MrCrassic 

I'm not sure if there has been a thread like this before, but I have been wondering about this for a while.

A fellow racer (better than me) and I discussed the motives of getting into this crazy sport, and I realized that, for most people, the drive to get into cycling and, eventually, road bike racing (or any kind of bicycle racing) is usually a result of a need to accomplish a very specific goal. I know that this might sound vague or obvious, but as a former baseball player (and a bad one), I thought about this.

I didn't really get into baseball on my own accord; my father and his family before him were in love with the sport and hoping that I would continue. While I eventually dropped baseball after lack of interest (or sheer laziness and refusing to do laps) and trying (and failing at) track, I ruled out sports all together.

There was only one problem: I was fat. I wasn't huge by any means, but I certainly wasn't where I wanted to be. I felt ashamed to look at myself daily, and I knew that just throttling my diet wouldn't be enough. Working at Midtown for a while only exacerbated the issue (because eating healthy is NOT a bang for your buck in the finance world). I eventually took up spinning, got interested, and bought a cheap Schwinn that eventually sheared at the seat-stay (bad mechanic).

A few months, a franken-road bike (look on the forums; it's here somewhere), girl problems and an accident later, I bought my Trek 1000 and the rest was history.

What are your stories like? What brought you into racing? What keeps you here?

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patentcad

I have always done it because I like riding fast with the racing guys much more than riding with Freds.

• Racing makes me so much faster than I get when I don't race

• Racing makes me a better/smarter rider in every way

• Racing gives me a sharp focus for my training

• Racing is an endless source of humiliation and Self Loathing, the key to Pcad Cycling Zen

I rode long before I raced. That's not why I ride. I can completely identify with every Fred on this forum about why they ride when I see their posts of ride scenery/experiences etc. I'm with you. It's a religious experience at times.

But that doesn't mean I want to ride with them. That's not elitism. I don't particularly like riding with anybody unless they're trying to tear my legs off. And if I'm riding 8" off somebody's wheel @ 25mph I really don't need any squirrelly bull****. I don't get that with the Road Nazis I ride and race with. I do sometimes get that with some of the Freds. But I do not disdain them at all. I just like to post threads here that piss off the humorless Freds on BF.

Nothing is sadder than a humorless Fred (except a humorless Road Nazi). There's idiocy in both camps. What the F it's friggin cycling. We look like lycra clad idiots because we are lycra clad idiots.

VosBike

Lacrosse, ski racing, and track through most of high school.

Broke my pelvis.

First thing I was allowed to do getting back was biking.

Never looked back.

merckx89

X-C and track in high school. Competitive nature. Started cycling and doing group rides and races, realized there were people out there faster... much faster, started training. I hate getting beat by someone knowing that I could have put in more work, more hours, or more pain and didn't. Goal would be Cat 1 within a few years.

carlfreddy

Broke my neck (literally).

Once I was cleared to lead a normal life I bought a bike and starting training for shorter triathlons (inspired by some Men's Health article). Entered my first bike race 1 month after buying my first real bike and the rest is history.

My main motivation to compete in triathlons was that the training would get me back in shape (I had just spent the last year not allowed to do any physical activity, and 3 months of it I was in a halo). I quickly realized that racing a bicycle would also get me into shape.

Prior to breaking my neck I raced in the SCCA since 2000, so I've always had a desire to compete. Unfortunately it got to the point where I couldn't afford to compete at the level that my driving allowed. Now all my SCCA friends laugh when I talk about carbon fibre bikes and make fun of my spandex, but I get the last laugh; they are all overweight and out of shape, and in one month alone I race 3 times more than they will in an entire season.

waterrockets 

Lost driver's license to tickets. Got a bike, found other riders on commutes, and realized that crushed souls taste good.

carlfreddy

How appropriate.

patentcad

Better with a little A-1.

blonduathlongrl

*edit*
deleted everything I wrote... decided that it was too personal..
Ill just leave the last couple sentences!


why do I race? because I can try anything I dream of and if Im going to teach my daughter to overcome any health problem or complications/problems she was born with and make the best of it, then I owe it to her and myself to overcome my own fears.

waterrockets 

That's quite a history there BDG

Now, when's the first race again?

blonduathlongrl

thanks kind of made me sad talking about it again so I took it off.
it's best to concentrate on what's ahead, right?

that race is soon... and Im not saying when... I think if I see it written down It might just seem too real.. but it's real soon

I can, I can, I can..

Spreggy

Luckily I read it before it got chopped. Now I'm an even bigger fan.

My story? A common American tale. 3 yrs ago I set a goal to quit smoking. 2 yrs ago I set a goal to lose the weight I picked up from not smoking and from driving a desk all day, which included commuting by bicycle. 1 yr ago set a goal to ride a century, and rode 4 of them. This yr set a goal to race by June 1st. Without goals, I'd just walk away from it.

LowCel 

I rode years ago and then quit. Started drinking, smoking, doing everything I shouldn't do. After smoking (3 packs a day) and drinking for a few years and getting extremely lucky and not killing myself, killing anyone else, and not getting a dui I finally wised up and quit. To reward myself I started riding bikes again. I did it both as a source of exercise and so I would have something to do with my brother. When I first started I rode about a mile a day and thought I was doing great. My brother thought I was hopeless on the trails, he didn't think I would ever get the hang of it.

Fast forward to now and it is a huge part of my life. It's amazing how life can change.

SwimBike

well im new into this crazy world. First race in 2 weeks.

Why did I get into it? I was a competitive swimmer, 14 time all conference scorer so decent at it. I destroyed my shoulder (had two previous surgeries) my senior year of college, lost feeling in my hand, non perm ulna nerve damage and a torn labrum. So...I was beat up and couldnt swim anymore. All of my friends suggested I should do Tri's, I could wait for my shoulder to heal while I train in cycling and running. Running hurt to much but I was allowed to ride stationary bikes (it was a 6+ month recovery).

From there I bought my first road bike, an allez elite. I joined a club in NH called the Granite State Wheelmen and I was encouraged to race by them. Once I moved up north of the adirondacks in NY, I joined a team out of Lake Placid and here I am....

I also think I have a weird obsession with pain. Training year round 25ish hours a week for swimming...there is something wrong with you. Now it is just a matter of learning this crazy new sport. And thats my story