How old are you? How long have you been riding?

[elk]

I'm not sure if we did this before or not...but I'm interested in an update

and --in a seperate response--for how long have you been on the bike in this particular time of your life?

[mimitabby]

learned to ride a 2 wheeled bike when I was 9. had a bike through highschool. oh, i'm 56

stopped riding in college, in Idaho where I felt it was too hot and too much work.
Fast forward to adulthood, with Raleighdon as spouse and Raleighdonson and DS
as tots, everyone had a bike, so i got a 10 dollar garage sale PUGH with 2 working speeds and rode it.

Then the new century. I decided that to inspire Raleighdon to ride (who had quit because his bike friends all moved away), i agreed to train for the STP double century. I believe that was 2002. and I was 50 years old. I've been riding since then.

[spokewench]

Of course, I rode a bike when I was a kid - as kids do

and, i've been riding about 21 years since I took it up in or around 1987.

spoke

[kerrybelle]

I'll be 40 this year and I started riding 5 years ago.

[denda]

I am 49 and have been riding for 24 years.

[Aggie_Ama]

Of course I rode as a kid but that doesn't count.

I am now 27 and took up riding as a hobby/athletic pursuit at 23. My first non-toystore bike was a first anniversary present one month after I saw DH do the Shiner BASH, thought everyone looked to be having fun and I wanted in on that!

[jesvetmed]

Rode as a kid, and as needed in college (both times!).
But seriously decided to ride for exercise and fun about 4 yrs ago. My friends rode, and we watched the TDF together, and I got the bug. Started riding the hubby's old cannondale MTB which I'd pedaled to and from class in vet school, but decided I wanted a bike that fit (and that I could get up hills easier:p). So the next spring I got my road bike. I'm 41 now.

[CarbonCandy]

I'm 19 and have been riding on 2 wheels since I was four. My dad is/was a bike fanatic and has always been about the family rides and what not. I stopped riding when I was like 14ish and then got a job at a bike shop and bought a bike last year.

[maillotpois]

41. DH got me a MTB as an engagement gift (in 1993) and I rode quite a bit til I had the kid, then on and off. Serious road riding started in the beginning of 2001.

[roadie gal]

I'm 49. Like a lot of the rest of you, I rode as a kid but then stopped for a long time. I started riding again when I moved up to the Tahoe area. It's been about 12 years now. I started mountain biking. Then I got the road bike to build up my endurance for the mtn bike. But I decided that I liked the road more, so that's most of what I do.

[lauraelmore1033]

I think I was surgically attached to my bike as a kid; I was hardly ever off it. Rode off and on through teens and twenties, but had a long spell off the bike after someone tried to "door" me on a bridge around age 25. I'm in the middle of my third year back on the bike (at 45)

[shootingstar]

Am 49.



Learned to bike when I was 10 yrs.
Abandoned biking when I was 19 yrs.

Returned to cycling when I was 32 yrs. --just a few
months after I met my partner. Yes, he was the cycling angel that appeared in my life at the right time. Before I met him, I was hankering to buy a bike, but didn't know how to go about doing it..etc.


So have been cycling regularily and commuting in non-snow/ice seasons, last 17 yrs.

[KathiCville]

I'm 50. Rode as a kid and then on-and-off through my 30s. Stopped during my 40s after adopting a dog and switching to hiking. Got back into biking a little over a year ago when cycling BF got me going again. My now 9-year old pooch has slowed down a bit, so we're doing shorter hikes---cycling helps me stay in shape!

[singletrackmind]

Learned at 5 and have never not had a bike or not ridden said bike, so 35 years.

[elk]

I had to stop and really think about how to answer my own poll!!! I almost clicked 35-45....but I am 50...!!! (must be a good sign...I feel younger..)

I got back on the bike (my only real foray into excercise besides walking.....since college) last Sept. ...so 10 months, with Jan-May off for that (*&^% virus)...Jeepers!! I am still such a baby biker!! I've only been riding
for essentially 4 months....!?!?

I sure have learned a lot...

[uk elephant]

I'm 32, and I learned to ride a two wheeler at 7. I've always used a bike for transport since I was allowed to cycle beyond our little street. Cycling just for training/excercise only started two years ago when I was training for ALC and I enjoy it so much I'm still going...or at least plan to when the phd lets me have a life.

[DDH]

I rode when I was a kid as most kids do, then I didn't ride until after I had my son and my Doc suggested it since when I walked I got shin splints. So my husband and I got mountain bikes and we rode every chance we got, and also took the boy on a few organized rides and pulled him in one of those trailors. Then we he got to big to pull, and was to little to keep up, we quit.
About 2 years ago, I started getting back into it and got road tires for my mountain bike, and rode it for about a year and at the end of last summer I got the new bike, and really love it. Now if I could just get a good seat that fits, I will be set. LOL


Oh, I'm 43, soon to be 44 the end of this month, but ain't claiming it until the day. LOL

[redrhodie]

I'm the big 4-1 :cool:, started riding for real in 2004, 4 years ago.

[uforgot]

I rode as a kid, kept riding for transportation in college and as a young teacher and then when my kids came along, they rode on my bike and then with me, so I've always been riding in some form or another.

[redrhodie]

I can see why you're called uforgot ;). How old are ya? Fess up.

[maillotpois]

Hey red, not only do we ride the same type bike, but we're both the same age!

And uforgot doesn't HAVE to put her age in the post - just in the poll! ;)

[Tuckervill]

I'm 46. I had my last bike ride when my oldest son was 6 weeks old. He's now about to be 26. Fortunately, I found my first love again and I have been riding for the last 4 years.

I really do love to ride and love everything about bikes. It's kind of one of those passions that I put off for motherhood, that I didn't even realize was a passion until I started doing it again.

Karen

[ClockworkOrange]

I longed for a bike as a child but school reports where all so bad :rolleyes: was not allowed one until I was about 10 years old, then it was a second-hand bike, although I loved it.

I was a nutter on my bike but when moving to central London, had to get rid of it at the age of 12 years.

37 YEARS LATER............at the age of 50, I started riding a bike, again a second-hand one.

So have been riding for 8 years and now 58 years old............and loving it. :D

Clock

[redrhodie]

Hey red, not only do we ride the same type bike, but we're both the same age!

1967 rules!

And uforgot doesn't HAVE to put her age in the post - just in the poll! ;)

Yeah, I know she doesn't have to, but I'm thinking she just forgot. I hear she's forgetful. Or, she thinks I forgot. Hmmm, maybe I did forget? I can't remember.

[Crankin]

I'm 54 and started riding when I was 47, almost 48. I started because my son was racing as a junior and my husband was heavily into it. Before that, I didn't learn to ride until I was 9 and then rode a lot until I was 13 or so. I stopped pretty much when we moved to Florida when I was 15.
I rode a little bit in the late 70s early eighties as a grad student and young mother, but never more than 5-10 miles.

[hirakukibou]

I am 46 and have been riding for two and a half years. I knew when I got involved with my current partner that I would be doing MORE exercise, what I didn't know what cycling would become central to my life and become my OWN. So here I am, two and a half years later, a newbie racer and a teacher of bicycle riding and an athlete for the first time in my life. Who knew?

[K8sgotgame]

I don't fit into the poll... I'm 25 :)

I always rode as a kid until about 4th grade when I had a bad accident on my bike. Then I just rode it around the farm and less on roads.

I really picked it back up in college and used it as transportation when I moved (car-less) to AZ for a winter... then it was on to MTBing and now road.

[coyote]

I'm 44 and I've been riding for 5 years. I started as a kid but my bikes were always flat. I rode a bit in the Bay Area...mostly too cheap to pay for parking at the community college :) Tried to ride a bit in LA...boy was that scary. Fast forward to now...my longest most serious spell of biking.

[limewave]

I'm 29 (30 next month!). And I've been road riding and mountain biking for four years. I started riding so DH and I could do something together. Now he's so busy he doesn't ride at all and I have to ride by myself or with DD.

[uforgot]

I can see why you're called uforgot ;). How old are ya? Fess up.

Yeah, I'm forgetting more and more as the years roll by. I'm 53.

[LainiePants]

This summer will be 3 years for me. It was definitely my bike-loving super active BF who got me into it. (And I'm 27 btw)

[SlowButSteady]

I'm 49. Injured on a bike at age 10...rode only when absolutely necessary in college and vet school. Vet school BF did a coast to coast and that really impressed me but I was really, really scared to ride.

Started back on my own and this is my 4th summer.

[surgtech1956]

I'm 52. Rode as a kid - in fact my favorite gift to receive was a new bike. I got into riding when I was 27 and stopped at age 37, started back up again at 51.

[elk]

It's awesome that so many of us are over 40, over 50....

I am so inspired by all of you!!!

I honestly feel like when I turned 50 (the year I started riding again) I re claimed some of the best things of my younger days...like bikes and collies...;-)

[OakLeaf]

I'm 48. I rode from age about-7 to 33, and took it back up again two years ago.

[JennyPi]

My BF and I are very new to cycling. I bought a bike to ride to work and then bought another bike to ride to work in HALF the time! Been riding since Feb of this year. We've really been enjoying our weekend riding adventures together and I can't imagine us going back to our old, everyday-type of weekends. Lots to learn but we're on our way.

[F8th637]

Been at it for a little over a year now. I will be here 12+ years from now as well if I have anything to say about it. :D

[HillSlugger]

Rode as a kid but pretty much stopped after I got my driver's license. Bike commuted for a year in graduate school, and then nothing for about 20 years. I've been riding steadily for the last 3 years or so.

[bluebug32]

I'm 25 and started seriously riding four years ago. I've been mountain biking, for the most part, and just picked up road riding this year.

[Pika]

I also had a bike as a kid/teen- used it for commuting to jobs in summer and sometimes school.
My first "real" bike ( and bike I love most) in 1984 - did a few triathlons and then stopped riding when I went back to university ( bike in 1 province - self in another)- started riding again once I had more $ again. Mountain biking at first and just got my new road bike 2 yrs ago- I still feel like a newbie:)

oops forgot to add I am 43- soon to be 44:)

[cyclinnewbie]

I rode a mtn bike for 4 years or so, pre babies. Continued to ride a bit after the first baby, but gave it up after the second. Fast forward 10.5 years, and I got me another mtn bike, then 6 weeks later got my first road bike. That was just a couple of months ago. I love it...I feel like a kid on my bike! I'm now 38....

[violette]

Was doing spin classesfor 3 yrs and one day someone e-mailed me telling me that his friend had a road bike for sale. Looked at it and decided that was it. Bought one and never looked back. I was 37. Rode when I was younger but that doesn't count. For some odd reason, I feel so sexy on a Road bike. WEIRD...

[HoosierGiant]

47. Ex-marathon runner who didn't have time to train once the girls came along. Needed to do something, so started cycling 3 years ago after watching DH make the same transition. The girls and I were his SAG support for RAIN (Ride Across INdiana -- 160 miles, one day, one way), and I thought it looked like soooo much fun. That was all it took!

[oneskineejosie]

I'm 28 and besides riding as a kid, just got my pretty pretty Trek 2.3 in April, intending to ride only in order to train for a triathlon. Well, I have completely fallen in LOVE with my bike, and I know I'll be riding as much as I can for many many many years!!!!! :D

[cosc]

I'm a 57 year old grandma. My best present ever as a youngster was a blue bike.
I've had a few years where I didn't make time to ride (college-career changes). My hubby rides with me on occasion, but was always good to watch our 7 kids when I wanted to ride. I feel like I'm still warming up - slow and steady but looking forward to what future bike trails bring my way.

[cyclingmama]

I'm 34. I started biking (post-childhood) in 1998 when my then-BF (now DH) bought me a bike for my birthday. We rode a lot from 1998-2002, then I had a baby, and then another baby, and let myself fall away from it. I started riding again a month ago and its like falling in love all over again.

[sundial]

I'm in the 40+ club and I've been riding something since my childhood--tricycle, Big Wheel, and bike with a banana seat and streamers. My first *real* 10 speed came from Ace Hardware. The bike was yellow and the shift levers never stayed put. After I married, hubby and I bought some mtb's and we rode it everywhere. Then I bought my first serious road bike in 1996 and rode nothing but hills until my good knee started konking out on me. I bought another road bike that fit me better in '05 and I've not stopped cycling since.

I've wondered though, why do so many return to cycling in their middle years?

[imdeanna]

Maybe it's the 'easiest' exercise for our middle aged bones??? LOL :D

I'm 35 (for another 26 days anyway) and JUST started riding a couple months ago...... :o

I'm starting my son early tho...he just turned 10 on Sunday...and I bought him a rode bike for his b-day!

[mudmucker]

I am 48. I have been biking for 26 years. In my 20's, I biked for transportation: to college, to work, to laundry on an old 70's Schwinn Continental. None of it was really more than 8 miles at a time as I lived very close to everything. At that time, I rode the bike about 50%, as I also had a boyfriend with a car. In my early-mid 30's I strictly rode a mt. bike. I lived in Shutesbury, MA and was a lab analyst at UMass, Amherst for 7 years. I'd commute to Amherst occasionally on the mt bike. But I lived on a 5 mile dirt road that wasn't kind to road bikes. As recreation I rode pavement and single track with the mt bike during that time at least 3x/week. In my late 30's to now I moved to the "eastern" part of the state and lived in various towns with no dirt roads but pavement . I bought road bikes for my new pavement riding. Now I ride for recreation 20-60 mile distances - maybe around 100 miles/week during peak season. Actually though, since the gas price increase, starting last month I have been doing a partial commute on my Specialized Ruby, about 32-40 miles round-trip and having a blast doing this.

[BarbaraAlys]

I am 47 and never learned to ride as a kid; I had a trike when I was little, but never a bicycle. I learned to ride in July of 2005, at the grand old age of 44. That was on a moutain bike, on which I quickly installed slick tires. I did my first organized ride two years ago on that bike, 37 miles on flat pedals. Death seemed preferable to finishing that last mile!

And yet I rode again!

Now I'm on my new Trek 2.1 WSD. It is beautiful!

Barbara

[northstar]

I'm 28 and just started really riding last year. Always had a bike as a kid, but fell in love with road riding last summer.

[GLC1968]

I'm 40. I've been riding regularly for 3 years next month. Prior to that, I was an occasional mountain bike rider.

[indigoiis]

I'm 40. I grew up in a very bike friendly community, and a big family with lots of rusty old bikes to pick from. Every summer we'd lose our bikes or they'd get stolen - right out of the front yard - and at end of summer my Dad would take us down to the police station and the chief would open the garage and he'd say "find your bikes and take em." Often we would end up with bikes that weren't ours but we only had so much time to run through that garage.

As a teenager I had a Huffy Strider named "Chrome Cruncher" because she dented a chrome fender once. She never got stolen because I had a really good lock on her. She was my pride and joy.

I depended on my bike for all of my transportation. Less so in my 20's but after my daughter was born I took her everywhere with me from 8 months on. I had a big old orange cruiser - steel - with back rack and a kid seat and I could put three bags of groceries on each of the handlebars. Red Rhodie can imagine what going down Bellevue from Stop and Shop must have been like in summer with a kid and groceries. And no helmet on me.

Moved out to the sticks and didn't ride much again til last year when my husband pumped some air into a mountain bike that someone had given me. I rode because I got fat (for me) and I needed something to burn calories. Little did I know it would lead to all this!

[BluePeace2]

i'm 24, rode as a kid and now my BF is a rider and he got me going again, so i'd say just over a month

[callmecrazy]

I rode as a kid, but not when I was any older than 10 or so.
I am 23 now, and just got back on a bike again not even two weeks ago just to do some recreational/fitness riding on local trails. Since I'm already a runner and swimmer, I think I've also filled the missing link to start doing triathlons, which will hopefully fill my competitive void left after years of soccer!

[pranachick]

43 yo...same as most replies - rode as a kid, then off an on since then. Bought a new bike this past xmas (for a cycling vacation in Corsica last month). Started riding in January...totally hooked, again! will have 1700 miles in after this weekend's Albuquerque Century.

BTW - cycling trip in Corsica was AMAZING! Great views, great food (and wine), great people...350 miles with lots of climbing, which means lots of descents:)

[redrhodie]

Red Rhodie can imagine what going down Bellevue from Stop and Shop must have been like in summer with a kid and groceries. And no helmet on me.


I can imagine it only if I replace the you I know with a nuttier version of you in the lead role :p I always check out the bikes locked at that rack. Very interesting assortment of your old bikes, most likely. I think you can take whichever one you want, or is left, when you leave.

[IFjane]

54 here - rode to school and back on my bike from Kindergarten through grade 6. Then rode horses through mid-30's. After that, back on an ancient road bike, then a mountain bike with my college-age son (starting in '94), then back to road bikes in 2002.....

[cyclinnewbie]

I've wondered though, why do so many return to cycling in their middle years?

Well, the answer to this for me is that after years of jogging/running, my arthritic knees/hips/ankles cannot stand any more pounding. Cycling is the perfect aerobic activity!

[cyclechick2008]

I rode seriously in 05. I did TNT at lake Tahoe. Took 2006 off.
Back at it sorta serious since march 07.

Kim

[OakLeaf]

I've wondered though, why do so many return to cycling in their middle years?

I've told my story here before, but the answer really isn't about why I returned to it, it's about how I burned out. If I hadn't had that burnout, I would've been riding continuously since childhood. A retreat that I went to for reasons completely unrelated to cycling rekindled the love, and made me realize I'd been away from it long enough that I could enjoy it again.

As far as running, yeah, I've heard that from other people, but actually I'm also running now more miles than I have in a very, very long time, and the running I'm doing is faster and more "serious" than ever before. So none of that here.

[tattiefritter]

I'm 34 and thinking about it, I got my first bike (solid tyred, with stabilisers - training wheels) at 3 and owned a bike of various types all the way up until I was 24 when my first MTB was stolen :mad: I used to use them on lots of short distances and for transport, I didn't learn to drive until I was 24 either.

I bought another MTB three years after the first was stolen and really got into riding for fun, so I've only really been without a bike for a total of about 6 years of my whole life.

[chicago]

45... soon to be 46, next week:eek:

I've been riding since last summer... but don't let that fool you... I've been an athlete my whole life. Grew up with 3 brothers who didn't hear of dolls... only baseball, and sports. I've played just about every sport, and was on an women's ice hockey league in my 30's which rocked :cool:... and was running marathons before I turned cyclist...

I had no choice in being a tomboy... it was picked for me while still in the womb:p

[OakLeaf]

I had no choice in being a tomboy... it was picked for me while still in the womb:p

That's funny Chicago. Because my identity as an athlete is my identity because it was the one thing that wasn't picked for me in the womb. I think part of why I love physical culture so much is because it's something that my parents never valued at all. :p:cool:

[hermitclub]

Rode as a kid to get everywhere. Got a bike in 1996 to use as primary transportion from 1996 to 1999. Got back into biking in 2004. Bought my current bike in March 2006 and got the bike bug big time.

Broke my leg, on said bike, May 27, 2006. Couldn't ride again until late July 2006. Found this TE site, read a lot, posted a little. Did a ton of gear shopping as I kept my leg elevated in a cast for 2 months.

Now I ride year-round, weather permitting. Just started commuting to work again April 2008, 10 miles each way. I am hooked!

[mimitabby]

why do so many women turn to biking at middle age?
Oh, that's easy. it's good exercise with low impact. If you never ran before you were 50, it's probably never going to happen. But bicycling? you can pick your speed. you can amble, or you can race. You can just do flats or you can MTB your way through hills and rivers.
I've considered Soccer, but didn't want to get slammed, i guess there's a lot of body contact. And organized competitive sports just don't do anything for me.
Then bicycling has another side to it. Not only is it fun exercise, but it's practical transportation as well!

talk about win-win!

[chicago]

That's funny Chicago. Because my identity as an athlete is my identity because it was the one thing that wasn't picked for me in the womb. I think part of why I love physical culture so much is because it's something that my parents never valued at all. :p:cool:

funny how different we are huh?... my Mom takes credit for both my sister's and my athletic ability. We are good skaters, and my Mom says "that's because you're mother was always a good skater":rolleyes::D... actually it's quite cute... and we adore her for it:p... but then I will say "Mom, does my playing sports my whole life have any contribution to my success as an athlete", and she'll say "well okay... maybe some", LOL!! Actually it is quite genetic... I have 50 cousins on the southside of Chicago, and I believe every one of them is athletic. We are all 5'4 (at least all the women), no hips and no boobs, LOL... all built the same, LOL!!

[elk]

why do so many women turn to biking at middle age?
Oh, that's easy. it's good exercise with low impact. If you never ran before you were 50, it's probably never going to happen. But bicycling? you can pick your speed. you can amble, or you can race. You can just do flats or you can MTB your way through hills and rivers.
I've considered Soccer, but didn't want to get slammed, i guess there's a lot of body contact. And organized competitive sports just don't do anything for me.
Then bicycling has another side to it. Not only is it fun exercise, but it's practical transportation as well!

talk about win-win!

plus bikes are such sexy looking machines and they purr just like cats...;-)

[emaline]

I'm 26, have had a bike most of my life, rode a lot when I was in middle/early high school, virtually none in college (tiny campus) and this year I decided to give up my car, bought two bikes (1990 Terry Chrom and 2007 Novara Pulse) and have been happy ever since. It's been six months. I don't anticipate being on four wheels again unless I'm pulling a trailer on a tour :D

[shootingstar]

why do so many women turn to biking at middle age?
Oh, that's easy. it's good exercise with low impact. If you never ran before you were 50, it's probably never going to happen. But bicycling? you can pick your speed. you can amble, or you can race. You can just do flats or you can MTB your way through hills and rivers.
I've considered Soccer, but didn't want to get slammed, i guess there's a lot of body contact. And organized competitive sports just don't do anything for me.
Then bicycling has another side to it. Not only is it fun exercise, but it's practical transportation as well!

talk about win-win!

+1 Even in my lowest times and after not cycling because of snow, therefore becoming cycling unfit....I always feel better...even after a slow, short ride. At least i got around..somewhere! The effort for cycling at any speed over whatever terrain, expected and unforeseen, is like a great positive metaphor for life.

The latter has kept me on the bike this long so far in life. :)

Cycling gives you many more possibilities in life travels...metaphorically speaking.

[Cyclo Kitty]

Rode all over Chicago as a kid with my dad-- school, parks, and for errands as a teenager (say, 10 years).

College I walked, mostly. Grad school, I rode for a year. Bad bike fit was my enemy. Got a bike for my birthday from a boyfriend (who asked me to move out two days later-- now that I had a way to leave??). That fit a little better, rode for about 6 months until I got a job that required hose.

Got married, and started riding again, and eventually spent some of the money we'd been saving for a new car on a bike. We rode for 4 years, until DS was born.

Started riding again two summers ago (June, 2006) because I was desperate for exercise, and DS was able to ride to camp drop off. Now I ride to work and for errands every day, and longer rides on the weekends. Our mechanic told us not to buy a new car---waste of money, he says. We buy gas once a month and use the car only for grocery shopping and errands where we can't take a bike. We're thinking about a Surly Big Dummy, or the Kona Ute to replace the car; all the utility shopping here is uphill coming home, so it takes some training and some thinking to haul food or ice melt or lumber home...but it could be done.

[Jiffer]

I guess I'm in the majority so far, age wise. I'm 39 and I've been riding for almost three years. First the tandem dh convinced me to ride with him, then a year ago, my own single. Not counting the bikes I rode as a kid, of course, or the hybrid dh bought me about five years ago that I lolly gagged around on a few times.

[sfa]

I'm 39. I rode everywhere when I was a kid, then after college spent a year touring Europe by bike. When I got back, I still spent a lot of time riding around for fun and exercise.

Then life got in the way--grad school, marriage, work, kids. The usual. Three years ago I decided I *had* to get myself back in shape, so I started running. It worked well to get me in shape but I hated every second of it. Then a few months ago, when I noticed I was avoiding running with all kinds of lame excuses, I remembered that cycling was always fun, even when it was exhausting and miserable. So I pulled out my 18 year old bike, got it fixed up and just got it back last week. I think most of my cycling is going to be commuting right now--it's a perfect way to work exercise into everyday life.

Sarah

[newfsmith]

I learned to ride as a kid, but it took me 3 years to do it. I rode a lot in college, especially after my brother was killed. When we moved east I basically stopped riding until 2000 when a new job let me start bike commuting. Regular riding made me realize I had never had a bike that fit, so I got a new bike that turned me into a "fanatic" according to my family. Now I love going for all day rides.

Oh, yeah, I'm 61.

[7rider]

I'm in the 35-45 age group. ;)
I've been riding since...um...1991 or so. I lost a lot of weight and started walking to keep it off. My sister gave me her old Fuji road bike (waaayyy too small for me), and got a hybrid when I moved to Massachusetts in 1992. In 1995, the hybrid was stolen at a friend's house on Cape Cod and the insurance money bought (half) a new road bike. Picked up a mountainbike in 1997...and well, the addiction began and I've been riding (and buying) bikes since!
And there, in a nutshell, is my cycling history.

[IFjane]

plus bikes are such sexy looking machines and they purr just like cats...;-)

And there is no litter box to clean! :D

[mimitabby]

so what i want to know is what happens to women after they're 65?

I'm hoping it's just that they are not as computer literate as the rest of us.

[Midmichigangal]

I am 33yrs old and have been riding since last year. I rode a Roadmaster mt. bike I got from Wal-Mart a few years ago. This past April I bought a Diamondback Comfort bike from a lbs. I usually ride several times a week. I ride for enjoyment and exercise.

[rij73]

Turned 35 today. Been riding one year and 3 months. Before that, hadn't been on a bike since I was a teenager.

[sgtiger]

so what i want to know is what happens to women after they're 65?

I'm hoping it's just that they are not as computer literate as the rest of us.

Maybe they're just out riding. A couple of days ago, while driving, I passed by a woman coming in the other direction that I'm guesstimating was in her mid sixties. She had an incredible figure. If I had not seen her face and neck, I would have thought she was younger than me.:cool:

Then there's my grandfather, who never learned to drive and who was too impatient to wait around for buses, rode a bike into his early to mid seventies. I don't know how he did it. It always seemed to me like the people driving around Mokpo and Kwangju took traffic lights as suggestions. I wouldn't want to drive there, much less be on a bike! In the shopping districts, cars barely slow down for all the pedestrians in the streets. (There are so many pedestrians that they spill out onto the streets from the sidewalks.) The drivers just honk incessantly and assume everyone will move out of their way in time. Riding in a taxi is very scary. I prayed that the driver wouldn't hit anyone and white knuckled the "oh, sh*t" handle.:eek:

[Ninabike]

Okay, almost 65, and not very computer literate, but I started riding road bikes seriously during the 1960's with a bike club and with my brother who was a great rider; quit for a while and then rode again during the 1970's and got my DH interested. Quit again for a while but came back to riding during the past several years. I love it as much now as I ever did; especially now that they make bikes that actually fit me!! I just wish I was still in the same shape as before. Age has brought arthritis to wrists and hips, but give me a bike and I'll ride it!!

[BlueVet11]

Well, I am neither under 25 nor am I 26-30. I am 25 :) but I voted for 25 (since it would probabkly read 25 and under otherwise).

I've had a mtb for 7 years and my roadie for 3, but really never rode consistently until this summer. Except if you include the massive amounts of bike riding I did as a kid, or the commuting to work on my bike before I got my drivers license :)

[deeaimond]

I will be 24 this year, I started riding a bicycle last year in August to commute to work. at first I did it 3 or 4 times a week. In Dec I went on a local internet forum and PMed some people who ride in my area and didnt get a response till 3 months later. In March I met up with them and they saw one look at my 'monster' and figured I would not be able to ride long distance with them on their road bikes. So on the spot one guy decided to lend me one of his spares. A powder pink trek with bar tape saddle and tires to match. It was a little to long and my first ride was slightly over 85km and ended with a tremendous backache. But I did it and they were impressed that I could catch up (I think women have a bad rep ard here, plus I'm a little on the Chubby side) So they were very encouraging. I got to ride Pinky for about a month then I started looking for my own setup. And as I always say, It's all downhill from there... (especially the money part)

Today we're cycling to Malaysia (neighbouring country) So I'm so excited I'm up early early. Previously my mom never allowed me to go because she felt it was too dangerous. However, recently my dad started joining us on some rides (no DH, so DD-Dear Daddy) once again on a hybrid, courtesy of my cycling buddies. So I can go coz daddy's coming along! And now we're bike hunting for Daddy :D

So this is my current story. I wonder what cycling has in store for me in my future! Didi I say I'm excited???

[luv'nAustin]

I'm 46 and have been riding for the last four years. Love it and the people that I've met to ride with over the years.

[SadieKate]

I don't fit into the poll... I'm 25 :)I think the poll assumes 25 year olds are the Lost Generation.:p

[Biker Jo]

I'm 55, and I've been riding since I was a kid. I even remember how excited I was when I was a kid (I can't remember how old I was) when my parents came home one night with a new bike for me! They put it out in the backyard, and my excitement turned to sadness the next day because it was stolen that very night. I never even got to ride it! They did get me another one, though.

I rode off and on during my teenage years and 20s, and then when I was 29, I decided to get my first 10-speed, a cheap one (I think I paid $150 for it), because I had had arthroscopic surgery on my left knee, and I figured if it bothered my knee, I wouldn't be out too much money. Well, the biking turned out to be the best therapy for my knee, and I was hooked.

That bike was stolen three years later, and I've bought three road bikes since then, including my latest, a Cannondale Six13 Feminine 6 that I got last week. Even though I'm not a fast rider (I average about 12 mph), I'm not out for speed, but I just love to ride!

[tulip]

I'm 40 and have been riding for a long time. I raced BMX when I was pretty young, but I'll say 25 years, since my first bike tour was when I was 15, and I'm still at it.

[firenze11]

I'm 24 and have been riding less than a year (unless you count my awesome bike with streamers ;))

I'm loving being on my bike but can't wait to get a little bit faster and more comfortable. I'm already thinking about what bike I want next and love building it in my head.

[bluebug32]

I'm 24 and have been riding less than a year (unless you count my awesome bike with streamers ;))

I'm loving being on my bike but can't wait to get a little bit faster and more comfortable. I'm already thinking about what bike I want next and love building it in my head.

Oooh, I see you have a Jake. I have a Jake the Snake and LOVE that bike! I know I'm not a true roadie, but I love all the options that bike gives me.