How long have you been riding

[allabouteva]

Hi ladies,

To me TE has been a godsend, because y'all have been so amazing in sharing your collective wisdom, and so warmly supportive!

I'd like to hear how long you've been cycling?

I started riding when I was relatively old about 9, and didn't have my own bike until about 11. Then I stopped riding until my twenties, when I owned a couple of bikes, but didn't seriously get into it. Tried but didn't. Then last year about October, my DH and son got REALLY into MTB, and a couple of family weekends away, got me started and then HOOKED! So now I ride a Giant CRX1, which I bought knowing that MTB wasn't fully my thing, as I wasn't very good technically (although I'm going this weekend!), and I consider myself first and foremost a roadie.

So I've started this thread hoping to hear how long you've been riding, and a bit about your experiences along the journey.

e

[LBTC]

Ah, Eva

What a great thing to talk about!

I think I was 8 when I got on a bike the first time - one that was WAY too big for me! I loved it, but wasn't allowed to ride it in the woods! In Grade 6 I bought my own bike, but my dad talked me into buying a bike I didn't like and very rarely rode.

I think I was about 20 when DH and I bought our first crappy mtb bikes. We still loved riding them, even though they were terrible.

It was a few years later, when we bought real bikes - I think that was 12 years ago or so. Since we started buying good bikes, I've upgraded 4 good mtb bikes and a road bike....they've gotten progressively better, I love buying skill! heehee. I got much more serious about riding in the last 3 years, and hope, if work, health, and finances allow, to do some serious riding and racing this year!

It's been quite a journey, with many ups and downs, not all good, but I believe I'm a better person because of them.

Ride on, ladies!
~T~

[im4smiley]

I remember this tiny bike I had when I was a kid,I was too big for it. Then when I was about 12, I remember my purple bike with the banana seat and the tall handlebars, I used to do crazy things on that bike, pretending I was in a circus. like riding real fast then standing on the seat and kicking one leg out. I would NEVER let my kids do that!! I didn't do much riding again until last summer when I bought a cannondale hybrid h600. I enjoyed it soo much that I sold that bike and hubby bought me my new felt

[makbike]

I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't have a bike, the joys of a large family and lots of older siblings. I didn't really get into cycling until I was in college. My older brother spent a summer in France working and cycling. A rather dishonest person took his bike and he was forced to purchase an inexpensive bike in order to get back to his starting point and in turn home. When he arrived home he quickly sold me the bike for a whooping $12.00. It was a piece of junk but I loved spending time on the bike and exploring various roads and routes. I found that cycling was a great release from the pressures of my college course work as well as a great way to build up my strength and endurance (I was heavy into raquetball as well). I purchased my current bike back in 1986 with the help my brother and rode it until I finished grad school in 1989. Once I started teaching full-time my little blue bike spent a few years tucked away in my garage for I had no time to ride given the demands of my job. However, two years ago I decided it was time to pull it out, dust it off, get it working again and to climb aboard. Shortly after making this decision I met my current BF who just by chance happens to work in a LBS so he helped me tune my bike up, replace some parts and most importantly patiently rode with me that first season back in the saddle as I worked to gain my strength and endurance. I simply can't image not riding now. I so looking forward to dry warm weather so I can leave the confines of my living room and trainer and get back outside to soak up the sunshine and sights.

[Brandi]

I fondly remember when I first started riding. I was 7 it was in our backyard and my dog Surgar was there.it was a bike that I got for christmas. It was purple sparkle paint that fadeed into an orange sparkle paint. THe goose neck was put on backwards. At least that's what all the kids said to me for the four years I had her. Many Many fun times on her. Then i got a 10 speed which got stolen not two years after I got her. My parents were mad and didn't get me another one. I have had three other bikes sence then. I am 37 now and the bike I have now? Well she is wonderful i don't know if I deserve her. But biking has been in my life sence my first big wheel. I did skating for a while after my bike got stolen and skate boarding. I am a true california born and raised on the beaches. But get this have never ever surfed! Boogie boarded though . Biking is # 1!!!

[DrBee]

My first bike was a Christmas present somewhere around age 9. Then I had a Huffy 10-speed when I was in Junior High. I destroyed my knees when I was 14 as a serious ballet dancer (riding horses was also involved). 22 years, 2 knee surgeries and 2 kids later I bought my Trek 7200FX. My DH bought one the same day. That was last summer. I feel possessed by the cycling bug! I love it! And now - I'm searching for my first road bike. EEK! I'm hoping to ride a century and some charity rides next year.

And - I must say that I am so happy to be on the TE forum. Y'all are a fantastic group of women that are unbelievably supportive!

[CR400]

My first bike was a silver Schwin that I got when I was 5, I think, may have been 6. I had to learn to ride the hardway,meaning I didn't get any training wheels for it . I loved it bannana seat and all. Still have it somewhere but it can no longer be rode. The weld that held the frame together broke. Must have been all that BMX stuff we did on it . Then I went through about 3 different bikes through school. Stopped riding shortly after high school after my last bike wore out, didn't have money then to buy new parts.
Then a year and a half ago I went out and bought my yellow and black Cannondale and have been riding since, I kind of regret letting those 7 years pass without a bike. But that was the first opportunity I had to buy a road bike and wouldn't settle for less then a race bike.

[CorsairMac]

My first memory of riding is from about 5-6 yr of age. My family and relatives are standing in a huge circle in our backyard and encouraging me to ride around and around. Not a clue about the bike but as a second child in a middle class family, I'm sure it was a hand-me-down. My first real bike with gears was my dads old Raleigh that he rode in college. We tore it down, repainted it and built it back up. Unfortunately, it got lost during the course of a divorce and several moves. My 2nd husband took up biking in the mid 90s and I took it up again as a sport we could share. (he was a DH about riding with me - probably yet another reason he's an ex). After my second divorce I moved out to Phx and tried bike commuting to work but was taken out in a mighty way by some nasty train tracks so the bike got put away again. In Aug of 2004 our office moved right next to one of the main bike paths here in Abq and I took up biking again and have been riding since! One of my goals is to actually have a brand new road bike for the first time in my life, but til then, I'm still riding hand-me-downs - which we now call "vintage" and I still love it!!!

[Popoki_Nui]

I remember my love affair with riding began with a little red-and-white tricycle at about age 4. Then my first two-wheeler was a neat candy-apple red CCM single speed at age 5. I remember my grandmother helping me learn to ride it in Riley Park in Calgary. I was hooked!! My next bike was also a red CCM single speed which I rode until I was 12, when my parents bought me my first good multi-speed bike. It was British-made Falcon. I was thrilled! Ten speeds...woo-hooo! Real derailleurs! Campagnolo at that! Reynolds 531 frame, Weinmann brakes....a real European road bike (entry level for sure, but how exotic it was to me)! How I cherished that bike! I rode it absolutely everywhere and eventually outgrew it. I gave it to my little sister when my parents bought me the exact same bike in a larger size. I explored on it, I rode to school on it, I even raced it in High School. I still have very, very fond memories of those Falcons. Unfortunately, my second Falcon was stolen; I was so hooked on cycling that I went out and bought my beloved Gitane Tour De France in 1977 (and I still ride it today almost 30 years later.) I learned how to tune and maintain bikes, and soon I was doing my own upgrades and overhauls. In the mid-80's, I was bitten my the mountain bike bug, and I bought a Bianchi MTB. My poor Gitane hung in the garage for years as I discovered the joys of not eating exhaust and battling heavy traffic, and the sweet pleasure of riding in the rainforest and on the beaches around here. A whole different world! Fifteen years of corporate life followed those heady days; I put on too much weight, took on too much stress, and barely rode at all. In the late 90's I bailed from the corporate world into semi-retirement and got back on my bikes. But surgery for PCO, and metabolism problems happened. Lord...how those first couple of years back on the bikes HURT! But it was a good kind of pain, and I've never looked back. Today, I love to find vintage bikes and restore them, partly for the joy of bringing a faded rose back to life, and partly for the sheer pleasure of riding the classic bikes of my youth. I still battle weight and metabolism problems, but I ride now as much or more now than I did 30 years ago. I am a cyclist, I will always be a cyclist.
Happy and safe riding to you all!
~Sherry.

[bcipam]

Popoki nui -

this is off topic but your avator reminds me of what happened this morning. Before I left for work I looked for my cat. It is his habit each morning to see me off. He didnt come when called. I looked around and finally under the bed. First thing I notice is that the mattress lining was torn and hanging down. Darn, I thought, the cat ripped up the lining. I then noticed the lining had some "weight". I touch the budge hanging down and realized it was Sir Cat himself. He ripped a hole in the lining, crawled in and made himself a nice, warm little hammock to hang out in. Got to admit I was alittle jealous. I much rather had stayed home and hang out in a toasty comfortable little hammock as well. I can just imagine him kicking back, paws up just like your little avatar!

[maillotpois]

Nice thread! I love reading about the banana seats, etc.

I had a bike, but didn't ride much as a kid because I grew up on a farm and mostly rode horses. Plus, we just had dirt roads and mountain bikes had not been invented yet.... So I mostly rode at my grandparent's house in "town".

After doing a few marathons with Team in Training, I decided to give cycling a go in 2001, and convinced my DH to do a century with me (Tahoe). I ended up doing 4 centuries that year and the Death Ride the next year. I have raced in several crits and road races, and hope to do my fourth double century this weekend. I guess I am hooked?

[allabouteva]

You ladies are such an inspiration to me.

My non cycling friends don't believe that you can even cycle 100km let alone 100 miles! So stories like your's Maillotpois, and Nanci who recently did 400km.

I'm not worthy....

[Lise]

I cherish the feeling of riding my bike in the fresh early summer mornings, before it got hot, riding to swimming lessons at the public pool. The cool air on my body, my strong legs working, the ca-chunk, ca-chunk of the cracks in the sidewalk under my tires. I can still smell and see those mornings.

I was a fat kid, and life at home was even harder than life at school. Riding the bike was freedom and joy. I still feel that way.

I got my first two-wheeler when I was 7, that blue Schwinn that many of us in the US had. I developed an aversion to banana-seat boys' bikes after riding one straight into a tree later that year! YIKES! It is wonderful to read these stories. Happy memories.

[Susan126]

Geeish, it was so long ago, my first bike ride. I must have been seven (45 years ago, before training wheels?) My neighbor, Bonnie (who was 3 years older) decided it was time for me to learn how to ride a bike. So, she told me she would hold onto me and run along side of me while I pedaled on her bike. And to get some nice speed going (she explained speed helped keep you up right) we would start off by going down our blocks hill. At seven I was all for it! So off we went. Me pedaling, Bonnie running along side of me, then we reach the hill and she let go and off I went. I was riding! I was going fast! It felt great! Look at me! Oh no . . . she never told me how to turn or stop! At the bottom of the hill there was a two foot high cement wall. On the other side of the wall was a path that led down to a park. Well, she never explained the brakes to me so at full force I slammed into the wall. The bike and me went over the wall. Bonnie came running down. She thought I was dead and that she would be in trouble. But when she found me I was grinning and said, "That was fun, I want to do it again!" And I never looked back! Some day I'm going to have to find Bonnie and thank her for my first bike lesson!

[Tater]

I too had gotten my first bike around the age of five or six. I don't remember the color or anything, because it didn't last long and was soon replaced. The bike that replaced it had a red banana seat, a basket in front and a orange saftey flag on the back. I rode that thing everywhere, until I grew out of it and acquired a vintage Raleigh three-speed. Rode that one through high school, then quit riding for awhile. I rediscovered my love for two wheeled locomotion while in the Navy. Where I was stationed wasn't too kind on road bikes, so I got a Raleigh mtb and rode it until it wore out from all the salt water and whatever else was on the jungle paths. I had always wanted a road bike, but circumstances just weren't always right for me to have one. After the military and a divorce, I moved back to Idaho, started college and working. Living in a small-ish east Idaho town, I commuted to where I needed to be, on yet again, a Raleigh mtb. I finally realized my dream to own a road bike last April when I got my Specialized. Now, I am getting into centuries and wish I hadn't waited so long to get a road bike!