{"id":675329,"date":"2026-05-16T19:56:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T19:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/675329\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T19:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T19:56:11","slug":"cyclist-boyfriend-convinced-her-to-buy-a-bike-then-made-every-ride-together-impossible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/675329\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyclist boyfriend convinced her to buy a bike, then made every ride together &#8216;impossible&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A Reddit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/cycling\/comments\/1tccfos\/boyfriend_keeps_dismissing_opportunities_for_us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">post<\/a> about a cyclist boyfriend and his less-experienced partner is drawing attention after the original poster said he encouraged them to buy a bike but seemed to avoid actually riding with them.<\/p>\n<p>In the post, which appeared in the r\/cycling forum, the user said their boyfriend was &#8220;very much into cycling&#8221; but that whenever they suggested &#8220;route ideas that we could do for fun on weekends \u2026 he always finds a way to make it impossible.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They explained that they only ride to commute and are &#8220;definitely slow,&#8221; which left them wondering whether he simply did not want to ride at their pace.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It makes me sad because I wanted to do this as a fun activity with him,&#8221; they wrote, asking others if they should try taking cycling more seriously or &#8220;just give up.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The responses reflected a broader tension that often comes up with outdoor hobbies: Is the activity mainly about performance, or can it also be about connection? Many commenters argued that those goals do not have to conflict, especially if the more experienced person is willing to treat one ride as shared time rather than as a workout.<\/p>\n<p>That idea has implications beyond one couple&#8217;s disagreement. <a href=\"https:\/\/guide.thecooldown.com\/actions\/ride-a-bike-instead-of-driving\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Cycling<\/a> remains one of the more affordable, low-impact ways to commute, exercise, and reduce reliance on cars. But for newer riders, getting started can be daunting.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>             &#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n\t                         &#13;<br \/>\n                  &#13;<br \/>\n                    &#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n                      &#13;<br \/>\n                      &#13;<br \/>\n                      <a href=\"https:\/\/go.linkby.com\/BGDMAAPN\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/skechers1.jpg\" width=\"560\" height=\"400\" style=\"display:block;width:100%;height:auto;\"\/><\/a>&#13;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#360499;text-decoration:underline\" href=\"https:\/\/go.linkby.com\/BGDMAAPN\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">BOBS from Skechers<\/a> has helped over 2 million shelter pets around the world \u2014 and the charity program just announced this year\u2019s Paws for a Cause design-winning sneakers.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>These &#8220;hound huggers&#8221; and &#8220;kitten kicks&#8221; sneakers are machine washable and equipped with memory foam insoles. Plus, they were designed by passionate students who were inspired by their very own rescue pets.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>BOBS from Skechers is also committed to donating <a target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#360499;text-decoration:underline\" href=\"https:\/\/go.linkby.com\/BGDMAAPN\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">half a million dollars<\/a> to the Best Friends Animal Society this year to help every dog and cat experience the safety and support of a loving home.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                     &#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n                    &#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t  &#13;<br \/>\n                  &#13;<br \/>\n                &#13;<\/p>\n<p>When cycling culture becomes overly centered on speed, endurance, or performance, it can make the activity feel less accessible for people who simply want to ride for errands, recreation, or transportation \u2014 choices that can also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecooldown.com\/tag\/money-saving\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"54\" title=\"Money Saving\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">save money<\/a> on gas and reduce pollution tied to driving.<\/p>\n<p>A number of users said that making time for an occasional easy ride did not seem like an unreasonable ask.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The top commenter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/cycling\/comments\/1tccfos\/comment\/oln26mf\/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">said<\/a> the boyfriend should &#8220;separate fast training rides and fun rides&#8221; mentally, adding that they do a hard solo ride before heading out with their fianc\u00e9e so that the slower outing feels like a recovery ride.<\/p>\n<p>When the original poster <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/cycling\/comments\/1tccfos\/comment\/oln55xg\/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">clarified<\/a> that their boyfriend already rode four to five days a week and that they were not asking for a weekly outing \u2014 only &#8220;maybe just once a month&#8221; \u2014 many readers were even less sympathetic to his reluctance.<\/p>\n<p>TCD Picks \u00bb Quince Spotlight<\/p>\n<p class=\"description-text\" style=\"color:#0E0E0E\">\ud83d\udca1These best-sellers from Quince deliver affordable, sustainable luxury for all<\/p>\n<p>Another commenter, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/cycling\/comments\/1tccfos\/comment\/oln59vy\/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">said<\/a> they had once been the &#8220;serious&#8221; cyclist in a similar dynamic, wrote that rides with their partner were &#8220;most decidedly not training rides.&#8221; Instead, they said, they now thought of themselves as &#8220;either a companion or a coach and cheerleader,&#8221; a shift they said had &#8220;done wonders.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\" style=\"max-width:600px\">Get TCD&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecooldown.com\/newsletter\/?utm_source=recaU3lKviualsvLa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences <a href=\"https:\/\/links.thecooldown.com\/follow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"36\" height=\"24\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thecooldown.com\/wp-content\/themes\/tcd\/assets\/images\/divider-icon-earth.svg\" alt=\"Cool Divider\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Reddit post about a cyclist boyfriend and his less-experienced partner is drawing attention after the original poster&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":675330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,82990,784,191,325474,13247,2579,10665,82993,85,10667],"class_list":["post-675329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-change-the-way-you-get-around","tag-cycling","tag-home","tag-lifestyle-gem","tag-money-saving","tag-reddit","tag-reddit-gem","tag-ride-a-bike-instead-of-driving","tag-sports","tag-yahoo-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=675329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/675330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=675329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=675329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=675329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}