A friend of mine participates here and suggested I check it out -- thought this would be a good place to get my feet wet.

Where do you live: just north of downtown Los Angeles

Age: 42 (43 next Sunday)

What Do you ride: Specialized Hard Rock (MTB)

Which is your favorite? Smooth with as little traffic as possible.

Where do you ride? LA River trail, Arroyo Seco. Planning to start checking out other trails. I live at the top of a hill not far from the beginning of the Arroyo Seco trail; training to make the ride home easier.

Bike Clubs: Wasn't aware of the concept until recently. Haven't found one that looks like a good match for me, but that might be fun.

Bicycle wish list: I'm in a wonderful state of blissful ignorance -- I like what I've got, mainly because I don't know any better.

Life wish list: To not be daunted by long uphill climbs.

I'm fortunate to live with a guy who introduced me to cycling while on vacation, and have done a couple of self-guided bike tours, one in England and one in Ireland. On both trips, I didn't train enough in advance and the hills were killers. We're talking about either going back to Ireland or perhaps Italy (the touring company we like does a package for Tuscany/Umbria that sounds really amazing). I won't be able to afford it for another three years, so that gives me plenty of time to train.