not being a fan of the band, and used it to tip the balance in favour of riding rather than partying.
I’d also been surrounded by a lot of other Cyclists who had delved a lot further into the sport than I ever had, and who had their own personal battles to fight. Some were up against alcoholism, others drugs, depression, or failed relationships. And on more than a few occasions, I heard the term “saved by the bike” quoted. Among all the turmoil, in the maelstrom of a life gone awry, their constant saving grace, the rock on which they could rebuild a solid foundation for happiness, or at least some form of normality – contentment, perhaps – was the bicycle. It was always there for them, silent, trustworthy, reliable, even if many other aspects of their situation weren’t. I wouldn’t hesitate to wager that it still is there for most, if not all of them. I know it is for me, and always will be.
Whenever I need saving, I know where to look.
@ChrisO Thanks…thought that article was spot on.
I definitely notice that the more I ride the less I drink and by extension the less likely I am to smoke. Fighting for time on the bike is always a struggle, but its so worth it.
@Cyclops
there has been many an awesome story in this article, and some very touching stories, but this is the cake.
you can fake your way through life and no one may ever know. seriously. when you’re on a bicycle, you cant fake a single moment. hurts like hell? we know. gave it 200% for the town line? we know. sat on the back to guide the new guys or because you had bad legs that day? we know.
im sure im interpreting david’s fine words incorrectly, but cycling keeps you honest. it keeps you a man of your word. it puts you in the company of people who still believe a handshake means something.
There are no weekend cyclists, because you can’t be fit enough to be a cyclist if you only ride the weekends, and unfit people on bikes aren’t cyclists, merely bike riders. (Ok there are probably some exceptions to that, but I’m pretty sure they are all for people who have previously been cyclists)
There’s a difference between addiction and passion though. Passion can overcome addiction.
@Spun Up
Chapeau.
@Spun Up
@thekeepers. There are many inspiring tales here but this one kind of captures it all for me. I know you run this site part fun, part monkey on your back providing a forum for all of us of varying degrees of ability and commitment, but the shared love of the bike is what ties us together and if you ever want a validation that every day this makes a difference in people’s lives….it sits here in this article and its responses.
thankyou…..VLVV
@all
Thanks for the great posts and stories, everyone has a unique tale to tell, but the sense of community really comes through.
@Bianchi Denti
Cheers mate, we have a pretty cool little group of friends here, and I’m privileged to be a part of it.
@minion
Mate, you made me chuckle recalling that story! If I remember correctly, I blamed the faux pas on one of Illingworth’s triathlete mates. It only makes sense. Glad to have been of assistance.
That thing on my head (I can almost hear you saying “thet thung on yer hid”) is/was the Lazer Ronde helmet cover, only worn once, on the KT12 Flanders ride. I was taking it back this year to get The Lion to sign it, but it’s still out there in the ether with the rest of my luggage.
What is it with ‘addicts’ that they always find an outlet for their needy, self regarding drivel?
They find a seemingly innocent event/sport/charity, attach themselves to it and then spend the rest of their time boring other participants with their thoroughly unsinspiring stories of downfall and subsequent redemption.
Look I don’t want to come across as overly hard here, but I’m sure there are a number of Rule infractions being committed.
My advice ; enjoy your cycling, the benefits it brings in terms of your health (both mental and physiscal), the comrades you meeet but FFS stop your self-serving whining and posturing.
This article. The responses @soleur, @ElHardeen, @gregorio, @spunup. Have genuinely moved me.
I’ve long ago given up my addicitons for my family. I consider myself fortunate for being able to do so. i found my cycling passion (I mean really found it) about 4 years ago. Family keeps me from my bike as much as I would like to ride it, though they understand and try to give me as much time as they can spare.
After 30 years in it’s a career path I no longer have passion for, for a company that whilst being nice people, are going nowhere. Nor am I. Last year I tried another company, and like @gregorio, had my ass handed to me by my “saviours”. Fortunately I have managed to come out of it more unscathed than @gregorio. I feel for ya man.
My VMH saw it before I did. The answer. The path. The life.
Tomorrow we sign on the line and start the countdown to a new lfe.
We are buying a bike shop.
I love that woman.
@Sandy154 I hope I am interpreting our post correctly. You are so far off the mark with your comment that it is offensive.
@Sandy154
One of the things I’ve learned is that sometimes there are things I don’t empathise with and maybe even disagree with.
I’m not addictive. I pride myself in being measured and controlled. I could post to say “Well I’ve never had that problem, what’s up with you”, but it’s better to just not say anything than come across as a total arse, like you just have.
@Days Chapeau to you. That’s my dream too. Where is your fine emporium ?
I remember a few years ago being at a dinner with some very high-flying people hosted by an executive headhunter who asked what people would like to be if they could be anything. The various answers ranged from supreme dictators to drug lords, but I got the most amazed looks when I said I’d like to be a bike mechanic and have a shop. Probably explains why I never got a call for any CEO jobs afterwards.
The devil makes work for idle legs. Nice article Brett and stories from others.
My favorite cycling quote can be used to describe life in general – ‘There will be chaos – keep pedaling’.
@Ron
Being nailed to a tree literally or metaphorically is too often the reward for telling the truth – look at some of the posts on this article.
I like the picture because its way more than a man on a bike climbing a hill in front of a building.
Thanks to my addition I’ve been up that hill too.
@ChrisO
That’s next door
And by the way – I seem to have got my mojo back
@Sandy154
You sir…are an ass!
@ChrisO
Surely by being a bike mechanic and having a shop you become your own CEO, expect that call any day!
@Sandy154 First post? Strong work.
@ChrisO
Measured and controlled = obsessive = addicted. You know you’ll feel better when you admit it.
@brett Great article. The Keepers defiantly are on fire at the moment.
Sadly, I’m not addicted to the bike nor as devoted as I’d like to be (Forgive me Merckx, for it has been two weeks since my last confession) but I do know that when I’m riding my other vices are kept at bay.
@Chris Fuckwit. I’d also like to be addicted to proof reading and spell checking.
@Chris
No, I’m not in denial. I really am like that, and oddly I think it gives me some appreciation of what people mean when they talk about addictive personalities. I’m so far at the other end of the spectrum I can see the opposite.
When I was drinking I would have two per night e.g. beer, spirit or wine didn’t matter, but no more than two. Then I decided to stop so I just did, but occasionally on a weekend I’ll have a beer or a glass of wine if I’m out and I’m not worried it will lead me to start again.
Chocolate – you know those little Lindt balls. I have a box of them in the fridge and I have one each night.
Ice Cream – little 100ml tubs, like they serve at cinemas. I buy one per week and have it on Fridays as my reward for the long bike ride day.
When I used to smoke weed, I would grow it – I would have a large bin bag full that could have put me in a stupor for a month. But I would have one or two each day, maybe more on weekends, so that I had enough to get me to the next harvest. And then I decided to stop, so I did and I haven’t touched it in 10 years.
And I’m probably similar in my bike riding.
I plan my rides, I measure my training and I do the amount that I need to do to perform at the level I want to perform at. It’s only obsessive in that I have my plan and it annoys me if I can’t stick to it. And sometimes the plan includes non-training or just riding so I enjoy it.
To someone addictive that probably all seems just as weird as addiction is to those who don’t suffer it.
So to answer the earlier question, no I don’t think you have to be addictive or obsessive to be a cyclist but I think a lot of cyclists are odd in some way, and it attracts and rewards those people.
@ChrisO
…and the Rhine is a river in Germany…
@ChrisO
Wow…I would have necked the booze, smoked the dope and then got the muchies and eaten the icecream……probably all in one night! Life is truly a multicoloured tapestry made up of many threads. I envy your self control, and then in another sense, I am not entirely sure I would want to live as you do….
Vivre La Difference!
@Days Thanks, bro! All the best with the new adventure.
@brett And that female triathlete who came into the shop after doing a brick session stinking to high heaven and kept on farting while you were talking to her. The weird thing was it looked like she was into you and was on the verge of asking you out.
I remember that he;met thing now.
BTW I’m seriously considering buying a supersix so I can crack up every Aussie who asks me what kind of bike I’ve got (Super sux for the northerners).
There’s actually a bit of hard science woven into this thread. Bilateral stimulation – the rhythmic left/right motion – is the cornerstone for a particularly effective approach for the treatment of trauma called EMDR. The effect of the rhythmic motion is to help the brain process or reprocess stressful events. At least in part, this is why we feel better after riding and thinking about nothing. Rule #6. Downhill and XC skiers report very similar experiences, and I’ve noted that a lot of cyclists are passionate skiers, including yours truly. [Frank, did I see a row of skis in your man cave video?!]
Of course none of this diminishes the spirit of the V and the sacred lore. Much of what we do defies description – it just is.
and yes the Keepers have been on fire this week…CHAPEAU!
Fantastic responses, depressingly predictable and in line with very low expectations.
If anyone is in any doubt as to the kind of people involved, simply read their (usually extremely long) posts and count the amount of times they refer to themselves.
Listen up; apart from yourself and those like you, who are only to keen to have someone to listen to their ‘stories’ so long as you listen to theirs, no-one else gives a flying whatever.
Get over yourself, look around and see that the world is going on all around you whilst you tediously inflict your ‘struggles with your inner demons’ on the rest of us.
@Sandy154
One would therefore question why you are posting. If the self serving, drivel (your words not mine) does not appeal, then why did you feel the need to post. I suspect there lies deep within you a self loathing. Is it an inability to empathise and relate to others, or simply a mean streak that speaks of “I don’t give a shit about anyone else, listen up fuckers I’M GOING TO SPEAK”.
The posts take as long as they take to communicate. Some are short, some are long, there is little relevance in either so long as the message is lucid. Shared experience is to be cherished, whether it appeals to you or not, and this is the “bit” that you don’t seem to undestand.
Your ignorance is really not my concern, but I do enjoy a little repartie so by all means continue, I will treat you in the same way as I treat the spammers that occasionally pop up on the site. A subject to have a little fun with, after all, to ignore you would feed your righteous indignation…
I look forward to your next response, and….although it may bring me close to a sanction from @Frank…you deserve an emoticon
;)
@ChrisO
Thanks, ChrisO. I’m going to read that today. Very open to new perspectives and thoughts on this, as I know I’m skewed coming from a sporting and cycling background.
@Deakus Not only does he feel the need to post but the fact that it’s his first post would suggest that he signed up especially to voice his disapproval. That says a lot about a person.
@Sandy154 It’s fine if you don’t like the topic of conversation but if you took a bit of time, you might just realise that there’s a difference between self serving whining and discussions about a shared passion and mutual experiences.
Remember, though, you’re free to walk away at any point you choose. You might want to try try roadbikereview.com, they’re real cyclists.
@Sandy154
Have you ripped out the “Autobiography” section of every book store in the world?!
Nothing wrong with reading about one’s experience. You either take their experience on board, or leave it.
@Sandy154
What long responses are you talking about ?
There’s a total of five lines from three different people responding to your comment. Admittedly five lines more than you deserve but still considerably less than your own contribution.
I think you suffer from delusions of grandeur. Or maybe just poor comprehension.
The only long reply since your previous post was mine (which was to Chris not to you), and I was saying I don’t have any inner demons to struggle with.
Did you just cut and paste your reply from some other trolling you prepared earlier ? Sloppy work.
To quote John Travolta
“Stranded at the drive in, branded a fool, what will they say Monday at school?
Sandy, can’t you see, I’m in misery”
The other integral point he missed when he signed himself up is that this site is a community, not a forum. A community cares about it’s members.
I know it is not @the keepers preferred mode of operation but please delete him. He is ruining the humanity of this post and the comments.
@Deakus
STRONG
FROM
YOU
Ohhhhhhh Sandy, Sandra-dee, oh wha-wha-whyyyyyy. Etcetera, etc.
@ChrisO
You’ve got to remember that you’re my schizophrenic alter ego, the bit of me that fulfils my dreams about living in a hot country, doing the occasional stage race and having a family that doesn’t get in the way of my riding.
Right now, we’re thinking about having a second bar of chocolate and whether to ride tonight or have a curry. It would be mean to tell you whose wife I was thinking about earlier.
@Chris
Oh boy, this is pretty great. Be nice, not mean.
@Sandy154
I’ll be brief, and less kind and accommodating than my colleagues;
Go and crawl back under the rock you emerged from, you utter cretin.
Your mother must be so proud.
Missed some earlier drama. Good. No addiction . No addict. We aren’t users? We “love” cycling like we “love” our families — or we “love” our work. There is no addiction to my wife. I love her always and that has more permanence — it’s absolute. I know that I “love” cycling and the bikes that come my way. Cycling has no end and (unless you’re crashing on tarmac at the moment) it always gives.
@Sandy154
A completely genuine tone — “You’re very special Sandy154. You are loved.” Assuming you’re a cyclist? Always remember — “La gloriosa strada!”
@girl
Amen! And Amerckx!
@Sandy154
Fuck off troll. Why are you here (you don’t need to answer that, we already know)?
@Sandy154 We need a break. Here is a little relief. You remind me of this guy — Lawrence.
“I don’t swim. I’m not that strong… swimmer.”
@Bretto: great article, generating great, honest discussion.
I’d like to think I don’t have an “addictive” personality, but I’ve been told otherwise. In the 90’s, when I discovered cycling as PT from a middle distance running injury, it only took a few rides to get “hooked”, especially when I discovered racing as a outlet for my competitive nature. The more results I got, the more I rode, the more relationships I lost. In 99, I hung up the bike (burned out from 9 years of 600K weeks, and racing sometimes daily in the summer months), and didn’t get back onto it until a few years ago. Now it’s about balancing the bike, family and work. The Mrs is very supportive of my time out since I remain cognizant of the need for that balance. I’ll keep riding until I can’t or I’m dead.
@Chris
I should be thinking of Clark Kent and Superman but I get the impression of a cycling Gollum somehow.
And if it was my wife, then keep dreaming – I think myself damned lucky to get the occasional romp and I’m only there once every six weeks, so you haven’t got a hope buddy.
@Bianchi Denti
This is an excellent response. Straight on – people ride da bikes for different reasons. All of them can have purpose.
@scaler911
As a relatively new Follower (since 2003 or so I’d say, or around my mid-twenties) and one who adopted cycling as my movement-activity-du-jour after many other sports through college I’m intrigued by both folks who’ve been at it much longer and thus have more to contribute or those who’ve done it, left it, and now do it again.
I guess I haven’t been steeped in the sport, since I got involved kinda recently. Thus, in a short span I’ve had to get to know the terrain.
For me the reason why cyclists become so obsessive about it is the difficulty. I like to walk in the forest near where I live. Without any real training or commitment, just a (fairly) decent pair of walking shoes and some base fitness, I can walk for miles. The other day, I visited some friends and we climbed their local ‘big hill’ – a pretty testing lump of rock. You know… I’m pretty good at walking. I can get to the top.
On the bike, it’s not the same. For every pedal stroke up a testing incline, I am reminded of my lack of commitment. Even when I’ve been quite committed: have I been committed enough. I get to the top of a hill; but it wasn’t a mountain. It’s not Ventoux. It’s not Angliru. And if I ever make a trip to Alpe d’Huez, I’ll never do it in 43 mins. There is no end to the challenge and that’s the appeal.
I’m a photographer. I’m always looking for the perfect sunset. I know that it doesn’t exist. But it doesn’t stop me looking.
@scaler911
yeah, I thought I was an asshole til i read your first post, then you up’d the hate with your second post
Amerckx scaler, +1!
@all, thanks for the kind words
yes, there will be another love, just as true as sophies.
@cyclops, I think I will just hang her on the wall for now, I may send her to you some day, thanks!
and I may be welding my own in near future
@Ron
in regard to your thoughts on ‘food’ and addictions, as a nurse practitioner in my work, i see this all the time and this whole socio-cultural issue is multifaced, and probably best parsed elsewhere, but you hit the nail on the head. There are alot of similarities and most of us have commonalities
-In reference to earlier ‘semantics’ between addiction and passion, for the sake of Merckx, is there REALLY a difference, i mean at the grass roots of it? Not really.
I AM A FULL BLOWN ADDICT for my beloved bipedicular habit. Perhaps you may call it obsessive and compulsive thoughts, perhaps a loss of impulse control, perhaps even borderline personality and manipulative in order to buy the new carbon hoops, perhaps manic or even in my last unipolar dive a bit depressed.
Whatever, passion…addiction, it really doesn’t appear to me to be exclusive of one another, perhaps we may call all this passion in a fit of denial that we are really addicted. Fine with me.
pass the butter
@Gizmo
I don’t know. I’ve spent 10 days on Santorini in the Greek Isles and this is as close to perfect as I’ve seen:
(do understand that I get your point tho).