Cycling , other sports & personality, schedule fit, etc.

[shootingstar]

Something I wrote:http://cyclewriteblog.wordpress.com/...vourite-sport/

I actually enjoyed finding photos for the post..there were other examples of different physical activities I just couldn't fit in. But gardening could be considered physical activities too.

[jyyanks]

Thanks for sharing. I admit, I wasn't keen on team sports because of the pressure I felt to not let the team down. I spent so much time worrying about my performance that I forgot to have fun. As I've gotten older, I too realize that I like the flexibility that cycling offers. I can ride at my own time and at my own pace. I also enjoy yoga and pilates (which I never get to do) but which also offers me to focus on myself and enjoy what I'm doing. I don't get to ride as much as I'd like but I feel good knowing that I've found an interest that I can work on by myself and with a group.

[zoom-zoom]

I really love cyclocross. I am terrible at it, but it's so much fun (I mean, after I finish coughing up a lung). It's a great workout, it's social, I end up covered in mud and sometimes my own blood and snot, but it makes for great photos and hardcore points (for a person who isn't particularly hardcore and has never really liked her running race photos). It always seems to be equal parts hilarity and pain.

And I love that it's not something that really requires special training. I already run and bike and now mountain bike. Those are all good training for CX. My mounts and dismounts are really the only things I should be practicing.

[malkin]

I played team sports in high school, and we all had a great time, probably because we basically sucked.

[Catrin]

Much to my great surprise I do enjoy group training - there is a nice mix of shared suffering and a bit of friendly competition. I am considering taking up Geocaching this winter - and expanding my mountain bike riding to gravel roads for the winter as well. I think I need to have a partner for the latter though - I don't think that I want to do that solo.

[Crankin]

I didn't find out that I was more suited for individual, endurance type sports until I was 15 and had been placed in "flab lab." Yes, me, at the time, five feet tall, 95 pounds, failed the presidential physical fitness test, which consisted of skills like dribbling and shooting a basketball. So, twice a week, I had to sweat with a bunch of people who were really unfit, running and doing floor exercises. I remember running around the locker room, in the dead of winter.
Of course, those skills had nothing to do with the skills on the test I flunked.
I rode my bike all of the time (classic Raleigh 3 speed, Brooks saddle) from age 10-14. I did figure skating from ages 8-12. I sucked at the jumps and spins, but I often participated in contests to see how fast I could skate around the rink 100 times. That should have been a hint.
I've never done team sports, I am horrible at just about every skill required for those things. My family was very anti-competition, so it just wasn't something I would have done. Plus, there were no sports for girls when I was a kid, except ballet, gymnastics, skating. I was pretty good at field hockey, but it never would have occurred to me to join the team. But, then I moved to Florida and they didn't even play field hockey there.
I started getting active in my mid twenties, through aerobics. I also did some weight training, walking, and swimming (another thing I'm terrible at). Through all of this, I occasionally rode my bike. But basically, I was inside, at the gym until I was in my late forties. I did start x country skiing, in a very wimpy way when I moved back here, and I was around 38.
My DH used to play golf and tennis, and he was good at both. He stopped golf years ago, because it took time away from the family, and he stopped playing tennis when he developed a neuroma, had surgery, and didn't want it to get hurt again and interfere with riding.

[shootingstar]

I do feel sorry for people who try hard to become healthier, more fit by trying certain exercises, sports but they aren't happy / have a tough time sticking to the activity long term. Though life's demands/pressures do supplant our genuine attempts, sometimes it appears the person just hasn't found the right sport(s)/physical activity that they naturally like.

[shootingstar]

My only comment is: how do these forums reader on a cellpone/iphone device? The font is smaller or maybe it's just my imagination.

[thekarens]

My only comment is: how do these forums reader on a cellpone/iphone device? The font is smaller or maybe it's just my imagination.

Can't speak for iPhone, but I have a Galaxy S3 and I use an app called Tapatalk. The forums look good on it, but the S3 is more than inch bigger than the iPhone.

[Owlie]

My family is pretty unathletic, so signing the kids up for team sports was the last thing on my parents' minds.

I used to fence in high school and college. It was loads of fun and the people were great, but I was never any good at it because I'm not fast, angry or strategic enough. I suck at thinking on my feet, and that's not good in a sport that's been called "chess with muscles." Combine my coming away from tournaments feeling bummed and the flaring of an old ankle injury, and you can see why I stopped making the effort to go to practices. I do like hiking and cycling because they're outside and I can see things--trees, grass, birds. Maybe one day I'll go back to fencing at a beginner-friendly club.

[shootingstar]

Owlie, I never thought about the "angry" facade as a sort of adrenaline, driver for some sports....like boxing, etc.

I thought it was pretty cool you did try fencing for awhile. Have you tried any sort of martial arts? It's something that is more direct body contact with no "object" between yourself and the opponent (or partner, depending how one sees them. )

My parents couldn't afford to enroll any of us in any fee-based sports/art/music classes outside of school. So when I hear about schools cutting back on sports team coaching, etc., it's not a good trend ...at all.