Cutaway

not sure if someone has shared this... if so just move this thread where appropriate......

in my case i can't remember... all that i can recall is i woke up one day wanting to ride a bicycle. i didnt even know at that time what exact type of bike i wanted, or if i will be doing road cycling or mountain biking. luckily i found a really nice hybrid, happens to be the only one of its type and brand remaining at the bike shop i went to.. after that, my wife must have noticed how much fun i was having, and to cut the story short she too got hooked! now we ride every weekend and i can say this new hobby got us even closer to each other... now anything that has bicycle on it, whether movie, magazine, books.. gets me interested.. are you like that or are you past that excitement? what, who, how did you get into this hobby in the first place anyway????

Sprocket Man

I've always enjoyed riding my bike, but I have gone through several phases in my interest.

I was really into BMX when I was a kid (10-14 years old). My dad bought me a Webco bike and it was a really fun ride.

I got into cycling competitively in my early 20s. I moved out of a home I was renting to move back in with my parents. When I received my deposit back from the landlord, I decided to use it to buy a Fuji road bike. The big thing back then was index shifting (downtube shifters that had a little "click" when shifting) and it seemed like a huge improvement over friction shifters. I started to do races and experienced some good results. I met my wife in college and she was into cycling as well. We used to ride together a lot, and because she was quite fast, I didn't have to hold back much when we rode together.

I stopped cycling in my late 20s through my late 30s because of school/family/career responsibilities. I got back into it just before I turned 40 because I was determined not to be overweight and sedentary like many of my collegues. I've completed a few triathlons since getting back into cycling, but I'm not planning on doing any bike races. My wife rides occassionally, and I like to ride with her, but she's not nearly as fast as she used to be so I usually only ride with her on the days I plan to ride very easy.

Machka 

My father got me into it when I was 6 years old. I've been riding ever since!

https://www.machka.net/aboutme/aboutme.htm

Robert Foster

I have been into cycling three different times. In the 70s it was because someone gave me their old Schwinn Varsity and commuted to work on it for about 3 years. After I bought my first house I felt I had moved too far to commute by bike.

In the 80s we developed a friendship with a neighbor who was into cycling and soon my Varsity simply wasn’t good enough and I got back into cycling because of my neighbor and some of his friends. I got a Viscount Aerospace Pro for me, a Raleigh touring bike for my wife and a tandem for us both. That lasted for about 5 years. Then I got a promotion and moved again and stopped cycling.

Once I retired I moved to a more cycling friendly community. One day I dropped into a LBS and spotted a few bikes I thought looked interesting for a fairly sedentary out of shape man. I bought a Giant Revive LX and started riding the thing all over town. Soon I decide to join in a few club rides I found on line and discovered I could easily do 20 to 30 miles on the Revive when I was with the recumbent guys; two of them are on trikes. Then I noticed I was losing weight and I wasn’t even on a diet. I got an old Trek 800 and started doing some light dirt riding and I enjoyed that as well. Then I took the leap and got a road bike so I could join the road bike crew on our club rides. Now I even take a bike with me on vacation because I just have to ride during the week.

njlonghorn

I rode when I was young, like most kids. But then I didn't ride for over 15 years (ages 22 to 38). When my son starting riding faster than I could jog alongside him, my wife got me an el-cheapo Schwinn. I got hooked, and recently upgraded to a decent bike.

I plan to keep riding until I can't, which hopefully will be many years into the future.

daven1986

Last year I had an internship as part of my degree and the transport links to my place of work from home were not great - over crowded, long etc. Work had showers so I began to cycle, 1 year on and I am kicking myself I didn't start sooner - i.e. secondary school when I was 11! But I intend to keep it up from now on

Paul Braithwait

My older sister tells me that when I was about four years old I just got on her two wheeled bike and rode it down the street (no cars in 1954!) with no problem. I've been hooked on two wheels (pedal and motor) ever since.

martianone

my folks got me a bike for my birthday,
it was like I had been given wings- wings of wheels.
that was 1960, been riding ever since.

Ken-NC

I bought a old girls bike ($2.00) in the early 50's to deliver papers, rode it for about 3 years. Bought my second bike in Germany in the mid 60's. I bought my third (junk bike- Huffy) in 74 for a bike to ride to work while stationed at Fort Benning Ga. The bike lasted one trip to work and the headset bearings were toast. I took it back to the PX and got my $59 back and bought a used lugged steel framed bike, forgot the name. From there I went to Panama built a few bikes from the frame up. The rest is history and many bikes later, my goal was/is use my bike instead of the car. Now I'm retired and need to start riding more.
Ken

chipcom 

Late bloomer... I was 4.

bcarter6

Went out to my car one day and found that the brakes had gone out, I had to drive home with the emergency brake. I had money to fix it, but I was really annoyed that my functioning was dependent on my car. So I went and bought a bike and figured I should get in shape with it, just in case the car broke for good I would be ready to get everywhere. And then I realized that what was really keeping me from biking was that I lived at the bottom of a mile long hill and I smoked a pack of cigarettes every day, so I had to quit smoking.

Quitting smoking didn't work out all that well at first, but I found if I biked a lot, it relieved the nervous energy that would cause cravings, so I biked more and more. It worked and I haven't smoked in a year.

As a result, my car stays parked and I bike just about everywhere. The only time I drive is when I go out of town or way across the city. I'm pretty happy about it.

downtube42

My HS biology teacher was a cycling fanatic and somewhat eccentric. From time to time he'd tell stories about his bike racing experiences. He started a High School version of the "Little 500", a popular bike race at Indiana University. I raced my junior and senior year.

Later someone made a movie based on the stories he told. You've probably heard of "Breaking Away". His name was Dave Blase, and he played the race announcer in the movie.

Flying Merkel

Classic American story:

Got a Schwinn Sting-Ray for Christmas in 1967. I was 6. Learned to ride it & a few months later was commuting the mile to school. One day, one of the older kids took it & rode it to the local Quik-E mart. The s(p)itball did bring it back, but I was as pissed as a 1st grader could be. The Sting-Ray lasted until I hit junior high as a BMX bike. It finally collapsed into separate components and became one with the universe. I then recieved a Varsity for Christmas '76. Never really worked right, but carried me for the next 3 years. I outgrew the Varsity & wrecked it trying to turn it into a mountain bike BEFORE the term was even invented. So close to fame & fortune was I. Dad's Continental & some crap bikes carried me through high school.

Then Dad bought me a Univega Viva Sport for graduation. It was a revelation. I became a serious cyclist. Bought toe clips & a crank puller. Motorcycles cut into bicycling until I had a nasty crash. Picked up a dumpster Schwinn beach cruiser & rode it to get me knees working again. Did the trick. One day, my buddy & I smoked a doobie, went to the bike shop where I had a case of bike munchies. Left with a '96 Specialized Rockhopper. Favorite bike ever. Rode it into the ocean while under the influence of pot, alchohol, and self-pity just one week later. After 12 years of abuse, it followed the fate of the Sting-Ray. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi.

I now have a Univega Super Strada bought new in '86. A C-List Schwinn Mirada bought for $25.00 is my all-arounder. Mind-altering substances are kept to a minimum.

From 6 to 48, I never stopped riding. Bikes are one of the few things in life that have been a constant. My motorcycle is going up for sale this summer. I will always have a bicycle.

StephenH

My cousin that I hadn't seen in umpteen years walked up to me and said, "Looks like you're putting on a little weight. You should get a bicycle." I thought "Hmpf!" to myself, but didn't say anything, and he went on, "That's what I did. I just started riding an old single speed bicycle every day for an hour. I lost 60 lbs." Hey, that sounded more promising then. Been at it since.

Machka 

I had a tricycle then!

SilverSurfR

Some time last year my girlfriend's truck broke down and we had no money to fix it, and even if we did, decided it was wouldn't be cost effective to do so (8 cylinder Jeep). So I let her start taking my car to work and have her come down on her lunch break and bring me to work. After several months, got sick of this and decided I should get a bike and save her the trip, gas, and added mileage on the aging car since my job is < 2 miles away, plus being over weight it would help me get out and exercise. Picked up some extra shifts at work, sold her truck that had just been sitting all this time and bought a Trek 1.2 last week.

So far I've only been able to get one ride in because of this horrible weather we've been having. Even though it put a hurt on my butt more than anything, it was fun. Stopped a friends house, went to lunch, met up with the GF who was at a party that had just ended. Headed over to meet her at her friend's house afterward, hung out a bit, then rode home. I estimate I traveled around 18-20 miles over the course of the day.

The GF is also now expressing interest in a bike, looks like I'll be putting in some more overtime this summer. I don't recall being this excited about something in a long time.

Sixty Fiver

I got a trike when I was 2... I haven't looked back.

There have been periods where I did not ride as much or just didn't ride (hard to believe that now)... but the desire to ride has never, ever left me.

When they put me in a wheelchair I'll see how I might add pedals... or a hand crank.

nvincent

I've always liked bicycling, but I became a regular commuter cyclist when I decided to ride my bike to work everyday instead of having to walk over a mile to the bus stop and then having to wait to ride a bus that was almost always packed. Nights and weekends were even worse because the buses didn't run as regularly, so I'd have to wait at the bus stop even longer. Once I started riding I felt more independent and didn't have to rely on bus schedules anymore and having to stand on a crowded bus for an hour.

Pocko

I had a trike from an early age, but was the last in my peer group to learn to balance a two wheeler. This knocked my confidence a bit, but I eventually learned how to ride a bike. My peers soon moved into other things so that was that and cycling got forgotten. Later on, a high school friend and I got into VW off-road buggies then shifted to dirt motorbikes.

After tech college an acquaintance turned up one day and introduced me to some weird new American craze called a BMX. It was a project of sorts that involved prototyping, but I ended up hanging around with young and talented BMX riders who took it upon themselves to teach an old guy like me how to bunny-hop... just for laughs. I got hooked from that time on... built my first wooden ramp and bloodied my shins at the ripe old age of 24.

Got married further on, had a couple of kids, and got them both involved in our local BMX club from an early age. Got bored watching them so at 36 I joined my first BMX race along with the other 'dads.' Did that as a family for about 5 years, then I got curious about mountain biking and I've been stuffing around with that to this day.

It all kinda started late and went back to front now that I think about it...

.

The Human Car

In elementary school riding my bike to school meant I could sleep an hour later and have two hours of my life a day not sitting on a bus.

After a break doing the raising a family thing, a found a bike map, and got back on the bike and started exploring and I haven't stopped exploring yet.

dynodonn 

Growing up, kids and bikes were pretty much considered synonymous, so it was only natural for me to be cycling at an early age, and the question for me should read "What made you to continue cycling?"
To answer that particular question, was that my parents weren't readily available everytime to transport me to the place of my choice at my whim, there was no mass transit available at the time, and cycling was much faster than walking. Later in life, economics and health became a more dominate factor, in addition to the sheer enjoyment of cycling.

DX Rider

My first bike was a hand me down Schwinn that had "side-walk" tires. The tires were solid rubber and the bike weighed a ton.

My second bike was a street crusiser, that was also a hand me down and was much too large for me. I left it laying in the driveway and my father ran that bike over with his car one night. I was heart broken. I loved that bike.

rbrian

I had a plastic tricycle when I was... I don't even remember when I first got it. Probably less than 2. I moved up to a miniature Raleigh Chopper with stabilisers when I was 3 and a bit, the stabilisers came off when I was 4. So, I guess my Dad got me into cycling.

Jive Turkey

My wife after she first rode RAGBRAI.

hotbike

When I was a wee little tyke, I used to watch TV. One show that I enjoyed was a fitness program. The host of the show was a guy named Jack LaLanne. It was in black and white, which was fine because we only had a B&W television set.
So Jack Lalanne said something about running one day. He said running would make your heart stronger, and you would live longer by avoiding heart attacks.
As it happens, my Grandmother's house (where I grew up) is directly next-to a school field, and we had a hole in the chain link fence. My Grandfather and I took frequent walks on the school field. This must've been 1969. So I went out on my own one day and tried running for myself. I ran across the field and ran back. On the way back, I could really feel my heart pounding in my chest, and I felt a fantastic sense of exilliration (sp). It felt great. I felt great. I was only four years old, and I discovered that running is more fun than walking. And a lot faster. I believe I was wearing Keds.
But even at that time, I realized that bicycling was faster than running. I grasped the concept of wheels because I had a tricycle and a Radio Flyer wagon, that I used to ride downhill.
But my close proximity to an athletic field was what got me into running. I had to run , I loved running.
But I had seen other people riding bikes, and I wanted one. I would ride my tricycle into town with a few quarters in my pocket and buy a quarter pound of liverwurst and a bag of cheese-its, or a box of animal crackers.
Finally , when I was 7, in 1972, my Step Father bought me a bicycle. It was a Royce Union 20 inch bike with a banana seat. (Someone had said that I had put six-thousand miles on my tricycle, judging by the tire wear.) My Mother never drove a car, so I used the bicycle for transportation. I totally disassembled the bike and put it back together by the time I was nine, so I got into being a bicycle mechanic.

Well, that's the story, or at least the beggining of the story.