Yrs. on bike & what keeps you there

[shootingstar]

Ok, I belong to another women's forum..non-cycling. These women are aware that I cycle. A health conscious woman asked me today the benefits of cycling...which any experienced cyclist can rhyme off and point out Internet websites. I did both.

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...)

[makbike]

I did a lot of cycling while in college (84-89). It was a wonderful way to release tension associated with my course work. It also was a great way to avoid the parking hassles that existed on campus. Whenever the weather permitted I would make a 20-25 mile commute (one way) from home to campus. Sadly, upon completing my graduate degree and taking a full-time job my bike was put into storage and sat for nearly 15 years. Four years ago I pulled my bike out, dusted it off, had it serviced and returned to the wonderful world of cycling. With each passing year I have grown more passionate about my riding and I have learned I'm capable of a lot more then I gave myself credit for. I just turned 46 and I now am back to what I weighed when I graduated from high school in 1980 (120 lbs). I did not pull my bike out to work off weight simply to revisit something I loved many years ago. However, since returning to cycling I have dropped 20 pounds (the past two years) and my body is looking pretty darn good .

I ride because I love it. Riding gives me a sense of freedom I've never experienced with any other activity I have tried. The stronger I become on my bike the more I want to ride. I guess some would call this an obession. I view it as a healthy way to work of stress, stay healthy and spend a lot of my free time with some great people. I ride because it is fun and it allows me to eat some of my favorite foods (in moderation).

[OakLeaf]

Mmmmm, I'll go, but feel free to NOT share this if my history is too off-putting!

I'm 48. I rode for recreation and transportation from childhood through age 33.

When I was 27, a friend of mine got me interested in racing. I spent a few years doing that, and I got as fast as I was going to get and still be any good at anything else in my life. I knew that I'd never be Olympic or pro caliber even if I did give up the rest of my life. That's when I burned out really hard. It just wasn't fun any more. I didn't get on a bicycle again for 10 years.

When DH and I got our winter home, within a short ride of many stores, businesses and restaurants, we got hybrid bikes to run around town. I thought I'd forgotten how to ride, I was that unsteady on mine. Two years later, which is two years ago, I signed up for a Women's Quest retreat, not knowing which sport they were going to emphasize at that particular session, and I was pretty apprehensive when I learned there would be a lot of cycling.

I needn't have been. In those three days I re-discovered everything I loved about cycling. I'd finally been away from it long enough to enjoy it again. And I'm back.

What do I love about it?

The naked, knife-edge exhilaration of a fast descent.

Cresting a long hill, physically depleted, and being awestruck by an amazing panorama for miles around.

Experiencing my surroundings at that unique pace: slow enough to see and hear a lot that I might miss on a motorcycle, fast enough to cover more miles and see more places than I'd be able to walk or run. Smelling the smells (flowers, pine, cedar, ocean, loam, and yes the less pleasant smells too), feeling the sun and wind on my skin.

Feeling the rain on my skin, and realizing that a warm rain actually feels really good once I quit worrying about the cleaning I'm going to have to do afterward.

Finding in myself the resources to meet a challenge.

Having a machine that lets me go out and not challenge myself when I don't feel like it, unlike running where I always have to dig deep.

Sharing camaraderie with other riders... or being really alone with myself.

Cycling is all of that and more.

[kelownagirl]

How long: 2 years regularly cycling
Age: 47
Why: I am competitive against myself. The numbers are what motivates me to go harder and longer and faster. I now want to race. (Oh and of course I love being outdoors and flying down a hill etc etc etc).
Weight loss: 22 lbs so far. And I've kept it off.

[Wahine]

Experiencing my surroundings at that unique pace: slow enough to see and hear a lot that I might miss on a motorcycle, fast enough to cover more miles and see more places than I'd be able to walk or run. Smelling the smells (flowers, pine, cedar, ocean, loam, and yes the less pleasant smells too), feeling the sun and wind on my skin.

Having a machine that lets me go out and not challenge myself when I don't feel like it, unlike running where I always have to dig deep.

These 2 points summarize it for me.

I'll add that I've been cycling semi-seriously for about 15 years. I started because my BF (now DH) rode a mtn bike and commuted to work so I started. then I injured my hip running and cycling became my alternative after healing a bit. Then I got hooked on triathlon and have been riding hard since.

The other thing I love about cycling is the way it makes my legs look and the strength it gives me to be abel to do other things, including running, without injury.

It's freedom.

[7rider]

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!

[Crankin]

I'm 54 and I started cycling in the fall of 2000. I rode a lot when I was a kid, up until age 14 or so (wish I still had my classic Raleigh with the generator light and a Brooks saddle). Before I started riding I was heavily involved in aerobics and other gym stuff.
When I started cycling, I lost the last 5 lbs. of the 10 I had been trying to lose. I was very skinny when I was doing aerobics, but I got sick of it and had gained a bit in my late forties.
I ride because I can be competitive, social, or just be relaxed while I am riding. I am competitive against myself only; I was the kid who got picked last in gym class. I have new friends because of cycling, some of them from this list! Best of all, I have a whole new lifestyle, based on being outside. Not only am I cycling, but I am hiking, walking, nordic skiing, and snow shoeing. Yes, I still belong to a gym because I go to yoga, spin class, and use the weights, but I have developed quite a home gym, with weights, balls, and my bike on the trainer for the winter. Maybe next year I might join a place just to do yoga.
I weigh the same as I did when I graduated high school.

[LadyinWhite]

How long: 2 years regularly cycling

Age: I'll be 43 in two weeks

Why: I'm not sure - it's one activity that I genuinely enjoy. 99% of the time I ride alone and just love the feeling of having time stretching out in front of me, no one looking for me or even knowing exactly where I am and being able to go where ever the spirit moves me. I love a hot summer day, the sun on my back, riding along the ocean. I love feeling fit!

Weight loss: I've gone from 211 to 165 and I'm holding my own there. I could lose more but I just love to eat & drink!

In short, I think I just really like knowing that there is something in my life to help me maintain health and fitness going forward - no matter how old I get, I should still be able to ride the bike to some extent!

[silver]

Cycling 2.5 years

Age: 42, 43 next month

Why and weight lost: At age 36, I moved off the couch and became active. I did this to fight back against depression and lack of fitness. I started with weight lifting and running. I ran 7 marathons. I lost 40 pounds and went from size 14 to size 2. The running was too hard on my feet. I developed a stress fracture in the left foot, healed that up, went back to running marathons, developed an avulsion fracture in the right foot, needed surgery. At this point, I bought a bike.

Wow, I was so excited to move again. Cycling didn't hurt my feet. I could go farther, faster. A whole new world was opened up to me. I cycled almost the entire time that I was rehabilitating the foot.

When I was able to run again I moved into Triathlon. Doing triathlon gives me the chance to run a little bit, bike alot and challange myself to learn to swim.

[Tuckervill]

I'm 46. I've been cycling regularly for the last 4 years. But, I learned to ride when I was 4 (it was a birthday present for my mother--4 yos think like that). I rode everywhere a lot when I was a child and would rather ride my bike than do anything else that little girls like to do. Through my teen years I rode a bike everywhere I went, until I got a license, and then got a car in my senior year. I still rode for recreation, though.

I had a bike up until my first child was born at age 20. I took him on a ride in my backpack when he was just 3 months old. (It was a risk, I know that now, but I was young, stupid, and desperate to ride--and he grew up in spite of me.) That was the last time I rode or owned a bike for 20+ years. Life took over and I began raising children, working, divorcing, remarrying, paying the bills, moving, etc. I don't remember what happened to the bike I had when I was 20, but I do remember buying new brakes for it that summer and fixing it up so I could ride.

I got back into it about 2004 because my youngest child was big enough to ride with me, and the guy I bought this house from sold me his RV bikes while he was moving ($50 each, Wal-Mart bikes, his and hers). My youngest and I started riding them, and the next summer we bought mountain bikes.

The next spring I bought a road bike, which is the kind of bike I always had in my teens. (They were always getting stolen, but replacements seemed easy to come by.) Now I have two old steel bikes, a 1985 Schwinn cruiser, the mountain bike, and my modern road bike, a garage full of tools and parts and etc., etc.

What I would say to anyone new is to try to put the fear aside. We do many things every day more dangerous without really thinking about it. Go at your own pace, keep an open mind, and consider it an adventure.

Karen

[lph]

Hmm - my major passion has always been rock climbing and mountain hiking. Biking has been one of the ways to keep reasonably fit to be able to go hiking, but I used to find aerobics classes much more fun. Mostly I'd just bike if it was the most convenient way to get around and the weather was nice. For the past 8 years or so I've commuted regularly by bike, a few days a week to begin with, for the past 3 years all year round.

A year and a half ago my brother died very suddenly from a heart attack. Going through the grieving process I rapidly found out that the days I didn't bike I felt terrible, the days I did bike were passable, even a lot better. And it took away the feeling that I'd be next. So I started biking as medication, every day no matter what. Whomping through the woods at high speed is a great form of "grief management"

Once I got used to biking every day it got hard to stop. I'm probably heavily addicted to the endorphins. I love the speed. I'm also addicted to doing something I feel I'm good at. All that commuting has turned me into a "real biker" without my really noticing... So I've been upping my mileage, bought a road bike last summer and am trying road riding proper this year.

I'm 38. Biking a lot has maybe taken off a few pounds. I have trouble eating enough in high-mileage weeks.

[Melalvai]

I've been commuting by bike for 2.5 years.

I'm 33.

What put my on the bike was convenience. We were down to one car, could hardly afford to keep it going much less get a 2nd, and it was much easier on everyone if I biked.

What keeps me on my bike is 1. the fun and 2. the ego trip. There are many, many other reasons I ride, but those are the main ones, without which the others wouldn't matter.

I lost 30 pounds, which mostly stays off, it seems to creep back during the winter when I only ride as transportation, but I lose it in the summer when I ride for recreation as well.

I enjoy this thread. Thanks for starting it, and thanks everyone for sharing.

[tulip]

I have been riding for 33 years, with a few years of not riding much in my 20s. I'm 40.

I rode bikes as a kid to get around independently, so say, starting when I was 7. I continued, racing BMX when I was 11-13. I got my first road bike when I was 15 and toured through France for a month with a group of kids my age.

I continued to ride, and began racing in college both road and MTB. This was in the 80s, so the MBT scene was still new on the east coast. After college I continued to ride recreationally for a few years. There were a few years that I hardly rode at all, though. Then in grad school I took it up again for transportation.

I moved to DC and started commuting to work in 2002. Riding has kept weight off, as has pilates.

I ride because I can. I ride because it's fun. I ride because I hate driving in traffic, and I hate waiting for the bus. I love the pace of a bicycle. I love touring and seeing things that you don't notice from a car. It's made my life so much richer than if I were to simply drive to a gym.

It's kept me happy, too. It's freedom.

[RoadRaven]

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?

Q1.
I cycled as a teenager, and then not again til I was 39.
I have been cycling for three years and three months.

Q2.
I am now 42 1/2 years

Q3.
I like feeling fitter (I have never been physically fit in my life - I was the kid who wrote herself notes and forged parents signatures to get out of physical education at school).
Its a family thing - we all do it to some degree
My partner is passionate about it and I am grateful I became interested - it is good to have another thing to share
I have found out I am competitive and I love racing - albeit at club level only
I am addicted

Q4.
In 2004 I was 113-115kgs
In 2005 I lost no weight but dropped two dress sizes over the year
In 2006 and 2007 I lost a few kgs steadily
By Jan1 2008 I weighed 99kgs.
I hope to keep losing weight slow and steady and be down to about 90 kgs by the end of the year.

Good luck with whoever reads this thread. Weight loss is a slow process, and remember as you get fitter you build muscle and although you are losing fat, the increased muscle weighs more than what you lose. So initially you may not notice a difference on scales - see what happened to me in 2005.

Be patient and kind to yourself and celebrate all successes.

[spokewench]

I started riding in either 1986 or 1987 (I'm getting so old I can't remember any more).

I am now 47 years old will turn 48 in mid year, so I have been riding over 20 years. I do not ride as much as I used to, but I still ride quite a bit. I used to race a lot, both mountain and rode racing, some 24 hour racing and cyclocross thrown in there for good measure.

Now I just ride for fun - not that racing wasn't fun, but it was also a lot of work too and kept me from doing other things in life - so now that I am older, I like to balance my life a little better; so I ride, play tennis, work, hike, camp, take trips with my hubby on the motorcycle, hang out more. So, what keeps me riding is a lot of things. The fact that it helps me stay healthy and fit, along with eating well. The fact that is really a fun activity, outdoors in the sun which is where I really like to be. It enables me to see and visit places in a different way - you really get to see the trail and cover some miles if you are mountain biking, you really get to see the scenery and enjoy the culture of where you are riding through. The cameraderie with others who ride and have similar life styles is also great too.

Have I lost weight - well no - I was not really overweight when I started riding over 20 years ago. I was 27 and weighed 110-115 pounds. So, unlike many here, I have gained weight. I now weigh around 120-125 pounds. I actually raced better at 115-120 pounds than I ever did at 110. There was just not as much muscle at 110. I wouldn't mind losing a few pounds, can't ever get below that 120 mark it seems any more, but I'm happy with my fitness, my eating habits and my body so I guess a couple of pounds really isn't all that important.

Spoke