mkadam68

ShOwned's comment & RoaringMad Mac's thread got me thinking. It appears we have many new posters to the C&A forum, so being lazy and not using the search function, I thought I'd update an oft-asked question: Why do you ride?

Me? The over-riding (sorry...couldn't resist) satisfaction I get from riding is accomplishment.

• When I am with a group, and we're hammering along at some crazy pace (25mph+), I feel great. What an accomplishment!
• When I race in criteriums and win a prime or mix it up in the sprint for the win, what an accomplishment!!
• When I conquer mountain climbs that aren't included in the Tour of California because they're too tough for that time of year, what a sense of accomplishment!!
• When I ride 100 miles in less than 5 hours, what an accomplishment!!
• Since taking up riding again in Aug/06, I've lost 60+ pounds and have gone down 2 sizes in clothing--what an accomplishment!!

I get a great deal of satisfaction from my ride. I also am very healthy, in spite of my 255 pounds. I love riding.

So how about you all? What enjoyment do you get from riding? What is it that motivates you to continue riding?

Tom Stormcrowe

I can put it in one compound sentence below:

I ride to live and live to ride

Trucker_JDub

I like being able to say look how far I went. Be it longest trip or total miles this week/month/year. Its more for me then any one else. When I'm pushing past one of my previous bests I get excited. Looking at how far I've come now its time to set my next goal.

I look at things almost like a game. "For the next level (of training)I can't drop past gear 'X' on this hill". Need to make it to point 'B' faster next time." I push my self to try a little harder every time I go out. When I get back I focus on how good I did and then that fades away and is replaced with thoughts of "I can do better then that and I'm going to prove it."

StephenH

A couple of years ago, I saw one of my cousins that I hadn't seen in years. He told me, "Hey, looks like you've put on some weight there." I was thinking this was not a particularly polite way to start a conversation. But he went on, "You should do what I did. I got a bicycle and started riding every day. I've lost about 60 lbs." That put a different perspective on it. Anyway, I used to hike when I lived in Colorado, and biking here in Texas is about the best substitute for that that I've come up with.

CliftonGK1

It's fun.

jyossarian

+1000000 One and only reason.

beingtxstate

Because:

• I can
• It's fun
• It's healthy
• I'm not dependent on a car, and I realize the cost of travel (from my energy output)
  • actually, this reason has led to many changes in my lifestyle. Knowing the cost of travel made me realize the cost of food, of living, and I have changed accordingly.
  • what do you know, you can make nested lists! </dork>

Mr. Beanz

Fun, fitness and trying to keep up with you fast racer types for funzies!

coasting 

The feeling of lycra against my thighs.
The admiring looks I get when I walk into a shop with skin-tight stuff.
The wolf whistles
The fishnet stockings...oops wrong forum

bigwies

My reasons are pretty simple.

1. I need to get in aerobic exercise, I HATE running and biking is fun
2. I get to ride with my kids and that is fun
3. Bike commuting allows me to exercise without taking time away from my family
4. I love the challenge of going faster or farther or both
5. Oh, did I mention fun

jaxgtr

To lose weight and have some fun.

10 Wheels

I ride to ride faster. 72 miles today

v1k1ng1001

...and it's a great way to stay in shape!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypq1_QatZdA

beingtxstate

Awesome!

v1k1ng1001

my roommate accused me of being rides a 10-speed everywhere guy

rollerdavem

I used to ride as a kid/teen/early twenty-something, before I threw my life away.

In the seventies it was a different world, the colors, the smell of the air, it WAS different and I don't think that's just the same old maudlin nostalgia the younger set seems determined to work up for the eighties or (God forbid) the nineties....

My first bike in 1972 was a Schwinn Stingray in metalflake blue, I remember riding from 37th and Girard in North MPLS to 'mess around' under the Camden Bridge over the Mississippi, laughing with the Peace Corps hippies building the trails and such...

I remember the huge purple 26 inch girls fixed-gear tank monster of a bike that belonged to my sister, but I would ride it. I had to stand on the pedals with the seat hitting me in the back and my arms way up high to reach the bars....

I remember taking apart a kid's trike and turning the body upside down and putting the seat through the hole from the underside to make a 'big wheel'....

Cards in the spokes sounded like a motorcycle and the Doobie Bros on the AM radio as I cruised our alleyway...

My first 'ten speed' although it really wasn't as I had to get off it and manually changer the shot-to-hell derailler...

I remember hitching two bikes to a shopping cart and playing 'stagecoach' charging little kids a rock or a leaf for a ride to the other end of our apartment complex at 73rd and Zane in Brooklyn Park...

I remember riding with Suzette in the 5th grade and I let her trick me into holding her hand as we rode side-by-side because she bet me her hand was colder than mine...

I remember taking my little sister on bike rides as far from home as she could go, and her whining all the way back...

I remember skinny-tire ten speed days when I rode just to ride and for the pure joy of it....

Emerson Ave in No. Mpls from 29th southbound if you hit the light on 26th just right, you almost felt airborne...

Wheelock parkway in St Paul west of Woodbridge where there is an INSANE hill with the most WICKED CURVE and not touching the brakes...

I was happy, I was free, but I threw it all away on a '74 Camaro followed by a steady string of muscle cars and hot rods... Not saying I shouldn't have bought em, but why'd I have to break my old bike's heart?

Years later, I watch my daughter on her Wally World suspended MTB as I follow her around lake Como in St Paul, but now I'm on a scooter and she's the one flying without leaving the ground. I bitterly cried that I couldn't share that with her, that I was done.

But I wasn't....

After today, I can say I ride.

Why?

BECAUSE IT'S MINE! and I took it BACK!

It's my birthright to move freely across the face of the earth, to not let myself be tethered, to feel wind...

And apparently to have a whole bunch of beer and let loose in a forum, but hey, I have fun...

So that's why I ride.

RD

Neil_B

I put it best in my account of my century ride last year:

...I remount and roll down the hill, kicking up into a high gear. I want to have momentum for the next bridge. I grind to the top and admire the view again. And then I roll into Ocean City.

I had my century in the bag. Now to complete the ride. ....my team captain threatened to "kick my a**"" if I quit prior to the end. But I don't want to quit. I know why I am riding.

"I am riding because my limitations are entirely of my own making," I thought. "I am riding because I couldn't before. I am riding because I am no longer 385 pounds and unable to move. I ride because I've wanted to ride a bicycle for a long, long time. I ride because people tell me I can't, tell me I shouldn't. I ride because I am not a fat man on a bike, I am a real cyclist. And I've been one for a long time now. This
ride only confirms it." My eyes well up a little. It's probably the salt air causing it....

JosephPaul86

*FUN
*Beats walking/running
*Scooter needs maintenance
*Health
*Gets me anywhere I could want to go
*To wear out the current mtb to justify a new road bike

mkadam68

Wow. Some excellent responses. Keep 'em coming.

PATH

What Tom said!

rmwun54

I ride for the adventure, the thrill, the challenge, the fitness acquisition I can obtain, and because I can.
Road, trail, or both at the same time; life is short but on a ride it sure seems like a long time when you go the distance.

wild animals

because i like it!!!!!(!!!!)

the exercise is a close second, but it's definitely second. if i didn't like cycling i wouldn't do it. i have a lot of exercise dvds and i like those too. i'd do those. but i don't have to because i love riding my bike!

i guess our tertiary reason is that i ultimately want to ride my bike most places that i go. i will probably always have a motorized vehicle as long as i can support one, because i cant get everything i need (e.g. healthcare) in my town, but i'd like to cut way, way back.

but, ultimately, i just like it!! i like my bike computer that tells me how far i went, and i like being thirsty and then drinking cold water, and i like standing by a meadow and eating a granola bar. i like learning how to do what i need to do with less stuff in smaller packages. i like thinking i'm being chased by a bear, and i like peeling away from the woods and almost running into my sister and laughing. one time she and i were at a huge organized ride, and i thought i was going to run into someone, so i veered a little too close to her, and she panicked and veered off, too, and we almost made everyone by us fall over, and i couldn't stop laughing because it was so stupid. love it!

FightingPanther

there is nothing quite like climbing a local monster hill and looking back over your shoulder to not only see a beautiful view, but happiness itself...

smyth

there are so many reasons really: excersise, fun, the environment, i like tinkering with things, i hate cars and most of all i hate running


Also what generally keeps me into it is goal setting. for this season my goals are:

-Get better at fixed gear riding, skid stops, etc.
-Get below 200 lbs by the end of the year
-Complete a century on my single speed(already registed for a ride that's a 2 day, 100 miles per day, using the single speed for that)
-Excede 200 miles in one day on my fixed gear
-Excede 5000 miles for the season on the fixed gear

kyle

Pinyon

Lots of reasons for me too. Here are a few. The first one, is the biggest reason.

• I just love to ride my bicycle.
• I was built with the body of a heavy-labor farmer, but was given the brain and temperment of a book/computer geek. Without riding, I don't get enough exercise for this body.
• I love fast downhill sections with lots of curves! Giant "whoosh" factor.
• The whole zen aspect of riding in general. I get into an almost meditative zone while I'm riding. It is very relaxing.
• The ability to work in a great workout with my commute. If I get up early enough, it does not steal time away from family or work, and I can do some wonderful nature sight-seeing through the countryside at the same time. You can cover a lot more miles, and see a lot more beautiful and wild things riding a bicycle, as opposed to running, or especially going to a gym to work out.