New guy here
 

Greetings one and all. I'll see if I can nutshell it for you.

60 year old male. Used to smoke 2 1/2 packs a day and pretty much was a couch potato.

Quit smoking 26 1/2 months ago on more or less of a whim. Sister quit so I couldn't be out done. Additionally, I was living in fear of the day that they were going to tell me I had to quit or die. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle the pressure between trying to quit and having to quit which meant I probably couldn't have quit and so would have had to die. Seemed logical to me.

Started exercising almost the day I quit. Lasted about 5 minutes each day the first week and thought I was going to die (sems I think about dying a lot). Worked it up to a half an hour after about 9 months and then thought it would be nice to drag out the old bike and do a Little riding on top of the 1/2 hour. Long story short, the rides started lasting longer than the exercising and although I'm no long haul biker, I still exercise (or try to exercise) 4 times a week and am proud of the 20 milers I have been able to muster this season.

I like camping with my travel trailer (got over the tent thing a number of years ago) and now find myself planning trips around biking opportunities.

I plan on joining the 50+ forum and look forward to picking up any tips/tricks or other information to make my biking more fun.

I love the fact that biking is a personal challenge. It fits right with my personality, not very sociable and doen't do small talk well. However, since I quit smoking (smoked 44 years) I seem to "want" to try to be more sociable and so hope to get a little more educated about biking so I can maybe have something to talk about with some degree of credibility/interest when I finally get the courage to do one of those biking tour events for charity or something.

Guess that's about it. Thanks for having this site and I look forward to getting to know you (as long as I don't have to met you face to face and deal with those awkward moments of silence) :)

Bill

You must be getting over the withdrawal as you only count the time in 1/2 months, no longer in days hours and minutes. You dont have to talk much to be sociable, just ask another biker about their bike and why they like it, then listen for hours (and look interested). Good luck.

Welcome to Bike Forums, Bill. Congratulations on getting healthy and quitting smoking!

Like AndrewP mentioned, just ask another cyclist one question about their bike and they will carry the conversation from there.

If you are interested in camping with your travel trailer, be sure to check out the touring forum.

Thanks for the welcome CbadRider & AndrewP.

Guess you are right about the hours & minutes thing. Believe it or not but it was like two years before I stopped having insane rushes for a smoke. It's like something broke at the two year mark. Now I just get mild ("what the hell was that?") rushes.

Thanks for the tip on the touring forum. I'll be sure to check that out.

And thanks for the tip on discussing bikes. Not only will I not have to talk but I'll hopefully learn something.

Bill

You seem alright Bill and good luck with the socialization thing.

Where I live I have a hard time talking to other bicyclists as most I have attempted to socialize with come across as bike snobs- Theres the snobs who wear their race jerseys and spandex everywhere they go and do the local bike events in groves, the snobs who are active in the local fixed gear culture and dress like they are out of a Pink Floyd music video, and then the mountain bike trail hog snobs who actually sneer and hack if you get in their way... lol...

I have said hello to a few scattered cyclists here and there and some have smiled and said hi back which seems to be about as good as it gets...hope you have better luck than I have, HA!

It's all good fun, bicycling is the ultimate solo sport!

Disclaimer- I hope to not have offended anyone, there is nothing wrong with wearing spandex or 80's British clothing... it is in how you treat others while wearing your garb or on the trails that others might find offensive... LOL

Semperteneo,
Thanks for the welcome.

I know what you mean that a lot of people have a bad attitude out there and think they are something they are not. I ride in NJ when we go to visit my sister-in-law and there is a real nice bike store that is along the route I ride. I always like to stop and drool and the people in the store are great but they always have a herd of the elite cyclists milling around that just pegs my snob meter.

I think that’s why I joined this site. I lurked around for awhile and found it interesting that there are a lot of hard core riders here but yet I never got the sense that they feel better than the guy that was chugging along at 12 MPH. I truly have respect for everyone here so far.

Anyway, I get the feel you and I are on the same plane. I’m trying like hell and also appreciate that “bicycling is the ultimate solo sport”. I always wave and get a wave back but short of the crowd I encounter in NJ have never been in close proximity to a group of cyclists. However; like I said, I’m trying to change that.

For what it’s worth, I do wear the spandex pants and have a UPS jersey (son works for them and got it as a gift) and a really cool “Fat Frog” jersey I picked up in Virginia while on vacation. However; I’m with you. Unless it’s the bike store in NJ, if I know I’m going to be getting off my bike and going into stores or a picnic or something I wear gym shorts over the spandex and a mesh NFL jersey for my shirt. I think I’d feel weird walking around in my riding garb. The jerseys I don’t need but the pants are a must as I tried riding without them and “the boys” just weren’t happy about all that freedom. Riding without made for very short rides (not that I do a lot anyway).

Hey, I need to tell someone that might care or at least understands. Hit a personal best last night. 20 miles at an average speed of 14 MPH. I know I’ll never see the 100 miler at 17+ MPR but that’s OK with me. I’m shooting for 25 miles with an average speed of 15 MPH and this bring me one step closer.
Sorry to ramble
Bill

Welcome to BF Bill. If you want to meet the coolest people on the forum I suggest you visit Foo.

Couch

Couch,

First off thanks for the welcome and secondly, I have been, I have seen, and I have joined.

You are right . I like it. Look forward to some interesting off topic stuff.

Thanks again for the welcome and the tip.
Bill

Welcome to bike forums...

Thanks Hendrick