paul_858

Curious how everyone here got into road cycling and what their initial reasons were for doing it.

How has cycling changed your life?

carlfreddy

In 2004 I broke my fifth and sixth cervical vertabrae. I was in a halo for 3 months. During that time and the subsequent year long recovery I was obviously restricted in what I could do, physically. Once the doctor gave me the all-clear I bought a bike and started training for tris as a way to get back in shape. Somewhere along the way I entered a local criterium and the rest is history.

Still haven't done a tri yet.

I'm in the best shape of my life, and it's really led to an overall healthy lifestyle. I carefully monitor what I eat, I rarely drink anymore, and I'm generally much less stressed out.

Treefox

I'd thought it seemed cool for quite a while. I used to try to go faster than all the other commuters on my cheap mountain bike. Then said bike got stolen, and I happened upon a very inexpensive early-90's road bike for waaayyyy cheap - another part of my university was clearing out abandoned bikes from their racks. I commuted on that for a while, then started building it up until it got to be more than I wanted to leave locked to racks in town. So I got another cheap 'hybrid' bike off another rack clearance and went a bit more nuts on the original one - STI, 9-speed, etc, and now race on it after doing a season in the more 'see the countryside, get some exercise' side of my club.

I'm not remotely in the best shape of my life though, even in the racing season. I was in amazingly great shape when I was required to play Lacrosse for three hours a day, six days a week in school. Not even close to that now.

damocles1

I'd always ridden bike and raced BMX. In 1984, I watched Alexi Grewal win the Olympic RR in L.A. and asked my dad for a road bike. He bought me a Trek 420 and we went from there. 23 years later, I'm still riding and racing. God Bless you Dad for supporting me in whatever I chose to do!! R.I.P.!!

Cycling hasn't changed my life...it has shaped my life.

roadfix

Like a lot of people here, bike riding began during childhood and stayed with us our entire lives. We got better and better bikes as we grew older and started really getting into the sport. Like most, I didn't just wake up one morning and decided to take up cycling. Mountain biking yes, and I still do it.

wanders

"Huh? My story? O.k. It was never for easy for me. I was born a poor black child. I remember the
days sitting on the porch with my family singing and dancing, down in Mississippi."

My ankles and knees couldn't take the impact of running anymore, so I bought a new mountain bike. I went out in the woods and found out what horrible shape I was in. I then put slick tires on my old mt bike to get into shape on the road. On the road I found I could actually go somewhere as opposed to riding circles in the woods. Had a new road bike within 2 weeks.

I'm still overweight and out of shape.

scotch

i used to be a MTBer. i sucked at it and wanted to ride without repeatedly landing on boulders and logs with my body. the road made sense.

AlexTaylor

Until a short while ago I only had my MTB from 21 years ago (I was 11 when I got it, it's a bit small now...).

A couple of years ago I spent time flicking through all the channels on telly then happened upon the ITU triathlon series. I found I really liked watching the cycling bit. That started a bit of curiosity.
Then (at work) I dealt with a crash whereby a 60 year old guy got knocked off his road bike. He was rushed to hospital and treated for a punctured lung, broken ribs and a broken collar bone. I went to see him a few times after the bump to get a statement from him and generally see how he was and chat over a cup of tea. He was so ridiculously enthusiastic about road cycling and the fact he wanted to get straight back on his bike he had me hooked before I'd ever sat on a road bike. He showed me his bike and all the parts he'd used over the years and told me about rides he'd done...
The next month I got my road bike.
I'm now well and truly addicted to cycling, both road and MTB.

Thankyou and god bless you Mr Newey!

foamy

Not much in the way of mountain biking around where I live now, so I slicked it and started riding the road, going from town to town. It irritated me when a roadie and his girlfriend passed me and I couldn't keep up with them. Started thinking about a road bike right then. Got one about 8 months later. Haven't been mtb-ing since.

Change my life? I started seriously biking in '88 (mtb). It's what I do for kicks when I'm not sailing and it's been that way since I bought the Trek 830. I've lost weight and I have a lot less disposible income. Mainly because it gets "disposed" of buying bike crap and bikes. Damn this road biking—I never had to spend money for stuff with the mtb, just parts when they broke.

rbart4506

I started about 1o years ago when I had gotten bored with my walking routine and had just separated from my first wife. I had always loved biking around as a kid and I need to find something to keep me busy and help me stay fit. Cycling seemed to be the perfect fit. I started by riding an old 10 speed bike I had and immediately knew I needed something better. Instead of a road bike however I purchased a low end mountain bike. The thought of getting away from it really appealed to me. I stuck to the mountain biking for a good 5-6 years.

In that time I met my second wife and cycling is what drew us together. She was like me a few years back in that she liked the idea of mountain biking, but had no real clue as to what she needed. So we started hanging out together and doing Friday afternoon rides around the local trails. We became friends and from there our relationship grew. Once we became a couple our trend of buying matching bikes, or at least bikes in two started. We got to the point where we each had a hardtail and full suspension mountain bike. Then she thought a road bike might be a good thing to have to add some more fitness to our riding.

It was suppose to be a way for us to get faster on the mountain bikes. Well after getting the first road bikes we quickly got sucked into road cycling. The thing that got first and foremost was that we could actually ride together. On the mountain bikes I was a bit more technically gifted then her so there was a lot of hurry up and wait on our rides. On the road, whoever there was none of that. We just rode together and pushed each other to get better.

We now each have a pair of Specialized Roubaix's, on 04 that sits on the trainer and an 07 Expert. We are both waiting on 08 Specialized Tarmac Experts for next season.

Our Christmas, birthday, anniversary presents are usually cycling related. Every vacation we take is cycling related. And we make sure that work fits around our ability to cycle together.

jmilez03

Like everyone else... I used to be a long distance track and cross country runner who kept up running for fitness. I got bored before my knees died out and picked up a bike and now I'm hooked!

AlexTaylor

Sounds perfect!

ludeboy_77

My father bought me a blue Schwinn with a banana seat and ape hangers when I was 4. That bike and I were hit by a car a few months later. After I healed I remeber getting some of my fathers tools and fixing the bike until it was ridable again (I remember a bent fork and the bars were trashed). Ofcourse the old man and the local Schwinn shop helped, but I was a PITA and had to be involved in every step. After that I was on various bikes until I felt I was too old to be on free-style / BMX bikes and got into road bikes, especially after watching Greg Lemond on TV. I saw the beauty of a road bike, and how effecient it was. Now I just wish I had more time to ride.

ericm979

I was a runner from junior high through college. After I graduated I kept running but I was getting more and more injuries. I wanted to do more exercise but I also wanted to be able to walk like a human being instead of Robbie the Robot because my joints were all stiffened up.

At the same time a friend from college had gotten into cycling and kept telling me how cool it was. I'd ridden a lot as a kid, even had a prototype BMX bike I made from a Stingray before BMX bikes existed and which I rode all over the local trails. So I saved up and bought a Raleigh "Team USA" left over from a promo for the '84 Olympics. My first ride was all of 6 miles and it hurt! But it wasn't long before I was doing 50-60 mile rides and had stopped running entirely.

After that I got into centuries and racing, then burned out and quit riding for 8 years. After I hit 40 I decided I needed to get back into shape so I started riding again and gradually worked back up to being fit. I don't think I'm in the best shape of my life- I was a little faster when I was 30- but I'm pretty fit.

I'm a lot happier when I get a lot of exercise.

huerro

I started riding regularly when I quit smoking about 3 years ago.

I needed some sort of cardio exercise to begin to get myself back into shape. I ran track and cc in high school, but have had knee problems since a skiing accident some time ago so I wasn't really up for running again.

I dug out my rigid giant mtb that I used to commute on and started going on some 10-20 mile rides. Then I bought myself a used road bike and haven't looked back. At first I really wanted to be a fast rider and was training. I think that this kind of discipline was necessary for me to really break the cigarette addiction. After about a year though, I've been able to slow down, ride with my head up, and enjoy the scenery a bit more. Now I'm more interested in doing distance than racing as a means of testing myself and visions of the 2011 PBP have started dancing in my head.

As for how it's changed my life, I think the biggest thing is that I've come to appreciate the bicycle as a form of transportation and not just a piece of sporting equipment. It's now my primary mode of transportation. I love it most when I'm exploring somewhere new. Nothing beats renting a bike and spending 10 or 12 hours riding around a new city.

7.rider

Four years ago I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes. I was 54 years old, 30-35 lbs overweight, out of shape and my cholesterol was over 240. My doctor told me I needed to watch my diet, exercise regularly and lose weight. I had an old spinning bike and started riding it, but got bored riding inside. So, I got a hybrid bike and started riding around my neighborhood. I then moved on to a fitness bike and going on longer rides. I started to really enjoy it and decided to get a road bike when I got to where I was riding 40+ miles a couple times a week.

I am now 58, lost 30 lbs., am a solid B+ rider, have ideal cholesterol levels (Doctor’s quote) and get severely depressed, …well not severely depressed, but a little unhappy, when I don’t get to ride regularly. I ride year round except when it gets below freezing as I had one incident when I hit a patch of ice and the back end of my bike started catching up to the front end of my bike. But, I do enjoy riding in the winter especially when I walk in to Caribou Coffee and see the look of disbelief on the faces of the other customers. Of course I also enjoy riding in the spring, summer and fall as well.

ElJamoquio

Running = bad knees
Dearborn, MI = No MTB'ing

chill123

i decided to ride from london to paris in under 24hrs for charity earlier this year. i'm addicted now.

ElJamoquio

They let you in the chunnel?

urbanknight

My dad got into it with a neighbor for fitness and he thought it would be fun for the whole family. Sadly, I'm the only one still riding.

chill123

nay - on the ferry!

Edonis13

my dad gave me my bike in May and told me he didnt think i could do a small triathlon in town. that was enough motivation for me to do that triathlon (and beat his time from the prior year) and continue on with the addiction.

now im trying to get some of my friends involved.

stapfam

15 years of MTB's and I lost a bit of interest in getting Muddy Got a road bike to see what it was like 18 months ago and now do both forms of riding. Mainly on the road in the Summer but Don't want to ruin a good bike in the foul weather of winter. So When its wet enough to soften the trails- I go and get muddy on the offroad hills.

MulliganAl

Aside from my riding days as a kid (banana seat and all), I picked it up recently after being away from it some 30+ years. I made the move after taking a good fall on my inlike speed skates and tearing my MCL. I needed something that offered the same thrill, level of fitness and enjoyment as my inlines.

bccycleguy

When I got back into cycling 8 years ago I was riding a hybrid, I soon realized I preferred pavement to dirt.