Rode as a kid and that progressed to BMX bikes. Stopped riding a couple of years after high school. Moved to the US, and started college. Girls became almost a sport at the time, so working out was unnecessary. Met a woman that was into triathlons. Hated swimming to no end, so she suggested I try a duathlon. This was early 90's. Started to run 30-35 miles/week, and after buying a Trek 2100 with Chitmano 105 I was soon doing 300-400 miles/week on top of the running. I was simply a machine and had every minute of the day accounted for. Slept only 5 hr, run 1-2 hr in the AM before going to school full time, rode in the afternoon, study for a few hr, went to bed, and repeat 5 hr later! Then, worked 16 hr days every sat and sunday on top of it! Best shape I have ever being in my life for sure. Then, went to med school and all that went to chit! By the end of my first year of med school, I was doing no running, no more than 100 miles/week on the bike, had gained 20-25 Lb, felt like chit all the time, but still ate the same as before. No motivation, surrounded by fat people that had never worked out in their lives, all kinds of weird personalities, etc. Stopped riding altogether at the very beginning of the 2nd year of med school.
Fast forward 10 years and I had gone from a lean and muscular 175 lb to a porky 314 Lb. Trying to get out of bed one morning almost took an act of congress. Made me cry that I was only in my late 30's and feeling/looking like that, not to mention the health implications. Put a zipper in my stomach/mouth, started to walk some until I could get back on a bike without loosing it inside my colon, and started to loose a bit of weight. As soon as I started to feel like I could pedal, I got the Trek out of the closet, cleaned and lubed, and went out for a 3 mile ride. All I could think the entire time was that a car would hit me and simply take me out of my misery! Months later, I did my first century in over a decade. It has been now a few years since that new beginning, but I was back to within 10 Lb of my original weight inside of 18 months. NEVER AGAIN!!!!
Many people ride for different reasons, have different motivations, different goals, and different outlook as to what it is they are doing, but in the end we are all doing the same thing: riding!
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Arguing with ignorant people is an exercise in futility. They will bring you down to their level and once there they will beat you with their overwhelming experience.