Why did you start biking?

[Brandi]

I am so glad you are all sharing it's wonderful to read what biking does for all of you! This seems to be a good post.

[fixedgeargirl]

because that's what you do when you get a bike for your 6th birthday! I've always had a bike. I grew up in a very small moutain town which is one of the birthplaces of moutain biking. Most folks there use bikes for their every day errands. It's a safe place to grow up, and kids had a lot of freedom with their time. I have specific memories of riding with a friend out to Peanut Lake, a mile out of town, when I was about 7 or 8. One of our 7th grade field trips was a 20 mile round trip dirt road ride to a lake . Our teacher was a little ambitious in planning that trip, but I was happy to be at the front of the pack on my ten-speed !

Even when I was a too-cool-for-exercise teenager making not-so-healthy lifestyle choices, I always had a bike. I was a very unhappy teen, and often took off up dirt county rodes and jeep tracks to blow off steam and get some solitude. I progressed to being a 20-something who still liked to have a good time, though more wisely , I guess. By this time I was self-righteously eco-conscious, living in a small city, and got around mostly by bike. It was around this time that I bought a mtb because that's what all the hip college students were using for commuting. Then I started trying out some of the trails around town. Then I wanted more ! I moved back to the mtb mecca, started getting serious about mtb, started dating a frame builder, and, well the rest, as they say, is history!

[Duck on Wheels]

Don't know if I've actually started. I tell myself I'm just testing the waters. 'Course, I've biked since I was in grade school. Idea was to use sabbatical year to get in better shape: bike-commute and weekend tour the area (weather permitting), walk come winter, work out at a gym. Then Trek420 put in a wish for her b'day present -- Cindy Classic 30th anniversary jersey -- and wow, what a beautiful jersey it is! So I asked if she thought I could get in shape to ride that too, and here I am trying to do it. If I finish, then maybe I'll feel I deserve a jersey for myself too. Anybody who knows me sees the irony: Me, of all people, getting serious about biking (or any other sport), and all for ... fashion?!? But, hey, any reason to get in shape has gotta be good, right?

[traveller_62]

I've loved cycling since my Dad gave me my first bike...which he picked up at the local junk yard and fixed up for me. I always loved the sense of motion and independence that riding gave me as a kid. I have terrific memories of going on long bike rides with just me and my Dad.

Cycling helps to keep me healthy and happy and it is a great way to meet the most amazing people.

[tatormc]

Hubby got into cycling when he was about 14. When we started dating he wasn't riding since he'd just graduated college and moved to Houston and was getting used to a new lifestyle of working all day. But when we got married 4 years ago he started riding again and said he wanted me to get involved. I didn't play sports growing up and wasn't involved in anything athletic. Wasn't sure if I'd like it but it's really caught on. This is now my third year of riding and I'm going to work really hard this summer and get with some groups and maybe even race next year.

[DebW]

Guess I've been biking for most of my life. In my early teen I was doing 15-20 mile rides on a single speed Schwinn. The independence and the thrill of getting to the quiet roads alone sucked me in. I'd ride past the farms and the woods and see the wildlife and experience the landscape. This was Missouri, north of St. Louis, and you'd ride the big hills until you came down that last hill and found yourself in the flat bottomland of the Missouri River. Then it was all farmland in the bottoms - now there is development there subject to flooding. Anybody who's ridden a bike through there knows where the floodplain starts and how the land should be treated. Well, at 16 I got a summer job in a bike shop. It was 1973 and there was a bike boom on. Sometimes we worked 60 hour/week and took home wheels to build in the evenings. I became the new bike expert, setting up and adjusting and test riding every new bike we sold. The shop owner was a racer who made it to the Olympic Trials in 1976. I hung out with racers and other bike freaks. Still did most of my riding alone. Then went away to college in Massachusetts. Explored the surrounding area by bike. Did bike repairs for all my friends. Made some good friends that way too. I've been doing science for 22 years now, but I still miss the bike shop and the reward of using that skill on a daily basis. My riding has ranged from weekend tours to commuting to fast recreational rides. So, guess it's not so much a question of why did I start riding, but why can't I stop.

[aka_kim]

I started cycling when I was 32, a complete couch potato and very out of shape (although really skinny) - so out of shape I couldn't last 5 minutes on an exercise bike. I'd just moved to NoCal, with a bike path about 1/4 mile away from my home, and on weekends saw everyone out riding and enjoying the weather and beautiful scenery. It looked like so much fun I thought I'd give it a try. At first, 6 mile flat rides seemed pretty darn hard, but I loved the exercise and being outdoors, and have kept riding for 13 years now and never plan to stop.

[newfsmith]

Our farm road was gravel and not very friendly to biking when I was a kid so I didn't do a lot of biking until I went to college. I had an old English 3-speed with rod activated brakes. My brother was killed in a mine accident the summer between my freshman and sophmore years. Long bike rides were a great help in coping then. When we were grad students in married student housing I used to irritate my husband by riding up the hill that he was never able to conquer. It really got to him when I passed him with a toddler in the carrier on the back. Once we moved east I pretty much stopped riding until 2000. At that time the animal hospital I had worked in for 17 years was sold to a corporation, that closed it within the year. When I found a new job only 8.5 miles from home I started bike commuting. That was what I called the "chro-moly lining" to the cloud of losing my job. After the first couple months I knew that I had to find a bike to fit my 5 foot self and got a Terry Flora. She was wonderful, but gave me the bike buying bug. I'm currently riding a Specialized HardRock for the winter, Terry Madeleine as a 3 season wet/hauling bike, and a Felt70 road bike for week-ends.

[makbike]

I started cycling approximately 25 years ago thanks to my older brother. He had been awarded a scholarship to study in France. He elected to ride his bike across the UK and then south across France to his work assignment on the Mediterranean Sea. In his journey is bike was stolen and due to shortage of funds he purchased very used and tired bike. When he returned home he sold me this bike for $12.00. I rode that piece of junk for a couple of years until my brother found me a gently used Univega tourning bike (I'm still riding this bike today!). I purchased this bike and continued to cycle to help relieve the stresses caused my college chemistry classes. I often commuted to campus on my bike, panniers packed with books, clothes, etc so I would not have to hassle with the parking nightmares that existed on campus. I also rode to keep in shape for at the time I was an avid raquetball player. Once I graduated from my masters program the bike was put away for my new teaching job quickly became my top priority. Two years ago I decided it was time to make time for me, to pull the bike out and get my a** back on the road. Shortly after making this decision I met my BF, he is the service manage for a LBS, and I become even more determined to ride and get myself in shape. Last year I logged over 4,000 miles, completed two centuries and found myself in the best shape I've been in since my college days. I purchased a trainer this year so I could ride during the cold, snowy months and hopefully maintain some of my fitness. I'm looking forward to the return of spring, warm weather and being outside exploring the beautiful countryside and relaxing on my bike.

[Nanci]

I rode all the time when I was a kid. Bought mountain bikes when I was married, but just rode on paved trails, hardly at all. Got divorced, moved to Florida in 1998 to be where I could cave dive every day. Was doing the kind of dives that require excellent cardiovascular conditioning in order to be able to decompress safely/efficiently, as well as needing to be in shape to walk around with 130# of gear on my back. All my diving friends were MTBing, so I bought a $1200 Mongoose on sale and learned how. Fell in love. Took two week-long vacations to North Carolina every year to MTB. Lots of good trails in Florida, too. Built up a trail system at a new park. Did a couple 50-mile off-road events. Started trail running. MTBing fell off to a day a week. Found out I liked the "long stuff" the most. Did one road marathon, a few trail marathons, a 50k. Switched job positions, didn't get off at 1PM, didn't have time to train for the 50 mile race I really wanted to do, got diagnosed with exertional compartment syndrome which was why it always hurt for the first 45 minutes I ran, signed up for surgery, doc had a heart attack, by the time he was back to work, I'd chickened out. Rode BF's GT MTB with road tires for 37 miles of a Century a year ago October, just to have something to do while he was doing the Century. Had to walk the hills. Had a blast. Resolved to be able to do a Century the next year, 2005. All winter, ran a teeny bit, barely rode, did a mini tri in April, my first one, then Wickham Park marathon Memorial Day weekend (Google it- you won't believe it!) rode the GT a little bit in the summer, got pneumonia in July, found out I almost had diabetes, decided to actually really lose weight, (although I'd _hardly_ been what you'd call inactive the previous many years!) rode the heck out of the GT, soon 50-60 miles was easy, really wanted a road bike, bought my Trek 2100 WSD on eBay the last week of August, when I was on vacation, rode her every day, traveled all over FL with her, riding paved trails, did a sprint tri Labor Day weekend, Three Gap 50 in September up in the Georgia mountains, my first Century here in Gainesville in October, the Horrible Hundred with _no_ walking in November, thought I'd try a 200k brevet in January because I couldn't find a Century, then the 300 in February, survived, and am now training for the 400k in March. I love doing Centuries as training rides! What a feeling of, I don't know, unreality, that what was a year ago an unknown, feared distance is now a comfortable friend. Who knows where it will go from here? My MTB friends all hate me, BTW, for switching to road biking...

Nanci

[LauraPaura]

I also started riding after i quit smoking almost two yaers ago. Tried just walking at first (nordic walking, if you know?, with poles..) but it wasn't enough for me. In the summertime I generally do/did about 3 times a week a 20-30 km ride on roads. Now in the wintertime (temp at noon -13 degrees celsius) I just do spinning+body pump about six times a week. Feel great, look great and am happy to eat whatever I feel like eating
Can't wait for summer to come, got my new shimano pedals waiting for me It's been good practising with the cleats with spinning bikes first though. Still a bit anxious about that first fall you promised...

[alpinerabbit]

Bikes are much more an everyday means of transportation over here than in the US. I have always had a bike for going to school, college; only my boyfriend really got into it as a means of exercise and I got sucked in after a while.

What can a girl do, eh?

[betagirl]

Ok I gotta give the ex-boyfriend props here About 10 years ago I dated a guy who was into mountain biking, so I tried that out. I figured out pretty quickly that that wasn't what I liked as much as road biking, so I switched out the tires on my mountain bike and rode that 4-5 times a week. I never was really serious about it, did it more for the exercise and the fun of it. Then I moved out to the suburbs, which afforded a bit more rural roads to ride on. I think what made me go uber crazy about cycling was my crohn's diagnosis. It became something that tied me to my "healthier" days. And lets face it, cycling is a great metaphor for independence which I was determined to not lose to any illness. Secondary things from it are being in great shape, feeling good both mentally and physically, and the enjoyment I get from watching people's mouths drop open when I tell them I rode 160 miles across Indiana in a day.

So that's why I ride. Oh and for the GREAT tan lines and en vogue clothing of course.

[Lise]

Oh and for the GREAT tan lines and en vogue clothing of course.

Hey, yeah, can't believe nobody's mentioned the fabulous tan lines yet! What a bizarre look. Yet, you can't fake it...well, I guess you could, but WHY?! Tan from ankle to mid thigh. Not to mention legs all banged up from tripping on broken sidewalk while running, and skidding across the gym floor on my knees in volleyball...this look says "I'm a 45 year old professional!" professional goofball, maybe! L.

[DirtDiva]

Got my first two-wheeler on my fourth birthday and haven't been without one since. (Well, there have been the odd few months when I've been in a different town/city/country from my bike.) I've always used a bike to get around on - it was agony not having one when I first came to London - and I'd bike-commute in a heartbeat if I had a regular place of work (I'm a relief/supply/substitute teacher). Folks here put me to shame in the serious cyclist stakes, but in the last couple of years I've been having plenty of fun taking my bike out to play in the dirt at the weekends.