biking and self esteem?

okay, how about an informal poll on the 'other' effects of cycling?
yeah, my butt's a little firmer (not much though, i like ice cream too much!) and my hill-climbing has improved 300% since i started (in june) and running for the bus no longer causes me to cough up a lung...but that's just the obvious effects...
what i'm *really* asking about is the other stuff-- like the psychological effects, i s'pose. why am i so interested in this? well, before i was cycling i was a little over weight, somewhat out of shape, and --like most of us-- a little insecure. now i'm still overweight , but it's more muscle than it used to be, and i'm in way better shape. but my confidence has soared!! i put on my cheesy spandex and jersey with the sleeves too long (i'm really short) and I feel like superwoman. i went from yoga as my only excercise to biking 120 to 200 or so km a week (commuting plus weekend fun). i ride on city streets, in rush hour, for two hours when i bike to and from work. after that, i figure i can do just about anything!! i read something in the paper today that said cycling is empowering-- a statement that must be agreed with.
so... anyone else feel better about yourself since taking up biking? any other interesting results? dump a jerk? get a better job? tell your mother to lay off? re-paint your kitchen? buy sexy underwear? share! share the stories, i mean, not the sexy underwear ;)

Great topic spokes.

I honestly believe that cycling saved my life...or at least my health. I was a runner before cycling found me and I battled eating disorders (anorexia and bulemia) for years trying to be light light light and fast fast fast.

When I started racing mtb, I noticed that the female bike racers were a bit larger and sturdier than my running sisters. I discovered that I needed the extra muscle mass to do well riding off-road. That, and a little extra butt-cush sure is nice on the ol' sit-bones :p If I want to be lighter and faster, all I need is a quick (but often expensive) upgrade to the bikes.

I still run, but it's more about endurance and enjoying the scenery now. I still have bad body-image days, but in general I'm satisfied with my fitness, I don't own a scale, and I eat pretty much whatever/whenever I want .

The other thing that cycling has brought me is a social life. All of my friends ride/race.

This is a good topic. Cycling and exercise in general has just about changed everything in my life. In 2000 I weighed 218 lbs and knew I had to do something. I couldn't even get up off the floor when I played with my two little boys. I started walking and watching what I eat. Pretty soon I was running, then my 43 year old knees couldn't hack it. I took up cycling two years ago. Lost 80 lbs. Now I ride centuries at an average of 16 mph. My career took off because my self confidence had increased so much. I literally doubled my income. I'm teaching the rest of my family how important exercise and nutrition are. My mother and one of my sisters have gotten with the program and had their own successes. I wish I could bottle up how good I feel about this and sell it.

well there has been several articles indicating that exercise increases a chemical in the brain that makes you feel better. they have found exercise to greatly reduce depression and other psychological problems.

i have to admit though that i feel like a superwoman too. at night i dream of climbing hills like i am a pro rider or something!! i never dreamt those dreams with any other sport. :)

it is nice to hear that someone else feels the same way.

enjoy your ride!

christine

I got into cycling for a lot of different reasons. I got interested in cycling when a customer of mine (turned friend, turned more than a friend, turned heartbreaker!) talked nonstop about cycling, racing, riding....... when we were talking all the time, he begged me to get a bike and ride. It wasn't until we "broke up" that I looked into getting a bike and riding. I was instantly hooked!

It has been a life-saver for me. Not only do I feel close to someone I loved very much, whom I can't be with right now; but I feel free when I am on the bike. I am doing something totally for me and no one else. It is challenging and inspiring to me to conquer each milestone I set ahead of myself.

In life, (this is just my opinnion), everyone needs a purpose. You need a reason to get up in the morning. Everyone needs a challenge, a reason to keep fighting the fight. If we don't have those things, we're just existing. So, for me......the bike is my challenge. Riding consumes me. Makes me feel alive again. I don't know how long it will take for my heart to heal, but I know cycling gets my mind off the pain!

Thanks for letting me vent.........you guys are my therapy!

I love reading the posts on this forum. This is real life to me!

i used to run. running started to hurt my joints, and after i would get done, i would ache deep in my bones. i quit and took up cycling. it was not an easy transition (clipless pedals), but it saved me and helps keep the power in my legs.

believe it or not, i eat more now than i did when i was running. my joints feel better too.

I am handicapped! there that said.. see ya on the trails. I was born with a muscle deformity in my knee that made it dislocate its knee cap a LOT. As a kid and teen it went out 3-4 times a day. Major Bummer. A BF in colllege taught me to ride a bike. I had been considering yet another sergical option that would permenantly fuse my knee. Couldn't do it until I was "full grown". Discoverd biking just in time! Its hard to learn how to ride a bike at 18...but God bless a BF with the patience of a saint. I bought a mtn bike the next year, and started a cycling club on my campus. Saw my Dr at age 22 and told him I hadn't worn a brace in 2 years...he said.."how are you walking?" Cycling changed the way the muscles in my knee supported the knee cap. Several bikes later I am a completle wheel junkie, and the only evidence of any of mt old knee problems are pictures of the old braces I had to wear and the scars from early sergeries.

Did biking give me confidence... um Hell Yeah! I never wore a skirt and hardly wore shorts at all, as I always had to wear a HUGE hideous brace. If there is a down side to cycling... I want to see it! Crashing sucks...so what, get up brush it off..... and go ride! I can honestly say, cycling gave me the ability to walk and cured a handicap!

I LOVE my bikes...all of them!

What an awesome testimony! Whenever I whine about my petty problems and feel like I am "all alone with my misery"....... someone remind me to get up off my a$$ and get moving in the right direction!

Cycling for me has been a life saver in its own way, too. I am just getting started in this sport, but I absolutely love it! It has been a gift from God all the way around!

i'm glad i asked, aren't i? you guys are an inspiration!! which was, i s'pose, the point... thanks for being up to the challenge. this is just something to ponder as i stare down a monster hill-- it's all relative...

Since we're getting into the "spirituality" aspect of cycling........

What needs in your life get met by this activity?

For me it's freedom to think about and feel anything I want to! I don't have to answer to anyone and deal with my 3 kids (15,13,8 yrs old!). It's "ME" time!

It also makes me feel like I am a part of someone that I miss a lot right now. Common ground, I guess.

What about y'all?

mountain biking gives me the oppurtunity to really "play" as an adult.

I confess, I love the "cool" factor when people learn where/how much I ride.

I have great apprecaition for how strong my legs are, carry me up the hills.
Make me feel prettydarn good about my non-toothpick legs.

Irulan

I was mostly a runner then decided I wanted to do triathlons. I immediately fell in love with being on my bike. Running and now biking have made me feel like I can accomplish anything! I agree with what everybody else has said above.....being a mother of two teens (I love being the "old me"), love conquering my fears of "have to be careful" when I race down a hill, I'm quite short and I feel "tall" on my bike......just so many wonderful things.

I'm looking for a new bike now.............got to keep up :D !

Kelly

This is a difficult topic to write about. Not because riding means so little to me, but because it means so much. It is hard to put it into words.

Riding has been a large part of my life for over 20 years. It's not just something I do, it's part of who I am. It's given me health and strength, physically and mentally. It's brought me through good times and very bad times. It's kept me going and going, down the road, over the rocks, wherever life takes me. I want to keep doing this forever. Yes, not every ride is a profound and spiritual experience, but it's there in the background. Each ride, long, short, difficult, easy, contributes it's own rythm to my life. Riding beyond what I think my abilities are shows me not to limit myself. Riding easy with friends makes me realize how extraordinarly lucky I am to have those friends. Riding alone makes me appreciate it all - the effort of riding, the beauty of the countryside, the endless cycle as my legs turn the pedals around and around.
Cycling, to me, is freedom. It is motion. It is JOY! I wish you all the joy of cycling.

**Whew! I don't usually gets so philosophical. That is it for deep thinking for the day. I need to get out on the bike and play!**

Beautiful!

It is a spiritual journey for me as well. I feel very close to someone that I am not physically close to right now. I feel like we still have a kindred spirit.

I have never been depressed in my life.......until now! It is so bad, that I had to seek help.....both with medicine and with counciling. I just started about 1.5 months ago on the medicine, about the same time I started biking. I am just now feeling like I am going to pull thru this bad time. I still ache for what I have lost, but I can make it thru the day.........as long as I know I will be out on my bike for a while.

I am almost there with the "joy" of riding. Right now, it is therapy.... it's what I need to keep living!

I love it as well for the time it gives me to escape from the world. I love how powerful and fast I feel when I'm on my roadbike bike, and I love the muscular legs that it leaves me with (even though it's hard to get those big muscles into the same size of jeans my waist fits-- why do they think all girls are stick legs with no muscles?!) When I was younger I used to think of my legs and arms as ugly as they never fit into the tight fitting clothes that all the other teenagers wore, but as I've grown up and continued to be athletic (and fell in love with cycling) I've become proud of the muscles I have acquired-- proud when my legs didn't fit into those slim jeans because it meant I was healthy and active and strong... I love the freedom to escape the craziness of my 8 hours with 5th graders and my own 6 year old at home. I have very little "me" time since I am a single mom, and so when I get out there on my own, and get to do something that is only for me, I feel a great release from the pressures of trying to do it all...I have gained a huge sense of self esteem from my accomplishments on my bike. I've done countless centuries, rode from Minneapolis, MN to Chicago, done many tours, raised money for wonderful charities, been an inspiration to my students, etc. I never thought that one hobby could bring so much joy into my life as well as the lives of those in my community... One of the biggest "effects" has been from gaining a whole new group of friends. I love the ladies I ride with. I love how they make me feel, and encourage me, and stand by me. What better for a girls self esteem than to know she will always have people who believe in her and are there for her no matter what life throws her way! And it's all because of cycling!!! Horray for bikes!!!