paxz

Do you guys remember when you guys started getting serious into biking?
Was there a specific reason why or how you started biking?
Do any of you remember what bike you guys rode when biking became a passion?
Where were you when this happened?

As for me, I was taught how to ride a bike in my elementary years, but didn't really have a passion for it until my freshman year in college. I biked, because it took my mind off the world, and everything around and in it. I rode a 80's univega, this happened in Seattle, WA.

Be as specific, or as vague as you want, enjoy

umd

It's all my wife's fault.

darksmaster923

My friend invited me to go biking with him on his old MTB. Back then, I always biked slow and without any amount of physical stress at all. But, he went faster than me, and made me push myself. I actually had fun trying to go as fast as I can, so I started biking

same time

I found myself in a bike shop when I was ten years old, and they had a sort of racing section with a bunch of parts and two bikes on display: a Cilo, and a Schwinn Paramount. They were the most beautiful machines I had ever seen. The tires were so skinny, the parts were so shiny, and you could see how smooth and fast they were just by looking at them.

No salesman bothered me because I was just a kid, so I got to stand there and stare at the bikes for a long time.

Chucklehead

Saw American Flyers when I was a kid and wanted a bike. Then saw Lemond win the tour and finally got a bike that year for Christmas. Good times ever since. Mostly.

stevegor

My grandfather and uncle were pro riders many years ago and won some big races, I grew up listening to stories of fixed wheel bikes racing on corrugated unsealed roads, of competing against the best in the land and how my Pop was offered a place in a team with Hubert Opperman for an early TDF...YES, Tour de France.
So I rode, but didn't race until after I rode an Audax 100km with some good riders and basically blitzed most of them, I was encourged to take up racing, won my first race and went from there. Now I ride to stay fit, I enjoy the Sat morning hammerfest and hope to keep riding as long as I breathe.

thedoc

Funny you ask. Tomorrow is when I start biking. No car so I decided on a healthier and better way to commute beside bus. LBS is dropping my bike off tomorrow. 2009 Cannondale CAAD9.6 with keo sprint pedal and giro ionos helmet. (SUGGESTION welcome). Being in college I figure there no need a for car considering everything is 4-5 miles distance from my apartment.

cyclezealot

Learned as a kid of course on an English 3 speed. We thought that so advanced from the Old Schwinn's.. Had to give up running because it was destroying my right knee. So in So Cal , i switched from running to cycling. Why run , when your just circling the block.. Cycling allows me to venture into far more distant destinations.

Tapeworm21

My dad has owned a bike shop for over 30 years. I kinda got lucky like that. My Schwinn S[9 Five].4 really got me into biking in 1995. I remember it was going for $800 with front suspension and saved ALLLLL summer for it. Unfortunately, it recently got stolen after I lent it to a guy at the corner deli a while back.

blacksquid

I started riding seriously back in 1990; that's when I got my Trek 750 hybrid ....

I had just gotten divorced and my ex left me with quite a financial mess to clear up. I was driving home one day when someone pulled out in front of me along Sunset Hill Drive in Reston. Totaled my truck! The good news was that I could walk to work so I took the insurance payout and cleared up some bills and bought the Trek on a friends' advice.

Been riding ever since!

Tariq08

license got suspended, and when it gets reinstated this august i don't even know if i'll drive again

youcoming

Three years ago this April, knees wouldn't let me run anymore. That is my recent new begining. When I was younger I lived for the bike. When I was 11 or 12 Dad bought me a Peugot rode that bike everywhere, then I got my drivers licience, fat, and lazy. Now I wish I could find work close enough I didn't need a car.

dmb2786

I got super bored. I think I was looking for some food in the basement when I looked at my mom's old Peugeot. I could never reach the pedals when I was younger, so I decided to try it again. It was fun. I started doing ~3-5 miles around my neighborhood almost everyday. Soon enough, I crashed helmet-less at an estimated 30 mph. The bike was pretty trashed, so I did some research and built it up the cheapest way I could find. Fixed gear. I went down to college and really enjoyed riding around and getting to know the new city. I was starting to put in real mileage. When I got back from my first 30+ ride, I decided it was time for a real bike. When I got my road bike, I went out on a group ride that week. There I found people with gray hair that were faster than me. I did not like that. I started riding a lot.

Cheezerod

I always wanted to play a sport in high school but never really found one that suited me. I was really too busy to devote myself anyway, but after I returned home from the service I gained about 25 pounds. That was bad so it had me looking for a sport again. I dieted and lost the weight then I found and old bike. I rode that old bike for a while to prove to myself that I would stick to this new hobby. During that time, I met a few other roadies and found myself turning into one, when I started to enjoy Lycra I knew that something had changed. I bought a bike, became interested in how they operate and built them to. This happened in about a 4-year span.

BikeSpds

I've pretty much always had a bike. First one used that my father found for sale along the road, then department store bikes. First LBS bike was a Haro Omega hybrid in 1993. Never rode any of them very much.

Four summers ago, the weather got surprisingly nice and warm before Memorial Day. I found myself getting uyp earlier and earlier so as to not miss any of it. I often just slipped into a pair of Speedos since I hadn't showered or started getting ready for work. I found myself wanting to do something other than just hang out in my yard drinking more coffee. I remembered my Haro was still in the shed--so I got it out, aired up the tires and went for a short spin.

I couldn't believe how awesome the early morning air felt on my skin, or how totally free it was pumping up and down on the pedals in Speedos. Next thing you know, I'm doing it every day, 12-14 miles before work.

I got stronger and faster by the end of the first summer, and found myself running out of gears. The Haro had a 28/38/48 chainring, so I went shopping for one with 30/42/52. Bought a Specialized and have been riding that since. Weather permitting, I still do it in Speedos, too!

Snapperhead

I don’t really remember what it was that initially got me into cycling. But my first “real” road bike was a Bridgestone (forget what model). Then I moved on to a new Cannondale road bike and later a Cannondale mountain bike (I still have both of these but the road bike is in pieces in my basement). I'd like to upgrade that old road bike someday, but I already know it won't fit the newer wider rear-ends.

Then there is a 15 year break where I played volleyball and then tennis and proceeded to wreak havoc on my ankles. Eventually it got too painful and I was then diagnosed with gout in both. So I went back to the one sport that didn’t seem to bother them, cycling. In February of 2008 I bought my first new road bike (Specialized Tarmac Expert) and there’s no looking back.

Ames

Ran virtually all my life and bought a bike in the late 70's. A three speed upright Favorite. Decided to ride from my home to a beach house in Englewood, FL in July and a distance of arround 45 miles. No water, and no idea of what I was doing. I made it a sat in a cold shower for close to an hour drinking iced tea to cool off. Bought an all steel 10 speed and a water bottle and progressed from there to centuries and some road racing. Never good in crits.

grolby

I learned to ride as a kid and always enjoyed riding around and messing with my bike. I never had a good bicycle, and throughout middle and high school, my bike was a crappy dept. store mountain bike. Before I had my license, I used it to go everywhere. I was quite impressed with myself when I rode eight or nine miles to go over a friend's house. It was really just a matter of time until I had the resources and motivation to take up road cycling, especially after I went on a ride with a friend whose whole family was into cycling - I was able to borrow a Trek 1000 and even an old pair of clipless shoes. We rode maybe 25 miles to visit a mutual friend who lived in New Hampshire. It was a blast, even though I crashed and did a real number on my elbow. That was my junior year or so in high school, and I was hooked. I still lacked the money to do much about it, and before too long I had my drivers' license and forgot about riding.

When I got to college, that changed pretty quick. I had no car and needed to get around, so I rode my bike everywhere. I had a bit of an epiphany over winter vacation where I saw just how outrageously wasteful all that driving was, and I determined to avoid driving to the greatest possible extent. I got a good bike, and rode even more, got into touring and did some of that. I didn't ride road or race, and told myself I had no interest in doing so. That was true, for a while, but eventually I bought a used racing bike on Craigslist and started riding that around recreationally. It wasn't long until I discovered that spandex was not silly looking and unpleasant, but in fact one of the great inventions of our time. It wasn't long before I knew I had to try this racing thing, and I started last spring. It was a blast, and I haven't looked back. I still ride for commuting and utility purposes whenever possible, but riding recreationally and racing adds another level of fun to my cycling life, as well as excellent fitness and a lot of miles.

sfcrossrider

BMX when I was six in 1979 (on a team), track in 1986 after being blown away by the 84 Olympics, road in 87 to train for track, mountain biking in 88 because I couldn't stand being around roadies, serious road racing in 92 to help build endurance for xc-mtb, cyclocross in 1997 because I was sick of road, and mtb.

My parents had VERY little money. I was fortunate that a shop in our neighborhood was looking to sponsor a junior BMX team making my first go at racing inexpensive, and successful. The relative success of that paved the way for a childhood, and adosdence of cheap, plentiful bike racing, and shop rating.

Now, I just take from my 401K to fund my riding/racing.

JamisVE

Enjoyed it as a kid (like most), but didn't get back into until 2 years ago. I lost 80 pounds on a bike that doesn't move so I figured its time to get on one that actually leaves the basement. Along with proper diet, I am now fit and trim thanks to riding.

Have been hooked ever since. Its the best of all worlds, exercise, nature, speed, companionship riding with wife, etc. Now I'm looking to advance by entering some races this year and feed the competition bug. I think about riding everyday. It's that important.

sfcrossrider

Mine was maroon with a yellow SL, and XT goodies.

SushiJoe

BMX when i was young. Got into light mountain biking and road cycling in my teens. Became a gym rat from the time I was 20-24 then got back into road cycling at 24 and never looked back.

This is one of the bikes that started it all for my obsession with expensive bikes:



(I really gotta stop snapping pics with my BlackBerry.)

Nachoman

Hermes

Mine too...

We moved to the Bay Area in March 2006 and my wife said, "let's really get in shape, cycling". We replaced old equipment and started training and racing. Last year, I completed 20 races in road, time trial and track.

Flashback 1979...we moved to San Diego, CA and met some runners who also cycled. We decided to start riding our Schwinn Varsities in conjunction with running and the gym. I have been cycling, running, skiing, inline skating, golfing and / or working out at the gym ever since.

SushiJoe

My wife would say it's my fault but either way, we're happier for it!