Cycling as conversation-starter

[malkin]

At a cycling event today I was asked several times "Do you ride a lot?"
I know all these people were making small talk (very small) but I found myself stumbling around for an answer.

Compared to not riding at all, I guess I do ride a lot (except for when I don't).
Compared to professional riders and those ultralong distance riders, I ride only a little.

[redrhodie]

At a cycling event today I was asked several times "Do you ride a lot?"
I know all these people were making small talk (very small) but I found myself stumbling around for an answer.

Compared to not riding at all, I guess I do ride a lot (except for when I don't).
Compared to professional riders and those ultralong distance riders, I ride only a little.

Yeah, that's a strangely weird question when it comes from another cyclist. I was at the lbs, and someone (a customer) asked how many miles I ride in a year. I was a little taken aback. It felt almost like when someone asks how much you make.

[marni]

to which I have learned to reply "as many as I can" with a goofy grin. If the questioner persists or asks how many miles I shrug and say "what difference can it possibly make?"

Really, I will always be riding more than some people and less than others, and I do it for myself not for someone I might never meet again. Plus I would rather log 20 miles of good hard effort, smooth quality and safe riding than 40 miles of mindless noddling along.
The people who know me and know that I ride are aware of about how much I ride, and really it's not anyone's business but mine.

If worse comes to worse, I excuse myself and go urgently looking for something in some other part of the store, or if out on a ride, claim I can feel my muscles getting stiff and need to start riding again right now.

marni

[shootingstar]

At a cycling event today I was asked several times "Do you ride a lot?"
I know all these people were making small talk (very small) but I found myself stumbling around for an answer.

Compared to not riding at all, I guess I do ride a lot (except for when I don't).
Compared to professional riders and those ultralong distance riders, I ride only a little.

If I'm not going to see the person again, I tend to say that I ride nearly every day when it's not snowing/raining. It's pretty accurate.

If it's someone I will see more often because it's a workplace, then it can be the distance I did on a day just the past weekend/similar time frame. I don't talk about annual mileage. It doesn't mean much to anyone except for real cycling enthusiasts. Otherwise, pointless. A more meaningful thing to non-cyclists if not the mileage, but where I might have cycled from home area to destination point for a day ride. After all, we don't have a car. So why shouldn't I mention how I got to the destination?

Except for my dearie, no one else in my family has any concept how much cycling I do annually. They just know I love cycling and hear about my longer vacation bike trips in general. That's good enough for everyone.

[malkin]

These were all in the never-to-be-seen again category.

My small talk is generally more related to the immediate context rather than idly asking for some (personal) disclosure from a stranger.