When I was 25 I never thought I would...
 

This is kind of inspired by the current "do you ride vintage" thread.

Since members of this sub-forum are all approaching some degree of "vintage-ness" I wonder how our personal expectations have changed.

For example when I was 25 years old if you would have told me that in 25 more years that I was going to:

Read and enjoy historical fiction

Spend hours photographing flowers

Have spoken the words "Son, your attitude..."

Eat bran and fruit for breakfast

I would have laughed in your face.

Not to mention the physical challenges.

I never thought I'd be going to college at the same time my three children are.

When I was 25 I never thought I would...

...live this long.

...be retired for 16 years.

...be riding a bicycle for fun.

...be walking around with short hair.

...have a granddaughter who is a nationally ranked high school basketball player.

When I was 25 I never thought I would...



...live to see 30.

I was never 25

Oh you poor man. 25 was good.

When I was 25 I never thought I would...

...talk on a phone while driving down the road

...use a computer for anything

...make as much money as I make now

...spend as much money as I spend now

...see the day when gas was $4.00 a gallon

At 25 you could get nostalgic over things you had and did at 19.

When I was 25 ...

... I never thought I be 60 pounds lighter when I retired. I can't believe how FAT I was back then. :eek:
... I never thought I'd be as happy as I am today, thanks to wife #2 :love:. I should have split from wife #1 when I was 26. :twitchy:
... I thought I'd always be poor. :o
... I didn't know that many people actually own more than one bike.
... I never even heard of yogurt. Its been one of my favorite foods/snacks for the last 20+ years. :beer:

... the only computers around were on Star Trek.

When I was 25, I never thought I would...

1. Live 18 miles from the nearest bar, and virtually never go there
2. Get up early, so I can get more done
3. Worry about my salt intake. (I don't do anything about it, I just worry about it)
4. Feel sore after heavy exercise.
5. Chuckle when I see the way young people dress these days.
6. Talk about how music isn't as good as it used to be.
7. Wish I'd started a pension plan earlier, just like all the old people told me to
8. Drive a station wagon.
9. Go camping and wonder when the ground got so hard.
10. Last this long.

When I was 25, I never thought...
...I'd own a bike made of DB Reynolds 531.
...People would think a bike made of DB Reynolds 531 was obsolete.
...I'd be wondering what I was thinking 36 years earlier.

I plan for tomorrow's next adventure the same as I did when I was 25.

I wouldn't have thought I'd have two beautiful granddaughters with two more on the way. And I couldn't have imagined that we'd travel to a dirty commie country we might have had to nuke into oblivion, in order to adopt child #4. I would not have dreamed of having four children. Finally, there's one GI guy who is working mercilessly in spite of having had a heart valve replaced. When he kicks the bucket that will make ME the senior citizen of my field in the community. It seemed like just yesterday that I was the bright rising star.

Oh well. Thanks for listening.

No, thank you for posting. Here we are talking about bicycles and you are talking about life. That is so much more [multiple choice]: important, inspiring, wonderful, ironic, <all of the above>.

I choose all of the above.

I never thought I would give away my 1974 Misutani when I was age 40, only to recover it at age 58.

Get out of college and get to work

Get divorced

Mountain bike? It wasn't invented...

Live in VEGAS?

Weigh more than 200 pounds

5 daughters and 2 grand daughters-whew, I'm going to bed. This makes me tired.

Be able to listen to Abbey Road and Days of Future Passed (et al) in high fidelity through little buds stuck inside my ears while riding down the road on a beautiful spring day.

......have children reminiscing about being 25 (or younger) again.

+1
and stop smoking,
stop drinking
lose 50 pounds
live to regret a lot of bad decisions I've made

Connell's list hit pretty close to home, so I'm going to have to steal a few from him.

When I was 25, I never thought I would...

1. Worry about my diet, and getting enough fiber.
2. Worry about my weight.
3. Talk about how music isn't as good as it used to be.
4. Think that concerts were too loud
5. Laugh at the way kids dress these days.
6. Consider 25 yr olds to be "kids".
7. Wish I'd started a pension plan earlier, just like all the old people told me to
8. Drive a car that was boring and slow. I.e. a "family car"
9. Want an "old fogey" car. (I want a Matrix now to haul around my bikes)
10.Get laid off.
11.Want to see the return of the 55MPH speed limit and/or small cars. (You must drive 80 on the interstates here to keep from getting run over)
12. Think that a vehicle could be too fast and/or powerful. (I have a 140HP motorcycle that will do 170MPH, and I'm going to sell it because there's nowhere I can use all that power and speed)
13. Have to consider how to keep young boys in line when it comes to my daughters.
14. Have to give up sports because of my health.

When I was 25, I never thought:

* parts of me would wear out and need screwed closed
* my wife would keep me around for 32 more years
* we would hatch two pretty good boys
* have enough money
* wear cyclist shorts
* have a stereo with a volume control that goes to 78!
* look in a mirror and see my abs again

When I was 25, I never expected:
 

Communicate with others close to my age that I'll probably never meet, yet feel some sense of knowing them as they've shared their love of cycling on this thing call an Internet discussion forum.

I'll keep my accomplishments to myself, but I am amazed by some modern technology. I never dreamed I'd be able to:

1. maintain a huge music collection in a device smaller than a deck of cards
2. communicate quickly and easily with people all over the world on a regular basis
3. use a small, cheap camera to take 1,000 photos without "changing film" -- and store those photos on a piece of plastic the size of a quarter
4. "attend" lectures by famous scientists -- free (basically), any time I want
5. access important literary works without leaving the house (though I still love going to the library)
6. "virtually" travel through places all around the globe

We tend to take this stuff for granted, but once in awhile I stop to think about it and I am incredulous.

Life is good...! :p

Yeah, that! It really is good to stop every now and then, to marvel at the technology we enjoy today.

I have the equivalent of hundreds of LPs, on a device that I can carry in my pocket.
I can follow sports from every country in the world, in detail
I can show my friends crystal clear satellite images of the town in which I grew up.
I can call my wife from the top of a mountain to ask her to put beer in the fridge for when I get home.
I can find the answer to millions of questions, in seconds
And it still amazes me that someone can take a photograph on the other side of the world, and I can see it moments later.

I sometimes get nostalgic for the old days, but there's a lot I would miss if we were to turn the clock back.