Were you athletic as a kid?

[li10up]

I’ve noticed a lot of posts with the recurring theme of people having a hard time getting comfortable on their bikes. Some just don’t feel stable; others have problems learning to shift or problems going clipless. So I’m just curious, have the people who take to all the things associated with riding a bit easier than others been “athletes” all their lives and those experiencing more difficulty new to the “athletic” world?

As for me I grew up in a small country town with a higher ratio of boys to girls so a lot of “sports” were played. If you wanted to play baseball or football, or whatever you better be pretty good at it or nobody wanted you on their team. So, I’ve been involved in sports (not necessarily organized) all my life. My mom liked the word “tomboy.” (Although that’s a whole other post.;) ) I played volleyball, softball and basketball in high school. I also play racquetball. So I consider myself an athletic person. After a 22 year or so absence from the bike I really didn’t have problems starting up again…other than the location of the brakes and shifters being different. And there was one fall associated with going clipless. So, as I said, I’m curious – were you an “athlete” prior to taking up cycling? If so (or not), how hard was it for you to start cycling, i.e. stability, shifting, clipless, etc.?

[bmccasland]

I wouldn't consider myself an "athlete" when I was a kid. I climbed trees, had a bike and roved hither, thither, and yon. Rode my 10 speed down dirt roads in Michigan.. Was the worst member of my high school's girls track team. Passed out while running - no-one noticed that maybe I had breathing issues :eek: . Had bike in college, and ran/walked the Par-course that was built on the college campus.
So - I stayed active, hiking, biking for transportation, but not an "athlete"

[kaybee]

You could say I suffer from "Adult Onset Athleticism." I was definitely NOT athletic as a child -- I was overweight and still don't weigh as much as I did when I was 12 years old! I also grew up in a very "traditional" family where the little girls were taught how to cook and clean house while the boys went out and played baseball or rode their horses or pretty much did as they pleased. To this day, my mom gushes when my 58-year-old brother washes a dish!

I was a runner before cycling and I still run. Hubby and I just bought bikes to have something we could do together, since his knees are shot and he doesn't run anymore. We didn't know we would like it as much as we do!

KB

[mimitabby]

I was not athletic at all. I went to ballet school to escape having my legs put in braces to straighten them, I learned to ride a 2 wheeled bike when I was 9, and i was always the last one picked in guy class.
On the other hand, I was a tomboy and loved to climb trees and tramp around in the "woods"

[caligurl]

no.... not at all... i was into dance though (but i guess some would call that atheletic) ballet til i was 18.... tap.... baton at some point.... adagio at one point..... (i got to dance with such a cute boy... too bad i was too young at the time to appreciate that!)

[li10up]

How hard/easy was it for all of you to get back on the bike?

[mimitabby]

hahaha.
My Dh got into it before i did. i tried some rides with him and my then children. while the three of them were training for a double century i decided that 5 miles was my limit for a bike ride... bwahahahaha i drove the sag van..
it took a long time before I was strong enough to enjoy riding very far. I liked coasting.
so far as the mechanics of riding itself, i had no problem with that. once I learned, I never forgot how..

[kaybee]

Getting back on the bike (I hadn't ridden a bike since I was a teenager) was much easier than learning to run, probably because I didn't think about it much and I don't take it very seriously; it's just something fun to do on weekends.

KB

[RoadRaven]

hahahahahahahahaha
:D :D :D :D

nope

not at all

I was the kid who wrote herself notes at school to get out of doing PE... :rolleyes: I got really good at forging my mum's signature :cool:

[five one]

I was active as opposed to athletic as a child.

I grew up in a time when we were scooted out the front door in summer and told to play and not come back until dinner time. We were always busy running, climbing, and riding bikes. We also had PE in school at least three times a week and were active during recess. I took ballet from age five to 12. Once I hit junior high, it wasn't cool to be in ballet and PE became a chore. My new-found love of the Beatles in 1964 kept me indoors playing records and planning how I was going to meet and marry George Harrison :D

I remained flexible, but was not aerobically fit for the next 20 years. Took dance in college for PE credits and rode my Schwinn Varsity to class.

Later, as a SAHM, Jazzercize was my escape 10X a week. When I went back to work, I began walking, then running, on my lunch hour, but it wasn't much fun and I wasn't real consistent about it.

I was 50 when I began cycling almost five years ago. I didn't have too much trouble getting back into riding. Started with my son's old mountain bike (which was horrible) and when I was sure I was going to keep riding, got my Bianchi. I'm sure that I am more fit now than I have ever been post adolescence, and I plan on riding as long as I possibly can.

[mimitabby]

I grew up in a time when we were scooted out the front door in summer and told to play and not come back until dinner time.

My new-found love of the Beatles in 1964 kept me indoors playing records and planning how I was going to meet and marry George Harrison :D

I remained flexible, but was not aerobically fit for the next 20 years. Took dance in college for PE credits and rode my Schwinn Varsity to class.
.

5'1" I was going to meet and marry him too! what did that Patti know anyway?!
we also stayed out everyday to play, but not just in the summer. It's raining?
wear a raincoat!

[horsemom]

I thought I was a boy---rode horses, bikes, climbed trees, swam. I never even wore a shirt in the summer until I was about 10!!

Did anyone ever hear the Dar Williams song "When I was a Boy"?

I won't forget when Peter Pan came to my house, took my hand
I said I was a boy, I'm glad he didn't check.
I learned to fly, I learned to fight, I lived a whole life in one night
We saved each other's lives out on the pirate's deck.
And I remember that night when I'm leaving a late night with some friends
And I hear somebody tell me it's not safe, someone should help me
I need to find a nice man to walk me home.
When I was a boy, I scared the pants off of my mom,
Climbed what I could climbup on
And I don't know how I survived, I guess I knew the tricks that all the boys knew
And you could walk me home, but I was a boy, too.

I was a kid that you would like, just a small boy on her bike
Riding topless, yeah I never cared who saw.
My neighbor came outside to say, "Get your shirt," I said "No way
It's the last time, I'm not breaking any law."
And now I'm in a clothing store, and the signs say Less is More
More that's tight means more to see, more for them, not more for me
That can't help me climb a tree in ten seconds flat
When I was a boy, see that picture? That was me
Grass stained shirt and dusty knees.
And I know things have gotta change,
They got pills to sell, they've got implants to put in, they've got implants to remove
But I am not forgetting
That I was a boy too.

And like the woods where I would creep, it's a secret I can keep
Except when I'm tired, except when I'm being caught off guard.
I've had a lonesome awful day, the conversation finds it's way
To catchng fireflies out in the backyard
And I tell the man I'm with about the other life I lived
And I say now you're top gun, I have lost and you have won
And he says "Oh no, oh, no, can't you see
When I was a girl, my mom and I, we always talked
And I picked flowers everywhere that I walked
And I could always cry, now even when I'm alone I seldom do
And I have lost some kindness,
But I was a girl too.
And you were just like me, and I was just like you."

[five one]

5'1" I was going to meet and marry him too! what did that Patti know anyway?!
we also stayed out everyday to play, but not just in the summer. It's raining?
wear a raincoat!

Yeah...Patti Boyd. She was so...I don't know...blonde. I was so...not blonde. I did copy her hair and make up though. Just in case George came to his senses :D .

We got sent out into the snow in snowsuits and "idiot" mittens. The kind with the string that went up one sleeve and down the other so you'd never lose them. Whenever I smell wet wool, it takes me back to Colorado in the 50s.

[mimitabby]

Yeah...Patti Boyd. She was so...I don't know...blonde. I was so...not blonde. I did copy her hair and make up though. Just in case George came to his senses :D .

We got sent out into the snow in snowsuits and "idiot" mittens. The kind with the string that went up one sleeve and down the other so you'd never lose them. Whenever I smell wet wool, it takes me back to Colorado in the 50s.

Colorado! In the winter the limiting factor was our feet. those little rubber boots didn't keep the feet very warm.. and when the snow was deep, it always went down inside our shoes. I grew up in Newark NJ vicinity, before children were raised with so much fear.

I was not blonde nor did i wear makeup back then. (or now for that matter) :)

[Pax]

I was a hard core athlete growing up, I played tennis, softball, track, and swimming in high school. When I got to college I added rugby, racquetball, and fencing to the mix. I stayed an active athlete until I had enough surgery that playing any sport got too painful. My SO is a long-term athlete who was a cyclist and a runner when we got together (17 years ago), she got me interesting cycling and I found the transition to a bike to be effortless in terms of comfort with the actual bike...I can't say the same was true for my butt. ;)

[IFjane]

Five-One & mimi - I'm sooooo glad I didn't have to compete with you two as a child - I was going to marry Paul!

I, too, was very active as a child. Outside all the time. Rarely played with dolls or girly things - preferred instead to dress up the family dog & drag her around the neighborhood. I have been riding bikes since I was 5. We lived exactly one mile from the neighborhood elementary school & all the kids rode their bikes to and from school every day. (Kindergarten through 6th grade.) Got my first 10-speed at the age of 20 but quit riding regularly a couple years later. In the summers I swam and water skied (does "skied" have two i's?). In addition to riding my bike, we had horses & I rode/showed them. I never participated in organized sports.

To my mom's credit, she tried to make me more girly by enrolling me in ballet lessons as a child - I think I lasted two sessions.

I took up riding (bikes) regularly again at about age 43 with a mountain bike, then switched to primarily road biking about 5 years ago. No, it was not difficult for me to ride again. That said, I do carry a scar from chain ring bite from my early attempts at clipless pedals!

[7rider]

I’ve noticed a lot of posts with the recurring theme of people having a hard time getting comfortable on their bikes. Some just don’t feel stable; others have problems learning to shift or problems going clipless. So I’m just curious, have the people who take to all the things associated with riding a bit easier than others been “athletes” all their lives and those experiencing more difficulty new to the “athletic” world?


Sooooo NOT athletic here.
I was an overweight couch potato. My sister would drag me kicking and screaming to the YMCA to swim and would have me ride a bike alongside her when she ran. She may as well have been pulling teeth. I just wanted to sit and read and talk to no one.

I can't say I took (or currently take) to any athletic endeavor easily. I have the natural grace of an ox. If I can't bull my way through anything through sheer determination and brute force, I don't try. Consequently, you'll never see me on a dance floor (unless I've had about 6 gin and tonics!).

[IFjane]

Hey everyone - Regina's serving gin & tonics over here! (get in line!) :D :D

[7rider]

Hey, it's FRIDAY!! WooHoo!! Who needs cookies? :D
(just don't ask me to dance!) :eek:

[spokewench]

I guess I was athletic. I rode horses, ran track, played basketball with the boys, ice skated, played a little softball when I was young, played basketball and volleyball in college. I wasn't really a very good "ball" athlete, just fast so I would get put on teams.

I did not really have trouble with learning to ride a road bike, but I did have trouble learning how to mountain bike. The riding a bike on rocky terrain and the swift changes in ups and downs caused me some problems with shifting gears, and balance. It has taken me a long time to become a passable bike handler off road - just don't have enough guts.

The road bike after the first initial wow, this bike has skinny tires and is light sensation, was pretty easy to get used to.

[five one]

I wish Title IX existed when I was a teenager. Then I might have taken up a sport in high school. The boys had the inter-school sports, we had sports clubs. Oh, and cheerleading which I was soooooo not into.

Those rubber boots only kept our shoes *sort of* dry. Popcicle toes were the norm. My snowsuits had elastic that went under my foot to keep the pants tucked in. When I walked to school, I wore two or three pairs of tights. Girls couldn't wear pants to school back then. Somehow we survived. And now look back on those times with great fondness.

IFJane, Paul was spoken for by my best friend Debbie, so you couldn't have had him anyway. You can have him now, though ;) . But I don't reckon Paul will be marrying again.

Mimi, I only wore makeup back then to keep up with my friends. Totally peer pressure. Nowadays I can be out the door in five minutes.

[maillotpois]

They put me into remedial PE when I was in elementary school. That's back when they had funding for that sort of thing.

Eye-hand coordination, ball sports, not my thing. I'd ride my horse all day and hike through the woods. But because they put me in a "special" program I always believed I wasn't an athlete.

Until I bought a bike 6 years ago.

[li10up]

I loved reading all your stories (and keep them coming) but I'm really interested in seeing if there is a correlation between being and athlete and being able to start riding without difficulty. Does being an "athlete" translate into picking up sports, i.e. cycling, easier?

[Bikingmomof3]

I danced ballet until I was 18, was a down hill skier, and on the swim team yet I never really considered myslef athletic.

[IFjane]

IFJane, Paul was spoken for by my best friend Debbie, so you couldn't have had him anyway. You can have him now, though ;) . But I don't reckon Paul will be marrying again.


Oh, I don't want Paul now....he's old and wrinkled....(Jane is looking in the mirror.) OMG!!! :eek:

[aicabsolut]

I was pretty athletic.

Started riding horses at age 5. (still ride when I get the chance)
I did a slew of track and field events until high school, when I just focused on sprinting and hurdling...until I got injured. In high school and college there wasn't much time for anything besides horses, that being a year-round sport.

As a younger kid, though, I played softball, basketball, soccer. I didn't live in a good area for biking, so I was pretty much out only occasionally on a cruiser. I wasn't good at some other wheeled balance sports like rollerblading or skateboarding. I am supposedly built for swimming, but I had a bad experience when I was learning as a toddler, and aside from that, I find it to be NO fun. I'm a land sports girl. I've been weight lifting since maybe 7th grade.

Getting my road bike recently was a big adjustment. I could ride it fine--I mean, you never forget, right? But I'm still a noob, so the body position along with balance whatnot is taking some time with respect to taking hands off the bars. I wasn't the most graceful learning to go clipless, but I let my nerves make me tense (same sorts of tensing up and getting nervous put me on the ground a few times from horses as a young kid, so no changes there!). The whole hill climbing thing is also new because there were NO hills at home.

I'm also new to the whole endurance training thing. That could be the biggest factor in terms of athletics background.

[five one]

So, as I said, I’m curious – were you an “athlete” prior to taking up cycling? If so (or not), how hard was it for you to start cycling, i.e. stability, shifting, clipless, etc.?

I didn't have any stability issues starting out on a mountain bike with wide slicks. Shifting wasn't a problem then because the shifters on this old bike had numbers on them. Going clipless was more of an issue because I didn't take the time to practice and figure out which foot to clip out on. I fell over many times, I'm embarrassed to say, and at least once took another rider down with me :o . When I got my road bike, I recall the shifting learning curve being rather great. I have Campy shifters, and I had a hard time remembering which did what. I threw chains going uphill. I didn't downshift before stopping. Then I started to ride behind DH and mimicked his shifting and cadence. That helped. Putting my bike on a trainer and WATCHING what each lever did was probably the thing that helped most. After awhile - like driving a car - it became second nature. I still look down at my rear cogs sometimes to see where I am, but most of the time I just know where I am by the way the bike's handling. It all takes time and practice.

[Pax]

I loved reading all your stories (and keep them coming) but I'm really interested in seeing if there is a correlation between being and athlete and being able to start riding without difficulty. Does being an "athlete" translate into picking up sports, i.e. cycling, easier?

I read a couple of studies about that (sorry I can't remember the source), the gist was the people who learn a skill as a child actually form specific neural pathways that people who learn the same skill as adults don't. Anecdotally I have found this to be true, my friends and I (all old athletes) seem to be able to pick up new skills much easier than our non-athletic friends.

[Eden]

They put me into remedial PE when I was in elementary school. That's back when they had funding for that sort of thing.

Eye-hand coordination, ball sports, not my thing. I'd ride my horse all day and hike through the woods. But because they put me in a "special" program I always believed I wasn't an athlete.

Until I bought a bike 6 years ago.

Can't really say I was in remedial PE - but I've always been the smallest - so as far as school and organized sports go I certainly was never the one picked first (or second or third...) and ball sports have never exactly been my forte. I was always the one who could climb all of the way up the rope, do the most chin ups and I could always impress the bigger girls by leg pressing the whole weight stack.... (to tell the truth I don't think I could do that anymore). Cycling has always been ideal for me since endurance is my strong suit, but few teen sports are based around it, except perhaps swimming and cross country. By the time I was in high school I was doing long rides - I had a favorite 70 mile loop, but most other teenagers don't exactly have an understanding or much of an appreciation for it. Mostly I got asked what's wrong with your hands because I had bike glove tan lines. I certainly never though of myself as an athelete until very recently when I took up racing and found that I'm not half bad.

[emily_in_nc]

I did not really have trouble with learning to ride a road bike, but I did have trouble learning how to mountain bike. The riding a bike on rocky terrain and the swift changes in ups and downs caused me some problems with shifting gears, and balance. It has taken me a long time to become a passable bike handler off road - just don't have enough guts.

The road bike after the first initial wow, this bike has skinny tires and is light sensation, was pretty easy to get used to.

What spokewrench said....

However, unlike SW, I was totally unathletic as a child, asthmatic, weak, sickly, sucked at all team sports and anything requiring running, always picked last for teams, used excuses to get out of gym class, you know the type! However, I did always have a bike -- tricycles as a young child, my first two-wheeled Schwinn with training wheels at six, and a bike of some sort from then on, at least through Jr. High, when I had a 10-speed with drop bars and downtube shifters, a red, white, and blue (very patriotic) "Free Spirit" (I think that was it) from Sears. I think that saved me from having a difficult time picking up cycling again as an adult since riding was one thing I knew how to do (not that I ever road very far or fast as a child, though).

My DH (who was a semi-serious roadie when we met) bought me a Nishiki road bike (21 speeds, I think) when I was around 25, and I've been riding on and off for the past 20 years (sometimes with several years off). For several years I rode only on the back of a tandem only, so I probably lost some handling skills then, but after that I even learned to ride a recumbent, which is when I learned to ride clipless (other than stoking a tandem, where clipless is a no-brainer). I then went back to an upright road bike with skinny tires (this was in 2003), which took only a short adjustment period to learn how to use the STI shifters.

But mountain biking on trails (which I just started trying to do last summer) is an entirely different story, as spokewrench said. I'm too fearful, I bail out very quickly if anything gets scary, and I have a very hard time with tight turns and slow-speed maneuvers and all the weight shifting involved. That may come from being severely unathletic as a child. I remember my DH trying to teach me golf -- what a disaster. Just couldn't do the proper weight shifting to have a decent stroke, and he thought that was because I avoided all games where a ball was involved as a child, like softball, where I might have learned that weight shift. It could be related....

Emily

[mimitabby]

I didn't have any stability issues starting out on a mountain bike with wide slicks. Shifting wasn't a problem then because the shifters on this old bike had numbers on them. Going clipless was more of an issue because I didn't take the time to practice and figure out which foot to clip out on. I fell over many times, I'm embarrassed to say, and at least once took another rider down with me :o . When I got my road bike, I recall the shifting learning curve being rather great. I have Campy shifters, and I had a hard time remembering which did what. I threw chains going uphill. I didn't downshift before stopping. Then I started to ride behind DH and mimicked his shifting and cadence. That helped. Putting my bike on a trainer and WATCHING what each lever did was probably the thing that helped most. After awhile - like driving a car - it became second nature. I still look down at my rear cogs sometimes to see where I am, but most of the time I just know where I am by the way the bike's handling. It all takes time and practice.

5'one i am RIGHT behind you! but i am still afraid of falling down. This spring if it ever gets here, I will go clipless hahahha.

and Eden
YOU are my hero! climbing the rope AND pullups!! wow!

[SouthernBelle]

I've always been around sports and was one of the few girls in my neighborhood. When we played football in the backyard, I was q'back and developed a nice tight spiral. Can't throw that anymore. Played a little basketball, swam team.

Learned to ride a bike when I was 4. But cycling was not on the horizon as a sport in my life. By jr. high, none of us had bikes. Had one in college which was promptly stolen.

But when I came back to cycling, riding itself was not difficult. I could jump on a bike and ride away, even after 30+ years. And the changes in equipment are a boon once mastered. Still not queen of the hills though.

And Paul was mine.

[indysteel]

I wasn't much of an athelete as a young kid, at least not in an organized way. I was crazy about my bike, horses, roller skating and swimming, but I didn't pursue anything competitively. My parents were way too self involved to shuttle me from thing to thing and I wasn't attracted to any of the competitive sports offered at my Catholic grade school (does anybody really like kickball?).

Then, for some unknown reason, I became a crazed runner. I joined the track team as a freshman in H.S. and went a little nuts. There was one spot on the Varsity distance team, and I decided that I just had to have it. I desperately wanted to ultimately be a four-year letterman (a big deal at my H.S).

So, I started to training and competing like crazy. I think I ran in at least three meets a week through the season, despite injuries, vomiting (from the exertion of a full-on 800 meters), sleeplessness (I became an insomniac because of my training in the evening). I made it, though, and set some school records in the 800 meters. I can't say that I enjoyed it, but I did it all the same.

My sophomore year, I joined the cross country team and again ran through some injuries but set some school records in the process. Unbeknownst to me, I had a stress fracture in my foot. Instead of sending me to the doctor, my coach would just tape my foot up really tight and send me on my way. After the run, he'd then make me stand in a bucket of ice to deaden the pain. I walked on the side of my foot for a good three months before finally going to the doctor. I wish I could say that this was in the dark ages of training or something, but it was 1985.

I spent the off season on crutches. By the following spring, my body started to really give out and I was going to physical therapy for one thing after another, until my doctor told me that I was essentially running myself into the ground. Burnt out and terribly unhappy with what seemed like a monumental failure, I quit the team and never returned. I've always kind of regretted it, especially since I still don't enjoy running. It did help me recognize that I have a somewhat obsessive personality about certain things that I have to reign in from time to time so that I don't ruin something that I love. With cycling, I've remained motivated but not crazed about it. It helps that it's not as hard on my body.

[five one]

5'one i am RIGHT behind you! but i am still afraid of falling down. This spring if it ever gets here, I will go clipless hahahha.

If I'd had known about the TE forums when I was learning, I wouldn't have fallen nearly as often, and my poor bike wouldn't have so many scars (where can I get celeste touch up paint??). You've already read all the good advice: practice on your trainer, start on grass, etc., etc. You'll get it quickly, I'm sure. Start with your old bike, though, just in case ;) .

Ummmm, I thought you said spring was already there in Seattle :D :D :D - rose bush pruning, flowers blooming, yadah, yadah, yadah. No excuses now :eek: !

[five one]

Roller Skating!!! I'd completely forgotten about that. I had those heavy metal things that clamped onto my shoes (and tore off a few soles!) and a skate key around my neck. Man, I could just TEAR down the sidewalk on those!

All these waves of nostalgia...sigh.

[HappyAnika]

If there is a positive correlation to being an athelete growing up and taking to cycling easily, I may be the exception to the rule. I rode my bike around my neighborhood as a kid, then to and from school in Jr. high. Otherwise I was a lazy couch potato. I abhored PE, I used my asthma as an excuse to get out of doing as much as I could. I hated team sports because I sucked, was always last to be picked, and was frequently ridiculed for my ineptness. In college I used my same old 10 speed bike to get to and from far apart classes. I took an occasional aerobics class. Then my first year out of college I had a skiing accident and tore up my knee. After recovering from surgery I really liked my PT, it made my knee feel so much better. When I was discharged from PT I got a gym membership and have been working out ever since (aerobics, weight lifting, jogging, some stationary bike). I took up hiking and golf. The hiking became an obsession and in order to improve my cardio capacity I thought I’d take up cycling. I took to the bike quickly and easily. The only thing that I thought was hard (other than going up big hills) was reaching for the water bottle, but I got that with some practice. I think I rode about 3 or 4 weeks before going clipless. I was terrified at the thought, but I practiced on the trainer, then took off and have never looked back. Did I mention I like going downhill, FAST! :D I hit 35 mph within 2 weeks of getting my bike. Right now my record is 42.5, I hope to break that this summer.

So while I was definitely NOT athletic as a kid, I did ride a bike off and on, and I think riding the 10 speed made the road bike feel natural instead of foreign. I absolutely LOVED the lightness and speed of the bikes when I started test riding. So once I got my own bike last year I totally fell in love with riding. I rode every single weekend in addition to my weekday rides, whereas I only went hiking 2 or 3 times. I know I still have a lot to learn in terms of bike handling and descending techniques, among other things, but I would say (and others would agree) that I picked it up quickly.

[mimitabby]

Roller Skating!!! I'd completely forgotten about that. I had those heavy metal things that clamped onto my shoes (and tore off a few soles!) and a skate key around my neck. Man, I could just TEAR down the sidewalk on those!

All these waves of nostalgia...sigh.

me too! in Newark we had wonderful slate sidewalks. Except for the cracks they were completely smooth!!
i LOVED to roller skate, but it seems to me we spent a lot of time re-affixing those things to our feet.

[ACG]

I tried out for every sport in school. Never made the team. Even in highschool. I started walking during my first pregnancy. Then continued thru the second. Dabbled in jogging. Loved to ride my bike as a kid, enjoyed the wind in my hair and the speed, etc. Got into cycling 4 years ago only because that was something I knew how to do. Now I'm hooked.

[SalsaMTB]

I was athletic as a kid. Started out playing soccer at a young age, then played volleyball in middle school. I played both sports in high school, then played volleyball in college.

The transition to biking was pretty easy, although a little damaging to my ego :o

I always excelled at sports, so my first time on a mountain bike (after taking a good 2 years off from sports in general) was a bit of an eye opener. I thought I would tear it up, in reality, I sucked, especially compared to my then bf now dh who had been riding for a good 10 years!

[pepe6599]

I've played soccer since I was 5 and I have been into sports. When I was in high school I was one of the very few girls that was a 5 sporter; played soccer, volleyball, judo, wrestling, and track. When I graduate from high school and went off to college I joined the university women rugby and rock climbing team. Even through I was very active as a youngser don't make cycling easier for me infact has made it harder.

[mimitabby]

so far, it looks like bicycling is a bit of a leveler. Many here were athletic, many here were not! :cool:

[aicabsolut]

My sophomore year, I joined the cross country team and again ran through some injuries but set some school records in the process. Unbeknownst to me, I had a stress fracture in my foot. Instead of sending me to the doctor, my coach would just tape my foot up really tight and send me on my way. After the run, he'd then make me stand in a bucket of ice to deaden the pain. I walked on the side of my foot for a good three months before finally going to the doctor. I wish I could say that this was in the dark ages of training or something, but it was 1985.


Well in 1995 I had a stress fracture in my left tibia from horrendous shin spints (MTSS) and was on my way to trashing my right. Got it Xrayed too soon (didn't show up), and my doctor was clueless as to why I continued to be in pain weeks later. My coach had me get taped up and I also had to stand in ice buckets and take massive amounts of ibuprofin. It got so bad my ankles started to give out. I couldn't walk up or down stairs--couldn't put all of my weight on one leg at a time. I have nice scarring and the tibia have remapped themselves from that stress such that parts look porous like I have osteoperosis.

My Xrays now look pretty crappy. And running, though not competitively since then, has trashed one of my ankles which may or may not be good as new if I feel like getting a cartilage transplant (from my knee), which I don't want to do. So yep, my running days are over too.

So I had to start doing stuff with no weight bearing or impact. I started cycling indoors on spin bikes. I eventually got bored and wanted to do something competitive again. So I got the road bike. And it's fun! Though i'm going to be far from competitive come spring. That's the hardest thing for me to get used to after being an athlete. I'm not used to sucking so much at a sport I enjoy.

[li10up]

I always excelled at sports, so my first time on a mountain bike (after taking a good 2 years off from sports in general) was a bit of an eye opener. I thought I would tear it up, in reality, I sucked, especially compared to my then bf now dh who had been riding for a good 10 years!
Sounds a lot like me. I can usually pick up a sport pretty easily. I'm usually above average but have never been the "star" on any team - but was never a bench-warmer either. I had no problem riding again; no problem shifting gears, etc. I started out mtn. biking and my "teacher" said I had a lot of guts...I would ride a lot of downhills that most beginners would walk. Then I became more of a roadie. But it's been hard not being able to be at the front of the pack on the road rides and being dropped on the hills. Maybe it has to do with trying to be "competitive" (more like just keeping up) when you're middle-aged with 25 extra pounds of body weight. But I guess that's why I like cycling so much. I see little improvements all the time. I do think having natural athletic ability helps you pick up a sport more easily. Now if I just had some natural musical ability I might be able to learn to play that acustic guitar I bought 5 years ago. :(

[Dianyla]

I was raised to be very athletic. Or else!! :eek:

Swim team, running, hiking, biking. In some ways I'm really grateful for this because I think it has helped me to have more athletic skill for sports I picked up in adulthood (skiing, for example). In other ways I wish things had been different. Overtraining at the critical pre-pubertal joint development age for me caused Osgood-Schlatters disease in both of my knees which still causes me problems today. Not to mention that my parents approach to athletics bordered on abusive.

My dad was into marathons and being a jock, and we were all enrolled in 5Ks, 10Ks, etc. growing up. The only vacations we took were bike tours or backpacking trips. While I remember being stunned and enthralled with the beauty of the Sierra Nevada, I also remember being 8 years old and being forced to keep pace with 4 older siblings and 2 adults while climbing Mt. Whitney. Always pushing past the point of tears til I would get an asthma attack or vomit, and being humiliated for being the "slowest" and "clumsiest". Being berated for being an inconvenience to everyone who had to stop and wait for me to recover so we could push on. Dad's offer to go cycling with me daily after school in Jr High was because I was the "fat kid in the family" which he was tactless enough to say to my face.

Issues much? :eek:

Anyways... uh.... Sorry for the whole overshare but I really have mixed feelings about childhood athletics as a result of my experiences. Granted, I now have a very high level of physical and emotional endurance whihc has served me very well in adulthood. But, what price childhood?

[Geonz]

Hyperactive klutz, here. Really, really lousy at coordination things... hated loathed and despised p.e., but needed exercise. On swim team in the summer and then year-round when I turned 13, but always, always bringing up the rear. Swam with younger age groups so I wasn't dead last all the time. However, got *lots* of support and positive feedback for working hard, got lots of good instruction, and learned how to learn difficult things (took five years to figure out butterfly, and now I could teach anybody).

So... after 40 *years* of always being "okay, I like sports and exercise, but it can't be really about winning unless there's a *lot* of strategy" (that co-ed v-ball team was fun for that), a few sportsmanship trophies and twice (count them) coming in just ahead of somebody else in a competition, albeit nowhere near first place but he, *we* were racing, and I'm not sure but one of those the judge might have given it to me... do you *know* how sweet it has been to actually *win* the indoor time trial? It took a long time for me to believe that no, I was pretty good at this (they weren't just being nice)... and I only got convinced when I thought about how long it takes to convince some of my students that they are NOT stupid... they keep saying it... now I understand how hard it is to *believe* it when so many years of not-being-good have laid that groundwork :)

[Meaux]

I was never really active at all. I did the obligatory ballet/tap when I was 5, and played outside. My parents had only one car when I was growing up, and my dad worked crazy retail hours, so transportation to sports was really not an option. I did have a lovely pastel pink and blue huffy that I rode until my legs were too long to ride it. I did fencing for a couple years when I was in high school, but I was mostly into academics and orchestra. It wasn't until a several years ago when DH (then SO), let me borrow his little sister's mountain bike (she's very tall for her age), and we started biking all over the place. Then my dad passed away and I started my first 9-5 job, so it was hard finding the time to ride. One day, I went to lunch and passed up a pawn shop and saw a beautiful blue Specialized Hard Rock Comp sitting outside. I got it for $90 and got the road bike a month later, and have been riding ever since. It's been hard to budget the time for riding with my busy schedule, and I have NO endurance since I really didn't do sports when I was growing up, but I'm getting better and hope to be AWESOME on the bike someday. Riding on my bike is one of the few times I can just not think about anything and just ride. That's important to me because my mind is ALWAYS going. And I'm getting exercise while sitting down. You can't beat that!!!

[colby]

This is a hard one to answer. When I was very young, elementary school, I played on softball teams (we were the Kool Katz!!), was in girl scouts (camping, hiking, etc), played basketball with my dad, learned to ski, that kind of thing. I wouldn't say I was athletic, but we're talking 10 years old. :) During elementary school, I started swim team. Swim team was at a private pool independent of school, and was a very different social structure -- it was also during the summer, when school was out.

When I got to middle school, swim team was easy to keep. Girls from different schools, different walks of life, albeit slightly privileged (you have to pay to be a member). I tried out for the basketball team and despite what I thought was talent, I was shut out, and here is where I learned about sports and cliques. Tried again in high school once, and gave up. Looking back, I should have tried out for softball, soccer, something... but the girls intimidated me. I also was an honors student in band, and you choose between physical activity and studying... studying won. That's how I ended up falling out of swim team, just too many pressures, and as girls got into high school it got more and more competitive, too. I was never the fastest, but I did swim anchor in many relays. I did stuff on my own... rollerblading, riding my bike, less so the older I got.

In college, I wish I would have done rugby, hockey, crew... so many "non-traditional" sports I could have done. The stigma just stuck with me, and I was afraid to try until it was too late. I walked everywhere though, so I was pretty "fit" in general. I really focused a lot on studying, and I burned myself out on it, too... then I got a "real job" and moved on. In the business of making software, there are not a lot of athletes... ;)

I think I still carry some of that old baggage with me, but I've learned a lot better about setting goals for myself. I really enjoy swimming again (except my messed up shoulder), I love riding my bike, and I love the feeling after a run (maybe not so much the running, until I get into a groove, especially in LSD runs).

[MomOnBike]

I was kinda-sorta athletic. I had horses, and successfully competed in local gymkahanas. After we rode, we'd go swim in a friend's pool. My old girl's Schwinn was pretty much my transportation (once I figured out how to ride the thing).

I did notenjoy the baseball/basketball/football thing that gym classes consisted of. Yuck! There was nothing in them for the likes of me. Still isn't.

My college gym classes were marksmanship and archery. I was asked to join the marksmanship team (an opportunity declined) and everyone was relieved when archery was over and I hadn't killed anyone. I did a lot of backcountry backpacking until I moved from Colorado, too.

So put me down in the active but not chosen for any teams category.

[LBTC]

Childhood memories are pretty few and far between in my brain. I wasn't happy as the youngest of six in a strict catholic family. I loved my bike, but was forbidden to ride it outside of my yard. I was a complete spaz around every type of ball - they always ended up hitting my smack in the eye and knocking me down. I could run pretty fast, but couldn't kick a ball (or hit it with a bat or whatever) to save my life.

Learned to swim at a young age, but only from family. Feel confident that I could swim a long time and a pretty long way, but I am not fast and have no form.

I could balance well, always liked it when we had gymnastics in PE and I could play on the balance beem. Discovered this at far too advanced an age to start in gymnastics club, even if my parents would have allowed me to, which they wouldn't.

The family started downhill skiing when I was 7. I loved going fast, had crazy form, looked like a spaz, but liked the thrill. Hated the family trip to a fancy hill that year, as, again, I was forbidden to use the chair lift or even the t-bar and had to stay on the bunny hill with tow rope on my own, which quickly got boring.

We had gymnastics rings in our basement. I used to love playing around with those.

As I think about it, my athletic history, like so many of the things I do in my life, is staccato. Short bursts of thing that I did, never mastered anything, never really had physical goals.

In high school when PE rugby sessions started, they made the girls do something else, and, even though I asked, they wouldn't let me play. I really wanted to learn to tackle people!! Of course, I never would have been able to catch or throw the ball, so I guess it makes sense.

When it came to the bike, I got on a mountain bike first. I really instantly loved being out in the woods and found that everything to learn was kind of overwhelming, but if any neural transmitters were really activated when I was a kid, it was the ones that let me learn complicated things. So I liked all the complex rules to learn for bike handling. It did not come naturally at all, but I just would talk to myself about all the things I'd read, been told, learned from experience, to get myself around that tough bit, up that hill, through that root section. It took me years to be reasonably good. I finally got fast enough to be between the fast and the medium fast guys on a regular basis. That was soooo sweet! I really felt I'd earned it. And I would be so surprised that, after I learned how to fuel right, and what to drink, etc, that I could be well into a 3 hour ride or more, and still have some left! That was such a wonderful discovery!

I found road riding scarier, so it seemed harder. I think I had some pretty high expectations of myself by the time I started on it. If I was doing high end mountain biking by then, shouldn't I be a really good road rider right away? Well, not exactly. It took ages to figure out how to grab a water bottle while moving. I still have trouble with knowing the right gear to be in, fear of those tiny little wheels and tires tipping over, fear of cars, etc etc.

Funny, I took quite quickly to kickboxing. I was just suggesting to DH that I might have formed a few neural thingies when I was squirming to get away from all those older siblings. :D

Yes, I have issues about my childhood too.

Of course, when I turned 30 I decided that I would get younger from then. It has mostly worked.

Now that I'm 39, I've been recently diagnosed with Crohn's disease. The fatigue that came from the disease last year kept me off my bike and not doing anything except gentle yoga and walking to work, from July through to January....now I'm working on regaining fitness and trying to determine what my strenuous exercise tolerance is, and what recovery time I'll need. Yet another complicated thing to work out, so I think I'll get there! If it isn't complicated it's not worth the effort. ;)

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[bmccasland]

Gee, after reading all the posts, memories come flooding back. I could add ballet lessons to my list - after seeing the Nutcracker at the Paris Opera House when I was 5, but had to wait until we returned Stateside (2nd grade) for lessons.

And those clamp on roller-skates - check, had those too.

Swimming lessons - we lived in Louisiana, so had to learn to swim. But no swim team.

Continued with PE through high school - but was one of the last to be picked for things.

While in Michigan I learned to ski - downhill and cross country, and ice skate.

Moved to Arizona - ditch the skiing and iceskating - I lived in the desert, so took up hiking and backpacking instead.

Should I mention here that I was a military "brat? :cool: "

I was doing so well, staying active as a kid. Yeah, I played with dolls too, and embroidered. Then became a couch potato as an adult. Lived in Phoenix where the air is bad about 1/2 the year, but would drive up the mountains to cross country ski a few times each winter. Left Phoenix, and XH, moved to the mountains, FINALLY got a job as a biologist and got PAID to hike.

Moved to New Orleans, where we have lovely bike paths on top of the levees, and was drafted onto the office bike team. Have riden the MS Tour three years running, with one year off for Katrina :( .

[suzieqtwa]

I did nothing till I was 48... then I joined a gym ,and for the first time took an arobics class. We had to run, I couldnt make it 1/4 mile. :confused: I was ashamed ,and didnt know why I couldnt do it. After about 3 months of running 2 miles a day I quickly upped it to 5,6,7 miles 1 year later ran the Marathon...injured myself ,and bought a bike. Maybe thats why Im having trouble with balance ,and clipless. Im very un coordinated ,but its fun trying.:D

[KnottedYet]

I was always the very active scrawny tomboy. Running rampant through the woods, riding my bike everywhere, climbing trees, building forts, skateboarding for days on end (and in the 1970's we rode LITTLE boards), running everywhere. I did a few of the obligatory team sports, but I really s*cked at them. Set a city record (by 30 seconds) for the 3/4 mile run, though. (that was the longest distance girls were allowed to race back then)

I don't know that my loner-athleticism had a huge influence on my adult love of biking, other than that I've always loved riding trikes, bikes, scooters, and skateboards. Racing has never been my thing, but endurance has always been! To this day I have no desire to race, but I'd love to do some long distance rides that push me to my limit.

[Trek420]

Outdoorsy as a kid I climbed trees, built forts, fished for crawdads in the creek, biked o course .... but I sucked at sports.

If there's a ball involved I can be bad at it.

In Jr. High - High School when we choose sides for any team I was always last picked.

So I learned to hate sports.

We took swim lessons each summer, I love to swim. I got as far as Jr. and Sr. lifesaving. If they'd had prescription goggles could have done that in summer .... my eyesight's so bad on the final test I had trouble finding the "body" ;) :D :cool: :rolleyes: As I recall the other parts of the test I did ok, swimming laps with a rescue, swimming laps with a weight held over your head...it was fun.

I didn't discover there were other sports till about college and there is a whole 'nother world!!

Who knew?

I could rock climb, hike, bike of course and I discovered I liked martial arts.

I took a Tai Chi class till that teacher moved, found a Karate teacher till she moved, found another Karate dojo in a similar style and then ... I saw Aikido demonstrated by my teacher and I was hooked.

That was about '80.

And of course the whole time I rode.

I feel lucky to have found two "lifetime sports" that I enjoy and that reward knowlege and experience.

Sure, it's different at 50, I don't sprint as well on a bike, I don't do breakfalls at all on the mat. I think I more than make up for that in other ways.

Barring injury or illness I hope to be able to do both for a long time.

[Michelemarrano]

I'm 45 and have worn glasses for extreme nearsightedness since 1970. I've got the athletic prowess, grace and coordination of an ox. I've never excelled at running and ball sports but since childhood have loved the outdoors. As a teen I had a five-gaited American Saddlebred mare for a pet and got in excellent shape taking care of a barn of 18 horses. By college I was riding my horse on the weekends on trail (yes, my foo-foo show mare was an outstanding trail horse--a sight to behold in English show tack) and an old peugeot 10-speed to get around Ohio State University.

As I've gotten older and outlived my mare, I've replaced my mare with a hybrid and road bike. I cannot afford to have horses at this juncture and I really love cycling. I love to ride on rail trails and I found cycling to be an excellent mid-life aerobic sport for a nerd like me.

[Deborajen]

When I was a kid, my big love was figure skating. We lived just a short drive from the only ice rink in our part of the country and my parents sprung for private lessons for awhile - little pink dress - the works. I had the grace of a donkey, though, so that didn't go too far. Also had clip-on roller skates.

Otherwise, I've always been very mediocre at athletics. I did letter in track in Junior High (high jump and long jump), played softball in the summer in my early teens (usually outfield, but I also got to play first base a few times), played some recreational racquetball in college, etc. In phys ed, I was usually picked in the first half but never first.

Cycling is pretty much the same although it's kind of hard to measure. I ride more for the exercise and the enjoyment and maybe some distance challenge. It's fun to do and I think one of the reasons I like it is because you can enjoy it without having to be competitive.

But I'd say I'm picking up on cycling at a moderate rate - very similar to my mediocre athletic abilities as a kid.

Deb

[kelownagirl]

Hated PE as a kid, not coordinated, last to be picked for teams, often seen doing cartwheels in the outfield during softball games. Grew up, hated to exercise, didn't like sweating, luckily was skinny due to a high metabolism. Turned 40, forced to exercise, started to do workout to fight age-related weight gain, didn't mimd it so much, started riding bike to do cardio when gym membership ran out, became obsessed, dh said I was athletic, I am still not sure, but I do love biking.... a work still in progress I guess.

[light_sabe_r]

like Michelemarrano I am also a nerd. Always have been always will be. Dad just commented the other day that I was the kid who'd come home from school and just draw. He would never have expected me to do a triathlon.

And yet I am now.

I was NEVER good at anything... 'cept drawing and being a nerd.

I did have a natural talent for Rollerblading... But in 2000 when I was seventeen my rollerskating rink became a Hyundai car dealership. i steal blade when I can but the locations are sparse.

Had a bike, but couldn't ride it anywhere beyond my front yard because "I'm a girl" yet my brothers could ride off to magical mysitcal places I wanted to go like the creek, the jumps (accross the road!!! DAMN!) the corner store and as I found out the other week they had one day stumbled upon a cannibis farm.

In 1995 two bad things happened. My grandmother slipped into demntia and my daily chore was now her wellbeing as both my parents worked. As you can tell I couldn't have friends over anymore since her dementia would either IRK them or she'd get riled up by strangers in the house. I was twleve.

later that year I got diagnosed with a bone infection in my right ankle. The doc's were incredulous as to how the freaking heck this particular bug GOT into my system. I didn't play sport either so how'd it get there?? I was hospitalised in isolation a few times, and had major surgery for necrosis in my Ankle (I'm amazed that FLLOYD did so well because that was PAIN... You'd wake up and be in pain, and it would get worse throughout the day. Flloyd landis must've been in a similar way with his dead hip)

Anyhue as a result I was forbidden by one of the top osteosurgeons in the state from doing high impact sports aka... pretty much everything done in PE except swimming which I was good at. So yeah. It took almost three years to be cured of the infection, At that stage I was in year 11 and study came first...

I'm now almost 23, still a nerd, but I'm also living too close to work to drive, BF bit me with the cycling bug. and the rest is history.

I'm not just an athlete, I'm a triathlete now!

[DarkEros07]

athleet no. hop on my bike and go for hours? yes. walk to town and back 6 times a day and walk all around town and go swimming in the river? yes. i loved it all. still do. i may be 20 but that doesnt mean anything. my childhood went by so fast. so yea i guess you could say i was a very active child. scary part is i was always and still am overweight. kinda funny cuz i never stoped moving. i was go go go all summer spring and fall. winter killed me tho as i hit 11 or 12 i hated to be outside have you seen northern michigan in the winter? COLD! lol. anyways. yeap. thats a lil bout me.

-Kristen-

[Duck on Wheels]

I was a klutz, and afraid of getting a ball in my face (first because I couldn't see it, later because my glasses would break). I could ride a horse .... sorta. And a bike .... sorta. I was good at swimming, but never in the competition sense. Like Trek420, I enjoyed learning life saving and swim instruction. Never a racer, but I could do all the strokes beautifully except butterfly. Senior year in HS I finally got an A in PE --I taught the non-swimmers til they all passed their beginners' swim test so they could graduate, even had a football star in "my" class. More recently I've been hiking (tour orienteering in the Summer, berry and mushroom picking in the Fall). Biking as something more than transport is very new to me, as of last year. Now going-on-60 I don't expect ever to be fast, but I do have some endurance in me and it feels good to stay in shape.

[tygab]

this is an interesting question... in my family I was not considered athletic - even now I don't know if they think of me that way. I am small and thin, and I have to struggle for every muscle I have. So this has been a long road for me to 'prove' I can be. Now here's the rub.

I have *always* loved sports. I listened to the St Louis Cards games while I did my schoolwork, and watched the Illini in basketball, football, and occaisionally other sports. I played soccer both as a kid and again on HS (but on the boy's team, we didn't HAVE a girls team). In HS I almost never got to play but I still had fun. I also ran track one season. I was decent at that but didn't enjoy it. I also played Little League as a kid (stuck in the outfield and always last to bat). I should also mention that I took ballet for many years as a kid (and enjoyed it), and I rode horses for many years as a kid (and loved) that. And I fancied myself a bike racer on my Schwinn 10-speed, but back then bike racing was hardly even a sport, and certainly not one for girls/women.

My sisters were both pretty good competitive swimmers & had the right build for that. They swam from grade school to high school (one even swam in college). My brother was a good competitive track and cross country runner going to state several times (lean like me, but tall too). My parent's weekends often revolved around swim and running events. I never won anything in sports. But to be fair my parents remained supportive of my events, and they carted me lots of sport related places too.

In college, I did Tae Kwon Do, and managed to stay on the women's ice hockey club for a season (yeah I was mostly a bench warmer).

Post college, I took up skiing, hiking, kayaking, and now bicycling.
None of those were sports that anyone else in my family did/do with any regularity. But they were all sports I loved and still do!

As an adult, my sibs have gone on to run lots of marathons, and my parents have gone to some of their marathons as well. When I started riding last year, prepping for the long distance event, I finally felt like I had a foot in the door to talk with them about stuff... and now hopefully will continue with tris and so on. And I still love pro baseball and football, and now pro cycling.

So, I think I am pretty athletic, with all the sports I have tried. I've had fun in almost all of them, even without being great at most of them. Several sports I've stumbled upon in later life I thought I could have become pretty good at, had I been exposed to them earlier in life. Now, I guess, I find sports that require persistence more so than skill to be right up my ally. ;)

[tattiefritter]

Complete tomboy here! Where I grew up it was predominantly boys so I played lots of football (soccer to the American gals) and lots of running around and boisterous games. I've ridden bikes since I was about 5 years old, I remember jumping off large ramps on my bike as a 7 year old (where did that bravery go I wonder). I used to love all sorts of sports at school and was always one of the first to be picked for teams.

I had a gap from about 14 years until 17 years old where I didn't have a bike, then I saved up and bought my very first mountain bike - a rigid purple muddy fox with....canti brakes (the innovation of the time). It was a 19 inch frame (I now ride 14 or 15 inch max) and miles too big for me but I loved it, even used it to cycle to work when I was doing my Post Grad course. It got stolen from my parents garage when I was about 23 years old.

I was heavily into martial arts (another Tae kwon Do person here) from about 20 to 24, basically until I moved to the place I am now. I had ignored any exercise from age 18, basically from entering uni, and it was obvious from my waistline. TKD gave me back the love of being fit again.

At 28 I bought a good quality mountain bike (a 17 inch frame so still too big) and I haven't looked back since. Like the OP I had no problem picking it up.

[alpinerabbit]

First I was gonna say no, not at all. I hated PE and was not a member of any club ever.

However, living in Switzerland, my parents started teaching us skiing as early as 4 years old, and took us hiking from 5 or 6. I was even doing really well on a 2-day hike at 6. Basically, kick me in the rear and I will walk as long as I get fed intermittently.
So they taught us some fine motor skills and endurance early on.
Other than that my youth was spent playing music and in girl scouts (which is a rather different affair here than in the US. We spend more time sitting around an outdoor fire grilling bread dough than selling cookies).

Me too- Tomboy. Hated skirts, loved my camouflage torchlight and scouting knife...

[East Hill]

No!

I learned to swim because my father got elected to some position on the Norwalk, CA parks commission? We got free access to the [what I assume was the high school?] pool. My father had been a great one in his youth for rambling all over Lancashire and Chat Moss, so just because he had six children was not going to stop him from rambling in the US.

We used to get hiked up and down mountains and up roads and down roads every weekend! If it wasn't hiking it was visiting museums.

I hated softball. I was nearsighted and couldn't see the ball. I have a vague recollection of riding a bicycle when I was young, but haven't a clue where the bike went to after I was around 13 or so.

PE consisted of various sports--football (soccer), tennis, swimming, gymnastics, basketball, etc., and dancing!

I always got top marks in the various forms of sport, but I think it was more enthusiasm than ability.

No, I was not athletic.

East Hill

[silver]

my mom says that she can't believe that I do anything athletic now since I would do anything to get out of PE growing up.

I've never been too athletic. but I've always dabbled in things a bit.

I played soccer in 7th and 8th grade, but I wasn't any good. I once kicked the ball towards the wrong goal. :(

I learned to swim at the Y as a child.

In my teens I occasionally took long bike rides (maybe 10 miles :rolleyes: )

I did aerobics classes in my 20's.

Then at age 36 (5 years ago) I commited myself to exercise. I began to do weight training and to run. I ran 7 marathons. lost 40 pounds and came to LOVE exercise. But I broke both of my feet, one at a time.

When I broke my right foot (2nd), I went to the bike store and bought a road bike.

I'm an ectomorph body type. tall and thin. I should be a good athlete, but I'm not. I'm not coordinated, I can't build muscle. I'm not flexible. I took to running and cycling well, but have never been fast. I didn't have much trouble getting comfortable on the bike. I had a little trouble learning to clip in but not too much.

Everytime I've tried to get faster wtih running I've gotten injured, but I think that I still have potential to get faster.

One thing that I've noticed in tri's is that the people who swam competively when they were young are the ones who really excel there. The ones struggling are the ones who are picking it up as adults. I can swim, but I cannot swim fast.

[AutumnBreez]

I was not, nor am I currently graceful as desired. Broke pinky on left hand playing volley ball at age 9, it has a bump to this day from not setting straight.
From tricycle, big wheel, bike with training wheels to without.... Yup graduated to the two wheels.... setting off ramps with siblings and cousins.
I loved riding my bike as a kid. I remember the banana seat I asked for my birthday, had those big colorful flowers, looked much like the ones on the dating game,you know on the divider screen... Then I got a Huffy 15 speed when I was a pre teen...I rode that far as possible whenever possible, and would even time myself. Rode around 8+ miles daily. Would dream of riding on a team someday as an adult. Took TaeKwonDo in 9th and 10th grade. I say klutz because I have always had large feet for my height. (Dear grandma said I just had a good understanding..) Has evened out a bit now at 5ft 8in now and have size 11 women or 10 mens. Who needs skii's... Stubbed alot of toes, trip over my own feet still.
I took me a year to convince myself to get on bike with clipless. Finally my dh put the bike on a trainer and had me practice taking in and out. Felt confident just from that. I then got my first road bike. I was fitted and got the works...went out first day and tried to scoot off like a skateboard from a start position, lost balance with other foot stuck in. Skinned knee and elbow. Laughed it off and got back up, 2 weeks later I was walking and tripped on the uneven concrete and was scraped up worse then the first bike fall...I did not fall on bike again until I was waiting for a guard to raise the gate, mind you on a slight grade, and he decided to wait till the other two guys got closer....as I said up a slight hill and I began to fall and kept bike from hitting ground. I was successful at keeping bike safe. I got scratched a bit but it healed up. I don't count that as a clutz thing however as it was the guard who didn't know a thing about clipless. Just will not put trust in guards and people in cars.... The bike is definetly the best invention for all ages, shapes/sizes and klutz levels!!!

[mel1976]

Yes!

As a kid I begged my mother to get me into athletics. I participated in athletics from about 4 or 5 until in my late teens. In primary school I remember being the girl that use to play with the boys on the oval running around playing tag. Am very proud to say that when I was in High School I was 2nd fatest over 200m in my home state (Victoria, Aust). Have been a bit of a tom boy all my life and I'm proud of it.

Absolutely love sport, whether it be a team sport or an individual sport. Have participated in and played netball, basketball, touch footy, athletics, Aussie Rules (womens team) as well as roller hockey.

Now I'm training for a triathlon, so are heavily involved in running, biking and swimming. Also enjoy weight training and aerobic classes every now and then. Over 50% of my wardrobe is dedicated to sports clothing, and every now and then I find myself getting rid of more and more of my everyday "work" clothing to make way for more t-shirts, running shorts, bike shorts, bike jerseys, swimmers, etc.:D :D

[Crankin]

What a good question. I was a #1 klutz as a kid. But, looking back, I can see the spark was in there. I just grew up at the wrong time. I hated PE, and I have horrible eye hand coordination and a documented depth perception problem. So, all ball sports were out for me. Girls had 2 choices when I was a kid: skating or gymnastics. Oh yeah, field hockey and BB all in HS. I guess running was there, too. I flunked out of ballet but I did ice skate for 7-8 years until I got to middle school. I could never spin fast or jump high, but I love skating really fast around the rink. I WAS however, outside all of the time. I ran in the woods and played, built forts, and played "army," with the boys. I did have Barbies and dolls, but I lived at a time when your mom would say "Go outside and play," and we didn't come home until you heard her ringing a bell... I didn't learn to ride a bike until I was almost 10, but after that I rode constantly until age 15 or so. I lived in a suburb that had 7 hills. I was put in remedial PE "flab lab," because I flunked the physical fitness test, which consisted of things like shooting a basketball. But flab lab was running and calisthenics, which I loved. Moving to Florida stopped all of that. I did nothing in college except walk and I gained like 20 pounds during my first year of teaching. I started eating right first and then took a fitness class at ASU when I was in grad school and teaching. I tried running, but it hurt my feet, back, etc. Finally, in 1980 I joined a gym and started doing aerobics. I became obsessed, eventually became an instructor, had many injuries from overuse. I also did some weight training which I discovered I liked and I used to walk at 5 AM in Phx. It wasn't until moving back east that I discovered the outdoors. I learned to x country ski but only did that as a beginner for quite a few years, with my kids.

My husband got me on a mtb with slicks in 2000. I didn't have any trouble riding (I still rode once in awhile in the intervening years) or with the gears, but I had no endurance, even though I had been doing aerobic exercise for years. I stayed on that bike for 1.5 years. I had a minimum of trouble learning to clip in when I got my road bike and a just a little bit of trauma learning the STI shifters. But I made myself. I liked the added speed! However, I still am not good with cornering and descending. I am afraid of downhills in any sport. But, this year I think I have improved a bit. I wear a Camelbak on any ride longer than 20 or so miles, because my water bottle skills aren't great. I worked on them this year, but I can take my left hand off the bar, but not the right . As for mountain biking, I think I am like Emily. I am a wuss... I love being on the trails, but tend to bail and walk with real technical stuff. A few times I have done incredibly hard stuff on the trail and then the next week, I couldn't do it! So, here I am, at 53 and some people, like my friends who do nothing, think I'm a super athlete. Yet, I feel like a poseur when I'm around others. I think my childhood experiences defintely color my attitude. Half my problems are in my head.
This is waaay too long!

[Kimmyt]

When I was young I wouldn't consider myself athletic. I guess maybe I always had it in my buried down there, but didn't find 'the right sport' to bring it out. I always rode my bikes though, but when I was little and in the horse crazy phase, I just used to pretend my bike was a horse so I think it wasn't so much the bike I loved but more the freedom to go wherever I wanted on it as long as I was home for dinner...

I danced for about 10 years, rode horses for a few years before it got too expensive, played soccer for 1 year (when I was 5, was upset b/c they wouldn't let me be goalie and I didn't want to RUN :rolleyes: ) then in h.s. was heavily into music and marching band. Which i guess is sorta athletic...heh

Anyway, had always been interested in the outdoors and all throughout my young life went to summer camps where every year I progressively chose the programs that were more rugged, less pampered. By my third or fourth year of summer camp I was in the woods and loved it. Tried rock climbing, canoeing, all sorts of fun stuff.

I think this stuck with me the most, because first and foremost it was fun, and I didn't have to worry about being not good enough to do it, since it wasn't a team sport.

In college I think I o.d.'d on studying, and in an effort to reward myself by doing somethign I'd always wanted, took a 2-week backpacking trip through Central PA, then took some intro rock climbing courses, a ww kayakking class.

I was hooked. Climbing became my sport when I had a steady income after graduation and every weekend I was out on the rock, sleeping in the back of my car, driving 6+ hours in a day to meet up with people to climb with. Did that excessively for quite a while, then got a little burnt out on it, or maybe I got to the point where I said, 'ok let's see what else my body can do'. Got into skiing heavily (my only winter sport as of now, unless you count running), then bought a road bike, and now I'm dabbling in triathlon.

Still climb though, just now I don't feel bad if I can't make it to the mountains because there's lots of other stuff to keep me busy.

Sometimes I wonder if I have a mildly ocd personality, because I feel like I can't NOT do something. It's weird. Complete opposite from when I was in h.s. really....

K.

[jeannierides]

What great stories!

I was active as a child - bikes, walking everywhere, softball in the front yard. I was never very good at sports - too skinny, nearsighted, and possibly just plain sissy!:rolleyes: I was terrible in PE - was the last picked for the *games*... I preferred reading or playing with Barbies... until I discovered boys - and <<ahem>> pardon me girls, but I was going to marry Paul!
I took aerobics in the '80's, went off and on to the gym. Hated Hated sweating!

Until I turned 50! The weight had crept up, and I joined WW, started walking to lose weight, then running. My SO hooked me up with a beautiful bike, so I started road cycling. It was scary at first - and I'm still not so much into the *accessories* for bikes - running is much easier: all you need is a good pair of shoes!;) Getting used to the bike wasn't so bad - I do think once you know how to ride, you know how to ride. :rolleyes: But riding a skinny-tired road bike was a little different than my cruiser back in the day. Clipping in and out was a bit of a challenge, but I was game.
And the end of that story - or is it the beginning - is that I love cycling. I'm not fast, and after a couple of months off the bike, I'm sure I won't be strong for a while, but I love it! I feel free and like a kid again. But it also makes me feel strong and independant - like a grownup woman! :p

[GLC1968]

I was very athletic as a child. Like a few other's here, I did pretty much everything well, but nothing supremely well. I was always the first or second girl picked in gym or for pick-up games, but in my mind, I needed to be as good as the boys, so I was always trying to be better at everything. I started ice skating at 8 and soccer when I was in 3rd grade (on a boys team...there were no girls teams). I was coordinated and could pick up just about anything pretty quickly. I was also extremely competitive and a bit of a tomboy.

In Jr. High I played soccer, basketball, volleyball, tennis, swam and I still skated, was a cheerleader and ran track. In highschool, I played tennis, soccer and club football (my dad was a quarterback and taught me how to throw a kick a$$ spiral when I was 10), did a lot of hiking and canoeing. In college, it was rugby and tennis mostly. I really wanted to play waterpolo because it was coed (and I could compete against boys), but I developed a sensitivity to chlorine and had to pass. After college, I learned to ski (picked it up in a day or two) and started weight-lifting and playing softball. I also coached soccer and rugby.

I'd learned to ride a bike when I was about 8, but hadn't really done it much since learning to drive. When I bought a mountain bike (after college), I took to it like a fish takes to water.

I bought my first road bike (as an adult) almost 2 years ago and aside from a slight balance issue (that turned out to be from riding a bike that was way too big for me) I picked it up right away. I even started out clipless and never had any issues. I do think that my athleticism has helped me...tremendously. I see it as I have started trying to help some of my girl friends who were never very atheletic start biking. Some of their 'issues' are foriegn to me (fear of falling, fear of getting hurt, coordination challenges, etc)...so I do think that there is a difference. Of course, if I'd never ridden with these women from the start, I'd have had no idea how easy I had it. :)

[Cha Cha]

Growing up, my skills and thus interests were in two major areas - academics and music - and I did really well in both. In middle school, the first half of the year our gym class was swimming lessons. Hated it. Even regular gym was better than that...

Really got into aerobics in high school / college (early-mid 80s) and enjoyed that a lot. I've taken various dance classes since then, and while I have very little talent, enjoyed it a lot. It's hard to stay mad or upset about anything for long once you strap on some tap shoes!

Started riding actively in December, and am so hooked!!! Last evening my DBF and I were riding indoors with the Spinervals Bending Crank Arms dvd, and it so rocked. Sure was hard, and I imagine I"ll have some major soreness tonight, but whatev. There's one part when Coach Troy says "This is serious training for serious athletes", and my wonderful sweet DBF said "That's what you are!" Coming from him especially (and he is a very serious athlete), it felt so amazing. Between that, the sense of accomplishment I felt, and all the endorphins, he said my eyes were sparkling after the workout. Whoo hoo!!!

So yep, it sure is a rush! And at 42, a very very different way to think of myself. Very cool.

Amy

[emily_in_nc]

Growing up, my skills and thus interests were in two major areas - academics and music - and I did really well in both. In middle school, the first half of the year our gym class was swimming lessons. Hated it. Even regular gym was better than that...

Really got into aerobics in high school / college (early-mid 80s) and enjoyed that a lot. I've taken various dance classes since then, and while I have very little talent, enjoyed it a lot. It's hard to stay mad or upset about anything for long once you strap on some tap shoes!

Started riding actively in December, and am so hooked!!! Last evening my DBF and I were riding indoors with the Spinervals Bending Crank Arms dvd, and it so rocked. Sure was hard, and I imagine I"ll have some major soreness tonight, but whatev. There's one part when Coach Troy says "This is serious training for serious athletes", and my wonderful sweet DBF said "That's what you are!" Coming from him especially (and he is a very serious athlete), it felt so amazing. Between that, the sense of accomplishment I felt, and all the endorphins, he said my eyes were sparkling after the workout. Whoo hoo!!!

So yep, it sure is a rush! And at 42, a very very different way to think of myself. Very cool.

Amy

Amy - We sound kinda similar growing up (except that I was not seriously into music, just academics -- and boys!) I too discovered aerobic dance, starting in college. Started going to the gym after college and taking aerobics classes, which was the first really athletic thing I'd done in my life, but I was not in very good shape compared to now - I only dabbled in it compared to the things I do for fitness now. Asthma held me back at that time somewhat as I didn't take any medication then, so that limited how hard I could push myself.

I started road cycling in my 20s and rode off and on (sometimes several years off at a time) since then, but only really got "serious" about it at age 42, just like you. When I was called an "athlete" for the first time in my life, I was 43. I can still remember what a high it was to be called that!

I don't road ride as much now as I used to for a variety of reasons, but I cross train like crazy. I now hike, run, walk, kayak, sail, mountain bike (very much a newbie), lift, ride the trainer, and still, sometimes, road ride. Yes, I am an athlete now at almost 46 years old, and d*mn proud of it!!! :)

Good for you for making the transition too!

Emily

[Mimosa]

I sorta got forced by my parents when young because I am astmatic and they thought it would help with strengtening my lungs. And of the years I got accustomed to sports and now I can't live without:D

[Kimmyt]

My brother was very asthmatic when he was young and my parents got him into martial arts, which was the best possible thing for him i think since he was always the little short fat kid b/c of the prednisone for asthma/allergies. He is still seriously into martial arts. I'm trying to get him over to the dark side of taking part in one of the sports I do so that we can talk shop. He expressed vague interest in kayakking which would be cool but i have a feeling he won't get into it b/c of the cost of equipment. Tried to get him to go running with me, but he said no on account of the asthma. He still gets attacks pretty frequently.

K.

[chickwhorips]

when i was a kid i considered myself athletic. now my definition of athletic has changed.

as a child i would bike around nothing serious, swim in the lake, played softball, basketball, volleyball, kickball, football, and loved PE. once i was out of school i didn't do much in my first few years of college. then i started doing aerobics classes with my friend and liked those. then i moved here, and now i consider myself athletic. i now run and bike. i am addicted to cardio, where before i wasn't. hated cardio with a passion. to much work, let me lift weights instead or do short bouts of it.

to answer your question: i was an active child, having fun, but not athletic by how i consider the word athletic now. either way, i don't think it helped me get comfortable with cycling or running. my first time out doing either, i thought i was going to die and never sit down again or walk. took me a while to get comfortable on my bike.

[hellosunshine]

chubby,teased,self conscious outsider!athletic?no,dreaded sports.country bumpkin living in the yorkshire dales,we just walked and walked.lycra clad cyclists were scoffed at!



35,slim,hit civilisation,knocked about by life experiences-took to the bike like duck to water!

after my first stop at some traffic lights when i went over like a domino,being clipless is second nature,it comes like breathing.

[DirtDiva]

I was a wannabe tomboy when I was a kid. I was adventurous, loved exploring and just generally being outdoors getting dirty, but no athlete - I was far too uncoordinated (couldn't throw or catch at all really until I was about nine) and not nearly fast enough to keep up with the boys. I didn't struggle with getting on a bike as more than a means of transport because I'd always had a bike since the day I turned four and I have that natural tendency to want to give thngs a go.

The interest in being fit and active has always been there, but when I was younger my idea of what "athletic" meant was quite different. I always thought that "athletes" were the kinds of people who really excelled at one or two sports and could pick up any sport and play it well. I thought an "athlete" was something you either were or weren't, rather than something you worked to become, but how can you not call someone who rides a century or does a triathlon athletic? I still don't think of myself as athletic (or even sporty), but of course I often ride with people who put in a lot more miles each week than I do and that influences my opinion considerably as I can't help but compare myself to them. I suspect your average couch potato would think I was obsessed...

I certainly wasn't athletic as a kid (much more the nerdy, musical type), but I was actually involved in quite a few different things over the course of my time at school, just none of it was competitive and most of it was stuff I simply gave a go for a year or so. I don't think I understood that organized sports were something you could just do for fun until I was about seventeen. Even now, I only enjoy playing team sports when going out for a beer after the game is more important than the scoreline. It's not that I'm non-competitive, I just need to be competing with myself first in order to enjoy competing against others. How hard can I push myself? How smart can I be? (Yes, it's all about me, girls! :p) I think the reason I get so much out of cycling (on and off road) is that it can be as social or not as you wish whilst really testing your limits, be they phisical or mental, at the same time.