"The One Thing" - How has cycling changed/improved your life?
Hi there roadies,
I started road cycling 6 years ago and it's been a singularly significant influence on my life. It became the seminal event that led to physical, emotional, relational and professional improvements in my life. If you've ever seen the old 1991 movie "City Slickers" (starring Billy Crystal) you might recall the following dialogue between Curly and Mitch:
Curly: You know what the secret of life is?
Mitch: No, what?
Curly: This.
Mitch: Your finger?
Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don't mean ****.
Mitch: That's great, but what's the one thing?
Curly: That's what you've got to figure out.
I've discovered that cycling is my "one thing". I need it to nurture and maintain my physical, spiritual and social health. Does that sound too lofty? Is cycling just one of many things for you that are important to maintaining a healthy lifestyle or is it singularly important? How significant is your cycling in terms of influencing the overall balance in your life?
Very briefly, this is my story. I was physically suffering from hypertension, mood swings, depression and a bad marriage 6 years ago. This spilled over into my professional and family life and made me emotionally abusive and unprofessional towards my colleagues and children. A friend convinced me to join him and few others in a regular Saturday morning bike ride. Five months later I had hammered out 3,800 KM on my 23 year old MTB and I was hooked. I was also happier, fit, performing better at work, back in love with my wife, enjoying my children and I found that people actually enjoyed being around me again. I totally understand that cycling is not a panacea for all your troubles. However, it's been huge in my life. I'm fifty now and cycling friends, cycling tours, cycling gear, charity rides, cycling books, training, etc., are a huge focus in my life and I'm always looking for ways to combine my passion for cycling with all the other pursuits and interests that life throws at me.
OK, I'm gonna horn in here, even though I'm not a roadie; I ride MTB for everything, with a HT SS on the planning board for the next couple months. My present and primary ride is a FS/AM bike with 5.7" at each end. Haven't found anything it can't handle; in fact, I quit before the bike does!
Cycling has transformed my life like practically nothing else, even marriage; becoming a father at nearly 38 was the only match to it.
There is NOTHING that will come between me and the bike; the only thing that conceivably COULD would be a kidnapper demanding I choose between my child and my bike. Since I'm a poor guy, i don't see us being targeted....
Joy; passion; the release from 'fitting in', or the need to (a need that was put upon me, not my own need). The ability to do things I couldn't do as a teen or young adult (faster across town now on the FS/AM than I was at 16 on the 10-speed); personal capability is just off the scale!
I can leave behind being ordinary; shed the weight of 'responsible maturity' without being irresponsible.
When I roll those two wheels, under my own impetus, I am as free as I've always wished to be; I am... home.
"There's no such thing as no such thing." -- Warehouse 13
Taking up cycling in 2009 helped me maintain my 30 lb. weight loss of the last 3 years and also achieve the goal of fitting into pants with a 34" waist. (38s had begun to appear in the wardrobe way back when.) Now, 2010 will involve looking into ways to combine my new passion for cycling with all the other pursuits, interests, and opportunities that life throws at me. Very well stated Ron.
Thanks for the reply Randy. You have (or had) a name sake in Winnipeg, Manitoba that was a friend and colleague of my brother-in-law many years ago and a pretty talented hockey player, as I recall. Hitting a 38" waist size at age 42 was part of my fitness reform impetus as well (I've lost about 25lb and a four inches off the waist since) .
Similar tale here. I have worked out, and run, since High School football days. I thought I was in good shape, and talked to an older fellow who brought up his passion and suggested I go to a bike shop down the road.
That was 1990, and I sure owe that fellow. I found out I was not in the shape I thought I was in, and trying to describe the feeling of freedom and how much I belonged on that bike hauling butt down a road is not easy.
There is not much in this world I would rather do than hop on the Rocket Dale and put it through its paces on the road. I am getting too old to run like I did, but cycling just keeps getting better. Being a certified Sports Nutritionist and Personal Fitness trainer, I figure it is pretty much impossible to come up with a better aerobic program than the bicycle. Of course, the gym still keeps the whole body in balance. At 63, I weigh 160 and wear 30 pants. The best way to make the bike lighter is to put less weight on the saddle.
Saturday, I drove out some new, long rides in anticipation for the 2010 riding season. It is in the 20's here now, so no riding. I can barely wait for the next warmish day with a little sun.
I have a Life Cycle gym-quality trainer to keep the base until this spring.
Last edited by ShootingCoach; 01-04-10 at 06:58 PM.
Can't say I agree with Curly. Cycling, my work (as differentiated from job), music/art, and my family are all things that keep me "balanced". Cycling as a component of my life is an extremely important and pleasurable thing for me that brings fitness. However, if I could no longer do it, I'd find something else that would fill the void. I'm also acutely aware that life can throw you some interesting curves and I might not always be able to cycle. However, since I can do it, no need to find something else just yet.
Glad you found something to help move your life in the direction you want it to go. That's big, real big.
Every moment of one's existence one is growing into more or retreating into less. One is always living a little more or dying a little bit. - Norman Mailer
I was young, fit, affluent. I met this young woman cycling. We got married. We had two kids. We bought a house in the suburbs. She ran off. I spent the next 15 years as a single parent, then sent 'em both through college and graduate school.
Yeah, cycling changed my life.
tcs
"Impress on your memory the roads and paths, villages and towns, outstanding church towers and other landmarks so that you will not forget them. Perhaps you should be able to utilise these sometime for the benefit of the Fatherland." Advice to German youth cycletouring abroad in German Cyclist magazine, 1937.
"Every so often a bird gets up and flies some place it's drawn to. I don't suppose it could tell you why, but it does it anyway." Ian Hibell, 1934-2008
If there's "one thing" for me, it's not cycling. I love it: it's given me a way to commute without a car, to keep my weight down, my attitude up and my biomarkers near optimum. But I love too many other "things" for cycling to be my #1.
2002 I was diagnosed with breast cancer, stage 2. Yes, men can get brca, after all, we have breasts too. It's just not very common. Anyway, during the 6 months of chemo, I got pretty worn out. I went bald, my eyes were sunken (I looked like Uncle Fester on Addam's Family) and I had what I called "crap and nap." Getting up and going to he BR took so much out of me that I would have to take a nap after.
In 2003, I decided that I needed to change things I could control. Never being much of an athelete, I decided to get a bike. My wife and I got Diamondback Hybrids and would take after dinner rides to Starbucks. 4 mi each way. Our friends though we were nuts. I got a kid seat and would ride my grandson (that's him in my avatar.) When my grandson started school I would pick him up a couple of times a week, again about 9 miles round trip.
In Feb 2009 my buddy, 69, decided he wanted to try Road Biking, and do the Miami MS 150 in May. I borrowed a bike (89 trek 1200) and we started riding. To my amazement, I liked it. I started riding 3x a week, 40 mi each. On Dec 6th, I did my first Century and maintained a 19.0 mph ave speed (ride time) 16.67 mph ET. A far cry from Crap and Nap.
Next Sunday 1/10, I'm doing a ride-my-age "Metric" to celebrate my 62nd bday. If you are in the Coral Springs, FL area, come join us.
BT
'09 Motobecane Immortal Pro, with lollipops
'02 Diamondback Hybrid
'09 Lamborghini Viaggio Tandem
6 miles inland from the coast of Sussex, in the South East of England
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I used to be one of those ultra- fit youngsters you see occasionally but at 34 had to give up XC running with a knee injury and a family to bring up. Then in 1990 I found out how unfit I was and a friend suggested I came out on a ride with him. He may have taken me up all the longest steepest hills round where I live and on the bike I had- I walked up most of them but following week and I was out again.
20 years later and I am still riding- but I have stopped walking up the hills.
My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic.
I started serious road cycling 41 years ago and haven't stopped yet. Folks on this forum think I'm crazy because I like to ride double-centuries (rode 9 in 2009).
While I do have other interests, cycling is a huge part of my life. My wife is a dedicated cyclist too (she rode 2 doubles last year), and we have met lots (most) of our friends through the local cycling club.
On top of that, I've worked in the bicycle industry since '76, do all my own work on our families' bikes (short of frame building), and have a great time doing it. So that's my story so far; hopefully there's a bit more left to live!
I trained for a marathon. I developed plantar fasciitis. I had to stop.
I did nothing for about 2 years. I grew fat and out of shape.
I then took up MTBing to bond with my teenage son. I almost killed myself on several occasions. I don't recommend it to newbies.
I then bought a road bike. I liked it because I didn't have to worry about jumping over stuff or running into trees and very large rocks.
I think riding gives me something to look forward to. I love to be outside, except when it is 20 (which it was today when I rode. Maybe more on that later).
It's not been transformative. It is fun, though. My wife doesn't like it much. After 30 years of marriage I'm not about to dump her so I can ride more.
I think that's it.
Aspiration is inspiration mixed with perspiration in concentration yielding evisceration.
I was young, fit, affluent. I met this young woman cycling. We got married. We had two kids. We bought a house in the suburbs. She ran off. I spent the next 15 years as a single parent, then sent 'em both through college and graduate school.
I was an out-of-shape overstressed middle-aged lawyer when I was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 47. I had surgery and chemo, and then started swimming. Then three hurricanes blew all the shingles off the roof and into the pool, and wrecked the house, so I started cycling while in a rental. I was in pretty good shape when the cancer came back in my liver a year later. After more surgery and brutal chemo, I started riding seriously, and haven't stopped. I'm in the 30% five-year survival category (stage 4 colon cancer), and I passed 3 years and 10,000 miles since chemo last summer. I think cycling has saved my life.
That said, I can't say that I love riding. Like most exercise, cycling is frequently boring, it sometimes hurts, and makes me tired. While I don't love riding, I love having ridden. It is a major part of a major life change.
I don't know if cycling changed my life. I have always ridden bikes since I was a kid. Cycling is a part of my life. It is a part that I enjoy and that I spend a lot of my time and effort on.
But I do think my life is better because I ride bikes. I am in much better physical condition than most of my friends my age and many younger. Even after having throat cancer I am healthier. My oncologist tells me he has never had a patient handle as strong a regimen of chemotherapy and recover as quickly as I did. So maybe cycling saved my life.
"We could have saved the Earth but we were too damned cheap." - Kurt Vonnegut
I love this thread, and the stories in it. Thanks!
I rode on the 70s, then the 80s and flirted with Mountian biking in the 90s. I enjoyed it all. But it's hard to maintain alone.
When I married in 1999 my bride turned out to be a latent cyclist!
She started commuting to work by bike, and when her friend turned out to be a roadie, she got a road bike!
When I couldn't keep up with her on her bike commute I re-started riding too.
Now we both bike to work, We take cycling vacations together. I've lost 40+ pounds and feel good. She's still the hot chick I was lucky enough to marry.
This year started with a ride up Mt. Diablo, and afterward we planned our cycling calendar together.
Eight days in Montatna with Adventure Cycling! Numerous centuries! I'm aiming at the CA Triple Crown (3 doubles in one year.)
Life is good.
On top of Diablo above the clouds
You may get the Adventure Cycling ride catalog for 2010
Check the back cover for my sweet bride.
WANTED: Not a darn thing. I've got it all. Life is good.
Four deaths, loss of employment, loss of income, major house fire, car accident in two years. The only thing that kept me sane was my bike riding. Despite the snow storms, wind and rain I kept riding. Yeah, riding saved my life.
While it is impossible to prove, it is my opinion that cycling has kept me out of a wheelchair. I have M.H.E. (a hereditary bone disorder) and when I was 8 or 9 years old, the docs told me I would be in a wheelchair before I was 30. I will be 55 this year, and still am not in that dang chair.
"Whenever I see an adult riding a bicycle, I know there is hope for mankind." (H. G. Wells)
I've enjoyed the usual great fitness level that serious cycling provides, but I think it also made a giant difference in how I recovered from surgery and chemo for lung cancer. There seem to be so very few lung cancer survivors with anything close to my energy level that I have to be very thankful that I loved riding and did as much of it as I did before my illness.
It has totally changed my life. in 2007 the company I had founded and run for 10 years went bust. I lost everything. At the time I was 30 pounds overweight, smoking 60 cigarettes daily and hadnt done any exercise in years.
I decided to get fit to rebuild my shattered confidence and ended up buying a road bike. It was a mad period of time where I threw myself into training. I literaly hadnt cycled since I was 11 years old!! (I'm 36 now)
This happened in April 2007. In July 2007 the Tour de France was starting in London and I decided to cycle the route one day ahead of the professionals. It was completely mad. I had never even ridden 50 miles in a day before. never ridden up any kind of serious hill!!
It was the most amazing adventure. I took my 70 year old mother with me and she drove a transit van support vehicle where we slept each night on the start line so that I was ready for the next days stage.
The 21 days and 2500 miles nearly killed me - But it completely CHANGED MY LIFE. I will always be grateful for cycling and the wonderful oppertunities it has given me and the incredible people I have met through it.
I would'nt normally put a link into a forum post but I wrote a series of blog posts about this Tour de France ride that you may find interesting. This link is Part 1 http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/11/get...-france-route/
After the very common middle-aged neglect due to career and family, rediscovering cycling gave me my health (heart and lungs) back. As I approach retirement now it has become truly a central life interest. There are a few other things I enjoy as much as riding (e.g. flyfishing) but I can't do them as often and they do not have near the same health benefits. My only regret is that I didn't find this ten years earlier!
[QUOTE=billydonn;10227067. My only regret is that I didn't find this ten years earlier![/QUOTE]
+1 on this!
I found that riding has pretty much killed my golf game too, play less now, used to play every Saturday and Sunday now it is Saturday only, and ride Sunday instead. I usually ride after Saturday's game too but not as long as Sunday. I like the early morning Sunday rides so much more, very peaceful.
I also found that golf is not exercise as some say. I played a ton and walked too but I never lost any weight like I did on bike!
Cycling has always been an important element of my life. Before retiring I rode 24 kms to work for 6 years and competed in triathlon and long distance riding. Now I ride mainly for pleasure, touring and training to stay fit for my many other pursuits. I still play ice hockey 5 times a week and cycling gives the cardio strength like no other. Few other 57 year olds can keep up. The beauty of cycling is its ease. It never seems like a workout. This year my wife will retire and we are planning our cycle tour vacations. Riding together, meeting people and new places is a wonderful way to share experiences with friends and family. I just feel that cycling is just there.....just a way to travel, shop, sight see, commute. The beauty is I love it.
Hockey
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Originally Posted by Ron_J
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