What other forums do you participate in?

[Pax]

I love TE but it's a pretty sparsely used forum these days, I have others I visit but as they are largely male dominated they're a bit much at times.

So... any other good forums out there?

[PamNY]

Are you asking about cycling forums specifically? I glance at Bike Forum (rarely) but that's it.

I wonder if Facebook has lessened participation in topic-specific forums. I used to participate in several bulldog forums (still moderate one of them). Several are now completely defunct, and the others have slowed to a crawl.

[rebeccaC]

what other ones do you visit??

When I was getting into long distance riding in college I looked around and found that Bike Forums had some good info. Over the last 6 years or so I’ve occasionally read and posted to the training/nutrition and endurance forums. I still post photography to a forum there but don’t interact that much anymore. I have a number of the males on my ignore list and that can make reading threads there easier. There’s a private woman’s forum there but I’ve never bothered to seek it out.

I occasionally ride with a couple of women I met through Road Bike Review and have met a older guy that I admire a lot. I still occasionally post photos of my ride routes in the touring/ride report forum there. I’ve gotten some good ride routes from that forum too. I also have fewer males on my ignore list there.

There is also a small Southern California forum site put up by a woman friend from RBR that I look at for get together/ride info.

Non bicycling sites are just a couple of photography sites and some biotech ones.

[Pax]

Pam - nope, not cycling specific, just forums you enjoy. And I think you're right... Facebook has made a huge dent in forum usage. Makes me sad since I think forum formatting with long ongoing conversations is far more interesting than the short back-forth-done format on FB.

Rebecca - I am a regular on some motorcycling forums and I read often on one Buddhist forum (Dhamma Wheel). The motorcycling sites are so awash in misogyny it's hard to find any of the good stuff; so I rarely post anymore.

[Eden]

I'm active on a Fuji-X camera photo forum. I don't do Facebook -I simply cannot deal with the minutia of other people's lives… (I've never been much good at small talk either), but I do have an account on Flickr, which has a bit of a forum-y component and on JungleDragon, a nature photography web site, which has it's own forum. Gender rarely comes into play on those sites and I've been using somewhat androgynous screen names so many times no one knows if I'm a man or a woman.

A little plug for JungleDragon - it's a really cool web site run by a single person because he wants to do it. It's a nature photography sharing web site with an emphasis on not only collecting photographs, but data as well, so geo-tagging (which he makes easy) and identifying species on the photographs is a big goal too. He runs it as a non-profit. There are no ads, no fees for a "better" account. http://www.jungledragon.com

[roo4]

www.runango.com

Supposed to be a running forum, but topics vary.

[ny biker]

When I first got my car (7 years ago) I actively followed the Priuschat forum, but now I only use that to research car-related issues, like buying new tires or diagnosing a possible dying battery.

There's a local cycling forum for DC and Arlington which I tried out for a few weeks, but I found it to have a strong smug-bike-commuter tone, with people making fun of recreational cyclists and assuming that everyone who drives a car instead of cycling for transportation must be lazy and fat because there is no other possible reason why a person would not ride a bike to work. So I told them what I thought of them and left.

I've done research on some tech-specific forums, to diagnose problems with my smartphone and Kindle. But I've never followed anything like that regularly.

That's pretty much it for me.

I do think about some of the people who used to post here pretty regularly but haven't been around lately, especially those who have talked about problems they've had. I hope they're doing okay and just too busy or focused on other things to check in here anymore.

[thekarens]

I'm on a couple bird forums. Road bike review was a bit much for me.

[OakLeaf]

The motorcycling sites are so awash in misogyny it's hard to find any of the good stuff; so I rarely post anymore.

That's unfortunate. I've been away from ST.N for a few years now, but it was always welcoming to me, if overwhelmingly male.

I won't say there was never anything I had to choose whether to confront or ignore, but it was mostly just a few guys, easy enough to ignore, and the kind of people a LOT of others ignored for a variety of reasons.

[shootingstar]

On a local cycling forum /blog which tends to be locally based on infrastructure matters, ride experiences, events, some meet-ups.

Also some people blog and part of being a regular blogger is having informal short dialogue/comments on other bloggers' blogs. I actually find Facebook not sufficient for discussion at length on a topic.
I enjoy cycling and hanging out with cyclists but also like to expand my understanding in other long-time personal passions outside of cycling, which is why I'm less here in TE.

I just had a blog post about what it's like sharing a life with a partner who also cycles and is a long time cycling advocate, yet I've hesitated to post the link....thinking that maybe it just bores people here because you already live a cycling-oriented life like me ( or not?). There's photos, etc.

I dunno.

[Crankin]

None. I already spend too much time on TE and Facebook. I'm frustrated that no one seems to be posting.

[rocknrollgirl]

I used to do three. TE, a mountain biking site for our state and trifuel. Trifuel was rendered silent by FB. The mt bike site is up and running full throttle.

I think TE has quieted down a lot the past two years, my guess is FB and twitter. My husband and I do not do any other social media. We both teach high school and are am SO turned off by it. I am sure it is great for some folks, but I see nothing but problems from the students and LOTS of the adults. We keep in touch with our friends and loved ones the old fashioned way....email and the phone. And I am no good at small talk either!

[Pax]

I truly can't understand why so many forums are going silent, they are a far better way to communicate conversationally than things like FB. Maybe people prefer tiny snippets of info over conversation?

[OakLeaf]

Well, it's pretty obvious I like the forum format, but I also FB quite a bit, and I think FB is really what you make of it. Maybe ongoing conversations aren't as frequent as they are in a format like this one, and they definitely take more effort to maintain, but they do happen among my FB friends.

I think the appeal of FB is that it offers so many different things. For me, it's my main news feed; an opportunity to keep up and sometimes even interact with musicians and writers I enjoy; notifications of local events; a critical link to my own past by putting me back in touch with college and high school friends with whom I was never close enough to keep more than a superficial relationship; a setting in which I've turned acquaintances into friends, and friends of friends into people I like and would really like to meet f2f someday.


... It's Twitter I really don't get. Well, I do get it, but I don't have any interest in putting in the effort. DH is really into it. It's like a city vs country thing, almost. Stay off Twitter for four hours and you're so behind you'll never catch up again. FB can be done more casually.

[Helene2013]

I'm here and the other 2 are a dog (and other pets are discussed) board and a french (Quebec) cycling one. But this one here is the one I prefer. I don't see any bashing and too-much-testosterone reactions here to try to impress others. And not even PMS crisis I can see. hihi If I have a question, I come here for it. I won't be judged or passed for a less then nothing because of a fear, etc... I mostly use the French bike one for info needed specifically for my area (paths, stores, etc.)

I'm not into FB and the likes. No interest. I did create a "fake" FB for contests, etc but not really using it. I have a very very basic LinkedIn created because sometimes at work I have to "search" for a retiree or someone who moved and did not forward a new address.

[smittykitty]

Just TE. No judgement, just support and much needed info. While I myself post rarely, I check in daily. I have really noticed a downturn in posting the last several months. I find this quite worrisome.

I finally joined FB a couple years ago, as I was missing out on family/friend info. I do find it helpful for that, but generally find it annoying and spend less and less time with it.

[Pax]

Helene - I have a fake-ish FB account too, a few friends from an old defunct forum... but I mostly use it as a news-feed.

[ehirsch83]

I'm on a equestrian board also. Have to admit I have been lurking the past year here but not posting much- due to the traffic just being so low and the topics not being there. But I still check weekly if not more.

I think we all need a revival- i used to love coming here and posting!

[Pax]

Agreed. I put TE back in my bookmark list and will check in a few times a day, I'll even try to post a bit more. :D

[PamNY]

I truly can't understand why so many forums are going silent, they are a far better way to communicate conversationally than things like FB. Maybe people prefer tiny snippets of info over conversation?

I agree. The only reason I signed up for Facebook is to keep up with my online friends who have drifted away from the bulldog group. But it's just not the same.

[rebeccaC]

I truly can't understand why so many forums are going silent, they are a far better way to communicate conversationally than things like FB. Maybe people prefer tiny snippets of info over conversation?

with some forums a slowdown in participation can be seasonal with more people going online during their inclement weather months.

i don't do fb because i don't like 'tiny snippets' that sometimes can also seem a little too vain. There are also too many privacy issues with fb for me. They even capture what you type even if you don't post it. I prefer a private real conversation with a good friend about what's going on in our lives.

[withm]

I still read TE every day but I've had a year from hell and have probably ridden less than 100 miles in the last 12 months. Two biopsies led to 2 surgeries, followed by chemo, radiation, and a bunch of unwelcome and probably life-long side effects have sort of sucked the fun out of my life.

The good news is that even with all this craziness going on I bought a new house (yay) and hope that the old one will sell soon. I have a garage now and am seriously thinking about buying another bike once I have recovered a little more. No more bike and racks in the front hall. :)

[tulip]

I have not been active on TE because the discussions don't interest me anymore. While I appreciate that certain people report on their own things, I just don't want want to read about such personal details. My own posts seem uninteresting to others, as well, so there's no motivation to continue. I look at TE about once a month but rarely even log in anymore.

I have a narrow Facebook presence mostly focused on bicycling. I have lost interest in the DC womens cycling forum because of too much posting. There needs to be a balance. I also look at two other forums that relate to my other interests.

I have met a few actual TE-ers and that's been great.

[Pax]

Holy cow withm, sorry to hear about your rough year! Congrats on th e new place though, my honey and I just bought a condo in FL, the future just got interesting. :D

[Trek420]

Agreed. I put TE back in my bookmark list and will check in a few times a day, I'll even try to post a bit more. :D

Agreed. I like the forum format, more privacy too although really all of you and the NSA could just show up at our door.

I joined FB to keep up with far flung family and friends. Don't have other forums, check reddit for news mostly. I'll try to swing by here more often.

[azfiddle]

I really like this forum- I don't frequent many others. I miss the weight challenge- that was helpful in keeping me on track.

Occasionally I go onto Fiddle Hangout, but it's repetitive after a while - lots of good info for beginners.

[Crankin]

Tulip, I hope I didn't post too many personal details for you! And, I hope you continue with your presence here.
I've met several TEers in person, both local and while traveling. It's always been a fun time and never awkward. I find most TE people are very interesting people, and I hope to personally meet more of you in the future.

[Pax]

I really think we have a shot at ramping up TE again. It's a rare place with women from so many different places, interests, and abilities; it would be a shame to let it fade away without at least trying.

Think I'll go post about my next bike!

[Trek420]

I really think we have a shot at ramping up TE again. It's a rare place with women from so many different places, interests, and abilities; it would be a shame to let it fade away without at least trying.

Think I'll go post about my next bike!

It's the best place in cyberspace for women athletes. Long live TE!

[Blueberry]

I love TE and read the forums somewhat regularly. I've been posting less (and reading less) because I'm working on trying to find a better balance of actually living my life! I've been in classes for the last 2 years (which have sucked up a tremendous amount of time), and I was just accepted into a program which means I won't have that much free time for - oh - the next 8 years. I still love TE and have met some amazing people here - but now, more than ever, I really need to limit my time on the computer that isn't school related. I'll be here when I can be!

[Crankin]

Blueberry, did you get accepted at a med school? I *think* I remember that's what you were studying for.

[Blueberry]

Blueberry, did you get accepted at a med school? I *think* I remember that's what you were studying for.

Great memory, Crankin! I was accepted to the MD program at one of my state schools. It's an awesome school, and was my top choice - plus I found out the earliest date I could have - so I'm extremely happy right now. :) There's finally some certainly in my life, and I can plan for the future - also both things that make me very happy! We're looking for closer housing to minimize my (currently crazy) commute - I start in August.

[Pax]

Wow, congrats Blueberry!!

[Blueberry]

Wow, congrats Blueberry!!

Thank you!! I'm still pinching myself to remind myself that it's real!

[OakLeaf]

Oh man withm, gentle hugs to you, and sincere hopes that you recover quickly and better than you think you will.

Blueberry, congratulations!!!

[Crankin]

Blueberry, congrats! One of my close friends' son just started at U Mass Med School, after working for a few years. He is loving it.
Yes, it will be hard, but, you will still have time for some fun, if you plan well. During the short (and aborted) stint I did in a PhD program, I learned very quickly that it was really important to continue socializing and having fun with people from my former life.
Withm, hope you are healing well.

[thekarens]

Congrats Blueberry! That's wonderful!