I remeber when I first started riding.....

[Brandi]

That that one hill was going to kill me! Now it is like nothing! I also remember My dh saying bike shorts were lame! Now he can't live without them. (and I like how he looks in them, nice legs and B*tt).
Oh I used to be scared to go down hill faster then 10 mph. Now I get mad when the wind holds me back! Love to feel the speed now.

[redrhodie]

I think back to the days when I'd go back and forth on the bike path, and be so exhausted when I got home, my legs all rubbery feeling. It was 8 miles! There was a little false flat that would just kill me! Of course, I was on an '80s MTB, but still.

Isn't great to have come so far!

[jobob]

Oh gosh, I've done an about-face on so many things since I started riding about 5 years ago!

When I first started out, I insisted
- I'd never wear lycra bike shorts
- I'd never get clipless pedals

Along the way, I maintained
- I wasn't the least bit interested in mountain biking

Until recently, it was my long-held belief that
- I'd never attempt a ride with "agony" or "heartbreak" or "death" in the title

And until a very short time ago I wouldn't even dream of
- owning a bike with a custom Ti frame & a carbon fork

[Veronica]

And until a very short time ago I wouldn't even dream of
- owning a bike with a custom Ti frame & a carbon fork

This is new. Details please.

Veronica

[jobob]

A Lynskey houseblend custom, aka my Midlife Crisis bike. I'll start a new thread on it, eventually.

(Ed to clarify: I just put the deposit down on it. And so the wait begins. tap tap tap ....)

[Aggie_Ama]

A Lynskey houseblend custom, aka my Midlife Crisis bike. I'll start a new thread on it, eventually.

Can I have a midlife crisis? I am turning 28 next month according to my co-worker getting close to 30 is highly stressful. Really I think not but any excuse for a Lynskey. I already have my paint scheme dreamt up, just a way to weak bank account. I am glad you finally let that out!!

[Aggie_Ama]

When I first started riding I went about 5 miles and felt like a rockstar. I knew I would do more but not how much. I rode in gym shorts and tennis shoes. I knew nothing about how to dress or why. Back in summer 2004 I never imagined having a fancy carbon thingy bike, more shorts than I have blue jeans, a mountain bike, riding in the cold or riding 100 miles in a day. I just looked getting around the town we lived in as something cool.

[indysteel]

When I first started riding in June of 2006, I didn't think I wanted a road bike. By July of that same year, I had a road bike. And I just paid a deposit on my own mid-life crisis custom Ti road bike with carbon fork (Jobob, it must be going around)!

I just remember being so scared and intimidated by everything. Where could I ride? Clipless pedals work how? How steep is that hill? You want me to ride how many miles? I still get a little freaked out by climbing and descending, but I've gained a lot more confidence in that department. The rest of it just seems like second nature.

I still haven't done a ride with the words agony, death or heartbreak in their title, but here's hoping! I also haven't embraced mountain biking yet.

[jobob]

And I just paid a deposit on my own mid-life crisis custom Ti road bike with carbon fork (Jobob, it must be going around)!

Well, I'm inclined to say you're at least 5 to 10 years too young for a midlife crises, but for you, I'll let it slide. You have such excellent taste in wheels, after all.

Can I have a midlife crisis? I am turning 28 next month

NO

[Aggie_Ama]

NO

True, I want to live to be really old, therefore 28 is not midlife. And I think my co-worker is a bit nuts for freaking out about turning 25. I just want a Lynskey. Maybe just reckless youthful spending? DH says I can have one someday, so when is somday again?

[jobob]

To get this thread a bit back on track - sorry, my bad!

There's a short yet pretty steep hill near where I live. It took me weeks -- weeks, I tell ya! -- of attempts before I finally reached what I thought was the top. But once I reached the top, much to my dismay, I realized there was still more to it. auuugh!

I named that stinker "nemesis".

Nowadays I have no trouble at all climbing it, and I even do repeats of it when the mood strikes. Pity the poor squirrel that gets in my way heading down it.

[Crankin]

My first real "ride." My husband had bought me shorts and a jersey secretly and set up the old Voodoo for me. I had ridden on and off since college, probably never more than 10 miles. We went out of our old development, down Old Harvard Rd into the town of Harvard. Steve said we should turn around because there was a big hill coming up. What I didn't realize was we had to go back up Old Harvard Rd. It's a small hill, with 2 parts. I thought I was in shape, but my husband ended up having to push me up the hill with the back of his hand. I was humbled... this was on a mountain bike with super low gears. A total of 5.6 miles!
My next ride was up a really big hill, which I made about 3/4 of the way up. I was really proud of myself.

[indysteel]

Well, I'm inclined to say you're at least 5 to 10 years too young for a midlife crises, but for you, I'll let it slide. You have such excellent taste in wheels, after all.



NO

Ha! I have your taste in wheels, courtesy of SK. What is considered midlife anymore? I received a mailer from More magazine the other day. More is for women over 40. I stared blankly at it for a minute before I remembered that I turn 40 this year! I feel better now than I did at 30, but yowza, time sure does fly!

[Miranda]

Hmmm, the memories...

My first ride was a lovely steele bubble gum pink tricycle complete with metal spoke wheels. It had a white handle bar basket with daisy flowers. My beloved Tom cat named Jumbo faithfully rode in the basket.

My first two-wheeler ride was appropriately named "Bucky" (because I told my mother the bike wanted to buck me off like a wild horse). I learned to ride Bucky without the training wheels as a result of the Wizard of Oz movie. I must have had this fear of water melting me like the Wicked Witch of the West. As I entered a yard sprinkler's stream of water overflowing onto the sidewalk, I pedal on two wheels unassisted like the wind.

After a 20 year bike break, I bought my rode girl I have now. Which I thought I would fall off and kill myself trying to keep my balance on the skinny tires to the end of neighborhood street. But, with the fear of a sprinkler head getting me, I remembered how to pedal like the wind once again.

As for the rest... nothing stands out stronger than the memorable feeling of freedom that riding brings to the soul.

[maillotpois]

I can't wait to see the new bikes....

I pretty much started off riding with a bang, so I haven't changed that much. I will say I am a smarter rider than I was when I started. You learn so much with experience. My first Death Ride, in my second year of riding, was pretty pathetic.