Yrs. on bike & what keeps you there

[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

[sundial]

I am 42 and hooked on cycling.

I have been pretty active most of my life until my knee injury started to slow me down. I had to quit doing step aerobics and turned to weight lifting and power walking, but even the walking was too hard on my joints. So in '96 I bought my first *real* bike--a Terry Symmetry. However, by the 3rd season I was sidelined due to knee pain and gave up cycling for 5 years. I bought another bike, one that truly fit me, and I have not been sidelined with knee pain since. I enjoy the freedom, the sense of well being, and the feeling of empowerment.

[Bad JuJu]

I'll play.

Years cycling: Off and on since 1985, regularly since 2002
Age: 55
What keeps me on the bike is that it's one of few exercises that I truly enjoy (other than yoga, but that's a different kind of thing). As someone else said, I can either challenge myself or just twiddle along and smell the flowers if I want to, or any combination of the two. Whereas running, well, I did it for several years but I never fell in love with it like I have with cycling. Also, I've done a couple of multi-day bike tours, and those were wonderful. The Chief is not a cyclist, which is too bad; on the other hand, we're not looking to be conjoined twins, and cycling provides some quality "me" time.

My weight has been all over the place for years, and it's still not under control. BUT, for an overweight middle-aged woman, I'm in pretty good health--my resting heart rate rocks! In fact, I started a weight-training program just this morning, and the trainer asked me if I'd made an error when I recorded my resting heart rate! That made me feel pretty good--and I have cycling to thank for it.

[Popoki_Nui]

Got my first tricycle at age four, my first bike at five. Rode steadily from then all through high school, even racing at the high school level. In my twenties (~1980) the I sorta went off the rails...partied far more than I should have and made toxic living an art form...sprung a few leaks...then pulled myself together and got a career. Climbed a few rungs of the corporate ladded and perched there awhile, decided it wasn't for me, retired in 1999, and took up cycling again. I had barely touched my bikes for nearly two decades. Just didn't have the time or enthusiasm (or sometimes, the ability) to ride.
After ~20 years of very little riding, getting back on the bike was tough! But the passion was back. It felt so darn good to ride! It still does.
I lost almost 50 pounds when I began riding again, My weight has also always been all over the place, but I've kept much of those 50# off. Except around my tummy. Grrr. Weight loss, plus overall fitness is what keeps me on my bikes. And the passion....the sheer enjoyment of just being out there.