Ray9

A lot of people wonder why I do something every day that would kill most people if they tried it once. Because I read the warnings on cigarette packages I abstained from the habit in 1976 when the price of the lung destroyers was 35 cents a pack. Observations of friends and relatives that abused alcohol convinced me to avoid the poison and seeing the damage done to those who smoked weed and progressed to the stronger stuff alerted me to the reality that I and I alone have responsibility for my personal health.

In 1972 when I watched Frank Shorter win the Olympic Marathon I started running to stay in shape when no one else I knew was doing it. I ran for many years until my joints and ligaments began to protest and because I had saved thousands from not buying tobacco weed, or alcohol, I had the resources to purchase an expensive racing bicycle in 1983. It was the best investment of my life as nearly all of the people who were putting powder up their noses at the time are either already dead or swallowing their faces in a nursing home today.

As a libertarian I support the choices of all the corpses and institutionalized vegetables warehoused in beds across the nation enjoying the fruits of those choices. Every day at 72 I get on my bike and ride fifty miles, chasing the wind with clear lungs by choice. I know there is a risk due to traffic, driver inattention and impaired vehicle operation but it’s a risk worth taking just like the risk many others took when they voluntarily sabotaged their vital organs with chemicals.

If I should meet my end on the highway don’t feel sorry for me because any sympathy I have for those who threw away their health by eating like pigs, smoking like chimneys and drinking like fish can be measured in microns.

As a Baby boomer I got great deal. Jonas Salk and Alexander Fleming cleared the minefield of many diseases that took out depression-era citizens and my path was easier. I have a huge appreciation for those who worked so hard to make things better for me. That’s why I ride my bike; It’s good for my heart, my lungs and my mind.

You do what you want; you’re free for now. See you on the road.

TimothyH

No, calling human beings corpses and institutionalized vegetables is to rob them of their dignity. They are people, not objects to be looked down on.

Some of us believe that those who have been blessed should serve the least and lowest, not dismiss them because of the choices they have made or because they are no longer of use to society.

We have all made mistakes and chosen poorly. Some of us regret those mistakes dearly. The fact that one chose to exercise and another didn't doesn't make one better or worse.

None of us know what the other person has gone through in life and what they are dealing with on the inside. There are people who lave had children die, been through combat, abused by parents and spouses and raised in homes without fathers, all through no fault of their own. Being hard hearted about it doesn't help anyone be better.

Any one of us could have get a disease or be disabled in a moment. Riding bicycles is no guarantee and the measure you give is the measure you will get. Personally, I hope lots of people come to my funeral and remember me as a sympathetic and generous person.


-Tim-

Ray9

Meh, it's the old "there but for the grace of God go I" If you break your leg dancing you still have to pay the fiddler's bill. I agree with your last paragraph; anything can happen at any time. I'm hoping for an Eleanor Rigby funeral-to die in a church and be buried along with my name-nobody came. Nobody cane because I outlived everyone who ever really knew me. I don't care much about what other people think; I just do what I do.

CAT7RDR

I ride because I no longer take my health for granted. I am a partner in my own existence and there are no guarantees I will live another 30 years let alone another day.

My g/f is not so fortunate. She suffers with migraines and a good day for her is being a few hours w/o severe pain. She forces herself to use a stair climber a few hours a week to manage her pain. Sometimes people do not abuse themselves and bust their butts to avoid hospitals, SNF's, Rehabs and the like. Sometimes it is just genetics.

So I am low key with her and try to keep the storytelling of my rides to a minimum because I know she wishes she could ride with me. She once rode motocross before the migraines disabled her.

Skullo 

I don’t care “Why you ride”.

Ray9

Life can hand anyone a bag of ****. My wife retired and I am glad she goes to the gym with me. She sat at my bedside every time I came within an inch of my life from a crash in a bicycle race. Many times and many concussions with broken bones. At 70 I came in third among the fifties. No more racing I guess but I'd rather go like that than in a rest home.

Cyclist0108

TL;DR: That pretty much sums it up.

Ray9

It's hard for me to hear you as I leave you in the dust.

big john

How do you know you could?

jppe

Good for you Ray9 for the choices you made. Obviously it has been a great choice for you and others who have done the same. Interestingly some of my siblings had other obligations they considered more important than taking care of themselves. They chose to devote their time to improve the lives of others at the sacrifice of their own health. I admire them for that, and sometimes feel guilty because I’ve put the betterment of myself before some others, even my kids and close friends. And they don’t snort coke nor drink any alcohol to excess. It’s all about the choices we make.

I-Like-To-Bike

Anyone so sanctimonious just must be real fast to keep ahead of those less worthy than he thinks he is.

big john

There used to be a lot of that sort of posting on the road forum.

downhillmaster

This

philbob57

I care why you're so sanctimonious. I care that you're so sanctimonious. Obviously, however, you're stuck.

jackb

The OP appears to be pissed off at something or other, thus the bitter tone of much of what he says. As another poster responded, who cares why you ride, and , by the way, who cares about your politics? If you have something to say, I would suggest that you say it in a civil voice if you care to have people listen. But, of course, you are free to say what you like, how you like, but why the bitterness?

jon c. 

I ride because it makes me smile.

caloso

I ride my bike to ride my bike.

Hondo Gravel

All I wanted was a Pepsi but she wouldn’t give it to me just a Pepsi just one Pepsi but she wouldn’t give it to me It doesn’t matter I’ll probably get hit by a car anyways

Ray9

Don’t confuse bitterness with outright anger. I worked with a woman for years who was told to stop smoking or she would lose her leg. She told them to take the leg. She was a Boomer who benefited from medical research and never had to face Polio or a host of other bacterial infections eradicated by modern medicine. She thumbed her nose at the research and paid the fiddler with a leg. She’s long gone just like the husbands of three of my sisters-in-law who are alone in their golden years. I am here for my wife because I hit the road every day and log miles on the safest roads I can find. At 72 I still get butterflies in my stomach as I prepare for the adventure ahead.

If sanctimony is your observation then acquainting yourself with reality may be a policy you should follow. I’m not the judge for these people, they are blissfully suicidal. They learned nothing from those who went before them. I follow Darwin.

Lemond1985

Ever read the full title of his book?

"On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species

Cheap shot, I know. However, I do agree with your observations on people who refuse to take care of their own health, especially the ones who then expect other people to pay for every penny of their (often useless) medical procedures, which would have been easily avoidable had they exercised even a little bit of self-discipline.

Ray9

I‘ve proposed this before but here it is again: Double the price of a six-pack of beer, double the price of a pack of cigarettes and double whatever the going price of legalized marijuana will be. Use the massive monies collected to offset the damage done to society by providing a national program of funded insurance for the users of these products. The users would be paying at the pump and the relief they would get would greatly reduce their financial and physical suffering.

And forget about crying about discrimination against the poor. No one, rich or poor, has a right to poison themselves. They do however have a responsibility to pay their own way if they choose to use the poison.

eja_ bottecchia

A bit over dramatic and overwrought, but I guess everyone is entitled to his opinion.

I ride because it is fun.

It is really that simple.

eja_ bottecchia

If you truly do not care what others think, then why the long diatribe? People who truly couldn’t care less what others think don’t usually write about it. Just a thought.

Ride safely, enjoy the ride.

Ray9

!994 Cannondale R800-still worth money with wheels I have on it.
2008 Cannondale Six-13-good rain bike.
2015 Cannondale Super Six-She's a beauty.

Iride01 

Hmmm, Don't know if the initial post reads quite as the author intended. It does seem to have a little Khan Noonien Singh sentiment in it.