Correlation of the I.T. sector and cycling???

xz

I have noticed that a number of Boardsies, and people in my club work in the I.T. sector, what is the thing that draws these 2 together? My own thoughts are a little tongue in cheek, that those in the I.T. sector feel guilty at not having to do PHYSICAL labour and that cycling is their outlet.
Anyone in this profession care to comment?

Beasty

Are you suggesting cyclists are geeks, or geeks are cyclists?

Pat Kavanagh

It's probably that just more of the IT Browd inhabit boards and 'virtual' communities etc. The rest connect alternatively.?

dayshah

xz wrote: »

I have noticed that a number of Boardsies, and people in my club work in the I.T. sector, what is the thing that draws these 2 together? My own thoughts are a little tongue in cheek, that those in the I.T. sector feel guilty at not having to do PHYSICAL labour and that cycling is their outlet.
Anyone in this proffession care to comment?

Most IT workers are young. Most cyclists are young.

I'm not IT, but work in an office. One reason I cycle to work is the lack of physical exercise I get at work.

markpb

Not many people in my company cycle but 100% of the people who do are in IT.

irishmotorist

I dunno. I (IT person) was about to start writing about being interested in details and understanding stuff which lends itself to the mechanics of the bike and then computery gadgetry that you can get. But this doesn't explain why I don't collect, say, HiFi systems or fly radio controlled aircraft. I'm the only IT person that I know (in real life anyway) that cycles though.

Perhaps it's more that when cycling, IT people tend to gravitate towards each other (e.g. forum members knowing each other) and that becomes a perception that because we all chat together, the rest must be the same.

kona

Too much free time

Lumen

V hggreyl erwrpg lbhe fhttrfgvba gung jr'er n ohapu bs trrxf.

Lemag

Lumen wrote: »

V hggreyl erwrpg lbhe fhttrfgvba gung jr'er n ohapu bs trrxf.

and in binary -

01010110 00100000 01101000 01100111 01100111 01110010 01100101 01111001 01101100 00100000 01100101 01110010 01110111 01110010 01110000 01100111 00100000 01101100 01100010 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101000 01110100 01110100 01110010 01100110 01100111 01110110 01100010 01100001 00100000 01100111 01110101 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101010 01110010 00100111 01100101 01110010 00100000 01101110 00100000 01101111 01101000 01100001 01110000 01110101 00100000 01100010 01110011 00100000 01110100 01110010 01110010 01111000 01100110 00101110 00100000 00001010

Dermot Illogical

Lumen wrote: »

V hggreyl erwrpg lbhe fhttrfgvba gung jr'er n ohapu bs trrxf.

Me too. But as you can see I prefer ROT26. Twice as secure

lalorm

I work in IT and cycle alot. For me, the training is believe it or not, relaxing. It takes my mind off work and is a great stree relief. IT is very technical and you have to use a lot of concentration during the week. Cycling I find gets me away from all that and is completely non technical. Some concentration is required of course, but it's great. I loved it when I was studying as a kid and it's still as good now as an adult dealing with working life.

TinyExplosions

We still have jobs, and disposable income to throw down the black hole that is cycling? :P

flatface

Does a programmer count? Maybe we need a geek cyclist sub forum

oflahero

Myself and Nietzschean of this parish once discussed this as we spun in the Poulaphouca direction. We're both in the IT game. My 2c if I remember right was that the appeal lay in 1) the solitary nature of the sport (OK so it can be a team effort, but essentially it's a pretty inward-looking activity, it's not five-a-side). Long periods spent by yourself, constantly asking questions of yourself. This allies itself well with general nerdiness, the ever-so-slight autism that characterises the classic IT type. 2) the slavering over equipment, componentry and statistics - ditto.

tomasrojo

John Forester said something about the types of people who commute by bike in Effective Cycling. Something about working in jobs where there wasn't a strict dress code, or where promotion was clearly based on merit, rather than making a good impression. He's based in the USA, and he's in his eighties now, so his experience may not be relevant to Ireland in 2011.

I did work in IT as a programmer, but I grew to dislike both the work and the general work environment, so I'm out of it now. I also am really just a utility cyclist, so I don't take an enormous interest in cycling equipment, beyond very utilitarian items.

Inquitus

dayshah wrote: »

Most IT workers are young. Most cyclists are young.

I would disagree, most cyclists seem middle aged in my experience, I am 35 and having done a variety of sportifs recently and I'd say I come in under the average age. Even when out and about on the bike I'd say I see more riders older than me than younger.

tomasrojo

Inquitus wrote: »

I would disagree, most cyclists seem middle aged in my experience, I am 35 and having done a variety of sportifs recently and I'd say I come in under the average age. Even when out and about on the bike I'd say I see more riders older than me than younger.

Also, people working in IT aren't that young on average now, I think. Not in my experience. I think there was a huge fall-off in people studying IT after 2001 (for obvious reasons), so a lot of the people still working in it are graduates from the nineties. Not very old, but not in the first flush of youth either.

triggermortis

Inquitus wrote: »

I would disagree, most cyclists seem middle aged in my experience, I am 35 and having done a variety of sportifs recently and I'd say I come in under the average age. Even when out and about on the bike I'd say I see more riders older than me than younger.

I've noticed that too. I don't actually know anyone on here but the guys I've seen out and about are definitely in the older age bracket. I work shifts so I suppose that when I'm out, a lot of people are working.

I'm not in IT but do have a technical job (and I'm 44)

Idleater

Is the concept of above normal IT related cyclist skewed by the nature of an online forum being more accessible by IT professions, thus the cycling forum being more populated by them?
I don't particularly notice this skewed result in my club mates who work in a range of occupations, but do in my friends and acquaintances who I met through college and work.

I.e. do f1 drivers comment about how everyone in the paddock seems to own flash cars?

ednwireland

no-one i ride with regularly work in IT (except me) might be something to do with being in donegal

Lumen

tomasrojo wrote: »

John Forester said something about the types of people who commute by bike in Effective Cycling. Something about working in jobs where there wasn't a strict dress code, or where promotion was clearly based on merit, rather than making a good impression.

I resent the implication that cyclists are scruffy and competent. We are at least as capable of empty showmanship and incompetent preening as any other group.

Inquitus wrote: »

I would disagree, most cyclists seem middle aged in my experience, I am 35...

The next person who uses the number 35 and the phrase "middle aged" in the same sentence is going on my ignore list. :pac:

droidus

What? No data visualisations? No graphs and charts?

manwithaplan

Isn't cycling a touch middle class these days? That would skew things a bit in the IT direction, all other things being equal.

I said "skew" and "all other things being equal" but I'm not in IT. In my game people say "ceteris paribus". Honestly.

Lumen

droidus wrote: »

What? No data visualisations? No graphs and charts?

Inquitus

Lumen wrote: »

I resent the implication that cyclists are scruffy and competent. We are at least as capable of empty showmanship and incompetent preening as any other group.



The next person who uses the number 35 and the phrase "middle aged" in the same sentence is going on my ignore list. :pac:

I reject the insinuation I am middle aged, clearly middle aged is forever defined as (My age +10)

Dermot Illogical

Inquitus wrote: »

I reject the insinuation I am middle aged, clearly middle aged is forever defined as (My age +10)

Whew! Looks like I'll always be a year away

ThisRegard

Inquitus wrote: »

I would disagree, most cyclists seem middle aged in my experience, I am 35 and having done a variety of sportifs recently and I'd say I come in under the average age. Even when out and about on the bike I'd say I see more riders older than me than younger.

I'm middle aged now :eek:

It's true though, I was one of the youngest in the company when I started as a graduate, I am the youngest today 15 years later, apart from the receptionist.

irishpeloton

Chips Lovell

tomasrojo wrote: »

John Forester said something about the types of people who commute by bike in Effective Cycling. Something about working in jobs where there wasn't a strict dress code, or where promotion was clearly based on merit...

I wear sharp suits in work every day and still cycle in.

Gavb

All the IT blokes I know are fat fux that wouldn't know what to do with a bike :-)

Dermot Illogical

Gavb wrote: »

All the IT blokes I know are fat fux that wouldn't know what to do with a bike :-)

>man bike

Korvanica

I cycle to work because im sitting all day in work, plus trying to get across the southside of the city is a nightmare....:mad:

while(Location != Work.Location)
{
    Pedal();
    UpdateLocation();
    AddExcercisePoint();
    if(IsRaining())
    {
        BeAngryAndWet(); //stupid rain
    }
}

I also work in IT...:pac:

daragh_

I'm not in IT. Do I have to give back my bikes now.

ednwireland

daragh_ wrote: »

I'm not in IT. Do I have to give back my bikes now.

i'll be round to pick them up later

Korvanica

ednwireland wrote: »

i'll be round to pick them up later

We can melt them down and make computer parts out of them

Piercemeear

IT people spent their childhoods being crap a ball sports due to many factors, including but not limited to: too much time passed gluing planes together, reading science fiction novels and playing Atari.

Once they reached adulthood and began to look for some recreational exercise, they hadn't built up the necessary hand-eye coordination and ball-control to really enjoy team sports. They took up cycling because it's solitary, relatively free of competition/humiliation if you want it to be, and no one ever picks you last out of a line-up.

setanta159

Piercemeear wrote: »

IT people spent their childhoods being crap a ball sports due to many factors, including but not limited to: too much time passed gluing planes together, reading science fiction novels and playing Atari.

Once they reached adulthood and began to look for some recreational exercise, they hadn't built up the necessary hand-eye coordination and ball-control to really enjoy team sports. They took up cycling because it's solitary, relatively free of competition/humiliation if you want it to be, and no one ever picks you last out of a line-up.

grains of truth

ThisRegard

Oi, I take exception to that ! As a kid I was a decent competitive runner, got bored with that and then played hurling and even got to go for a trial for the Dublin under 16 team, not that I was ever in with a chance of making the panel. Then college came along which meant I worked weekends so sport was given up apart from my regular mountain bike forays into the Dublin mountains when on summer holidays.

In my office I have worked with at least 3 tri-athletes (boo !), one track competitor at national level and a couple of other out-doorsy type people. But we do have the other extreme, there seems to be no middle ground.

langdang

I've noticed a disproportionate amount of engineers involved in mountain biking, in Munster at least...

studiorat

I was into cycling in school. Long before I considered a career, part time jobs payed for cycling.

Don't work in IT

while(Location != Work.Location)
{
    Pedal();
    UpdateLocation();
    AddExcercisePoint();
    if(IsRaining())
    {
        BeAngryAndWet(); //stupid rain
    }
}

But I do know what that means...

Actually all the techies have nice bikes here.

Rovi

setanta159 wrote: »

Piercemeear wrote: »

IT people spent their childhoods being crap a ball sports due to many factors, including but not limited to: too much time passed gluing planes together, reading science fiction novels and playing Atari.

Once they reached adulthood and began to look for some recreational exercise, they hadn't built up the necessary hand-eye coordination and ball-control to really enjoy team sports. They took up cycling because it's solitary, relatively free of competition/humiliation if you want it to be, and no one ever picks you last out of a line-up.

grains of truth

More than 'grains'

tomasrojo

Slighly off-topic, but for people who do work in IT, do you use Scrum? Is it largely based on giving you a dressing-down every morning for failing to meet targets that were forced on you by management? Just where I worked?

Lumen

tomasrojo wrote: »

Slighly off-topic, but for people who do work in IT, do you use Scrum? Is it largely based on giving you a dressing-down every morning for failing to meet targets that were forced on you by management? Just where I worked?

I smell dissent. Are you trying to cause trouble? WELL, ARE YOU?

tomasrojo

Lumen wrote: »

I smell dissent. Are you trying to cause trouble? WELL, ARE YOU?

Oh, the memories! [Shudder]

Idleater

tomasrojo wrote: »

Slighly off-topic, but for people who do work in IT, do you use Scrum? Is it largely based on giving you a dressing-down every morning for failing to meet targets that were forced on you by management? Just where I worked?

yes, I use it. I believe that Scrum is liked by management because they see it as a "we can change the requirements as we like because our 'Agile' team can adapt" even though that the new requirements are opposite to the previous requirements.

As a developer, each scrum meeting is basically estimate = estimate * 1.5 due to requirements change outlined above.

This does not correlate to cycling whatsoever bar budget = budget * 1.5, funds = funds / 2 and requirements for week n != requirements for week n-1.

souter

Piercemeear wrote: »

IT people spent their childhoods being crap a ball sports due to many factors, including but not limited to: too much time passed gluing planes together, reading science fiction novels and playing Atari.

Once they reached adulthood and began to look for some recreational exercise, they hadn't built up the necessary hand-eye coordination and ball-control to really enjoy team sports. They took up cycling because it's solitary, relatively free of competition/humiliation if you want it to be, and no one ever picks you last out of a line-up.

Would have to agree based on personal experience.
A similar correlation with martial arts, I can't remember where I heard it but it struck a chord when I heard someone decrying karate and cycling as nerd activities rather than real sports.

Lumen

Idleater wrote: »

yes, I use it. I believe that Scrum is liked by management because they see it as a "we can change the requirements as we like because our 'Agile' team can adapt" even though that the new requirements are opposite to the previous requirements.

As a developer, each scrum meeting is basically estimate = estimate * 1.5 due to requirements change outlined above.

This does not correlate to cycling whatsoever bar budget = budget * 1.5, funds = funds / 2 and requirements for week n != requirements for week n-1.

You're overthinking it. The point of scrum is to get the lazy bastard developers to wake the f'ck up every morning and code like there's a recession on.

"What do you mean, there's no recession in IT? I could hire 18 sino-indian postgrads for half what I pay you. Now stop moaning and fix those bugs I didn't pay you to put in."

daragh_

IT people Design types spent their childhoods being crap a ball sports due to many factors, including but not limited to: too much time passed gluing planes together, listening to the Smiths, reading science fiction novels and playing Atari.

That's me that is.

They took up cycling because it's solitary, relatively free of competition/humiliation

In my case it consists almost entirely of competition/humiliation. And that's just the commuting part.

tomasrojo

Does anyone else think management also factor in unpaid overtime when they're costing a project? It's probably a silly question, because I'm sure they do, even if just to think: if all goes wrong, they'll work unpaid overtime to catch up, so costs will remain the same.

tomasrojo

souter wrote: »

Would have to agree based on personal experience.
A similar correlation with martial arts, I can't remember where I heard it but it struck a chord when I heard someone decrying karate and cycling as nerd activities rather than real sports.

You can't karate chop your way to work though. Cycling is a bit different from many sports in that it's actually has a real-world, everyday practical application. Martial arts don't, unless you're a spy.

Lumen

tomasrojo wrote: »

Does anyone else think management also factor in unpaid overtime when they're costing a project?

Nobody costs projects. Business is about sales. You sell what you think the customer will pay and fit the project into that budget.

Estimation is pointless anyway since all work expands to fill the time allowed. Whatever you budget, the project will always overrun.