Cycling ?uestion
 

hey everyone
i'm new to this site.
i'm currently doing a project on competitive and non-competitive cycling.
i was interested in your guy's experiences like why you got involved, what turned you on, so to say, about cycling and why do you do it?

this is open to anyone young or old, in-experienced or experienced
if anybody can help me out that would be great.
thanks alot and i hope to hear from some of you.

-jdr-

I dont ride in competition but I ride competitively. Whenever I see a cyclist in front of me I try to pass. If I see a cyclist coming up behind me I try to stay ahead (not usually successful). I ride because I enjoy it - the adrenylene high is addictive.

One of the older riders and started riding 15 years ago to retain what little fitness I still had. Not only retained that fitness but improved on it greatly. Had a couple of serious medical scares and am convinced that the fitness that cycling gave back to me is the reason that I am still alive.

Barring the serious medical problems I have had- there are general ageing problems like knees giving out-High blood pressure, Obesity, and cholesterol that cycling almost eradicates. This is not the only benefit though- How many non-cyclists get home from work- open a couple of beers and sit on the couch watching TV for the rest of the evening. If not cycling- I keep the brain working- get out and do something in the garden- sort out the DIY to be done(Don't do much but it does get sorted and done eventually)

Why do I do it- I enjoy it- 52 weeks of the year- all weathers and with or without riding companions.

Using exercise to control blood sugar on doctor's advice. Trying to avoid having to use medication. Remebered how nice it was to ride a bike while I was in Thailand 30 or so years ago, and hating running, I bought a bike.

Got hooked on it. Gave up booze. Gave up smokes. Gave up 65 pounds. Now I try to get between 10 and 20 miles in per day on average. Love it.

thanks guys!!!

anyone else wanna share???

It started on a vacation, doing the "bike down the mountain" thing in Maui. It brought back the pure joy of riding everywhere in town when I was younger, before the Car. (Why, oh why did I ever think cars were so cool? Oh, yes, that's right, teenagers are terminally stupid, and alot of that just carries with you as well.) I vowed to get a bike when I got home.
It was a "recreational" purchase...but then I got this crazy idea; I should ride it to work!
After a half a year of riding it, I bought a much nicer and more suitable commuter, though I still ride the faithful old "recreational" bike in from time to time. (And it fulfills my need to tinker with things, as the newer bike hardly ever needs adjusting, or breaks, damn it. How am I supposed to tinker with it if it is too well built to cooperate?)
So now, I love that over a year later I'm ten pounds lighter (doesn't sound like much, but I was in good shape to begin with. Much more and words like "skinny" or "emaciated" may apply) and my heart rate dropped by around 10 beats per minute less.
I also feel, on days when I commute (not 100% of the time, to be honest, but greater than half) that I'm doing something to break away from this car culture that I hate, and this carbon-fuel addiction that we have, and the damage it's causing. So my soul and my body feel great.
On top of that, people give me incredulous looks about riding ten whole miles (not that big a deal, guys), and it gives me something to ponder about the state of our culture.
Once in a while you see another commuter, and you wave and give each other the thumbs up...and though you share no words, you don't have to, because you know right there that you're sharing a feeling and an experience that all the people who won't break out of their cages for even one day a week don't understand.
How's that for a "why"?

it is easer than running that is a hard one to answer there are so many reasons
mainly we enjoy to ride simple

good stuff

keep it coming ppl.

My wife was in a car accident last May that totaled my car. Being that gas prices were what they were and our finances had issues due to my wife being unemployed, I tried using the bike and a bus to get to work.
It worked wonderfully. 1 year later: 2 more bikes, a ton of gear, cycling clothing, and almost 30lbs lighter.

The possibility of loosing enough weight to go outside without my shirt was the main reason I kept going. Now I'm addicted to it. Just started riding 60 miles a day.

sorry to hear about wha happened to your wife
at least something positive came out of it

does she bike as well?




anymore experiences ppl?

This explains a lot of it:

http://www.machka.net/aboutme.htm

http://www.machka.net/

I only ride because it gives me an excuse to wear lycra and get laughed at down to the Acton Trading Post. I live to entertain.

Cycling is one of the few activities that works with any mood I am in. No matter what, I always feel better after a good spin on the road or romp in the woods.

My son and her are both fine. I think she had a little whiplash. The car was hit so hard it went from a dead stop and spun around to the other side of the intersection.

I am still working on getting her to exercise. Her old junky bike is being tossed this week. She will have a nice new bike for her birthday. I sure hope that helps.

I have been riding offroad for fun since I was a little kid with a BMX. When I got big enough, I bought a mountain bike. In college, I realized I was significantly faster than most of my riding buddies, so I decided to give racing a try. Racing is great because you can really measure your progress and there's always motivation to "get to the next level", whether that next level is finishing on the podium or just plain finishing at all!