How old are you? How long have you been riding?

[BarbaraAlys]

I am 47 and never learned to ride as a kid; I had a trike when I was little, but never a bicycle. I learned to ride in July of 2005, at the grand old age of 44. That was on a moutain bike, on which I quickly installed slick tires. I did my first organized ride two years ago on that bike, 37 miles on flat pedals. Death seemed preferable to finishing that last mile!

And yet I rode again!

Now I'm on my new Trek 2.1 WSD. It is beautiful!

Barbara

[northstar]

I'm 28 and just started really riding last year. Always had a bike as a kid, but fell in love with road riding last summer.

[indigoiis]

I'm 40. I grew up in a very bike friendly community, and a big family with lots of rusty old bikes to pick from. Every summer we'd lose our bikes or they'd get stolen - right out of the front yard - and at end of summer my Dad would take us down to the police station and the chief would open the garage and he'd say "find your bikes and take em." Often we would end up with bikes that weren't ours but we only had so much time to run through that garage.

As a teenager I had a Huffy Strider named "Chrome Cruncher" because she dented a chrome fender once. She never got stolen because I had a really good lock on her. She was my pride and joy.

I depended on my bike for all of my transportation. Less so in my 20's but after my daughter was born I took her everywhere with me from 8 months on. I had a big old orange cruiser - steel - with back rack and a kid seat and I could put three bags of groceries on each of the handlebars. Red Rhodie can imagine what going down Bellevue from Stop and Shop must have been like in summer with a kid and groceries. And no helmet on me.

Moved out to the sticks and didn't ride much again til last year when my husband pumped some air into a mountain bike that someone had given me. I rode because I got fat (for me) and I needed something to burn calories. Little did I know it would lead to all this!

[BluePeace2]

i'm 24, rode as a kid and now my BF is a rider and he got me going again, so i'd say just over a month

[callmecrazy]

I rode as a kid, but not when I was any older than 10 or so.
I am 23 now, and just got back on a bike again not even two weeks ago just to do some recreational/fitness riding on local trails. Since I'm already a runner and swimmer, I think I've also filled the missing link to start doing triathlons, which will hopefully fill my competitive void left after years of soccer!

[pranachick]

43 yo...same as most replies - rode as a kid, then off an on since then. Bought a new bike this past xmas (for a cycling vacation in Corsica last month). Started riding in January...totally hooked, again! will have 1700 miles in after this weekend's Albuquerque Century.

BTW - cycling trip in Corsica was AMAZING! Great views, great food (and wine), great people...350 miles with lots of climbing, which means lots of descents

[IFjane]

54 here - rode to school and back on my bike from Kindergarten through grade 6. Then rode horses through mid-30's. After that, back on an ancient road bike, then a mountain bike with my college-age son (starting in '94), then back to road bikes in 2002.....

[redrhodie]

Red Rhodie can imagine what going down Bellevue from Stop and Shop must have been like in summer with a kid and groceries. And no helmet on me.

I can imagine it only if I replace the you I know with a nuttier version of you in the lead role I always check out the bikes locked at that rack. Very interesting assortment of your old bikes, most likely. I think you can take whichever one you want, or is left, when you leave.