michaelrule4

Just as the title says. Explain how you just fell in love with your bike.

Mine would be the first time I decided to bike to the Waterfront of Toronto.

Retro Grouch 

We had a bunch of kids and not much money. Bicycling was the only thing that I could afford to do.

Machka 

How'd you fall into your love of biking?
Explain how you just fell in love with your bike.


Love of cycling and love of my current bicycle(s) are two different things which occured at different times.

I fell in love with cycling at the age of 6 a few days after I got my first two-wheeler, a little gold convertible bicycle.

I fell in love with my main bicycle, Machak, when he was delivered to me in April 2003.

GriddleCakes

I loved my childhood BMX until I got a Nintendo 8-bit. I still used it to get around until I got a driver license at 16. Then I didn't ride a bike again until I was 21.

In a combined effort to lose weight, save money, and do penance for working in the petroleum industry, I sold my car and bought a bicycle. After two years I bought another car, but the damage had been done. I had become a bicycle commuter.

But I guess I don't really love biking. I just hate driving.

Greyryder

Just had too much fun tearing around on my bike when I was a kid. I didn't want to stop. Probably why I still insist on riding a BMX race bike, even though it's poorly suited to the riding I like to do.

I did stop riding for about nine years, after I discovered the intarwebs. I started riding again last year, for the exercise. I kept riding, after I rediscovered how much fun it is.

As for falling in love with my bike, I fell in love with the look of Supercross BMX bikes in the early 90s, after I saw one in an issue of BMX Plus! I like the unusual, and the sub stay rear triangle is both unusual, and functional. I was finally able to get myself one, just before new year 1999/2000. They were out of my first color choice, so I got a blue one. I'm happy about that, since I finally came out of my black phase, shortly after I got it. The frame set does have a few eccentricities. The drop outs are too close together, and the canti mounts are too far apart and too far forward. It makes working on the bike interesting, but not impossible. I take it as a reminder to be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

stapfam

Took up cycling as a way of retaining the fitness I had. Found I liked it and despite that first ride of 28 miles with a bunch of kids that left me for dead- 20 years later and I am still riding.

And I live in a hilly area- not the ideal place to start riding as a newcomer. But within a year I had learnt how to put my lack of fitness to its best use in getting up the 1 mile 15% offroads that had those fit kids off and walking.

I now cycle for pleasure and not fitness or ego. I just enjoy cycling.

xray1978

I have been hooked ever since I came to the realization that I don't know or care how much gas cost or how much it cost to tag and insure a car. I am a cheap b@$tard.

dcrowell

I rode a lot around town as a kid, until I got my driver's license. Then, over the next 20 years I gained over 120 lbs. Almost two years ago, I bought my first "real" bike as an adult as part of my weight loss attempt, and I was instantly hooked.

I've now totally destroyed the drive train on my $225 cheap bike by putting 3000 miles on it. I've replaced the drive train on my recumbent from similar miles, and bought a new LHT in January and have exceeded 550 miles, so I'm well on my way to wearing out parts there too.

I love riding!

cyclezealot

I was into running. My knees said no more.. If you have to wear knee supports to reduce the pain, as I had to ; I'd say you need find another sport. In fact, I wish my original sport had been cycling, because I wonder how my knees will hold up as a result of my running days.

Alfster 

I fell in love with biking the first time I felt the freedom of riding without training wheels. That was around 39 years ago. I then made the mistake of ditching my bike for a car when I got my driver's license at 16. It wasn't until I was 37 years old when I rediscovered the freedom of biking. I'm lucky to have an amazing commute to work on a bike path that travels through a forest that follows our river. I absolutely love that ride.

Since I started biking again, I have purchased a hard tail mountain bike which I used for commuting and single track. I'd have to say that's my favourite bike in my stable.

tsl

I bought a bike. I rode it.

gurry

I've always owned a bike since around 1972, first a used one, then a new ten speed racer. After that one got stolen, I bought a new twelve speed racer, then in the nineties a hybrid\commuter. It wasn't until I owned more than one bike at a time that I really "got into" bicycles. Now I must say that I am addicted, and currently have only five bikes. Must get more.

dynodonn 

Since I've been riding as a child, I cannot say when the bicycling "aha" moment hit me. All I can say is that I began to appreciate bicycling more and more after spending many a dollar on vehicles and their subsequent expenses, and having nothing really to show for it.

alexvpaq

I was training a lot a few years ago, then I did too much jogging which made my legs get a lot stronger yet my knees tendons weren't developping at the same speed and it started to get painful... I thought I could use my cheap old bike instead which was a tank( over 40 pounds with full suspension) Still I liked it and realized it was almost if not, as fast as a car to commute.

So I decided to get a new bike. This bike is really a lot faster, lighter and a lot more enjoyable. So yeah that's when I really got into it.

JanMM

Took my '73 Federal tax refund and bought a Schwinn Continental. Quit smoking and started riding. The area around Bloomington, Indiana was conducive to developing a positive addiction to cycling.

Harvey2

Always loved bicycles. A continueing stint with motorcycles seems to have fueled (pardon the pun) my love of the basic idea of two wheels and the overall experience of riding. Motorcycles became scooters and bikes became a great way to spend time with my family.

Harv

Nichole

I decided to bike to and from classes last summer as a way of saving gas and getting some exercise. The spare time was there, so I didn't worry about the bit of extra time it would take to commute. I became addicted, finding the ride so much more relaxing and invigorating than driving. My best friend ended up getting engaged to a guy who raced road bikes and set me up with my Giant Defy to replace my 40lb mtb. Haven't looked back since. And even now that my schedule is a bit more crunched, I still make time to bike my drive by getting up early (which is saying a LOT) and careful planning. MMMMMmmmmmmm bicycle <3.

Mr. Beanz

Been on bikes since I was 3 (training wheels). Wasn't long before I could ride solo without the trainers. Always had a bike, never anything fancy. I had a paer route so I bought a World Sport with my earings at 14. Rode it till I was about 19. At 24, bought a hybrid, rode it for a few years. At 30, bought a roadie and that was it, beenriding since.

I've always had and loved riding bikes!..................Rollerskating too! Not as many others around like there are cyclists, or I'd be more involved.

travelmama

A love of biking is a bit extreme for me. I really do enjoy it as with most things I do. I think my world changed when the training wheels were removed and I had no constraints that held me back from being independent. I was a kid riding the most beat up of bikes with rusty chains and flat wheels without a care in the world. I could go wherever I wanted to when I got home from school or on the weekends. I was the same with roller skates. I probably slept with them on my feet some nights.

thirdgenbird

both my parents were cyclists and my mom competed in A LOT of triathlons when i was young. i literally grew up around the sport. i got my first road bike (bianchi) at about age 11 or so

i am now 24 and building up my dads first "real" road bike frame as my own. its nothing special, but a childhood dream come true.

DX-MAN

Grew up with bikes, it was just a natural thing. Then, I was presented with the 'unnatural' -- a weeklong bike trip with the church youth group that I didn't belong to. 250 miles on a loaner Schwinn 10-speed later, I was in love with the bike like I never had been before. My mother bought that bike from the group leader for $55, and I spent the next 2 years going EVERYWHERE on it, from high-school registration to finding my long-lost dad, to commuting to my first job.

Then the dreaded car moved in....

Over the next 25 years, I tried over and over to recapture that teen passion for pedaling; it was always just THAT LITTLE BIT out of reach....

Not long after my 12-y-o daughter was born, I got a rigid 18-speed Huffy MTB-poser that was worth its weight in iron pyrite, but I FOUND that passion again on it... rolling up and over a frozen plowed pile of snow on the way to work one December.

I've had 5 bikes since that Huffy, each one better than the last (up to the Dakar XLT I have now), and the passion has grown accordingly. I have 2 things in mind:

1.) get as many years out of the XLT as I can, it's a sweetheart; and
2.) build up a Nomad when the XLT gives up. I can see myself riding to the Social Security Office to sign up for it at 65 on the Nomad.

McStuff

I've been riding since I was a kid (Well, I'm only 16 now) and I've always liked it. I've had a few lapses in riding, but recently I've decided to get back into it bigger than ever. I can't say that I've fallen in love with my current bike, but I'll be buying one in a few months, so that should sort things out.

knobster

My wife got me into road cycling a few years ago and really enjoyed being out and exploring. Unfortunately, I got involved in a farm and have little time for it anymore. I may end up quitting and finding a hobby I can make time for.

mawtangent

I always had a bike around between the ages of 8 and 18 (that period started with a red 20-inch-wheeled Western Flyer from Western Auto and ended with a unknowned-brand yellow 10-speed that I bought from a friend for around $35). Then came the car and a somewhat acceptance of the "bikes are for kids" attitude that must prevail around here (since hardly no adults ride bikes where I live)...on top of that I found myself living in a new home (inside a small town) which seemed (especially at that time) to be a discouragement to biking. For the next 20 years I did have an ill-fitting Huffy Dash 10 speed that I rode from time to time, which later ended up being stored for years under my mobile home.

At 41, I (and my Huffy) moved out of the town to an area where there was some good roads for riding. I tested the cycling "waters" again with my Huffy, taking a ride from time-to-time, and then taking longer rides. I started thinking about a new bike, reading BF etc, and now I ride a lot more than I did as a kid. I've have several bikes now, some hits and misses. I slowly found out sub-$100 dept. store bikes probably won't ever satisfy me. I found out the importance of having a good-fitting bike toward making biking enjoyable. Flatbars look cool to me, but I've found it to be a lot more comfortable using dropbars. I have an '86 Scwinn Traveler roadbike that rides smooth but needs a different stem and I'm not crazy about its friction-shifting. I have a "rebranded" circa 2008 Dawes Lighting Sport roadbike (2 x 7 gearing with indexed stem shifters) that I got from an ebay seller that I put an adjustable stem on. Its on the heavy side but it fits me well and its what I've been riding the most lately.

AdamDZ

I grew up with a bike and a soccer ball Then I had a break in cycling during my 20s after I moved to USA and came back to biking in my 30s. It just seems to be a natural part of my life. Didn't go back to soccer though...

Once you hit the so called "adult age" and get a job, start a family, etc. don't let that take the cycling out of your life! I never had kids, but if I did they'd be riding with me everywhere.

Adam