Road Cycling - Why do YOU ride?

I went out for a ride at lunch as usual. The weather is in the 50s and I wondered why I do this to myself. Then I realized it's how I feel after a ride is why I do it. I feel like I've accomplished something, suffered a little and survived. I need that in my routine. There's also a spiritual side to being outdoors with just the sound of your breathing, smell of the air, sound of your tires as you spin down the road all by yourself. It's almost peaceful.

Why do YOU ride?

Cannondale

Started for health benifits, found out my legs feel great now and i don't get road rage when i drive my truck. i also enjoy the country side here in N. Cal:)

i started to ride because it was a class at my middle school. I started to like the thrill that i got from just me and the road and some times a friend or two with me. So then my dad saw that i liked it and gave me his old old (1980) trek. I used that for about 2 years until i got out of middle school. I collected a cignal off road bike along the way. Then my me and my dad started to ride duals and we liked that.

so i guess that root reason that i ride was to get some time in with my dad (i have 4 bros and 3 sisters!!!!). then it just became a passion for me to like the freedom that you get when you ride!

Jared

Vado velocemente quando guido la mia bici. Gradisco andare velocemente.

Velocipedio; That sounds more like a mission statement for a LBS? :)

Cannondale; Why do I ride? Why not? :)

Now come on Joe. What drives you? What makes you get your gear on and go biking? There's gotta be more to it.

Cannondale

I ride, therefore, I am.

The voices in my head tell me to.

When ever I get the chance, I usually pop a good rap or metal cd in my walkman and take off down some long road. Yea, It's Ecstasy!!! I ride for hours!!! On the bike is when I feel best, I never want to get off, it feels so good. Oh yea, and the voices in my head also tell me to ride!:thumbup:

Originally posted by RoAdRaGeR
I usually pop a good rap or metal cd in my walkman and take off down some long road.

Ahhhh! Thats why your so mad at all thoes drivers... "So Young, So Angry. Damn That Rap Music!" :lol:

Maybe I should where a T-shirt that says "Parental Advisory: Explicit Content"!:D

Originally posted by RoAdRaGeR
When ever I get the chance, I usually pop a good rap or metal cd in my walkman and take off down some long road. Yea, It's Ecstasy!!! I ride for hours!!!
When ever I get the chance, I usually pop a good rap or metal cd on the stereo at home and take off down some long road to get away from it. Yea, It's Ecstasy!!! I ride for hours!!!:D

We obviously have different musical tastes (I must be getting old) but I do find the right music (depending on the mood) will motivate a bit more effort on the bike.

I just love the feeling of freedom that cycling brings, along with the opportunity to push myself to new limits.

There's a lot of things that get me on my bike and get me riding. Some of them I can explain, others go beyond words.

Rap & Metal really gets me pumped up when riding, kinda like steroids (although Ive never taken steroids). If Im ever in the tour, I would win from that extra music boost. I guess it gets my adrenaline going!

... because I cannot think of any reason NOT to. How else can I combine efficient transportation, exercise, environmental activism, economy, camaraderie, enjoyment, historical research, engineering, and entertaining mechanical work?

freedom, peace, solitude.

That's it for me, nothing but me, the bike, the open roads, the silence, the scenery, the feeling of accomplishment when you make it home.

No stress, no work commitment's, no house payments, no road rage, nothing.

CHEERS.

Mark

Because it makes me a better person. It fills a place inside me which nothing else can.

Always Have, Always Will!

Plus, it gives me a huge stress relief to push my body to my cardio limit. I get to spend time with my wife (who also rides) and friends. It keeps me in shape without having to go to the Silicone and Testosterone Center (Local Gym).

Too many other reasons......

L8R

it makes my hairy legs look better :eek: and it clears my head... i dont really think about anything other than the ride when i get on my bike, Helps keep me in shape, not as hard on the joints as running. I like getting the reaction "you road your bike all the way here from your house? your crazy"... i dunno something to do, the main reason i guess is to stay in shape. Now i just need to get back in my ab work out, bleh.

anybody hear about bike blood running in my veins, that's what I got Bike Blood so tell me why I want to ride my bike, its all those tiny bikes inside my blood that tells me to do it

For the simple beauty of human propelled motion.

I ride for all the reasons you riders have already so eloquently expressed. Fitness, movement, fresh air, freedom, pure joy. Velocipedio hits the nail on the head with "Dances with wheels".

I especially love getting on the bike and touring -- riding for 30 or 50 or 70 miles. The smells of spring, all that green and eveything's blooming, the open road, the adventure, the beauty of the mountains when I get to ride in them.

This weekend I'm planning to ride from Diablo to Winthrop on the North Cascade Highway here in Washington State. That section of the highway is about 70 miles and 5000 feet of elevation gain. And then the next day, I get to turn around and ride the highway again in the other direction!

So many rides, so little time...

For more reasons than I can think not to:D

Such a silly question. :)

I second Dutchy's comments. Dirtgrinder. Might such scenery cause a crash.

The feeling of freedom, of escape from the normal world. Nothing beats being outdoors and exercising. And when your fit and strong, for the feeling of invinciblity that flying up a hill at max HR and speed inspires.

It's a spiritual thing, a physical rush and cheap transportation. I can eat like I want and still lose weight. Oh and let's not forget that I live on the beach making it a great place to casually cruise or take to the road. A couple days ago I spotted a family of dolphins. I rode parallel to them for around a mile before I lost them. It was a special rare gift.

Originally posted by Dirtgrinder
Such a silly question. :)
I won't tire if I have that lady to cheer me on, wowww:beer: :beer: :D see how cyclist make ladies crazy they'll do anything to get the attention of the cyclist

yeah i road past a girl running once.. whipped my head around and drooled for a bit... good thing i didn't run into a tree or anything.

I ride, with the hope of seeing naked women on the side. It hasn't happened yet, but im still riding.:D

Obsession . . .the challenge of the uphill . . . the thrill of the downhill . . . obsession . . . love of speed . . . addiction . . . endorphin rush . . . nothing but me and the road and a cool breeze . . . the excitement of racing in the pack . . . obsession . . . fast corners . . . those days when the bike and I are like one being . . . no thought, just motion . . . obsession . . .:love:

Anybody else here just cruse along, and listen to the slight hum of freshly-inflated tires spinning endlessly on a nice bike path?

It's just the most beautiful thing to take off down a -very- slight downhill leg of the path and get the need for speed out of the way (I LOVE how it seems faster on bike), but get to be out there, smelling the lovlieness of the forest preserve path...

And drag racing the occasional rabbit...

What I notice as I ride, the sound of chains whirring through their cages and the noise of the air being circulated by the spokes. I like that noise... If the chains do not whirr silently and I hear a metallic click, due to improperly adjusted derailleurs, I am annnoyed...
Todays' ride. I was particularily pleased. Made my 21 mile trek to the ocean. Thought I observed porpoises out there. On way back stopped at a County park half way back. They have a pond with ducks. Closed my eyes on a park bench and listened to their quacking. Never do that all, if I had to drive. And traffic would annoy me. All in all, a very pleasing ride. Sunshine and all that too. Also pleased, passing by all parked vehicles on hwy. 76, waiting for red lights, backed up about one mile...Not me.

Originally posted by RoAdRaGeR
I ride, with the hope of seeing naked women on the side. It hasn't happened yet, but im still riding.:D

:) Isn't that the real reason why we all ride?? hehe

:D

So many replies but nobody mentioned anything about chasing the dragon. Aren't we all just a bunch of endorphin junkies? Once you know the feeling of a natural high your going to chase it everyday you can, I know I do. There is nothing more relaxing than riding a bike. And no better sense of accomplishment then chasing down that tiny figure in the distance ahead of you, spinning up a 9% grade hating and loving every second of it. I'm not exactly the most religious person in the world, but next time I have to fill out a form that give me the option to do so, cycling will be my reply. Riding is just a way of life.

BECAUSE I CAN

because i can, i suppose.

half the time it's faster than driving, and i end up where i'm going in a much better mood than if i'd driven.

also, it's fun.

Because:

1. I traded a web site design to a bike shop for a Giant Carbon TCR
2. Have an amazing bike trail approximately one half block from my house that goes for miles and miles
3. I work from home and can ride when the trail's empty
4. When I return from my ride I feel phenomenal and...
5. I could swear that the reflection in the door window has bigger quads than the hour before

Mmm. I think I'll go ride now.
But I sure hope I don't see any naked ladies.

Because I can.
Because its one of the things that makes me feel alive.
Because its not motorized.

To fight the deamons with in, and to not make a 45 degree slope when I sit down.

Because it keeps me breathing.

Stephen Graham once wrote
Once you have become the companion of the road it calls you again and again.

Why the road called me in the first place I do not know, but I am forever grateful.

/Csson

I like to look ath the female cyclists in tight shorts.

Hmm, what's standing on the side of the roads for the women to look at?? Hmph.

I started riding because it's the only exercise that doesn't feel like a chore to me. I keep riding because now that I've started, if I go two days without riding, I start dreaming about it and can't quit thinking about where I'm going to ride when I go out again. It drives me to distraction when I'm not riding regularly.

Originally posted by Dirtgrinder
Such a silly question. :)
with that kind of of people waving at me, I will surely ride, :beer: :beer: :beer:

I have always been involved in some type of athletic activity.

Down the road, I discovered cycling. I became addicted.

For exercise and for enjoyment. I love riding with my 8 year old son. He makes me so very proud when he climbs the hills, and says that he does not need gears like I do.

i love cycling... i bike for fun.. nothing more, nothing less...

I ride because cycling makes me feel alive!

Because I have to...it's who I am.