eja_ bottecchia

Women all over the world agree!

TimothyH

Your response is a perfect example why.


-Tim-

Rowan

It is really great to read this. Some of us were around when you were going through the travails of broken bones and monumental uncertainty about cycling again. I am really, really glad it has all worked out for you.

There are always things we look back on and think "I shoulda". But life doesn't work like that, and mostly we do live in the moment, having to make decisions then and there to maintain or advance our security, whether financial, moral, or personal. Some we might regret, some we don't, and sometimes that is a matter of perspective.

As far as cycling, I just enjoy it. I have done a lot, been many places, and have a good life largely because of it. I have many of the bits and pieces that go with cycling, and I may never be able to afford a top-flight bike. In all, I am with Retro... with the usual minor things, I am very happy with my life today and think that it's all good.

InTheRain

Should have tried an ebike years ago. Love it. I also love my road bike.

B. Carfree

I waffle on this one. Should I have bought the beautiful awesome-riding Merckx that the owner of my LBS tried to sell me (he knew he didn't need to try very hard), or would I have quit my career and spent all my time at bike races if I had made the buy? That bike was intoxicating.

I think I made the right choice and I still manage to ride enough that I'm now over 600,000 miles.

Deal4Fuji

^^^ this as far as riding goes, but I did manage to hang on to my 1st bike store bike (the '82 Fuji). Now that I ride with a club in a town I've been in since '88 I wish I'd stayed with cycling and didn't miss out on all these stories about group rides & adventures they had from the good 'ole days.
I've always had a recreational outlet that I felt passionate about from my earliest days of Little League baseball that turned into basketball as I kept growing. That turned into cycling → ultimate → running → golf → weight lifting → and now back to cycling. Most of these overlapped somewhat and cycling is one thing that I could have maintained through all the peaks & valleys of other interests.

big john

4 of us toured across the U.S. in 1990. I always wanted to do it again and never got around to it. Wish I had.
Still, lots of great memories riding various bikes with various people.

I don't tend to get emotional about things,(cars, bikes, etc.). I wish I could have taken more time off work to ride more, especially in recent years, with whatever bike I had on hand.

John E

Get off my arse and finish my project bike. (Capo Sieger)

I have owned it for several years now, and I usually try to complete projects more quickly than that.

BlazingPedals

Wasn't there a Star Trek NG episode on that subject? Who we are today is the sum of all our previous experiences - both good and bad.

Monoborracho

I should never have let my teenage son take my 1970 Campy equipped LaPierre ten speed out for a ride one afternoon in 1991. He totaled it.

Jon T

The Yellow Jersey Bike Shop in Arlington, WI has newly-made old style (as in toe cages) cleats to fit new shoes with LOOK and SPD 2 and 3 bolt patterns. Might give 'em a try, and no, I'm not affiliated with them in any way, shape or form. Just passin' on some useful info.
Jon

1989Pre 

Found more deserted, one-way streets to ride the wrong way on.

canklecat

Thanks. I checked the website. Wow, hello, Web 1.0! Everything but glowwinky dancing GIFs!

downtube42

Touched the brakes just a tad.

dougmon 

+1.

From 25 to 59 for me, but still -- I wish I'd kept cycling.

martianone

My body shape is odd- tall with long torso and short legs. Been tweaking bike fit for some time- finally worked with LBS and a frame maker to build and set up a custom sized frame. Now I can ride for hours in comfort - not sure why I waited so long to do it.

Rowan

Probably. I've been working on this saying for a while:

Yesterday gives us the knoweldge today to live tomorrow.

Gresp15C

Get better exercise (physical and mental) when young

JanMM

Shoulda stopped pumping tires up to MAX PRESSURE long ago - unless appropriate.

wphamilton

I was late 40's before even starting, under-weight and starting to get old Then I think back to those horrendous commutes in Dallas/Irving down Hwy 183, and how much easier an alternate route on a bike would have been had I only known. It's not just years, but decades.

If it's just since we've started biking, I tend to wait maybe a year or two longer than I need to for a new bike, and I still haven't toured even though I've wanted to for years.

roccobike

I should have trashed that awful 72 Raleigh Record that I had, long ago. For years I thought I had a good bike never realizing the Huret Alvit rear derailer was one of the worst designs ever perpetrated on the consumer. Every time I tried to return to cycling, I rode that POS that never shifted correctly, then put it back in the garage. Finally, many years later I rode a 17 year old Nishiki Ariel MTB with Shimano Deore derailers and shifters and discovered how a quality bike was supposed to shift and ride. I'm so glad I rediscovered cycling, but still regret the years lost by hanging on to that POS Raleigh.
Here's a pic of the Raleigh:

cyclist2000

I still have my Sidi's that have the nylon cleat that work with toe clips and quill pedals and I have a couple of sets of Campy pedals with Campy toe clips. The shoes started to come apart but I found a shoe repair shop that could fix them (thank goodness).

Robert C

I recently switched the brakes on my commuter from standard cable disc to hydraulic. Even with the cheap setup I used, there is a world of difference.

dmanthree

Gotten a bike that fit properly. My first few bikes were "rough guesses" and never really fit. My last three have been properly fit and it's night and day.

gif4445

I should have started riding long before I turned 52. Hung onto the young mans sports too long.