Quote Originally Posted by shootingstar View Post

but this forum would be super helpful if you could jot down:
Number of consecutive years you have been regularily cycling.
Your age
What keeps you on the bike
If you have lost weight, what was it and kept it off?

The TE thread on "getting to know you" is abit too detailed to read for non-cycling folks. I plan to link this thread for non-cycling women to read in the future.

Your cycling passion profile..please. (Drum roll...)
I'm 40. I've been cycling regularly since 1992ish, so that's what? 16 years?. Like many, I rode my bike as a kid, but put it away when the pressures and constraints of adulthood took over. I had always been "chunky" as a kid - and still as an adult. But in '91 I had a very stressful period where I didn't eat or sleep for many months. I found I had dropped nearly 25 pounds! So I started walking to try to keep it off....trying to turn a bad thing into a good thing.
I moved from Connecticut to Massachusetts, taking my bad back with me to a chiropractor. He recommended a hybrid bike for exercise...upright and comfortable. So I got one and started riding. I've managed to keep off the weight, plus or minus 5 pounds or so, and I'd love to drop an additional 10 but have no ambition to actively try. I guess I like to eat too much!
What keeps me on the bike is (1) having a DH who encourages me, and (2) getting involved with cycling groups and having an active group of cyclists in my core group of friends, and having a wide interest in how and where I ride (on road, off road, fast, slow....as long as it's on a bike...it's all good). I am a couch potato and somewhat anti-social by nature....often, I'd much rather sit alone on the couch with the paper or magazine. It's good that I have an activity where I can say "Hey...let's meet on Saturday and go for a bike ride." Lord knows, you'll NEVER catch me in the gym's aerobics classes!