How long we be doing this?

[OldDog]

In Buds post "I appreciate this place", MartyE wondered aloud what the average length of time we, who post to this forum, have all been riding. Let's figure it out.

Let's define riding as "distance" riding, road or mtn biking. Hard core, I got the bug, can't think of anything else but riding kind of riding.

I'll start: It was 1972, I was a young teen and just took a job in my future brother inlaws bike shop. This is when I discovered that a road bike would get me alot farther than the trusty, well beaten Schwinn Fastback 5 speed. Each Saturday morning I'd line up all the used bikes for sale out on the sidewalk, then grab a new Gitane off the floor and head 2.5 miles down the road for a dozen Krispy Kreams to bring back to the shop, eating a few extra on the way back. I've been bedazzeled with bikes ever since. (if I had a buck for every KK I ate since then maybe I'd have enough for a Mechivie :eek: )

Years riding: 33 I missed a season here or there to address other life issues, but I never lost the love.

Forum average: 33

Next up, revise the average!

[MartyE]

I first became aware of "serious" bikes at Univ of Miami in 1971
when my best friend got a Falcon San Remo.
I didn't start serious riding till 1976 (but I don't remember
why or what I was doing between 71 and 76).
Commuted to work for a few years in the D.C. area then
took about 10 years off during the mid 80's (kids, school etc)
I rode but nothing serious.
I would figure 20 years of consistent riding for me.

Forum avg goes down to 26.5

marty

[dirtdigger88]

Ill play

I learned to ride on a Rampar BMX bike- that was in about 1974 or 75

I got my first good bike in 1977- (I was only 7 in '77) I got a Schwinn Sting- not a StingRay- actually they were called "the Sting"

Fillet brazed (by paramount) BMXer- I rode that a few years- Raced BMX for a number of years then got an OM Flyer as I began to out grow BMX bikes- (sorta a pre mtb/ bmx bike) think 26" BMXer- I also had an SE Quadangle during my vert ramp flat land trick days- Those were some bad @ss bikes-

In 1982 my parents got me a Raleigh Supercourse- I rode that until 1994- in between that I have a few low grade MTB bikes-

All my life I was the kid who was always on his bike- some kids would ride their bikes to the playground to play baseball- I just rode my bike- we built ramps- Sometimes huge ones that launched us in to the lake we lived on- thats how we perfected our aerial tricks and made sure we could land our table tops- :cool:

In college I didnt have a car so I rode my supercourse everywhere- to get grocerys- to do laundry- h#ll I would ride it to the bars- :D

Out of college I went full on MTB- got a Zaskar then an LTS- finally I settled in on an FSR-

It wasnt til 2001 that I got back in to road bikes- thats when I got my Lemond- the Legend came in 04 and the kirk is to arrive soon-

So I have been riding my bikes non stop since I was a kid- say 5 years old when I started- I am now 35 (soon to be 36) so lets say 30 years

the average stays at 30 - well 29.83333333333

Jason

[Kevan]

Not counting kiddy bikes, I was riding budget 10 spds (Varsity/Record/Atalia) from 7th grade thru highschool. College, cars, girls, beer, jobs, houses, and kids caused a brief 18 year hiatus, but the soft gut…no, soft everything suggested I needed to get back on a bike. I’ve been seriously riding now for 12 years and kick myself for the 18 years lost.

I figure if I can stay off the hood of passing Mack truck, I've easily got another 20 years in me.

[Wayne77]

My first bike was 1977 (I was 5) -one of those Kmart quasi-bmx bikes with the plastic mag wheels and pads on the tt, gooseneck, and handlebar. At the time I thought it was the sh*t. Then I had a Schwinn something or other (it had a big fat tire in the back and a big ol' shifter knob mounted to the TT) until 1982 or so..

So that's about 5 years but I won't count it since it was "kid riding".

I didn't ride much again until high shchool when I got heavily into mtn biking in 1989 (I practically lived down in Moab, UT doing the mtb scene down there through the 90's) and got a Fuji (all I could afford at the time), then a 1991 Diamondback Topanga for two years, then a Paramount series 90 until '95, then a Specialized Stumpjumper M2 until '99, then a Specialized S-Works that I'm still riding now for my main mtb. So my background is primarily mtb. I got into roadbiking in 2003 with a Klein Q Carbon Team, and now my soon to be on the road Serotta Concours. = 16 years.

So I'm clearly below average here..practically a biking infant compared to most of you!

New forum Average (Including Kevan's total): 22.2

[jdoiv]

even though it will likely bring the average down.

Let's see, my first bike that I owned was bought from JC Penny in approx. 1974. Wildfire was stickered all over it. Wasn't bmx, but was sort of a schwinn stingray looking thing with fat knobby tires and fenders. Got laughed at a few years later when BMX was big. Dad wouldn't buy me a bmx bike, so I was a loser according to all the cool kids. Ha I showed them when I bought that Serotta. Those where the kid years and we can't count them.

Fast forward to 1989 and my 21st b-day. Got my Dad to finally buy me a good bike (persistence pays off, 15 years of begging for a good bike). It was a Cannondale with Shimano 105. Got really into riding and then bought a Trek 930 MTB in 1990 and started to split my time between road and mtb. Sold the Trek in 1992 to buy my Bontrager and spent more time on the MTB for a few years. Decided that I wanted a nicer road bike in 1994 and bought my Serotta Legend Ti. Continued to ride for a couple of more years before moving to SoCal in 1998. Didn't ride much in SoCal (smog and traffic freaked me out) so we won't count those years. Moved back to TN in 2003 and started riding again. So let's say 11 years of active riding.

That brings us down to 21.33

Sorry I'm bringing the average down... but I am riding again :D

[Tailwinds]

Only 6 years.

Sorry -- this brings our average down to 18.3! :eek:

[dave thompson]

Only 6 years.

Sorry -- this brings our average down to 18.3! :eek:
I'm probably the oldest newbie. Aside from having a bike when I was a kid and not riding it after I was 11 or so, I bought my first bike in 2000 when I was 59. It was a Schwinn Mesa comfort bike. About 6 months later, somehow, I discovered the original Serotta forum and bought my first 'real' bike, an Atlanta frameset from a forumite and paid my LBS to have it built up. Since then I've had 7 additional Serottas and I forget how many other brands of bikes. Wow!

Sorry I had to bring the forum average down so much, year-wise and intellectually-wise. Too.

[Tailwinds]

Dave, we may be newbies, but we learned quickly about the finest bikes, didn't we? :beer:

[dave thompson]

Dave, we may be newbies, but we learned quickly about the finest bikes, didn't we? :beer:
Boy howdy!

[PanTerra]

Maybe I can help the average.

My coming of age in cycling began in 1970 with the purchase of my Varsity, when I discovered just how far you could go on these things. It was my transportation through high school, even straping my Horn on the book rack, to go to band practice at 6 am. This was my transportation at college. Yeah, now they have a racing team. After college, I did group rides at White Rock Lake and then found out you could pay to ride with big groups in 1984, I did the Hotter'n Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls. So depending on how we are difing what it is we are measuring, It could be as long as 35 years.

[Ginger]

I'm not going to make the distinction of "serious" bikes...a bike is a bike is a bike...I don't race, I ride. And I've ridden quite a ways on a bike that most forum members would laugh at...
So...with that:
1979-1990 Casual/Transport/usually less than 30 miles per ride but several times a week...but as a matter of course, not as a matter of "recreational/riding a bicycle."

From 1991-2000 I rode from 2000-5000 miles per year in season not including indoor training miles.
Road: 1991- September 2000; Multi day tours (60-100 miles/day 2-5 days) and one day centuries and related training.
Mtb: 1994 – September 2000 trail riding 2-5 days a week in season (May – November).
(Major ride changing event...mortocycle accident in September of 2000. I'd say that 2001 was an "off" year. I still did a tour or two even though I only had 200 miles for the year.)
2001-2005 Recovery mode.
Approximate yearly miles:
2001 200 miles
2002 1200 miles
2003 700 miles
2004 almost 1000 miles
2005 I'm over 1000 outdoor miles...yay!

Inconsistent commuter – that will change.

So...We'll call it 14 years. The 26 years would help the average though...


18.8

[ti_boi]

Since 13....1979....Schwinn Super Le Tour.

Never had a bike I liked as much until now.

Best ride? Outside of Bowling Green, Kentucky one superb spring day 1987.

3 pals, some epic hills, sunshine and azure skies....speeding along, avoiding a semi truck head on....ending the ride at the Sigma Nu house. Seeing my fraternity brothers with their winter beer bellies and thinking, not me baby! (....Ah, what a day....Fantastic) I now have that belly but it took me about 20 years to earn it!


I was probably in the best shape of my life then....able to play two matches of Rugby on a Saturday and still party the night away with the ladies.... :cool:

[dirtdigger88]

....able to play two matches of Rugby on a Saturday and still party the night away with the ladies.... :cool:

Rugby Groupies Rule!!! :cool:

Jason

[jharsha]

Gitanes and Peugots in college in 67 and 68 the Raleigh International and Professional until mid 70's. Paramount from then until late 90's then a Lemond and now a CIII. Guess I like steel! Call it 35 years (missed a couple along the way).

[Lifelover]

Old dog 33
Martye 20
Dirt 30
Kevan 20
Wayne 16
Jdoiv 11
Tailwinds 6
Dave T 6(?)
PanTerra 35
Ginger 14
Ti_boi 27(?)

So that would be 218/11 = 19.8

That is until you add the current newest of newbies :(

I've been interested all my life but could really only count the last 2 years

So 220/12 = 18.3

Lets do this again in 15 years so I can be of more help.

[Tom]

The customary bike for transport and errands in school. A few years after school with no car and a bike with a busted rear derailleur so I stuck it in the little cog and rode it that way. I was running a lot at the time and riding the bike like that made me run a lot better!

After some years my left leg decided no more running and in August 2001 we went to Saratoga and bought CSis. Now a day without a ride is like... ah whatever. I, too, am a little disappointed I didn't start this back when I was in my twenties but it is what it is. These are the good old days.

[slowgoing]

When I was a kid, I rode for fun and to get to my girlfriend’s house (talk about riding fast!). My last year in college, I had to commute by bike because my idiotic roommate got us an apartment beyond walking distance (he had a car). Plus I took a summer job in the oil patch (fortunately, I still have all of my fingers) just in time for the summer long bus strike, so I had to use my first paycheck to buy another bike to commute with. Commuting by bike year round sucked, and I lost interest after college. Didn’t take it up again for about 15 years. I took up speedskating instead, which I have always loved. Much harder work than biking over the same distance, but at least the equipment is cheaper.

total years on the bike: 16

total years off the bike: 15

[Too Tall]

Ouch.
At the age of 5 I learned to ride on the hard sand dunes of Bethany, Delaware and it was sort of like the moment where Christopher Lloyd had his ephiphany moment on the show taxi. I clearly remember how riding made me feel GREAT and I've been in constant motion ever since. Ha ha well I did work in a real he!! hole of a cowboy town for a couple yrs. and that put a damper on running tubulars but I was riding ;)

Avg. 43

[ti_boi]

Youthful highlights:

Circa 1979 -- Riding every morning on my 110 paper route. A 5-speed Vista with the banana seat, center shifter, and racing slick tire. Big canvas paper carrier bag on the front was a practical asset and a point of pride....


Circa 1986 -- I'll never forget catching some nasty virus in college (rugby groupies?). I was in peak condition and that brought me down 15 lbs in about a week and laid me up for a month or more in recuperation.

I was so weak when I got back to school 'and' the transmission is my 77 Ford Ranchero went out. Yup.

So, I rode my Schwinn to work from one side of town to the other....up over hospital hill every afternoon about 10 miles each way. I'll never forget how weak I was at first but how gradually I got stronger.....those hills kept getting smaller....ah youth....

[Dr. Doofus]

got a trek in 1981

there have been no good rides

all rides suck

[Fixed]

bro bike mess. for 15 years cheers :beer:

[Grant McLean]

I got my first bike at age 5, in 1973, which was a CCM "swinger". Man, those 70's were groovy! My first road bike was a Norco Monterey in 1981, (kind of a strange name for a model from a Canadian brand!) But I quickly went through a bunch of bikes in the early 80's including a Saronni, Colnago, Marinoni, and a Gios. In '93 I got my first Serotta.

So I guess that's 24 years of road riding, but my Sachs should arrive in 2006, and I think that will reset the clock!

-Grant

[victoryfactory]

1974: First real road bike (Zeus)
1976: 24 hr race (Pepsi Marathon ) in central Park
1980: Cross country ride NY to SF (I'm the hairball in the hat)

1981: First Italian steel steed (Masi w/ super record)
1985-1995 burned out
1995: back in the saddle again (Trek)
2000: First Serotta (Atlanta, still have it, great bike)
2003: Last Serotta (Legend Ti, the best bike I've ever ridden)

[spiderman]

I've been interested all my life but could really only count



...the last 6 years.
i rode all over town on my paper route
starting in middle school
but in college
couldn't afford a bike
while all my friends were racing.
med school and residency didn't allow attention to riding.
i played racquetball or tennis
until getting back into cycling
when my girls bought me a road bike
and encouraged me to get out there and fly!

[pbbob]

up the average again.
30 years. someone else do the math.
first long ride was on some balloon tired thing when I was 12 or so. went from greenwood ind. to whiteland. got a flat on the way home. went into a department type store. found the right inner tube changed it with my hands then went over to the gas station filled it and went home. no problem.
then in college routinely rode from ball state back and forth to greenwood. 75 miles.

[OldDog]

From what I can figure, 407 cumulative years or 20.35 average.

So what did you average each year, times the cumulative years....never mind.

[The Spider]

started when I was 5, rode through to 18...discovered girls (I wanted to discover them a bit earlier but my face got in the way)....22 bored with girls...now 31...

total = 22 years

that's a bit depressing actually, I should be a fair bit better at it by now!

Spider

[Kevan]

Yeah but how's the face doing?

[67-59]

My first "real" bike was a Douglas Fusion from Colorado Cyclist in 2003. I was a serious runner (marathons and stuff) for about 20 years, when all the pounding caused a lower back injury. When the doc told me to find something lower impact (in '02) I first got a spinning bike to get me through the Minnesota winter. It was torture at first (not just the basement, but converting from the running to biking), but eventually I began to see a possible future for me on a bike. So in the spring of '03, I ordered the Douglas. Nothing too fancy, but a reasonable aluminum frame with Ultegra components. Rode that through '03 and '04, eventually got hooked, and near the end of '04, ordered my Terraplane from Dave Kirk. And yes, it just keeps getting better....

3 years for me, with apologies to those who were hoping to keep the average high.