I worry that if cycling becomes or is the new golf the increased number of middle aged businessmen dying of heart attacks while participating is going make cycling look more dangerous than it is...
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Cycling is the new golf.
(41 posts)-
Posted 9 years ago #
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May I bring a continental perspective? At the time that he (I think) is talking about, the 1980s or 90s, in Germany many people cycled for their daily transport (not everybody though), but very few for sports or touring.
You did meet many cyclists, but there was little group feeling as it was just transport, people and bikes were diverse just like people you meet on the bus, walking or in cars.
Out in the countryside, that was very different. When on a tour, you basically never met anybody else, the only other people on bikes were typically locals on the way to the next village.
I did a couple of longer tours, but it was a very niche activity, some tours I did on my own, some with my best friend, and some in groups or 3 or 4 friends, starting from home for a couple of days or a week with a tent. My longest tour was a 3 months.
We didn't have money for special bikes, we just went off on the same bike that we used every day to get around in town. Basically we all knew basic mechanics and could fix everything, but most of us weren't that interested in the technology as such as long as it worked.
Occasionally I met another lonely rider on a tour similar to myself and also on some standard bike, but it was really very rare. I don't think we talked much about bikes but rather we exchanged sightseeing or routing tips (no GPS back then...).
I don't think I've ever encountered a club on any form of training, that just wasn't popular at all, perhaps a few professionals but not as mass sport.
As it was so niche and few people really went on longer tours, the locals were often really impressed and very helpful. We got a couple of free breakfasts or lunches. Once I cycled with a friend through Austria, and as it was getting dark and we were looking for a place to pitch the tent, we passed a lonely house and somebody suddenly shouted "Hey you guys, do you want something to eat?" Turned out some neighbours were having a barbeque and had more sausages than they could eat, so they just decided to stop us when they spotted us through their garden fence.
Posted 9 years ago # -
"Perhaps cycling is the new squash as well as the new golf. Squash had a reputation as being something businesspersons did whilst having chats about business and being all sweaty and competitive. "
Yes, I think that analogy holds water as it appeals to a similar demographic. An old friend of mine used to play squash regularly in the 90s and zeroes. I bumped into him a couple of years ago and he was getting into road bikes, had ridden a few times with PortoVelo and was training for the Étape Caledonia...
Posted 9 years ago # -
I heard the mantra "cycling is the new golf" when I was in New Zealand a few years ago. There are more and more cycle trails and the older well-off types go on tours rather than take up golf. All to the good. Much better to build a trail - often an old railway line or drover's road - that takes up very little room than cover acres of land with over-tended monoculture. This brings some money to remote areas building bunk-houses and offering food.
I recognise the competitive culture the article talks about and as golf was once corporate entertainment, etape cycling can be offered to clients. But I don't know what he is moaning about. Competitive cycling has as much to do with the wandering about on the bicycle through the countryside as marathons have to hill-walking. They are different activities and one does not dispossess the other.
The advantage of having more people taking up cycling, whether racing or mountain biking is that there are cycle shops in unlikely places, which is useful for the touring cyclist who needs a repair.
Posted 9 years ago # -
The cycling he's complaining about (organised groups riding high tech bikes along planned routes with good roads to a pub/cafe) has been going on since the bike was first invented.
Sure, the technology has advanced and expanded into clothing but it's basically the same. You'd be mad to think there wasn't a competitive element back then too.
In the early days cycling was for well off people with plenty of spare time so really, cycling is the new cycling.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Golf in Scotland on municipal courses has always been an accessible sport for the common man and occasional common woman.
Cycling has a long proletarian tradition from the clarion through to HG Wells
Posted 9 years ago # -
Much better to build a trail - often an old railway line or drover's road - that takes up very little room than cover acres of land with over-tended monoculture. This brings some money to remote areas building bunk-houses and offering food.
Rosie - I have sworn not to rest until you can cycle from Dundee to Mallaig and from Gala to Wick off-road. Coupled with serious land reform it would transform our country.
@gembo
Are you aware of cross-country golf?
Posted 9 years ago # -
"Are you aware of cross-country golf?"
"Birnham Hill, above the small town of Dunkeld, about 10 miles North of Perth. We had noticed a patch of clear ground, roughly two miles square on crest of the hill"
? They must have a different map to mine.
He's perhaps not the only one, but this person golfed across Scotland.
Might have to read that, although only one 2-star review. Mind you, doesn't sound like the reviewer has entirely bought into the concept.
There is also Trig Cricket (on Lendrick Hill in the Ochils):
Posted 9 years ago # -
Golf is no longer a crime, decrees China's Communist party
Once rejected as the sport of millionaires by Mao, China now says there is is ‘no right or wrong’ about playing golf
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/14/golf-is-no-longer-a-decrees-chinas-communist-party
Posted 9 years ago # -
"...and then the imperialist running dog and enemy of the people stymied me on the 17th".
Posted 9 years ago # -
Didn't Kim Jong Il invent golf?
Posted 9 years ago #
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