Cycling and your relationship.

[Kristi]

I'm just getting into riding a road bike.
My boyfriend is into downhill mountain biking. It's everything to him. He gets up in the morning and goes to work, so he can ride later. He races and rides all the time.
I'm not into this riding and know I will never be. I bought a mountain bike hoping we could bond and have something in common. But I'm more into XC mountain biking, he'll do it but just as a favor to me. It's not his love.
I recently put road bike tires on my mountain bike, and have been getting much more use out of it (alone).
I finally decided to buy myself a real road bike (the Cannondale Optimo Feminine 2 - it should be here this week). I'm basically taking my riding into my own hands. I hope to meet people in the area (don't know a lot of people here yet) and ride for me, not for him.
He's very supportive and thinks it's great that I'm getting into it. He's actually considering buying a road bike to help him get into shape for his races. I think it's actually helping that I've decided to go it on my own.
I can't wait to get going. And I think he feel my attitude and energy. It's great!! And he's so supportive. I think if (when) I start racing he'll be super supportive and cheering me on.

[crazycanuck]

This is the Kiwi & Canuck story. I'll try and keep this short..

Ian & I didn't own a bike prior to 2003 and spent most of our rec time at the gym or (me) walking to work. I went to Canada in 04 to visit family, didn't have a job when i returned(was an ESL teacher but the NZ market went droopy ) and for some reason badgered Ian into buying me a bike. (Crap bike I might add..) He wanted one & that started our MTN biking, road riding life.

Cheap bikes were stolen, bought new mtn bikes ('which were a bit big but didn't know much back then) and this is where we found how much better it is to be a mtn biker rather than roadie in Auckland. We both looked forward to visiting Ian's parents as we could mtn bike We began to see how much weight was flying away with the biking we were doing. He's always been faster than me but I didn't care & just rode..

Ian's very supportive of my biking and whenever I whinge about how unfit i feel, he just shows me the pics of how we looked before we bought bikes..That works for me.. He wonders how I can whinge when i do 200km+ on my bike/week, plus swim 2x's/week plus pilates etc..

Since we've been in Perth we've found a good gang of MTN biking friends. (I'm the tortoise of the group & normally head my own direction when the others go zooooommm.. ) I'm getting faster on my road bike, a bit better on my mtn bike and fitter in general. Ian now has a nice muscular behind for me to pinch.. When we road bike home together he enjoys pinching mine...

Neither of us complain about the $$$$$ we've spent on our bikes, gear etc as we're just having a ton of fun.

C

[lyca]

Wow, I really love this thread! It's so great to read so many wonderful stories!

Here's mine:

My BF bought a road bike last year after we had been dating for a few months. He fell in love with it right away and I would hear his stories about 20 and 30 miles rides, how he liked his shoes and pedals, and how he loved being out on his bike. He would often try to figure out how he could get a ride in and see me on the same day while continuing to practice (we're both musicians) and get other stuff done.

Fast forward to this May. I decided after doing a bunch of research, independently of him, that I wanted to buy a road bike. He was (and still is) very supportive of me and taught me how to shift, how to ride clipless, how to climb more efficiently, etc. It has hands down been the most positive thing in our relationship because we spend so much more time together now planning rides and talking about bike stuff. I have no idea what the future holds for us, but I know he'll always be the one that got me into cycling!