Hi Everyone,

One of my high school dreams was to have a nice 10 speed (a Raleigh, if I recall) and tour all over the country. Well, it's been 36 years since then, and it's time...

To start, my riding will be primarily commuting to work. This will be a rather short ride (4 miles one way), but that's OK. I live in Central New York (state, not city) and while quite gorgeous, it's also rather hilly. I'll need to work at getting in shape for really touring around. I look forward to when I can take trips around the finger lakes nearby.

I'm going to have at least 4 family members in college in the fall, so I'm going to have to postpone getting the bike I'd like (some sort of hybrid). I've got a Nishiki touring bike I picked up at a rummage sale for $50. New tubes and tires, a tune up, and it's good for starting out. I hope to get that work done over the weekend. So, perhaps a maiden voyage on Tuesday.

My initial reasons for getting into biking are transportation (2 cars and 4 drivers with various job schedules) and exercise. I'm really hoping to lose a bit of paunch. I do expect to enjoy being out and about, too. Well, at least while the weather's nice. The winters get pretty bad around here. We'll see how hard-core I want to get.

I'm glad I found this forum. Seems like a nice place to learn. I've clearly got a lot of reading to do!

Paul