Traveler5

What is there about riding a two-wheeled (or more) metal contraption that gets you excited enough to join an online bicycle forum?

Why do bicycles in general and riding a bicycle get you all warm and fuzzy and excited on the inside and makes you want to keep riding them again and again for as long as you can?

Retro Grouch 

I can't understand why there are so many people who aren't.

rumrunn6

makes me feel like a super hero and jet pilot at the same time

lhbernhardt

Ya wanna know the real answer? I've thought about this a lot. My take:

Back in 1971 or so, I smoked a pack and a half of Marlboros a day and dreamed of being a Formula 1 driver. I worked part time at the Oakland Public Library in order to pay my way thru junior college in Alameda, CA. One of the librarians was a relatively young, hip dude who listened to jazz and drove a Porsche C. I thought this dude was very cool. He also owned a couple of Schwinn Paramounts and told me I'd probably enjoy riding a good bicycle (I had ridden a 250 Yamaha across the US and Canada the year before, but had traded that in for a brand new Toyota Corolla (in McLaren yellow), which in those days went for just under $2,000).

So one day I wandered into Velo Sport, on Grove St. (now ML King St.) in Berkeley. I knew this store because when I was in eight grade (early 60's), one of my best friends was a kid from a beatnik family (they even had a Citroen with air-oil suspension, and they'd drive up to Burbank Jr. High School, park, and let the car down - much cooler than those Mexicans jumping their low-riders!). His name was Denis Hammond, and he had an older brother, Steve, who raced locally. Denis would regale me with stories of Steve's racing exploits, and also stories of the greatest cyclist in the world at the time, Jacques Anquetil. He introduced me to Velo Sport, where you could buy a Cinelli or a Paragon for about $200 in 1963; there were all these mean-looking bikes lined up in two rows, with narrow tires with no air in them looking like snakes. So here I was at Velo Sport in 1971, where I bought a cheap ($75) Centurion with steel rims and high-carbon steel frame, no quick releases, bars too narrow, lousy cheap plastic saddle covered with vinyl and soft padding, and tubes with Schraeder valves. I rode it around Lake Merritt, I guess, and I was hooked. That night I dreamt of being on the bike, flying on the bike, and it's been a passion to this day.

So that's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Luis

cyclehen

makes me feel 12 again!

bkaapcke

Riding to the edge of San Francisco bay, in the middle of the wildlife refuge, is a Zen experience. bk

doctor j

LOSSES:

Weight
Stress

GAINS:

New circle of friends
Feeling of accomplishment
Pie ride!
New technical toys with which to fiddle
Encountering the flora and fauna in the Ozark and Boston Mountains up close and personal

cyclinfool

Biking is multi-dimensional. You can ride a bike to get/stay fit. You can ride a bike competitively either as a team sport or on your own agaiinst teh clock. You can ride a bike for just basic transportation around town (commuting to work or to the grocery store). You can ride a bike as a social activity. You can ride a bike to take a vacation - touriong and camping. You can own and ride bikes as a hobby or as a collector. You can appreciate some bikes as works of art. It appeals to so many of our needs and I know of no other activity that can do all these things and many simultaneously.

I have been riding since I took my older brothers bike away from him and learned to ride it first - my first achievment on a bike that gave me an emotional boost because of the sense of accomplishment, I still get several of those each season. Whether it's that new hill I climbed, that faster group I can ride with, that longer distance or just that new route or better gadget for the bike.

Why join this forum, because like most things - if you don't share your experiences with others you don't know what else you can do with the bike and besides - it complements that social aspect. I use to ride almost exclusively solo - I now thoroughly enjoy being with people who also love to bike.

martianone

Received a bike for my birthday in 1960,
riding that bike felt great.
It was like I had been given wings,
wings of wheels.
We lived on the edge of town in a rural area, school was all the way across town;
no longer had to walk the couple miles to school. I was a free man.
Cycling has been an essential part of my life since.

BluesDawg

I've always felt at home on two wheels since I was a little boy. I still do.

DnvrFox

The closest thing I can get to flying like a bird.

Cone Wrench

It feels good.
It's fun.
I enjoy the uphill workouts.
I love the downhill speed.
The one time cycling with the wind is worth the nine times cycling against it.
The elegance of the machine pleases me.
I like travelling through the landscape.
When I toured I saw a lot the country.

VROD

I have always loved motorcycles.bicycles and skateboards and I still do I guess its just the way God made me.

jdon

It's the only sport I can beat myself at..

Mojo Slim

It's one of the few things at which I am at least mediocre.

Doohickie

I'm passionate about cycling cuz it's the only form of exercise that I can stand.

I joined BF to learn about the crazy rod brakes on the DL-1 I picked up last year.

I did *not* join BF because I was passionate about cycling though. I just wanted information.

Dchiefransom

Sense of freedom ............................... and the pie. Yup, definitely the pie.

Traveler5

This is me.

Traveler5

This is me, too.

jdon

You need a ride in a glider!

dynodonn 

As a kid it was a sense of freedom to get away from home and check out new places. Today, it's still a sense of freedom, only now it's having more to show for my money spent than an empty gas tank.

maddmaxx 

Early summer morning rides (to beat the heat). Out in the woods with enough mist in the air to create shafts of sunlight between the trees. Finding a new trail never ridden before and wondering what's around the next bend. All that with enough quiet that you can come upon various animals that haven't gone into hiding...........................how could you not like it?

NOS88

It just clicks for me. It amplifies my ability to travel at a rate that can be both peaceful and exhilarating. I feel connected to the road in ways that never happen with a car (or a motorcycle, at least for me, that is). I'm able to enjoy my surroundings more within the range of speed possible on a bike. Also, there is something beautiful about the simplicity yet elegance of the bike itself. Finally, for the most part, my success and limitations on a bike are dependent on just me. I don't have to rely on others to do this, and for me it provides a level or kind of solitude I need in my life.

Artkansas 

What moved me? The deplorable conditions of the streets in Little Rock.

I've been a lifetime utility rider and commuter and when I discovered Little Rock streets I knew that if anything was going to improve I would have to help make that improvement. So I went looking for other advocates and stumbled into BikeForums.

I don't think that riding bicycles makes me feel warm and fuzzy, any more than breathing does. But it's just about as necessary. I also think that riding as transportation opens you up to a different and better mindset that is more in tune with the planet.

crtreedude 

I love to explore, and exploring with a bike is guilt free. No gas consumed (perhaps a bit expelled though due to diet...), no pollution of the environment. It is a way to meet people in the back country of Costa Rica and eat food that normally I couldn't.

I come to the forum for inspiration more than anything, and a few chuckles.