Hey,
I am new to the this board, and back on the bike. Of course, I'm riding to get in shape and build stamina, but I like to ponder all the other wonders and benefits of riding. Anyone want to share why they started pedaling??
MJ
Printable View
Hey,
I am new to the this board, and back on the bike. Of course, I'm riding to get in shape and build stamina, but I like to ponder all the other wonders and benefits of riding. Anyone want to share why they started pedaling??
MJ
It lets me get out and PLAY with my friends. :p
Started riding 'cause it's my fiance's passion and it's nice to have a fun, outdoor, fitness-related activity we can share. Also wanted to challenge myself with something new. Now I'm riding 'cause it's FUN! What's more--and as a runner I still find this hard to believe--you burn more calories cycling (even at an easy pace!) than running!
i started for fitness (i hurt my toe when i dropped a wine bottle on it and couldn't do my normal step or hi/lo aerboics! :eek: :eek: :eek: )
i continued cuz it was fun... hubby was already a rider from way back!
i also continued cuz i burned a lot of calories and found i could eat more if i cycled! woo hoo! THAT's always a good thing! :cool:
most of the time it's fun! (there are times when i don't want to get out there and ride.. but i do anyways!)
My boyfriend introduced me to this sport, plus I wanted to do something different from my regular gym workouts. Outdoor sports is the best way to enjoy your workouts and at the same time do something fun. I am not cycling to lose weight but its a great way to keep your lower body toned. Enjoy your riding!
I'm riding to stay in shape, because it's fun, and because when I ride I'm happy and alert the rest of the day.
great question, MJ. And glad you've joined us!
Shelley
aka newbiechick
I started because it was something I could do with my husband and I needed the exercise.
I continued because it allowed me to EAT a lot more :D , and I love what it does for my legs and butt! ;) I am 44 and do not have a saggy butt, and it's all because of riding (especially climbing!)
I also love the camraderie of group rides and the friends I've made through the bike club. I love having a common goal and feeling myself getting stronger.
I love hanging out here on Team E with a bunch of like-minded women.
I also love the clothes. :D It's just another shopping opportunity!
I guess the question is - once you're hooked: how could I NOT ride??
Emily
I ride to school, mostly. I'm just not ready to tackle the 12 miles of mountain to get to work yet. The reason I ride is complex. Parking at school is miserable. We only have one car, and I can't justify leaving it parked at school all day and leaving my DH stranded at home (not that he goes anywhere, really). I can take the bus, but I get car sick, and it takes about 40-45 minutes to go 6 miles. Or I can get off my butt, ride my bike and be there in 20-25 minutes, plus have an excellent excuse to go out for breakfast before lectures. :D
I started because I blew out my knees and couldn't run anymore. It took about two days to get hooked and I wonder how I could ever have run so much--it seems so dull now! Now I ride because it's so much fun, it's something my BF and I can do together, and my legs look awesome! ('cept, of course, those *&@#$ tan lines!)
Hubby got me into it. He's been riding since he was 14 and it was his passion. We got married about 4 years ago and I'd never done anything athletic. So last year he said he wanting me to give cycling a try and I said I would, but no promises. In this year I've come to love it. It's something we can do together and it makes my legs look nice!
After reading everyone's comments about their legs ... if this sport can really give me great legs and a great butt, I may never get off my bike!! ;) It's certainly motivation to get me out there more!
Well, I've always ridden to some extent for transportation, fun and fitness. But my rides were few and far between.
Then we moved to Tucson, and EVERYONE here is on a bike. Lots of commuters, but also lots of recreational riders out on the roads. I bought a bike to commute (WAY faster than walking or the bus), and loved noticing things I didn't notice from the car. So I started riding around on local bike paths for fun. I also started taking Spinning classes, which were fun for exercise, but I sensed I'd be having a lot more fun out on the road.
I work with some roadies, and they got me really hooked. I bought a road bike, and ride with them on weekends, and now I ride because I LOVE it, and for fitness. We moved here a little less than a year ago, and I've seen more places by bike than I ever would have by car, and its way cooler. My favorite part is cresting a hill, and having a beautiful panoramic view. If I'd just driven up the hill, I doubt I'd appreciate the scenery as much.
Psychiatric benefits. :D
A few months ago I attended a meeting of a women's organization that I belong to through work. One of the guest speakers was a LBS owner and former Olympian. His overall pure joy talking about anything bike related made me remember all the great times I had twenty years ago when I biked almost everyday. Once I got geeked up about biking again I just had to find the perfect new bike.
Of course I ended up buying a better bike and lots more accessories than I ever anticipated but have no regrets.
I can't believe how much I enjoy being out on the road again. I commuted to work again today for the 3rd time in the past two weeks....30 miles round trip. I hope to get up to 3 commutes per week. I especially love the morning ride, lots of happy cyclists and joggers.
Mmmmm, I started riding so long ago... even as a little kid, I rode my bike around the neighborhood and beyond. Then as with now, I enjoyed the feeling of freedom. Over the years I've been serious and less than serious. Recently serious again more so for fitness than anything else. I guess I also got into cycling for the personal contact. My best friends right now all cycle, either road or mountain. I've decided since it is so important to me it has to be important to my friends as well. Our adventures are all cycling adventures (although I do get out and hike once in a while). Being actively involved with several cycling groups has help me make many new friends and contacts.
I've been on and off the bike since I was old enough to ride. As kids we rode everywhere coz that was the only way to Get anywhere, as a teenager I rode to get me out of the house, as an adult I rode coz my ex-hubby did but he was a jackazz about riding (which you wonderful TE ladies with your wonderful DHs and SOs have now shown me tyvm! :D ), so I was off the bike for close to 6 yrs. I took it back up again when my current job moved to offices right off the bike trail. I Love riding, the rush of flying through traffic, the walkers on the bike path every morning on my way to work, even the hills in my city which reward my climb by giving me an Awesome descent usually at speeds over 30 mph! Oh Yeah!! (no speed junkie here! :p ) I've ridden through snow, hail, rain, high winds, and days so gorgeous they almost make me cry. I've seen the moutains covered in snow, green when there's enough rain, sunlight and the gorgeous red they turn when the sun sets just right. I've done my first and second century this year and can't wait to do more. I'm participating in a virtual "Ride Across America" with 12 other people and am having a blast as I attempt to complete 3052 miles by the end of the year! (yup...I'll make it) I resent any time spent driving anymore and have worked out pretty much how to get anywhere in this city on my bike and want it that way.
What am I riding for?? Freedom!
I started riding to get healthy and kept riding because as soon as I click into those pedals, I decide where I'm going, how fast or slow it will be, which birds and animals I will be talking to, what songs I will sing - in brief, an interlude of sanity. No obligations, no duties, no chores. So, yes, SadieKate, psychiatric benefits and yes, Corsair, freedom. Every time I get on that bike, I'm dumbstruck anew just how much it means to me, how much I love it. :D
Ice Cream.
V.
I ride because it's one of my passions.
It's what helps keep me strong and focused. I take pride in taking care of myself which relates to respect and honoring the real me.
Oh yeah ... and then there's always the ice cream
I started riding so I could compete in triathlons.
So, I ride to train for that (I'm not all hardcore-serious though!)... and I ride to have FUN!!!!
I have found that I really LOVE cycling!
My husband is an awesome rider and racer and I vowed many years back never to get on a bike (hey I'm stubborn and wanted my own hobby). I then had to stop driving because of medical issues for a while and had to commute on my bike everywhere, but didn't want to do the whole mountain bike thing (stubborn I tell you). Then some friends of ours left a tandem at our house for a week and we had to have a tandem, but since my hubby only loves mountain bike, we bought a mountain bike tandem. OH MY GOSH, talk about exhilarating, fun, challenging (we are bad asses on the mountain tandem). So I stopped being stuborn and got a mountain bike. I love it, it's now my relief and reminder of the necessities of why quality of life is important. What would I do without my bike? I also learned a lesson in being stubborn (why be so stubborn, enjoy what life has to offer - admitedly still stubborn on occasion).
I started riding to work last year. Mostly to help me lose weight. Bike riding has queitly taken over my life. A friend recently asked why I like biking. The answer is so complex I didn't know where to begin and I still don't have a good answer. I simply must ride my bike. It has become a part of me. And the fact that I can slip in a few more carbs dosen't hurt either! :rolleyes:
I guess I'm just like everyone else here. You see my tagline, so you know I enjoy what I call the "cheesecake/pizza benefit".
I started in December because I was bored to tears with hiking and started dating my BF who has been riding since he was 12.
I keep riding because I love the "high" you get from exercise (and boy do you get it with cycling!), because it keeps me in shape as I approach 40, because I need to have goals for my excercise (and I'd run out of goals with hiking), and obviously because I love to eat.
But funny how what motivates me can change with the sport; I thought I'd be a trail-girl because I love long slow activity. But, with cycling, I like going FAST! And now I can't believe I ever enjoyed hiking (5 stinking hours to get to the top...what's that all about??? LOL)
I never planned to get a bike...I bought one this spring because....well -
My son is a racer - he races all over the country for both a collegiate team and an amateur team. I always watched him and wished I could ride, but I just thought well, I'm too old, I'm too out of shape and I'm too busy. The last time I had a bike was when I was 15 years old. Im 42, I'm in grad school and I have 4 young adult/teens I am still raising in addition to a 3 year old. I don't have time to to go the gym I'm already a member of, let alone ride a bike.
Then...I received word that my oldest daughters best friend from high school was just diagnosed with MS. 22 years old. It just blew me away.
My son has done the MS 150 before, and of course he wanted to do it again. Then in January we found out that not only would he be taking final exams the week of the MS 150, but he would probbably also be racing in collegiate nationals that weekend. Well I couldnt not have SOMEBODY ride for Summer! (My daughters friend) I just couldn't stand the thought that no one would be riding in her honor. I mentioned under my breath to my husband that I wanted to do it. He didn't laugh - he outright GUFFAWED. Then he stopped and said if I really wanted to do it, he would be right behind me. SO I got a bike, I started riding about 2 mos prior to the event, and then made 94 mi on the event (In May). I even trained the ride marshals for first aid and raised 3k. I didnt plan on riding so much after MS 150, I figured I'd ride just once in awhile for fun but...
I got hubby a bike for his birthday in April just a few weeks before the MS 150, he didnt ride the event, but he set up the team tent and drove up and back and just was awesome support. Now he's hooked too. I took him out for his first street ride this past week - we had been riding trails together. He LOVED it and we had a BLAST!
Our little one rides a mountain train (a sort of 1/2 bike that hooks on the back of hubbys bike) behind us when we ride baths, and he loves it too. He is 3 and a 1/2 and rode 16 mi with us the week before last. He even has his own little camelback, bike gloves, jersey and tiny pair of chamois shorts.
My oldest dtr is a fixed gear type who flys around philly, she is 22. My oldest son doesn't ride, the third son rides 600 mi a week on his carbon fiber orbea. The 4th child - my 17 year old daughter, commutes by bike to work and school, but won't race - she would be AWESOME if she just would!
And now...my mom and dad are shopping for hybrids!
Now, I ride for fun, family, and fitness and I LOVE IT!!!!!
My son got me started riding again. He had a "surprise" kidney transplant last summer, and his nephrologist is a serious cyclist and triathlete, who has pretty much inspired all our family to do MORE stuff we never imagined we'd do.
My son got a road bike last fall, this spring my husband and I bought hybrids, and now this summer I've bought a road bike.
I ride because it's so much fun to be horizontal :p and see the world going by at eye level :) and know that life = good.
And, ok, ice cream. :rolleyes: Ice cream is good.
Amen sister! Can I have a Hallelujah!Quote:
Originally Posted by SadieKate
snap "jest a touch crazy" dragen
I confess: I'm addicted. I started riding to cross-train for running. Now, I force myself to jog occasionally to cross-train for riding. I have 3 bikes, for 3 purposes: mountain biking, road biking, and commuting. And if I had the money, you can bet I'd have a few more in the stable, because I'm always drooling over another bike. How about a singlespeed? Or a cross bike? Or a full-suspension mountain bike? Or maybe a recumbent? I know I'm addicted: I often ride alone. I ride to escape my problems. I forget how many times I've ridden in a week. I haven't yet, but I probably will someday, call into work to take time off to ride. I feel guilty when my riding takes me away from my family, but still I ride. I've spent more money than I should on riding. A ride first thing in the morning makes me feel good. I find I need to ride more and more. I'm sure I could find other signs of addiction, but I think I've shared enough for my first confession.
I love going out by myself early in the morning and riding around the park near my home. It's like meditation.
I like the feeling of accomplishment I get when I do something that months, or even weeks ago, was a real struggle for me. I continually surprise myself.
I enjoy the awe and admiration I get from friends and co-workers when they find out I rode a century (metric or imperial, doesn't matter), or rode up Mt. Diablo. Quite the boost to my ego! (I can't rule out the possibility that some of them think I'm a bit batty, though ) ;)
I really like the way my body looks nowadays.
But, most of all, it's for the ice cream. :D
I pretty much grew up on a bike. It is basically the only athletic ability I have besides walking. But I was always more of a seasonal rider and once I had kids I didn't ride until they were able to ride. That of course consisted of little rides around the development.
Four years ago I wanted to ride the 5 borough Manhattan Bike a thon. My brother said he would ride it with me as my husband works on weekends and there is no taking off at this time of year. So two weeks before the ride I put my bike (hybrid at the time) on a borrowed trainer and thought I better start putting in some miles. The only exercise I was doing was walking on a treadmill. I felt so great after completeing 42 miles.
Well, since then, I ditched the treadmill and all I do is ride, winter, spring, summer, fall. That was also when my husband decided to get a road bike and would ride on his day off while I was at work trying to get himself in shape. Now with the little time we have together, we try really hard to ride together. It is nice to have something we both really enjoy as it makes for great conversation. We both just upgraded to lighter rode bikes and when you really love your bike it makes it even more fun and enjoyable. I never thought a bike could make such a difference.
As others have said, Freedom, forget about your problems, yes it has great psychiatric benefits. Plus I feel like I am included in the cycling loop. I love getting that cycling nod from cyclists that I pass going in the opposite direction.
~ JoAnn ~ for me...ice cream and pizza
I forgot to mention that last week at the physical therapist's (rehabbing after my cycling accident / pelvic fractures), she asked me "Do you play any sports? You're so athletic!" My reply: "Nope, I just cycle".
Yep, that's why I ride. :)
Emily
Cycling is my stress-buster, my way to enjoy the magnificent outdoor creation (when you ride, the sky is your constant companion), a way to improve and clean out my physical body...
and my alter-ego. I teach middle school, and I love the surprised look on my students' faces when I meet one riding. I want them to know that some adults do exercise, and play outside with their friends.
I had biked my small town roads as a kid but I must admit it didn't play a role in my starting to ride seriously. I always had a bike because I live in the city (Montreal) and it is so much more convenient than driving, but I never actually spent money on one, just picked old busted bikes at yard sales. Sometimes I rode them on the long bike path that winds by the St-Laurent river but honestly I was always ashamed because the old bikes rattled and made awful noises... :) I checked out the racer bikes as they zoomed past me, but I never thought this was accessible to me... Cyclists - real ones - were from another planet.
Then I started going out with a guy whose parents had become big roadies in their early 50s. My BF himself was into mountain biking, but did take his mountain bike on the road once in a while. I thought cycling together would be a cool thing to do because you don't have to go out of town to do it, we have plenty of nice places to ride around here. We were at some outdoors store for something else and I dragged him downstairs to check out the bikes. I was a bit disappointed that he was not that enthusiastic, but I felt like getting one for myself anyway so I bought a Trek hybrid on sale. I didn't want to spend more than 500$, so for that price I got a bike that was a bit less expensive but with clipless pedals and shoes. Honestly, I'm nearly sure that those pedals made the difference. I was physically hooked the first time I took the bike out and in one month rode about 500 km, which was a lot for me.
Then came the road bike, which I traded against some work on a bike manufacturer's web site. The 18-pound baby just grabbed my heart and won't let go now. I've kept on riding 500 km/month and I can feel myself becoming a better road biker.
And you know what? I'm currently breaking up with the mountain bike guy, which is sad after two years of living together, but I feel that this bike thing is one of the best gifts that relationship has left me, plus riding is my way to remain sane during the breakup. (And he just got a road bike too. *sigh*) And even a 3000$ bike comes cheaper than Paxil!!! :D
The feeling of flying on the road is what I love best about cycling. It IS close to nirvana: I just ride and ride and ride and stop thinking, totally. I love the speed. Being self-propelled also feels like a statement to me. The health benefits are a good point too, as my family has a history of heart disease and various cancers. Plus, I too love the legs and butt, and am learning to live with the tan lines. I kinda like being pointed out as a cyclist now, and maybe it has taken me to another planet...
And finally it has allowed me to meet - virtually or in real life - tons of new cool people. And that's another great reward! Thank you girls I love chatting with you on this board.
Keep riding!
Hey my cycling sisters!
just a casual question tossed out at random sparked something I think. I may save it for later. I love reading/hearing people talk about their passions! Cycling is so freeing and it makes us so happy! Like back to childhood happy, pure and simple happy.
Thrilled to see some 40-somethings answer! I am 45 (yikes) but hey that is still younger than Madonna!
I don't yet have the miles under me that some of you do. I did do a sprint triathlon a few years ago, though was cool. My knees have become tempremental (sp) the last 2 years-this I relate to an overuse injury that I did not recognize as such and did not treat it until weeks after the fact. But my DH has a pretty decent cycling resume (MS 150 century, RAGBRAI) and competes in tri's as a hobby. So he is always a source of inspiration.
Anyway, I like this board and I'll drop by later. Special hello to those residing in North Carolina, I'm down on the coast by Topsail, just got here in April.
-MJ
For the beer? :rolleyes:
DH and I have been going out to dinner and a drink on our bikes for a while now. I think I've learned the location of all cycle-friendly dining establishments in Lincoln. I'm not really joking when I say that William is "bar broke". I limit myself to one drink, though, I don't want to wobble on the way home.
I ride because a year or so ago, I asked a nurse at work to take my blood pressure, just for grins. She turned white and sent me home. Not good, no grins. :eek:
I ride to the drug store to pick up my meds. It just seems counter-productive to drive for blood pressure medication.
I ride because we are a one-car family, and the teenager seems to always have the car.
I ride because I love to bomb down hilly roads at night. (Yes, my guts/brains ratio is pretty high)
I ride a recumbent because I don't like the way my hands feel after a mile or two on my upright.
I ride a recumbent because I like to look around. Even on an upright, I'm always trying to be too upright. I figured I'd better be honest and get a bike that's built for looking around on.
I ride a recumbent because I love the way bad-*** dudes say "cool bike" when I ride by. God, I love that.
I ride because touring the country on a horse just isn't feasible in the 21st century, but it is on a bike.
I ride for mental health. Even super-frugal DH admits that bikes are cheaper and more effective than psych docs and meds.
And don't forget the beer.
Hi MJ, I'm in the Piedmont area of NC and 44 years old. I can honestly say I am in far better shape than I was 10 years ago, all thanks to cycling. I am constantly mistaken for someone 10 years younger, too! So much of it is attitude, but a lot of it is how I walk (well, at least how I used to walk before my accident!) and my trim figure, thanks to cycling. So many of my friends really started letting themselves go in their 40s, and that's the decade where lifestyle choices really do start catching up with you and showing. I definitely feel WAY younger than 44!Quote:
Originally Posted by mjv007
And you're right, we're still younger than Madonna. :D
Emily in NC
Because it was time to get back on......
When I was a kid, we always rode bikes all over the place - living in rural SW Michigan with 2 working parents, that's how you got anywhere. When I was 14, my family (mom, dad, big bro, little sis and I) joined a group of folks from the area - people my dad worked with and members of their families - and started riding "seriously". We trained for RAGBRAI (rode it 2 years) and several other organized rides over the course of a few years. The last year my dad and sis did the Iowa trip, while my mom, bro and I stayed home (neither he nor I could afford to take the whole week off of work from our summer jobs). That week, he was riding his bike and a car struck him from behind. He was about a mile from home, wasn't wearing his helmet and suffered massive head trauma which led to brain death.
He was 18, I was 16, and for nearly 19 years I was afraid to get back on a bike.
My hubby's dad turned 65 in Feb and I'm not sure who made the decision, but it was determined that "we" (pop-in-law, me and hubby, and his sister and her husband) would all go back and do RAGBRAI "one more time".
It was somewhat intimidating at first, but when my bike came into the LBS and I got out in the parking lot to try it out and make sure the sizing was right, it was such a great feeling. I had forgotten how much fun it is to ride.
Now, I'm riding for a bunch of reasons:
- spending time with hubby :)
- training for RAGBRAI
- training and being a part of a team for the MS 150 Ride to Jack and Back
- getting my legs and butt and even my arms in better shape than they've been for YEARS!!!
- and, very importantly, losing weight and getting healthy so that when hubby and I start trying to get pregnant this fall we'll hopefully have an easier time :D (This one's somewhat of a catch 22, as I've discovered that riding is not a recommended exercise during pregnancy. Looks like I'll be spending A LOT of time on the trainer.)
I ride because I can have fun, exercise, see new places, meet amazing new people and constantly challenge myself mentally and physically. There's always something to celebrate at the end of a ride: whether it's completing a loop a minute faster than yesterday or making it up that hill without stopping, every ride is an accomplishment. And it's something that I can do for myself where the only limitations are those I impose on myself.
As a kid I loved to ride. And I saved for that yellow Schwinn Varsity 10 speed and remember ridiing it 31 miles around my neighboorhood the first day! A series of life events had me pretty much inactive till my late 30's A friend convinced me to do a team triathlon where I would swim when I got out of the water and handed off to my bike rider I realized I wanted to do my own triathlon. A few small issues like never ever running and not being on a bike in 20 years needed to be addressed in order to do that. I bought a Hybrid and was soon on the path to a road bike. I realized that my childhood love of biking carried over and I still love it. I returned to the same triathlon a year later and did the whole thing!
I started really riding again at 40. Hmmm, yeah I guess I rode cuz I turned 40. oh yeah and one more thing....WHEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! :p
Oh, there are a few of us here :DQuote:
Originally Posted by mjv007
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=922