MelissaM

I have re-discovered my passion for bicycling, and have been thinking about how my Porsche experiences have helped with cycling and vice versa. I'm guessing that several of you have found that your Porsche skills help in other areas of your life.

In case you're wondering how in the heck Porsche skills can be of any use to cycling, I'll tell ya! A while back, I broke my femur while riding my bike, and since then, I've been a little nervous about descending, especially where turns are involved. Recently, I was on a training ride where we had a fairly steep decent with turns. I started thinking about the skills I've learned in autocross -- apexes, weight shifting, staying smooth, keeping momentum, etc. I used these skills on the descent, and had a fabulous time! Since I had to work hard to pedal to the top of the hill, it was sure nice to enjoy the ride down for a change.

Other areas in cycling where Porsche skills come into play -- looking ahead, knowing that you get a lot more out of improving the driver/rider rather than modifying the equipment, knowing the value of taking care of your equipment, etc. If I were more mechanically inclined, I'm sure some of that would cross-over as well.

I should also mention that cycling has helped my driving a little bit. I try to be even more predictable and am more aware of other drivers' blind spots.

-- Melissa

John Boggiano

Melissa, this post hits a nail right on the head!

I read the title and instantly though 'mountain biking'. How I wish I still had the time to do it. That and swimming (hard to see a connection there) and chess (even harder). The Porsche interferes with finding the time to do any of my other hobbies, but it's worth it.

Bad news about the femur - glad you are over it.

I agree entirely about learning the need to 'feel your way' along the terrain, consider the grip and traction and how the weight transfers will affect it all, using the momentum, keeping everything smooth and tidy, using mechanical sympathy to get the best from the equipment, the fact that the capabilities of the steed probably greatly exceed those of the rider...

Damian in NJ

Since you're talking about biking I just read where Porsche recalled over 2500 of it's mountain bikes to fix a problem with the carbon fiber handlebar stem snapping. They're also replacing the seat posts on one of the models as well.

JoeW

Hello, Melissa! You were one of the first and friendliest folk I met when I first landed here ... a belated thanks! I'm still at the other end of the learning curve, I'm afraid, and find that most of my experience in the other parts of my life are being applicable to the new Porsche obsession. Best, Joe W.

Youcef

Gotta admit Melissa I have never thought about my cycling and the cross over I could make into another skill.

I spent 10 years as a Cat 1 road racer going up and down some beautiful hills in some beautiful countries, maybe I can use some of that now!

I do agree that it is hard to find the time to do both, my bike just sits in the corner with flat tyres, carbon slowly cracking away.....time to put some air in those tyres and get out there again.

A broken carbon seat post....ouch!! They should have just stayed with alloy like in the good old days!!

Y

Mark in Baltimore

What is it with Porsches and bicycles? Track events have consumed my off road and on road cycling time, although I'm going to make a concerted effort this year to spend more time on two wheels than I did last year.

The primary similarity between cycling and track driving is the complete focus and flow state immersion I feel when I'm on a trail or on the track. All of my worries seem to fall away, my mind aware of everything, yet, contrary to the previous sentence, concentrating on nothing.

Tom W

Mt Biking and Porsches go hand in hand. Break something biking and yoiu can't autox or DE for a while. Two broken collar bones and a sprained wrist later, ask me how I know. The biggest effect I noticed i sthat I no longer have time for woodworking. All the spare time I have is taken by biking or the Porsches (much to my wife's dismay).

9XI

Interesting. I was a Cat. 1 for a number of years too. Must be something in our brain chemistry that leads us to Porsches.

Nutbeem

Huh? In a Porsche, you sit and collect speeding tickets. On a bike, you move and get tired.

Nice avatar, though!!!

Tony_D

Hi,

I'm definitely in the hobby conflict camp. I recently added a new road bike to my hobbies, and while it hasn't effected the amount of time I'm spending with my Porsche I've noticed that the two combined have led to a lot of cobwebs growing on my motorcycle!

C4TT

I hate to sound like a child, but I have become quite good at Gran Turismo 3 which is pretty much a driving simulator.
Granted it's not a hobby, but it certainly teaches you corner entry, trail braking, throttle steering etc... What I have learned has been quite effective on the track and at autoXs...

Michael Delaney

Melissa, Is that your avatar or Nutbeems? I noticed this before and always wanted to ask.

MelissaM

Hey everyone!

I had no idea there were so many road & mountain bikers on this forum. Cat 1 racers -- wow, I'm not worthy! I'm just going on a little 100km organized ride tomorrow -- not even a race, but still something I had to work up to after a long absence from biking.

JoeW, congrats on your new Porsche; she's a beauty!

Roy, actually, the avatar in question is a pic I took of my car a couple of years ago. At the time, there weren't any 964 avatars, so I told Mr. Dunkle that he could post it for public use if he wanted.

As far as other hobbies and Porsches go, I was wondering if something like martial arts or yoga help with the mental aspect of driver's ed. Or do any of the skills used in flying an airplane transfer over to driving? (OK, maybe I overthink these things.)

Oh, and C4TT, I agree that Gran Tourismo and other driving games can be very helpful. Kind of like a driving simulator.

-- Melissa

mark964

I'm an avid cyclist. I thought it was just me but I too have noticed how my two passions compliment each other. I'm sure the action of repeatedly pushing the accelerator pedal (with my right foot) and the clutch (with my left foot) have significantly strengthened my feet and legs. So much so, that I believe this is the number one reason for my recent time trial improvements.

Mark

Nutbeem

Melissa - thanks for loaning me the avatar. It was so close to my car, I didn't even bother to do my own until this discussion!