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Comment by Baeocystin | Hacker News Reader

I see a lot of MAMILs (middle-aged men in lycra) on my regular rides. What I genuinely never see is them smiling- the person may change, but various levels of grimace is the universal expression. If they truly are enjoying themselves, they hide it pretty well.

I say this without judgment. I ride a custom recumbent, so it's not like I have anything against spending money on the hobby. But I do wonder what the drive is that seems to affect so many people the same way.

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YMMV but the reason I bike to work (and have been biking to work for the past 7 years) is because I enjoy the experience of going as hard as I can, heart pumping, asphalt rolling fast under my wheel while taking turns fast, feeling wind in my hair. You won't see me smiling (while passing you at 25mph) just like you won't see someone at the gym smiling when pushing heavy weights, but I prefer my commute to the alternative of driving stuck in traffic. Because for me the alternative isn't "bike relaxed, take in the nature", that's just too boring and slow and it doesn't hold any interest to me.

So you people need to stop being judgy. I won't judge someone because they ride a crappy looking bike in crappy clothes so don't judge someone for riding a fancy looking bike in lycra (which btw is very comfortable athletic wear, you should try it). Everyone is having fun in their own way, they have their own motivations for doing some of the same things. Just because I put a lot of effort (and money) into my biking it doesn't mean I don't enjoy it, it's my favorite part of going to work.

I love overtaking cars in the city going uphill on a bike - the look on faces of those drivers is well-worth pushing hard ;-)

Did you mean to reply to me? I think I was clear that what I said was without judgement. I genuinely don't understand the perspective of the people who grimace all the time while riding. If you get off on passing people, ok. And it really is ok, there's nothing wrong with feeling competitive. That's not what it is about for me, and I both bike and lift, and push myself hard. I just enjoy the process and the camaraderie.

I smile when I'm riding along casually, and I'll grimace when I'm working hard. I enjoy both of those things in their time. Why not both?

I think parent was responding to the appearance that you don't understand the fact that someone can be enjoying themselves without smiling.

I assume they're getting something out of it, but it sure doesn't seem to be anything I would call joy.

I race motorcycles. I don't get joy out of it, I get satisfaction and a feeling of achievement. I get a feeling of ultimate focus for 15 minutes. Nothing compares to it. I can't imagine processing the experience as an emotion, that would require taking focus away from the knife edge of going fast but not fast enough to crash. My good friend races with me and he says it's the most fun thing ever, he's grinning in his helmet. We are doing the same thing, we are getting something positive from it, but we have completely different ways we experience it.

Thanks for the friendly reply. Appreciated.

I think you and the person you're replying to may just be defining "enjoy" differently. To me, enjoying something just means you like doing it for some reason or another, not necessarily that you're on cloud nine throughout.

I wouldn't say I'm on cloud nine. But if I'm out for a ride, and things are working like the should, no leg stiffness, balance isn't off... It really does make me happy enough to smile. And that in turn makes my effort feel lightened. It is so much more enjoyable than the approach I took when I was in my 20's, which was more of the no pain/no gain variety.

Gotcha. Yeah, I personally "enjoy" both of those types of rides!

I can absolutely get euphoria while pushing myself to the limit (I don't bike or wear Lycra, though.) I don't know if I have the free energy to smile in those moments...

I mean.. nobody smiles in the middle of exercise. I thoroughly enjoy working hard and pushing myself on my bike, but it definitely doesn't make me smile. I might smile 3 hours later when I see I broke a few personal records though.

I do? I mean, I don't consider myself an unusual athlete or anything. But if I'm biking or lifting, I almost always have a smile on my face, even while pushing myself. So do other people I know, so I really don't think it's unusual.

Yes, you are basically an 'unusual athlete', at least in this regard. Going along at top speed or riding up a steep hill takes effort and the last thing on most people's minds is their facial expression - so they might assume an expression that allows easy breathing or possibly tense all their facial muscles.

I have to say, I'm kind of surprised at the negative reaction saying smiling while exercising has gotten in this subthread. It really is something a lot of folks do. It's even something that top-tier athletes do on purpose: https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/12/health/smile-running-energy-p...

Even if it isn't something one does without being prompted, frame of mind is such an important part of performance. Anything that can lower perceived effort is worth taking seriously.

I’d very much prefer grimaces to smiles with no warmth behind them.

? I have no idea what you mean by this.

He's talking about fake smiles. Something all too common.

"How are you?"

I'm not riding in lycra, but yes I use padded bike shorts under my montainbike shorts, but I don't do roadbikes (yet).

I don't think I ever smile when riding a bike, either my mind wanders if it's "easy" or I am concentrated because I don't want to hurt myself.

On my commute (by bike) I even sometimes actively think about hard problems at work, apparently I look very grim because only a month ago a ~10 year old was shouting "come on, smile" at me when I was passing him. Or maybe I was just imagining it because it's so funny :P

What I'm saying is.. I know a ton of people who don't smile while riding a bike. Or doing anything except when talking to other people or reading something funny.

They might be fighting for their future sustainable health as some issues probably already manifested themselves and reduced their quality of life. Such a training after a lifetime of not caring is no fun...

I'm 44. Oddly enough, it was only after the spectre of long-term health issues raised its head that I was able to let go of some of the stress and just enjoy exercising for what it is, even beyond the health benefits. I'm almost (almost) thankful, in a way.

Is there a name for the feeling you get when you discover something you thought only you noticed or knew about has a name (and essays written about it, and a documentary)?

I am sure German has some 30+ character long word exactly for that ;-)

Counterpoint: I never smile while doing something physically intensive. I am almost always focusing on breathing technique (especially for cardio) or general form.

Can I ask about your breathing techniques for cardio? It’s something I’ve thought about some, but tend to waffle between being important and worthy of focus, or just letting my body do its thing.

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