Hi all,

I'm new here, and posting from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I'm a 29 year old guy looking to get more serious into cycling, both for commuting (which I already do) and for fitness (I'm about to turn 30 and could definitely use a healthy hobby).

I'm relatively new to bicycling, too. As a matter of fact, I only learned to ride a bicycle 3 years ago. Growing up, I had a bicycle for about a week before it was stolen from the garage. I hadn't learned to ride it yet without the training wheels, and guess I just didn't have enough interest to beg my parents for a new bike. Man, if only I had known what I was missing out on! Since I learned to ride a bicycle, I've really enjoyed it, and I now commute to work and around town every day except for when it's raining (which I'm hoping to change after I get some rain gear).

For me, nothing beats the feeling of the wind in my hair and really being able to notice the environment/nature around me as I cruise around town. It's also fun to notice the funny looks I get from people when they see me riding along with my 10 lb. dog in the basket strapped to my back-rack . Plus I enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that I'm powering my own means of transportation.

I guess the only other thing related to cycling is that I'm looking to switch from my 2004 Gary Fisher Wahoo to a Giant Defy 3 road bike that I tested out last week. I've been pleased with the Wahoo, but came to the realization that I have never taken the bike off the road, and don't plan to in the future. Test riding the Defy 3 felt like a new world was opening up to me, almost as revealing as the feeling I got when I first learned to ride a bike, haha.

I guess I'll stop there, as I see a wall of text forming already. I guess I can tend to be a bit long-winded. I look forward to reading the posts here, and if you're from around Hattiesburg MS and would like to ride sometime just let me know!