I love my bike, why do you love yours?

I write a lot, about nature, about guys, about my bike, I realized that about every other entry in my book was about my bike. LOL. I think I really love my bike a lot I mean we spend a lot of time together. I guess I am a bit crazy, so why do you love your bike???

I was thinking today as I rode my bike, we are in a relationship together: bike and me. You fit me well, carry me forward, I love you for where you can take me, you take me on vacation to far away places where birds chirp louder than passing cars. Where trees grow wild and the air smells more than smog. You push me, make me crave you, make me love you. You carry me to where my own two feet cannot. You have an inertia that spins, a speed that goes faster than myself alone. You are a machine, but cannot work without me. And that is why we love each other?

It is when I am powering up a hill, flying around corners on my self propelled roller coaster that I feel as though a clogged intestine is let loose. It all flows, the thoughts through the brain, I can just watch them go by in clarity. Somedays I need that for 5 hours or 70 miles. I love love love my bike. It makes me smile and laugh, warms my heart, fulfills my soul. It makes me sane and insane, free inertia, spinning fast mentally and physically. I get lost in time and mountains and in valleys. I can see the brightest of blues blooming, whitest of puffy clouds, hear the conversations of birds, the vastness of life, it all becomes clearer, it all becomes peaceful.

Thats all.

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that I feel as though a clogged intestine is let loose

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Oh, dear... !! :eek: That is not a feeling I associate with my bike, at all!! (Too much bran, yes; my bike, no.)

I get what you mean; just that phrase... conjured up something very different in my mind!!!

For me, riding a bike is like horizontal flying. It's fun, and even when I don't feel much like riding -- there are plenty of times I don't really feel like it -- I will go ride anyway, because I always, always feel better after I ride.

I have only one bike. It probably is not the best fit for me, and certainly it needs some things replaced (such as the right grip), but it has taken me many places, helped me through heartache, made me stronger, brought me to beauty and peace, and had its .... er... spokes in many laugh-out-loud moments and all-around good times. It's not what inspired my then-small son to refer to me (me!) as "the athletic parent," but it is what inspires this old couch potato to live up to that designation and his view of me as athletic (me!) as best I can.

My bike is saucy, spirited and fun to ride. She's nimble and does what I ask her to do without hesitation. She's not "squirrely", but she's no slacker either. She's solid and I trust her to take me on some good adventures.

I love the way my bike responds to my efforts and smoothes out our rough roads so that they feel almost buttery. And the way it flies down hills and competently hugs corners and curves like we're on rails (my previous bike was very nice, but didn't evoke any of these feelings). And he's such a looker, too! :cool:

When I reach the top of a hill I feel so strong for making it there and when I let go of the brakes and race down the other side I feel brave. I love that it looks edgy but girlie too because of my flower stickers I can't remember who said that but someone described it like that and I thought it was a spot on description. I love the name, how can you not feel good riding a bike called Utopia?

because she lets me fly!!

Liberating!

I love my bike because it keeps my car right where it belongs. Parked. :D

I love my bike because we take each other on adventures.

Without me, the bike sits idle. Without my bike I can't feel the rush of wind, the power of self propulsion and the joy of flying down the path. I'm most happy on my bike when I feel we are one with each other.

Plus everything everyone else has said about why they like their bikes. I feel like I have a hundred or more reasons to love it.

Two of my bikes are chunks of aluminum, and two are resin and carbon cloth. All have bits made of steel, aluminum, plastic and rubber. They all require maintenance and suck my money in upgrades and broken/worn replacements. Doesn't sound like much, does it? So why do I cringe at the thought of putting any of them in the garage? Only one, the commuter, lives there as it's a pain to take it up and down the stairs every day. The others live in my bedroom.

Somewhere inside I get this good feeling when I look at them- like an old half remembered memory of something pleasant washing over me. Vacations past, yesterday's ride, my unwinding commute home after a long hard day at work. It's just metal, cloth and plastic. And something else... Yes, it's some sort of visceral reaction; when the slow become fast, when the weak become strong, when the chained become free. It's leaving my structured, manufactured life behind for a short while, to feel, yes, unchained.

It's not the bike, it's the ride.

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Originally Posted by emily_in_nc

I love my bike because it keeps my car right where it belongs. Parked. :D

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Ditto! The truck gets used to haul my bike up to the hills to do my favorite type of riding, which means it stays parked the rest of the time.

My bike has been my escape and my main joy in life since childhood. It is also my transportation 99% of the time. I love the endorphin highs, weight loss, and fitness gains my bike gives me. I also enjoy working on my bikes.

Evan though I've been riding off and on for about thirty years...I never started to really feel "in love" until I finally got a bike that actually FIT.

While I do love the paint job, the steel and the overall je ne se qua...it is finally having a bike that fits correctly that really seals the deal.

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Originally Posted by Laguna

While I do love the paint job, the steel and the overall je ne se qua...it is finally having a bike that fits correctly that really seals the deal.

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This.

Cycling is the one childhood joy I don't have to give up. It still feels like Saturday morning with a whole day full of possibilities. It still feels like flying. It still feels like freedom and independence. Her wheels take me farther than I could get on my feet. She has reconnected me with my aging body, making me feel healthy and stronger than I have in years. There aren't enough words. :)

Deb

I love all my bikes cause they all have been paid off :p :p :cool:

one I like cause I can look like "Wilma". T-shirt, cargo pants, white socks...
down tube friction shifter true 10 speed. Maybe I need to wear the helmet backwards.

one I like cause its "no-name brand" but pretty good (K2 makes bikes not just skis)

last one I like cause well its a real TT (actually a tri) bike Specialized transition pro. Rides rough but fast!!

I love my bikes because they take me on adventures, give me wings, and connect me to the world around me and to the present moment. When on my bikes I cannot get lost in the past, or tomorrow. They are awesome!

You know, I have never had that "visceral" love feeling for any bike I have owned. I love riding.
I think it has to do with the fact that a bike is an inanimate object. I don't have names for my bikes, either. It just doesn't seem to fit.
One time I had a "reaction" to a bike I saw at my LBS, when I went in to pick up something. I knew it was my size, because it was small, but it was really the color, a dark blue that I have rarely seen on a bike.
It turned out to be a Trek 5200, the very same bike I had traded in for the one I have now...

Oh it takes away my worries, you just get on the bike start pedaling feeling the air in your face seeing all the beauty of nature and a smile appears. You forget about everything that is pending. It's just teraphy.

They're the first things I'd rescue in a disaster, after all the living beings were safe. My bikes are very precious to me. I see them not only as freedom, transportation, and fun, but they're also works of art. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing more beautiful that a bicycle.

I love my bikes because they let me unleash my urge to explore. Even close to home I have found new routes and places to visit and see because of my bikes. Don't get me started talking about long tours. . .

I love my bikes because each is a different style and has a different attitude for the mood I am in at that particular moment. My vintage Raleigh that I fixed up recently was a present from DH on our first anniversary. My recumbent is my RV, the bike I take for traveling long distances to new and exciting places. My mixte (when I get her finished) will be for commuting and floating about town in an elegant and retro manner.

I also love my bikes because I look and feel so much better when I am riding regularly than when I am not.

My bike is worth it's weight in nostalgia value, and it's a heavy bike.

It's an old CCM, just like the one my dad had, except a mixte. It's probably a few years older than I am. The original seat is still on it - the kind with springs - so those creak. The fenders rattle. I like it's fredness.

I love the colour.
I love the bell.
I printed a sticker of Fat Pony and put it on the basket.
I love the mixte style.

I ride this bike every day, and the city seems so much smaller now. I just love it.

FREEDOM! (a la Mel Gibson in Braveheart).
I love to go fast. I love getting out there, of seeing how I can rock that next hill, I love the wide open spaces, of seeing new country, of watching the seasons pass and the fields turn from brown to green to gold and brown again. I love the thrill of the downhill, noting improvement in time and distance every week, the freedom of ignoring my cell phone and its constant chirps and rings as people try to contact me - I laugh, they know I'll call back later.
I also like my sexy bike legs (well, from the bike short tan line down), of watching the pounds come off, and I love how I feel energized after a good ride and it's time to increase the distance AGAIN.
My bike isn't the priciest, but she runs fast - a 2009 Fuji Team. I've not swapped out the double for a compact crank and I don't think I will, even with our hills - I basically live in the big ring - but we have such a good time together!