How long have you been riding

[CR400]

My first bike was a silver Schwin that I got when I was 5, I think, may have been 6. I had to learn to ride the hardway,meaning I didn't get any training wheels for it . I loved it bannana seat and all. Still have it somewhere but it can no longer be rode. The weld that held the frame together broke. Must have been all that BMX stuff we did on it . Then I went through about 3 different bikes through school. Stopped riding shortly after high school after my last bike wore out, didn't have money then to buy new parts.
Then a year and a half ago I went out and bought my yellow and black Cannondale and have been riding since, I kind of regret letting those 7 years pass without a bike. But that was the first opportunity I had to buy a road bike and wouldn't settle for less then a race bike.

[CorsairMac]

My first memory of riding is from about 5-6 yr of age. My family and relatives are standing in a huge circle in our backyard and encouraging me to ride around and around. Not a clue about the bike but as a second child in a middle class family, I'm sure it was a hand-me-down. My first real bike with gears was my dads old Raleigh that he rode in college. We tore it down, repainted it and built it back up. Unfortunately, it got lost during the course of a divorce and several moves. My 2nd husband took up biking in the mid 90s and I took it up again as a sport we could share. (he was a DH about riding with me - probably yet another reason he's an ex). After my second divorce I moved out to Phx and tried bike commuting to work but was taken out in a mighty way by some nasty train tracks so the bike got put away again. In Aug of 2004 our office moved right next to one of the main bike paths here in Abq and I took up biking again and have been riding since! One of my goals is to actually have a brand new road bike for the first time in my life, but til then, I'm still riding hand-me-downs - which we now call "vintage" and I still love it!!!

[Popoki_Nui]

I remember my love affair with riding began with a little red-and-white tricycle at about age 4. Then my first two-wheeler was a neat candy-apple red CCM single speed at age 5. I remember my grandmother helping me learn to ride it in Riley Park in Calgary. I was hooked!! My next bike was also a red CCM single speed which I rode until I was 12, when my parents bought me my first good multi-speed bike. It was British-made Falcon. I was thrilled! Ten speeds...woo-hooo! Real derailleurs! Campagnolo at that! Reynolds 531 frame, Weinmann brakes....a real European road bike (entry level for sure, but how exotic it was to me)! How I cherished that bike! I rode it absolutely everywhere and eventually outgrew it. I gave it to my little sister when my parents bought me the exact same bike in a larger size. I explored on it, I rode to school on it, I even raced it in High School. I still have very, very fond memories of those Falcons. Unfortunately, my second Falcon was stolen; I was so hooked on cycling that I went out and bought my beloved Gitane Tour De France in 1977 (and I still ride it today almost 30 years later.) I learned how to tune and maintain bikes, and soon I was doing my own upgrades and overhauls. In the mid-80's, I was bitten my the mountain bike bug, and I bought a Bianchi MTB. My poor Gitane hung in the garage for years as I discovered the joys of not eating exhaust and battling heavy traffic, and the sweet pleasure of riding in the rainforest and on the beaches around here. A whole different world! Fifteen years of corporate life followed those heady days; I put on too much weight, took on too much stress, and barely rode at all. In the late 90's I bailed from the corporate world into semi-retirement and got back on my bikes. But surgery for PCO, and metabolism problems happened. Lord...how those first couple of years back on the bikes HURT! But it was a good kind of pain, and I've never looked back. Today, I love to find vintage bikes and restore them, partly for the joy of bringing a faded rose back to life, and partly for the sheer pleasure of riding the classic bikes of my youth. I still battle weight and metabolism problems, but I ride now as much or more now than I did 30 years ago. I am a cyclist, I will always be a cyclist.
Happy and safe riding to you all!
~Sherry.

[bcipam]

Popoki nui -

this is off topic but your avator reminds me of what happened this morning. Before I left for work I looked for my cat. It is his habit each morning to see me off. He didnt come when called. I looked around and finally under the bed. First thing I notice is that the mattress lining was torn and hanging down. Darn, I thought, the cat ripped up the lining. I then noticed the lining had some "weight". I touch the budge hanging down and realized it was Sir Cat himself. He ripped a hole in the lining, crawled in and made himself a nice, warm little hammock to hang out in. Got to admit I was alittle jealous. I much rather had stayed home and hang out in a toasty comfortable little hammock as well. I can just imagine him kicking back, paws up just like your little avatar!

[Lifesgreat]

I have been riding since I was 5, so 37 years.

[matagi]

Unlike the rest of you, I didn't have a bike as a child so I only started riding at the age of 47, that's about 10 weeks ago.

[uforgot]

I had a huge tricycle. The rule at our house was...two bikes. A tricycle and a "two-wheeler" only when you were 12. No in-between bikes for us. Rules were rules. Well, when I was about 10, I decided I'd had enough. If I couldn't have a real bike, I would ride the tricycle on two wheels. We have videos. The neighbors must have thought I was very strange indeed. I'd get my tricycle out, lean over on two wheels, and I could make turns, ride everywhere with that third wheel in the air. It didn't come down until I was through riding. Obviously I had good balance, and I believe I got my big bike early. Christmas when I was 11, so I rode that tricycle on two wheels for a long time. Once I figured out how to do that, there was no turning back. Made me feel a little more like the other kids. My "big" bike was a Sears and Roebuck blue step-through that I rode until I was in my 20s. I sold it and have been kicking myself ever since. That bike never spent the night outside and looked almost new the entire time I had it!

[maillotpois]

Nice thread! I love reading about the banana seats, etc.

I had a bike, but didn't ride much as a kid because I grew up on a farm and mostly rode horses. Plus, we just had dirt roads and mountain bikes had not been invented yet.... So I mostly rode at my grandparent's house in "town".

After doing a few marathons with Team in Training, I decided to give cycling a go in 2001, and convinced my DH to do a century with me (Tahoe). I ended up doing 4 centuries that year and the Death Ride the next year. I have raced in several crits and road races, and hope to do my fourth double century this weekend. I guess I am hooked?

[allabouteva]

You ladies are such an inspiration to me.

My non cycling friends don't believe that you can even cycle 100km let alone 100 miles! So stories like your's Maillotpois, and Nanci who recently did 400km.

I'm not worthy....

[Lise]

I cherish the feeling of riding my bike in the fresh early summer mornings, before it got hot, riding to swimming lessons at the public pool. The cool air on my body, my strong legs working, the ca-chunk, ca-chunk of the cracks in the sidewalk under my tires. I can still smell and see those mornings.

I was a fat kid, and life at home was even harder than life at school. Riding the bike was freedom and joy. I still feel that way.

I got my first two-wheeler when I was 7, that blue Schwinn that many of us in the US had. I developed an aversion to banana-seat boys' bikes after riding one straight into a tree later that year! YIKES! It is wonderful to read these stories. Happy memories.

[Susan126]

Geeish, it was so long ago, my first bike ride. I must have been seven (45 years ago, before training wheels?) My neighbor, Bonnie (who was 3 years older) decided it was time for me to learn how to ride a bike. So, she told me she would hold onto me and run along side of me while I pedaled on her bike. And to get some nice speed going (she explained speed helped keep you up right) we would start off by going down our blocks hill. At seven I was all for it! So off we went. Me pedaling, Bonnie running along side of me, then we reach the hill and she let go and off I went. I was riding! I was going fast! It felt great! Look at me! Oh no . . . she never told me how to turn or stop! At the bottom of the hill there was a two foot high cement wall. On the other side of the wall was a path that led down to a park. Well, she never explained the brakes to me so at full force I slammed into the wall. The bike and me went over the wall. Bonnie came running down. She thought I was dead and that she would be in trouble. But when she found me I was grinning and said, "That was fun, I want to do it again!" And I never looked back! Some day I'm going to have to find Bonnie and thank her for my first bike lesson!

[Tater]

I too had gotten my first bike around the age of five or six. I don't remember the color or anything, because it didn't last long and was soon replaced. The bike that replaced it had a red banana seat, a basket in front and a orange saftey flag on the back. I rode that thing everywhere, until I grew out of it and acquired a vintage Raleigh three-speed. Rode that one through high school, then quit riding for awhile. I rediscovered my love for two wheeled locomotion while in the Navy. Where I was stationed wasn't too kind on road bikes, so I got a Raleigh mtb and rode it until it wore out from all the salt water and whatever else was on the jungle paths. I had always wanted a road bike, but circumstances just weren't always right for me to have one. After the military and a divorce, I moved back to Idaho, started college and working. Living in a small-ish east Idaho town, I commuted to where I needed to be, on yet again, a Raleigh mtb. I finally realized my dream to own a road bike last April when I got my Specialized. Now, I am getting into centuries and wish I hadn't waited so long to get a road bike!

[Kimmyt]

I've had bikes most of my life, like many kids that lived in the suburbs.

But the one I remember best, I got for Christmas, maybe when I was 9 or 10?

I had been asking and begging for a bike for ages. I wanted a tenspeed, a sleek little bike with those cool curved handles. Christmas came, and no bike was under the tree. I was upset, so upset I didn't really notice that I didn't have nearly as many presents as my brothers.

In fact, I hardly had any. Just as we were about to leave the tree my mom said, "Oh... looks like we forgot something! Santa must have hid it!" (I don't think I believed in Santa at the time, but even to this day my mom signs our Xmas present cards with Santa).

We usually kept a blanket draped on the back of our sofa, and lo and behold, under the blanket was a shiny brand new bike, the color of seafoam, with black handles. It was gorgeous.

I rode that thing as soon as I could, and all of that summer I spent in the saddle, riding around our neighborhood and pretending my beautiful bike was a horse (I was horse crazy, too). I must have put a ton of miles on her, riding around all over the neighborhood, even back into the woods where my mom told us not to go, trying to catch the fabled gigantic snapper turtles as big as a dog that lived in the water drainage tunnels (love tunnels, we called 'em).

Got a mountain-bike type thing later on, don't remember when, but that sucker lasted me until last year (I'm 25 now). It was just a cheap dept. store bike, but I rode that sucker like it was an expensive mountain bike, trying to keep up with my friends on the Wissahickon trails and generally learning to love cycling again.

I literally rode that bike to pieces last year, and being too cheap to buy another bike, was given by a friend yet another Walmart beater bike that I rigged up to commute to work with. Only could do it once or twice a week, because of my early morning schedule, but it felt great! And I vowed to get myself a road bike the minute I could.

This year the second my bonus came in, I was off to the bike shop. And now I'm just waiting for it to be a few degrees warmer so I can get out on the road!

K.

[tamara_69]

Like most of you, I grew up with more than one bike, but can't remember much about them. After we got married 8 years ago, every year bikes would be on our "wish list" but were never actually purchased. Last year, my sister-in-law and her husband bought road bikes, so we thought maybe now was the time for us. Six weeks after our third baby was born, I bought my very first road bike, knowing NOTHING about it, and then attended my first spin class at the gym. I thought I was going to DIE! And then my super-fit sister-in-law took me out on my bike for the first time. We only did about 12 miles and 2 hills, and it was hard, but I loved it! I have never been athletic and never thought I would find a sport, or even exercise that I love, but I did! My sister-in-law was super patient last summer, teaching me how ride on the road, picking me up after I fell off, and pacing me up hard hills. I am in better shape than I've ever been, and I look forward to completing my first duathlon in June. I'm hooked!

[Kimmyt]

attended my first spin class at the gym. I thought I was going to DIE!

Dude, I just did my first spin class today. I figured I'd give it a shot.

Ten minutes into it I announced to my instructor that it was easier to ride my goddamn bike into work than this!

I'm still giving it a second shot, though... I don't do much cardio so I know it'll do me good. I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment!!