Your Cycling Supporters

[bikerchick68]

I'm pretty lucky... my brother is a cyclist as well, so he and I chat all the time and did our first big rides together... including our first metric, then our first 3 centuries! It's cool having that in common with a sibling... if we lived closer together I have no doubt I'd ride with him a lot.

My mom is supportive, I have friends I ride with regularly, and have met and got to ride with tprevost from this forum!

My best friend does not ride but IS a marathon walker, so she gets the physical effort and sense of achievement thing... for Xmas last year she had a sterling charm made for my charm bracelet.. it's a silver disc with the number "100" etched into it... she put a note with it saying she was incredibly proud of my accomplishments and this charm was in honor of my century's (I rode my first ones last year!)... now THAT is some cool support huh?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I guess I'm older than i thought! I realize that my own parents (if they were still alive) would actually be the same age and generation as many of your grandparents! Oh well.
Yes, I should not generalize. My own parents were real hippies, only back then they were called "Bohemians", and when I was young they were called "Beatniks"...(God I'm feeling older by the minute!!)...

As to my own biking supporter- well it's certainly my darling DH- he is my mentor, my personal fan club, my best friend, and my inspiration. I feel so lucky to have him. He's been quietly biking once and a while by himself for years, but since I got interested, my enthusiasm has infected him as well, and we share the raging biking fever now. He patiently shares his bike knowledge whenever I ask him, but never does it like he's "educating" me. He helps me learn to fix and adjust my own bike. He never feels we need to compete in any way, never speeds on ahead when we ride together, though I know he could. A truly wonderful person.

[Bad JuJu]

Think we must be about the same age, Lisa. My parents weren't Beatniks (too straight-laced!), but my uncles were, and they were my childhood heroes. Happy to say I grew up somewhat in their images.

They both had cool 10-speed bikes--called "English racers" in those days, which my brother and I used to lean up against the side of the house, climb onto the saddles, and pretend we were riding, when our feet didn't even reach the pedals!

[chickwhorips]

my BF is my greatest supporter. he has been cycing for years and was the one that got me into it. we were talking about it the other day and i get frustrated for how slow i seem to be because i compare myself to him, and he told me he's just proud of me going out there and doing it. thankfully he rides with me on his slow days and doesn't complain, just pushes me harder to make me better.

i have a new supporter since this summer. we had a retired refuge manager come up as a volunteer. super nice guy. well he's also into cycling and running. so now we email each other seeing what the other one is up to and "challenging" each other. its quite fun!

and of course i have all you girls here at TE to thank for keeping me modivated though it all. thanks!

[telegirl]

BikeHubby is my biggest supporter - I joke with him that he actually carved his first bike out of a rock, before the wheel was invented. I have none of my family close by, although they do make the appropriate "we support you" sounds on the phone, even though they think mountain biking and road riding is kind of crazy. It is funny, but in my area, I find that a lot of the women are very "closed" when it comes to supporting each other- I like hanging with BikeHubby's guy friends, because they not only push me to do better, but give me a lot of support. And I feel fortunate to have stumbled onto this site! Thanks, everyone!!

[salsabike]

Everyone, from my friends to my mother to my work colleagues, has been completely positive. I can't think of any exceptions at all.

[Mimosa]

Currently it must be my coworkers who are my biggest fans.

It used to be my dad but we had/have a big disagreement and since then I no longer see my parents. My mother never understood, she thought it was dangerous and couldn't bare to see me riding during crits.

My friends try to understand but they don't really connect at the same level. Most of them never done sports at such a level and don't understand what you need to do to get there.

So I rely on you girls and one other dutch forum.

Hopefully next year I can find a team of girls to share my passion with.