I've always had a bike, since age 4. The first one I bought myself was around age 10. Until about age 30, I never realized that road cycling was a sport, I thought the only cycling competitions were in a velodrome. The first Lemond TDF was a revelation. Oddly enough the person that first sparked an interest in getting a decent bike (for training, not racing) was Marc Girardelli. I couldn't have been less interested in road cycling as a sport during the Armstrong years, then a buddy at work turned me on the the TDF and I was hooked. Too bad I missed the entire Eddy Merckx era, that may have inspired a bike purchase.