Bike Forums - Hi from Springfield, Illinois!

Hello all!

My name is Kyle. I'm 31 and my wife and I live in Springfield, Illinois. We just celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary :love: I'm a survivor of testicular cancer. Life is great, and I've been cancer free for two years.

My wife and I are relatively new to biking. We bought our bikes on 7/3/2012, the Raleigh Route 3.0. We didn't want to spend a fortune because we weren't sure if we would like riding, so we started with a solid hybrid.

I've been riding my bike nearly every day since I bought it. I commute to work, 4.5 miles one way, and plan on doing that in the winter as well (I still need fenders for rain/snow). I'm lucky because I have a paved trail for 3 of those miles, so less riding on actual roads.

I've completed a 25 mile ride (Decatur's Prairie Pedal) and a 40 mile ride (Springfield Century) sicne buying the bike. I think the investment was well worth it, and I've lost 19 lbs so far (and saved a lot of gas money!!). In two weeks, I'm planning on riding 100 miles on the Katy Trail in Missouri, starting at St. Charles, Missouri.

I have a couple goals to work toward for the future. The goal for 2013 is the 100 mile part of the Sprignfield Century. The goal for 2014 is the Iowa Ragbrai.

Why am I posting this? I'm here to learn, and to give back. I know there will be questions that I can answer, I know there are people that can answer my questions, and I know there are people that can encourage. I'm here to help :thumb: