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