Fifty Plus (50+) - Always a rider?

I rode bikes a lot as a kid. But once I hit 16 it was motorcycles and cars. A few years ago my brother in law got killed on his motorcycle. My wife said mine had to go. Then in 2010 I had a heart attack. It was time to get some exercise. I had to wait a year until I was off the Plavics before the doctor would release me to ride. I now own three bikes. Ride about 20 miles every night with some longer rides on the weekend. So bikes to me are relatively new. Have you always ridden or did you get back into it later in life for the exercise?

Later in life, 6-7 years ago so I could ride with my son. I'm still really slow.

Always for me, but more now than, say, 10 years ago.

I was a bit of a late bloomer, learning to ride when I was 8 or 9. But once I learned I never stopped. Cars came and went, motorcycles came and went, but cycling has been a constant. There were a few lean years when my kids were small, probably under 1k miles, but being a cyclist has always been my identity.

Ridden a bicycle most of my adult life, but I've had some periods when I have been off the bike for a year or more. Longest non-riding stretch was 4 years from '95-99 when I was busy being a single parent and didn't have the time or motivation between kids and work.

For me about 5 years ago when the knees gave out. Hadn't ridden since I was a kid.

I've never understood this: "A few years ago my brother in law got killed on his motorcycle. My wife said mine had to go."

If he died in a car, would you not be able to drive anymore? I've been riding motorcycles since I was 10 years old, and I will be 55 in June. I ride a GSX-R1000, and I have even run track days at the local race track, popping 150+ on the straights with it. My wife gets a little nervous when I'm at the track, but she knows it's in my blood and would NEVER ask me to give it up. I have lost friends over the years to motorcycle accidents, but also to car accidents, etc. One does not stop living, one goes on doing what you love.

Just thinking out loud again...

"seriously" - 14 years ago at age 58

Rode a little as a kid but of course stopped when I could drive.
At 23, took my tax refund and bought a bike and have been riding ever since. For fun.

Got tired of being fat and started four years ago at age 60. One of the best things I ever did.

Loved riding anything with 2 wheels since I was a kid. Started with bikes, moved to scooters, graduated to motorcycles, got fat because of motorcycles. Back to bikes again. My motorcycle hardly ever leaves the garage these days.

Rode my bike as a kid until I turned 16. Drivers license put an end to my bike riding until a year ago when at age 53 I decided cycling would be the perfect way to achieve a great level of health and fitness.

Always a rider. I had a motorcycle and 5 cars through the years. But the gas powered vehicles always seemed to get dropped at the least excuse, and I've been a commuter or car-free for most of my adult life.

This bad boy has outlasted all my motor vehicles combined.

http://www.pointhappy.com/gcf/AmEagleNishikism.jpg

of course as a kid I rode my huffy's everyday.
I did some bmx racing at 10-14 which turned into flatland freestyle which lead to a short experiment with vert.
that tailed off when I turned 16 and my focus shifted to cars and girls. by time I finished high school, mountian biking was in a full restoration bloom so I rode quite a bit off road in my early 20's.
when I was 26 I trashed my back in a car collision. as I slowly healed, riding off road was too much so my mtb got slicks and I stayed on pavement.
eventually I opted for the less rolling resistance of a 23mm tire which has me where I am today, over 40, back fully healed, riding road almost exclusively.

Around the end of 2013 I'll pass 500,000 miles in the saddle. That will be just before my 54th B-day. Yes, I've been riding fairly continuously since I learned to ride at age two.

Saw a "10spd racing bike" at J.C.Penny's when I was 14, bought it with some help from Dad, and kept that bike until I left for basic training. (It was still in the garage when I left, not sure what happened to it) Shortly after arriving in Germany for my first tour of duty I purchased a new bike and rode it up and down hills and mountains for the entire tour. Gave it to another GI when I left. To make this a quick post, I've never been without a bike but the riding has not always been constant. The introduction of police mountain biking in 2000 brought me back to riding regularly and I'm now 53.

Picked it up again as an adult in 1985 (I was 34yo) so more than 25+ years ago. Pretty steady each year at about 3 - 4K mi/yr. Started because I needed a summer training regimen to complement the winter skiing habit. The knees no longer enjoyed "jogging" and my tennis partner stopped playing - so I bought a road bike. Been roading ever since, and practicing N+1 regularly for me or the family.

Was always one of those fit kids doing every sport going and kept running competitively till I was 34. Then family commitments till 1990 and got dragged screaming into bike riding by a mate. Still screaming but only after too many hills or miles.

I lived on my bikes as a kid and like the OP, pretty much gave them up for cars and motorcycles at 16. I rode motorcycles until I was 30 and my first son was born. Not a conscious decision, but I simply lost the desire to ride. At 35 in 1990, after a divorce, I took up bicycling as a way to exercise and meet people. I've been riding like crazy ever since.

but I simply lost the desire to ride

Getting that way myself these days. I really don't feel like getting dressed up in armor to ride the motorcycle when I get there with only a small time penalty on the bike. I used to love riding that motorcycle now it looks all lonely in the garage...

Rode as a kid, quit in high school, started again in late college, rode avidly into my 30s and 40s, then sort of set it aside in my early 50s and am now back at it more than ever.

Kid first.. then started road riding at the age of 65.

Rode as a kid, mostly British 3-Speeds, quit when I was 16 and started driving, got hooked again when I was 18 and haven't stopped since. Lots of variation on a theme though, with velodrome racing, mountain bike racing, road bike racing, touring, ultra-distance events (mostly double centuries) and commuting on my folding bike.

So that's about 44 years of consistant cycling.

Rick / OCRR

I started four years ago and I don't plan on ever stopping. The silver lining is that I don't have 40 years of wear and tear of consistent exercise so I figure I'm good for another 40 years before everything wears out.

I began serious riding the summer of '73 when I was 15 and the Motobecane Mirage was my first serious roadbike (compared to the ubiquitous Huffy with Shimano Eagle "grouppo poopo". :D

Through the years I've had many moves and children added to the moving load but in my heart I was always a biker. In '81 I returned to the fogline atop a Stella that was relabelled as an Arctic as a promo bike for Arctic Cat snowmobiles. Never could figure that one out but it was a nice bike and I spiffed it up pretty good. Rode that on all the favorite routes against some of the best in the area.

Again, I returned to roadbiking in '91 with a gaspipe special Ross roadbike from a garage sale for 30.00. Didnt do many miles on it before it was stolen. No heartbreak there.

Then, in '04 someone gave me the Trek 460 and I was in love! Light bike, great components and racing geometry it quickly reminded me of the bike I'd always wanted in those days. Still have it, still ride it hard and last summer probably had near 2000mi on it.

Always a rider. I had a motorcycle and 5 cars through the years. But the gas powered vehicles always seemed to get dropped at the least excuse, and I've been a commuter or car-free for most of my adult life.

This bad boy has outlasted all my motor vehicles combined.

http://www.pointhappy.com/gcf/AmEagleNishikism.jpg

Nice! :thumb: That is even the right shade of that color I call "70s orange".

I had a period of time, late teens to early 20s, when cars dominated my life. Most males here know the drill: Young males + hormones + cars = good times. But I started riding a bike again, and, well, that's the way it is. I've always been an "outsider" and if you ride a bike in America, you are an outsider. But I like being an outsider. :D

Most here know the drill: People + hormones + bikes = good times.

fify

I rode as a kid, like everyone. When I was about 15 I got a ten speed, a Schwinn Super Sport. I rode that thing for about 5 years, then got married and rode it a lot less. When the kids came along, my wife and I got the kid seats for the bikes and rode with the kids on the back until they got too big for that. The bike started to collect dust then. When I turned 40, I got myself a mountain bike and rode it for about a year, then lost interest again. Last year, at 55, I was way overweight and decided it was time to get in shape. Pre diabetes, sleep apnea, etc. Took out the mountain bike, filled up the tires and haven't stopped since. I also have gotten the old Super Sport into rideable condition, but it is really way too big for me. I guess they fit bikes a lot different back in 71! Recently, I got a Jamis Coda Comp, and I'm on the lookout for a new mountain bike. I think I'm hooked for good this time.

Have always ridden some but really started ramping up my focus on fitness after having back surgery at 40. I gravitated pretty naturally to cycling as my preferred activity and have discovered it to be my healthy addiction.

Rode as a kid, stopped, rode in College for transportation and was carless for the first few years of marriage. Fast forward 25+ years and I started back riding in April '10...haven't stopped since.

Rode as a kid. Not much during high school yrs. Rode all thru college for transportation and fun; that evolved into racing and centuries from '87-'98. Nothing '99 - '07 (heavy into slow-pitch softball); started riding again in 2008 to current, riding twice a wk for fitness.

Quit riding at age 40 after a back injury. Didn't do anything but eat and get fat until my wife bought me a bike for my 63rd birthday. I've been riding ever since and have been riding road bikes for the last year and a half.

Seems like my story is pretty common - rode a lot until I was about 20, didn't get on a bike again until last year at age 53. My wife wanted to try riding so I bought a cheap CL bike so I could join her. Loved it more than I could have imagined.

I estimate that I've ridden bikes regularly 41 out of my 60 years. There was some time off when the children were first born, careers were being established, and renovations to a “fixer upper” house were underway. Even as a teen with a driver's license, there was a group of about 8 to 10 of us who continued cycling as sport. While our friends would go fishing, play tennis, etc., we would ride.

Have you always ridden or did you get back into it later in life for the exercise?

Yes, yes, and no.

Or, more specifically:


Have you always ridden ...?

I've pretty much always had a bike since I was 8 years old. Never went for more than a couple years without some sort of regular cycling...but for most of those years I was a Utility Cyclist, using the bike to commute, run errands, or just tool around for fun.


...or did you get back into it later in life ...?

"Later in life" is when I made the transition from Utility Cyclist to Seriously Obsessed Road Cyclist. I got bit by the bug when I was 45, and cycling stopped being something I did as a means to an end, and became something I did for the sheer joy of the doing. I started to define myself as a cyclist as much if not moreso than my career had defined me previously.


...for the exercise?

See above re: sheer joy. Exercise is just gravy; I'm glad cycling is good for me, but if it turned out that riding a bike >150 miles/week was as much a vice as drinking a case of beer/week, I would still ride my bike >150 miles/week. That riding is healthy is pure bonus, but I definitely don't do it for that.

I was only without a bike for about 5 years, when I was just starting the family.

Like most everyone here, I began to ride as a child, and never really stopped. Most of the time I rode for fun, not exercise. In 2008 we used our tax refund to buy me a nice road bike, a Trek. I love riding it, best bike I ever had. I now ride for exercise and no other reason. I just like the feeling it gives me.

I rode a lot through the bike boom of the '70s and early '80s. I then moved on to motorcycles. I got back into bicycling about 5 years ago when I decided to get back in shape. I now ride both bicycle and motorcycle and have no wife to tell me I can't! :p

Fortunately I never sold my Gazelle Champion Mondial so I have a nice Classic and Vintage to ride. :D

Didn't ride between ~14 y.o. - ~20 y.o. Became transcended by a 3-speed, and then bought a good 10 speed and haven't looked back - I hardly drive now at all. Spend many happy days touring, now sadly only commuting. Once I retire, I hope to ride more...

Rode as a kid through high school, but mostly just around town stuff. Then didn't get on a bike at all until about two years ago (age 51). I've not ridden as much as I'd like since then, but I'm hooked and I ride now whenever I can.

[QUOTE=OldsCOOL;14220215] the Motobecane Mirage was my first serious roadbike (compared to the ubiquitous Huffy with Shimano Eagle "grouppo poopo". :D


My first good bike was also the Mirage. I still have the frame. Got that when I was first married and rode just a little, but my wife and I did nothing but motorcycle until 1994. (30 states together) Took up cycling for good in 1994 at age 38. Did 4,000 miles last year including one trip from my home in SW Iowa to New Orleans pulling a BOB. Hooked for life I think.

Bikes at 13 to motorcycles at 15 through 19 (and three accidents) back to bikes from 19 - 26 to ....life/family/work....to motorcycles from 42 - 46 to kayaks and now kayaks & bicycling.

As my wife says, "it's good to be Gerry.". I agree!

Rode as a kid, of course, then came alcohol and smoking and fatness. Loved riding off-road motorcycles starting around 1979, so I got on a bicycle to improve my fitness and eventually sold the last MC and have been riding road, touring, and mountain bikes since, something like 150,000 road miles so far.

I think on a forum like this you will find more long term cyclists than in the normal population. I only use normal because we as a group are a pretty small sampling of transportation in the US. I rode as a kid, everywhere, on an old cruiser that I thought was like riding Pegasus. I got my first multispeed, an old simplex in High School. Rode a Varsity in College. Gave it up for a few years after I got my first compact truck. Got a good road bike in the late 70s, no the Varsity was not a good road bike. Started building a family and moving up in the company and didn't ride for 20 years in the late 80s to the 2000s. Got back into cycling about 2008 and have been at it ever since.

I began serious riding the summer of '73 when I was 15 and the Motobecane Mirage was my first serious roadbike

I had a Motobecane Mirage in '75 when I was in college. It was the first bike I bought for myself.