What got you started into bikes/riding, ?

[William]

Now that everyone has been thinking back and reminiscing about his or her first real road bikes, lets take another step back.a little bit further this time.

What was it that got you interested in bikes, racing, touring, or long distance riding? Was it watching a particular race? A friend or a relative? Or just having that urge to pedal to the horizon and see what's there, and just keep going, under your own power (to loosely quote a gentleman for the crazyguyonabike website)?

PS: Boston Drunk, I know you don't like to read long-winded paragraphs. So, as an incentive, I have inserted the word "BEER" in various places in the paragraph below. Happy reading. ;) :)

I have always had a competitive streak in me. When I was a kid, we would always find ways to set up race courses with all kinds of obstacles to jump off of, go around, over, and under on our bikes. We set up drag strips in a street version of match sprints to a designated street sign. Dead starts or rolling starts, we did both. And of course we had the demolition derbies that really put your young riding skills to the test (man those Schwinn Scramblers were tough bikes). :bike: Later on in organized training camps under the watchful eye of a coach we did a more civilized version of it called Death bike. A meaner name, with much nicer rules. In rural Washington state, distances to friends houses, schools and stores could be quite a few miles so riding my bike was transportation as well a fun thing to do. I got into BMX racing for a few years but when I hit High school I took off into skateboarding and got involved in organized sports. Other than transportation, I wasn't riding. I took a few years off from school after HS and during that time I caught one of the first RAAM's on the Wide World of Sports one Saturday afternoon. I got all excited and thought man, that would be great! I want to do that some day! It really stirred up the old bike riding flame that had died down during my HS years. I was in the process of going back to college so once I had "BEER" moved to Oregon in 89 and got settled, I picked up a nice MTB bike and started riding. I found that I really wasn't going off road all that much. Instead I found myself sprinting from stoplight to stop light, chasing down other riders (nicely no jumping on people's wheels), and drafting cars and trucks & going to and from classes and practice. I had been recruited onto the Crew team and was doing extremely well so again, other than transportation, riding was taking a back seat (but the images from the RAAM were still floating around in my head). After almost three very successful years in crew, I had been "BEER" invited to attend an Olympic rowing camp but blew out my back about three weeks before I was supposed to leave.
After I recovered from my back injury, and with much thought, I decided not to continue rowing. I already had reoccurring back problems due to a skateboard crash when I was younger, and I knew that competitive rowing was going to make it worse in the long run. I started lifting, running, and biking regularly.
The owner of the gym where I was training walked up to me one day a said that I should give triathlons a try. He seemed to feel that I would be good at it. Now, I'm not a swimmer, I can swim, but you won't get me out in open water (I saw JAWS at an impressionable age). With RAAM images coming back into my mind, I decided that it was time "BEER" to sell the MTB bike and get a road bike. That's where the Fuji Robaix comes in to my life. I found out where the OSU cycling team would meet for their ride and just showed up one afternoon. Everyone was nice, but I got some eye rolls and looks. I'm sure I was quite the sight; unshaven legs, t-shirt, crew shorts and parka, sneakers, and my cheap drug store bike helmet. I didn't know about "BEER" pace lines, and pointing out obstacles etc. On our way back in, I had gotten the hang of riding in a pace line and they were starting to ramp things up. About ten miles out on Peoria Rd we were flying, I got to the front of the pace line and just went. After a couple of miles no one had come around and I looked back, I had ridden everyone off my wheel. I just kept going until I hit HWY 30 and waited for everyone to catch up. After that they asked me to come out for the team and I haven't looked back. I've stuck with cycling since 93 and will continue as long as I can.
Will I ever compete in a RAAM? I don't know? Shorter power events are my specialty, but I still harbor visions of doing it someday. It's those images that kept bringing me back to cycling.


William

[bulliedawg]

Tore my the acl in my left knee playing basketball in college. After surgery, Doc told me the best thing I could do to recover was something low impact like swimming or cycling. I have a problem with getting water in my ears, so started riding and never looked back.

Now I look at friends and relatives my age (only 37, but still) and I can't believe how they've let themselves fall out of shape.

[bostondrunk]

Lemond, 1989, seeing him on the news on that funky looking bike, winning the final tt.

[Dr. Doofus]

Your Doctor was in love with the movie "Breaking Away" in the 7th grade. Two of his snotty private-school pals had real road bikes, and your Doofus started tagging along with them on his Sears Free Spirit. A year later in 1980, he started showing up to juniors races on that god awful thing. A basketball knee injury, two operations, and ten months later, his folks sprung for a lugged Trek and, despite a brief but intense affair with swimming in high school and college, your Doofus has been a cyclist ever since.

[bostondrunk]

Hey Doofus, did you decide on a career yet?
Professional Male dancer? Follow your heart, baby!!! :)

[Sandy]

Wasn't the real reason you got started cycling so that you could get to the liquor store quicker???


Sober Somber Serotta Sandy

[scottcw]

In late 2000, my church sponsored a group of riders to do the August 2001 Alaska AIDS Vaccine Ride. I bought a bike, started training, and was hooked. The rest, as they say, is (expensive) history.

[TimB]

What got me started riding more seriously as a adult was a visit to my doctor when I was 29. I am about 5'9" and weighed 205lbs. My cholesterol was 339, with LDL of about 190. Yikes! Time to get back on the exercise bandwagon. Lingering shoulder problems kept me from getting back in the pool (I swam competitively through HS and college) and I'd never been much for running. I'd also just moved to DC and was hating it with a passion. I started out (slightly embarrassing) riding on a trainer on the balcony of my apartment, with occasional rides on some local trails. The real breakthrough came a couple years later, when I joined a local cycling club and started doing some scheduled rides. I met some fantastic folks, and started hating DC less. Now - almost all my friends are cyclists...and those that aren't are no longer surprised by my tales of 100-mile rides on my fixie...it's Who I Am now.

[Dr. Doofus]

Drunk:

Your <<femme>> is paying me to come kick your arse, daily.

And limit your beer intake.

Get ready.


Doofus

[pale scotsman]

My Gran in Scotland got me started. She rode until the early 1970's when a hip injury, and eventual replacement sidelined her. My grandfather, who died before I was born, was quite a cyclist as well. My mother was into it until she married my dad.

Gran has some great stories. Oscar Egg was one of her favorites. Whenever she visits she still asks to see what my latest bike is, and what's changed technology wise. On one trip to France with my grandfather their group had to be turned while on the ferry because of Hitler invading.

I've always ridden. Started in BMX, then road, then ATB for 16 years, and back to road.

[bostondrunk]

Hahahaha, bring it prof!! :cool:
William, will you please reserve the octagon for us? Time to take Doofus back to school... :p



Drunk:

Your <<femme>> is paying me to come kick your arse, daily.

And limit your beer intake.

Get ready.


Doofus

[bostondrunk]

Sandy,
You are smarter than you appear... :D



Wasn't the real reason you got started cycling so that you could get to the liquor store quicker???


Sober Somber Serotta Sandy

[pbbob]

took out a couple of small books on cycling back in the 70's. from the library. one on racing[sprinting in a 52x16 was a big deal] and one on touring and general riding.
returned the racing book after immediately realizing there was no future in it for me and kept the other. still have it. I figure the overdue charges must be at least worth a new frame by now.

[67-59]

Running injury. I was a fairly serious distance runner for over 20 years (a couple dozen marathons and half-marathons). I wasn't out front or anything like that, but I was usually good enough to finish in the top 10% or 15%. Never had any significant injury problems, until I started to have lower back pain about 2 years ago. Finally got an MRI, learned that I had 2 bulging discs in the lower back, and was told by the doc to find something lower impact.

In a year and a half, I have gone from an entry level Douglas aluminum, to a used Serotta Hors Categorie (actually, it is in transit right now). If I know myself at all, it probably won't be much more than another year before I get the custom fitted Legend or Ottrott.

[Tom]

When I was seven years old I had this cool red bike from Sears that had a headlight and everything. One day I rode down the hill, out on the Brownsville-Hartland road and before you knew it I was five miles from home. I thought that was great.

Then I strayed. After dropping (drinking) out of college I started running. Finally my left hip said enough was enough. I suspect the number 6 Eagle Claw hook I cut off in it when I was about 10 finally got into the joint. I started riding and fell in with the delinquent crowd I hang around with now.

[zap]

Triathlon's & Lemonds TdF win in '86.

Swam like a rock in my first and only triathlon. I was dead last after the swimming leg. My cycling split was pretty darn good. Run leg was OK.

I've stuck with cycling ever since. Quite a bit more interesting than running or swimming in a pool.

[Spinner]

At age eleven I received a red Murray with chrome fenders, headlight tank and beautiful whitewalls. I rode this bike through the country side of Northern Indiana until I was 18. Of course as a teenager I had to remove the fenders and tank because that was certainly not cool.

My lust for multi-speed bikes began at age 13. The local Montgomery Wards had a European bike of some sort on display. With racing handlebars, bottle holders and shifters it was the coolest bike I had ever seen. At age eighteen, I bought a Schwinn Continental after dreaming about one from looking in a frequently reviewed Schwinn catalog. I guess seeing all those pretty girls smiling and riding in the catalog pictures was too good of a dream to not take action on.

The Continental expand my riding range from 15 and 20 mile rides to 50 and 60 mile rides. I literally wore this bike out because the only thing ever lubricated was the chain.

The rest is history. At age 50, I still think of bicycling as my link to childhood. It is still as thrilling for me to go for a ride as it was when I was 11. I can't imagine not riding a bike. Riding is singularly the most therapeutic thing that I do.

[Too Tall]

I started riding steadily at the age of 5 and NEVER quit!!! Really, I was always "the bike kid" and so it goes ;)

Willm', you said RAAM almost as many times as BEER and you've inadvertantly drawn me in. I'm really into USCF for the immed. future but intend to race 2 man RAAM in the next 3 yrs. The current course need to change...it's dicey.

[Climb01742]

what got me started riding seriously? a few decades of running seriously.

[William]

Willm', you said RAAM almost as many times as BEER and you've inadvertantly drawn me in. I'm really into USCF for the immed. future but intend to race 2 man RAAM in the next 3 yrs. The current course

Team Titan? ;) :cool:


William

[george]

Cycling has become my prozac! Literally. It was November 1998 when I took my Schwinn Highplains mountain bike for my free tune up at my LBS. That is when I saw a brochure for an Ironman distance race. It was described as WELCOME TO VIRTUAL INSANITY!!! EXTREME TRIATHLONS 2.4m swim/112m bike/26.2m run...Saturday, September 11, 1999 Lake Geneva WI. I took that brochure with me (and still have it). I thought to my self this IS insane but not impossible! If I set out to do this it will occupy my time and lift me out of my depression.
In 1999 I ran in ten races all 5K, 10K, and one duathlon. The following year I ran my first marathon it was the Lasalle Bank Chicago Marathon. I was bit by the marathon bug and I ran eight marathons within the next three years including three in 2003!
In November of 2000 I got a custom Rock Lobster Bicycle, and this past September my Serotta Coeur d'Acier. As far as the Ironman goal I never learned to swim, I took a few lessons this past summer and plan to continue to take lessons untill I can swim efficiently but I am enjoying the "journey to Ironman" I have raced in thirty seven races 5K through marathon and six duathlons. I still dream and visualize Ironman but have not made it happen yet...I will become an Ironman in the near future maybe 2006? :) :)

[William]

Willm', you said RAAM almost as many times as BEER

Hey, I had to try something to get the drunk to repond. :D


William

[vaxn8r]

Had to do something after swimming for 18 years. Couldn't face the pool anymore...still can't hardly do that anymore. Can't stand running, too bad because I'd probably be a decent tri-al lawyer, er, tri-ed and failed, er, tri geek....whatever.

No offense tri boys and girls. ;)

[Too Tall]

T2. Yep.

[dohearne]

Like 67-59, I got my first road bike as a result of a running injury. I had a very sore knee after training for and completing a marathon. I didn't want to lose my conditioning, so I bought a bike. Over a 10-15 year period I have migrated to pretty much biking, but recently have felt the urge to pound the pavement again.

[Dekonick]

For me it started with my first bike. I was 6, and it was blue and had no trainig wheels. AFter a rough start (trees...bushes...curbs...) I began going everywhere (well a 3 block radius - which is the world to a 6 year old - and with the world as it is today, I know my parents wouldnt have let me leave their sight - too bad things have changed)

Moved to Belgium at age 7. A family friend (Belgian) was a cyclist and raced TT's. Everyone in Europe also rides so who was I to argue? I rode a 3sp typical euro beater bike until we moved to Florida (at age 14)

In Florida I got my first (to me) real bike - a 10 speed with friction shifters! Woot! FREEDOM! I rode that sucker everywhere -

Rode alot until sophmore year in HS - then gas power took over. My bike secretly disowned me and rusted away...

THen came college. Well - I drank, and stumbled - didnt begin cycling again until a frat brother sold me his road bike. It was too small, but a 12 sp indexed steel ride. I rode more and more. After I traded in that bike, I moved to an Epic (JUNK JUNK JUNK - but still nice at the time) -I rode that epic 5 days a week (college lets you ride all da time... didnt appreciate it at the time as I always assumed time would never be an issue) Finally the LBS (after witnessing me ride all da time) convinced me to buy a Serotta. I did and have never looked back. I still have that bike, and it is IMHO the first 'true' road bike I ever owned. All of the others were just teachers...guiding me.

I will always own 2 of my bikes - the Colorado and the Hors Categorie. I doubt Ill ever be like Douglas, with a herd rather than a stable - but I envision more bikes in my future. I just hope I am healthy enough to ride em as well as Sandy, Dan, and Bob do when I reach their age (which is quite young!)

OH DARN. Boston wont read this - wait! BEER BEER BEER - there!
:D

[djg]

I'm not really sure what got me started in cycling. Somehow or other my interest in riding bikes became such that my dad found our way to a gitane dealer in Rochester, New York, in the dark ages of 1973, as we approached my 13th birthday. Those who remember, remember: those were not the days of a dizzying aray of road bikes at every corner LBS. Touring: again, I dunno. But somehow, in high school, my friend Bill and I started talking about a ride around New York state--southern tier, addies, etc. He ordered us each a set of these pannier things from AYH and I had a tent and a camp stove and off we went.

Racing: I played tennis freshman year of college and had a sort of bad year all around. College adjustment. Sub-optimal tennis. And a falling out with the tennis program. Within a year I was somehow pondering bike racing and I believe it was all cemented for me at a race in France. Early fall. Rain. Fast. I just happened upon it and I knew it was cool. That was it. Junior year I was racing on the college team.

[Ozz]

I played soccer for about 25 years, have broken both legs, my nose, my collarbone, torn hamstring, and have had too many ankle sprains to count. Nearly all my buddies I have played with have had knee surgeries. I figured it was time to either slow down my play or hang up my boots. Since the intensity of my play was my hallmark, I figured I'd better bow out of the sport.

I needed something to replace it, and mountain biking looked fun, so I picked up an REI Ponderosa (1988) - it was a blast until a buddy talked me into doing an American Lung Association fundraising ride (Trek Tri-Island - 1993??). This was all road riding and the 30 lb bike didn't work in my favor, but I realized it was a blast to ride on the road. I liked going fast!

The next year I bought a road bike - Specialized Allez Pro (lugged steel, silver with yellow decals). I was hooked...and no cycling injuries since!

BTW - In 2001 I thought I would give soccer another try. I hooked up with my old buddies on their co-rec team, figuring it would be pretty easy. Well, we are all about 40 or so, and they have never left the "A" division, so we were playing 20 somethings....after the first game, I had a sprained ankle, black toenail, and an aggravated sciatica that required a couple epidural cortisone treatments...I will stick with cycling.

[JohnS]

Am I the only one on this forum who was never a jock?

[William]

Am I the only one on this forum who was never a jock?

Ahhhhhh yeaaaahhhh. How exactly did you get in here? :confused:

Umm, wait right here.

( HEY TT GET DOWN HERE!!!)

;) :D

William

[Dekonick]

Jock or Jerk? :rolleyes:

I know some girls that think I was one of the two... :cool:

[JohnS]

I've never played any organized sports. I rode a Schwinn Continental in high school and didn't touch a bike (except for Harleys) until my mid 30's when I bought a Specializwd Crossroads for exercise. I was hooked and followed that up with a Bianchi Campione and, for the last 4 years, a Concours.

[LowCel]

February 21, 2001 I decided to quit smoking. The next day I pulled out my old mountain bike, I figured I had to reward myself somehow. Afterall, if I ride I can't smoke, if I smoke I can't ride right?

Anyway, about a month later I bought what I thought was a decent mountain bike (that was about nine mountain bikes ago). That Summer some of my riding partners talked me into getting a road bike to help me train (Lemond Nevada City, what a pos, but anyway). The second day I had it I decided to take a decent ride on it, ended up being my first metric century. Since then I have been hooked.

Oh, also I did my first American Lung Association 100 mile charity ride when I was 11, it was a three day rails to trails event. I did that ride nine times, the last time about killed me. I started smoking when I turned 18.....what can I say, all the cool people did it....so I thought. Anyway, I quit riding when I turned 19, lungs couldn't handle it, plus it took time away from my new sport of choice....women.

It took me close to eight years to wise up and quit those things, life is so much better when it isn't being contolled by little white cancer sticks. Anyway, thats why I got back into riding.

[cycler48]

I got interested in cycling because I was tired of the injuries resulting from running. Cycling is so much more joint friendly. Having said that, my passion has always been running.

[Michael Katz]

At age 10 my parents bought me a Raleigh with coaster brakes in the rear, a hand brake up front and a Sturmy Archer 3 speed hub. I rode that sucker everywhere - to school, to friends houses, little league games, stores. Even put a light on it so I could ride after the sun went down. It was my means of independence, of the freedom to go where I wanted, when I wanted and to feel self reliant and responsible for myself. It was also just a great way to play - to race my friends around the block, ride back into the woods near my house, get airborn off of drop offs in neighbors' back yards, to try to impress girls with all sorts of dopey feats of daring do and all the other goofy things that my friends and I could dream up.

At 15 I took some money I had saved up from shoveling snow in the winter and bought myself my first "racing bike" - a Gitane with pedal cages and tubular tires. Suddenly my horizons were expanded with the capabilities of my new bike. A friend and I would pack some lunch in a backpack and take off for excursions to "distant places", disappearing all day long on adventures that left us exhausted but glowing with satisfaction by the end of the day. We knew nothing about ride nutrition or hydration or, in my case even how to change a tubular tire (I didn't even carry a spare), but there must be a god that watches over the innocents and we always returned safe and sound (and I never even flatted once).

At 17 I got my first car and the bike went by the wayside as my play time got taken up with cars and motorcyles. Over the years I kept in shape by running and lifting weights. In July 1993, my wife's brother-in-law with some degree of smugness announced that he was doing an MS 150 ride in September with a friend of his and invited me to do it with them if I thought I could "keep up". Made some wise *** comments about how I was turning 40 and they didn't want to be too tough on me. I decided it would be a fun adventure and challenge and took him up on his offer.

So I went out and bought myself a new road bike from the same neighborhood shop my old Raleigh had come from and set out to get prepared for this epic ride. Didn't know much of anything about training but I read in the MS 150 literature that if I could do 30 miles in about 2 hours I would be ok for 75. So for 2 months I rode 30 miles 2x a week and did a third "long" ride of 40 miles each week just to be on the safe side.

The fateful day arrived, on the weekend of my 40th birthday, and off I went. Simply put, it was a blast. The sight and sound of all these bicyclists, the synergy of riding with others, the intoxicating effect of pushing my body to perform at the levels and duration required to do the ride, and the intense gratification of meeting the challenge I had set for myself. Much to my surprise, I had no trouble hanging with my brother-in-law and his friend.

I was hooked. I began to voraciously devour evrything I could read about how to be a better cyclist, joined a local bike club and rediscovered the joys that had captured me as a kid. Even decided to organize and run an annual family cycling day in my community as away of trying to help the kids in my community discover the joys of biking I had experienced as a kid in that same comuunity some 30 years earlier. Ironically, I only rode one more MS 150 with my brother-in-law and his friend before they lost interest in riding. Their challenge to me, however, led to me giving to myself the best 40th birthday present - one that will continue for many years to come.

[William]

Newer members, what got you started?

William :)

[Skrawny]

Every great story told by a guy usually starts with the words, "Well you see there was this girl..."

I started running in graduate school. I was hitting on a good looking girl next to me, and she said "Do you run? We could go on a fiver next weekend"

"Uh, sure!" Was my response. That day I bought shoes and the most flattering running gear I could find. Although the relationship did not work out, I became addicted to endurance sports.

Unfortunately after several marathons my knees got delicate enough that I got to the point that if I really wanted that all day endurance feeling, I had to very sloooooowly ramp up my training. A friend of my suggested a road bike as something that I could satisfy my love of endurance sports, nature and my desire to explore. I bought an entry level Specialized in San Diego about 2 years ago and realized that this is the sport for me. I have since moved to Northern California, put several thousand miles into that Specialized, and moved up to a Serotta (see the thread "The New Trigger" under images for unabashed gushing about my new bike).
-s

[Wayneosworld]

Like a few others, I was a runner. I wasn't a good runner, but I ran. I ran to exorcise the demons, exercise my heart, excite my body. I kept getting injured. Eventually, a disc in my neck collapsed and had to be replaced. Shiny new titanium parts and the doc said "no more running - no spine compression". Almost four years ago - six weeks before RAGBRAI, a friend said - get a bike, let's ride across Iowa. So I bought a prior year's model of a Bianchi (Sora components, no less!) and began training. One week across Iowa drinking and riding and I was hooked! This past year, the same friend (Chris) told me it was time to upgrade. He found a bike on this forum, and BlastinBob was kind enough to cut me a deal on the most beautiful piece of machinary that I've ever owned (and I LOVE my new RX-8). I'm no better biker than I was a runner. But now, and for as long as I possibly can dream - I'm a biker. Actually, I prefer cyclist - too many folks hereabouts think biker means Harley rider.

[vandeda]

I don't race, but I do long distance riding and have attempted to do some touring, but the plans haven't worked out for that one yet. What got me started on that? More than anything, the challenge. I liked the challenge. I started as a mountain biker about 5 years ago. Mountain biking looked like a lot of fun, and I have a bunch of friends from work who mountain bike. At the time, I had no interest in road riding ... zero, nada, zip. But, then I wound up getting my Centurion Le Mans for free from a guy in my group ... maybe 4 years ago was it?

The Centurion sat for a full year before I finally road it. The reason I jumped on it? I injured my back mountain biking. Landed flat on my back ... with my tire pump between the pump and the pavement (OK, so I was on the road at the time foolin' around a bit after a ride). Put me out of commission for about 5 weeks. I decided to take it easy and do some road rides on the Centurion before jumping back onto the mountain bike. So, I did my first ride ... 20 miles. I think shortly after, I signed up for the MS150 that year ... but only for 1 day, so 75 miles. Oh my gosh, but I never road that far ... heck, I had just done my first road ride. Next ride ... 30 miles, then 50 miles, then 80, then 100. All within a span of 3 weeks I think. My next goal was 150 miles, but I only made it 140 miles ... I was ready to shoot myself as mentally I was a gone, I had lost that battle well before 140 miles, but I needed to get home.

Anyway, I like the challenge. I'm more driven because most of my non-biking friends and relatives think I'm either nuts or stupid. Unfortunately, even though biking is a large part of my life, many of my close friends & family hear very little about my biking adventures because I could care less about being shot down for it, fortunately, I have a lot of biking buddies at work who share the same passion :D And my biking buddies are some awesome people too, really friendly, really funny, and a great group to ride with.

Dan

[slowgoing]

Bought a bike to get to my girlfriend’s house faster when I was 14. Every minute counts!

Bought a Raleigh Supercourse when I spent a college summer in Bakersfield working in the oil fields and the bus drivers went on strike for the entire summer.

[shinomaster]

Got me started..


So simple shino..... :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

[roadie7]

Becasue I had to keep my son occupied when he was very young, I discovered he loved riding on the seat on the back of my old bike. This kept him happy and I re-discovered the joy of riding. As he grew up, we rode together, visited the bike store together and ended up working together at the bike store (I started and he joined me after hanging out at the store for 2 years). So, 8 years later after working and being together on rides, I watch his dust as he passes me on the mountain bike trail and the road. It has always given us a focal point as we both grew older. By the way, he's a great bike salesman who is studying to be a phys ed teacher.

[soulspinner]

My little brother got me into riding. It was the only sport or athletic endeavor he could beat me at. I wound up doing some racing and time trialing and although I couldgo 23 minutes and change for 10 miles, I was no match for him. At 5-8 and a half 130 pounds his strength to weight ratio and ability to suck up O2 was amazing. He would never race, prefering to tour places like Nova Scotia. When he died in 1989 I got so upset I couldnt ride. Some years later I am fat and the doctor says I am headed for heart disease. My brother-in-law dies and leaves me a Colnago MXL. Its now 5 years later. The cholesterol is under 200 and the ti-glycerides down to good levels after soaring to over 500. Now when I ride I have a great feeling of being connected to my little bro. He never had anything as nice as my Strong with Campy, but then, hes probably smiling down at me knowing he didnt need such great bike to kick my tail...

[Jeff N.]

An old war buddie of mine was a CAT-3 racer and I credit him with getting me involved with cycling. Funny thing is....he got divorced, fell into a depression, and practically gave away all his bike-related stuff, and doesn't ride at all anymore, and its been years since I last saw him. Jeff N.

[1centaur]

Confluence of two forces got me going again.

My co-manager at work injured his knee skiing and doc told him to cycle for rehab. A couple of weeks later he suggested we go on a ride together. I had not been on a bike in nearly 20 years and did not want to look like a 98-pound weakling so I got in some practice rides - 10 miles was an achievement.

Then my father died and that made me examine my mortality. Too many years behind a desk, no sport to break up the diet/exercise treadmill, not much achievement outside of work - plus my father had a heart attack though he was not fat and I wanted to be fitter. Also I remembered the freedom I had felt riding my bike as a teenager. I bought a nice bike (Lemond Zurich) to replace my 25-year old bike and kept riding. Loved what it did for making me feel strong, allowing me to eat more without gaining weight, de-stressing my life, teaching me about acheivement and endurance and limits (20 miles, 50 miles, 75 miles, 100 miles).

So now I have lots of nice bikes and hang out in this and other forums and understand and look forward to pro racing and contribute knowledge and opinion back to the cycling community - it's become my hobby and my passion and my joy. Ironically, as I began reporting back my "practice" progress to my co-worker, he became less interested in riding with me, and we never did ride together, I have offered to let him use my Nag (only bike I have that would fit him) and he actually did a ride on his comfort bike of 30 miles once, but he fears I would blow him away (I think). I wouldn't though - I would just slow down a little and enjoy the sights a little more.

[RichMc]

The "hook" settled in slowly over the years. When I was a freshman in high school I had a 3 speed "Stingray" with the twist grip shifter. So did a lot of my buddies and we raced those around like dirt bikes. A new kid moved in across the street from me and he had a red "english" racer. Didn't even have tape on the chrome racing bars and had the trigger pull Sturmey-Archer shifter. We swapped bikes one day and I thought "Wow! This is fast" but never really wanted one because I was working my way to motorcycles and cars.

Forward to early college days. Got the Austin Bugeye Sprite but when it broke down I needed a way to get to school. Another college buddy of mine said let's get bikes. I wound up with a Raleigh Super Course and he got the Raleigh Gran Prix. In those days, in Honolulu, you bascially had a choice between Raleigh and Schwinn. The Paramounts were godawful expensive (far more than the Raleigh Professional) and they were the only Schwinn worth considering. So then I started riding the Super Course to school every day. 25 mile round trip, rain or shine. One weekend my buddy & I did an around island ride, including hiking with the bikes around Kaena Point on the northwest tip of the island where there is no paved road. That trip and those school rides were the second hook.

A couple of years later the local bike community decided to recreate an around island bike race that hadn't been run in over 20 years. A two stage, 2 day race. Some other friends & I go for it. 1st day was the long stage of about 75 miles. At around 60 miles into the race and climbing hills I discover that my front derailleur is frozen from lack of maintenance (did I say rain?) and I can only use the outer chainwheel. I also find out that I can't get into the largest cog in the back for somewhat the same reasons. I'm running four out of ten speeds. Oh well. Guy passes me on the flats, I pass him in the hills. This goes on twice and after I pass him the second time coming into town I never see him again. But I also got lost and missed a critical turn (no course marshalls or signs) and by the time I find the course again the guy has finished the stage ahead of me. Second day is shorter, from Waikiki out to the north shore. I'm with the front group and we are fast out of town. Going up the hills in central Oahu someone passes a waterbottle down the line (you mean you can put waterbottles on the bike??) I'm about seven back in a front group of nine. I pass the bottle to the guys behind me and wait for them to pass it back. Instead they drop further and further back. Now I see the main group start to surge and I go after them but can't close. Screamed as hard as I could to Haleiwa and finished 6th overall. I think that's where the hook really set deep.

Now a lot of years have passed since then. I've raced some triathalons. Doc's have told me that if I want to walk when I'm seventy I had to give up running in the style that I liked (that meant doing the old or fat mini shuffle style which I just cannot do - I like long distance and hills) so it got back to biking cause the knees just can't take the running. As much work as cycling is I've seen great results and it doesn't piss me off like golf does. Got a second place in my age group and class in a circuit race last summer. The hook sets deeper. :banana:

[William]

Would any new forum members like to add their experiences?

William

[dehoopta]

My father grew up in the northern part of the the Netherlands and delivered bread on bike (see picture). When he moved to California in 1946 he continuted to ride often. As a kid in the 70's he introduced me to cycling (mainly touring) for pleasure. We took long rides in the rural farming country of the California central valley. My first serious bike was a Centurion LeMans he bought second-hand. We rode many hours. In the night, we had the old generator headlights. I inherited his Nishiki and when in graduate school (1987), I used student loan money to buy my Centurion Dave Scott Ironman (Shimano 600's, downtube shifters). I was worried he would blow a gasket so I didn't tell him that I spent loan money on that ($550). He just smiled! At 74 years old, he now rides a dual suspension MTB off road patroling the trails by the river.

Last week I took possession of my Serotta Couer d'Acier. I had a custom decal made of the Friesian flag (Dutch providence where he grew up) made and placed on the back of the seattube as a tribute to him.

I hope to do the same for my 14 year old who is showing interest in trying out the old Ironman.......

[OldDog]

How about an old forum member? I was a kid in the early seventies when the "bike boom" hit. I was already a fanatic, tearing up the 'hood on my Stingray Fastback. My older sister picked up a Gitane 10 speed. "Orange, just like Eddy's" her boyfriend told me. Eddie who I asked.

What a boyfriend. She should'a married him.

[Miranda]

My first bike was a purple Sears bike with a racing slick on the back and a banana seat and it seemed like a dragster or a Plymouth RoadRunner since it was the early 70's. Later my dad traded it in for a new orange Gitane 10 speed with alloy wheels. My Gitane was like my sports car and I always had it polished. I loved that bike!

One Saturday my mother dropped my brother and I off at a movie theater for Saturday matinees. That particular old theater in my hometown has since been torn down. Anyway before the movie and during the previews we saw this clip of a huge bike race somewhere in Eastern Canada. The clip was shown in black and white and it was a huge pack racing in some older city approaching the finish. The race conditions were raining, cold and probably misrable. The field was picking up speed bolstered by the crowds yelling and waving. Crashes were occurring and after seeing the finish I thought to myself "Wow! I would love to race like that!"

There were no opportunities growing up in South Dakota to race bicycles where I lived so I accidently became a distance runner. Later while in college I tried a bicycle race and did very well with not nearly the effort I had put into running and loved the dynamics of racing. I became addicted!

[spiderlake]

First "real" bike as a kid was my Schwinn Stingray with the 3 speed shifter. I had a little odometer that clicked once a revolution. I still remember coming up on my 100th mile in less than a week and thinking this was going to be a milestone event. How an 8 year old knows a milestone is beyond me but I just knew it was going to be huge. Well, it was huge because just as I clicked 100 I was attacked by a dog. The poor dog, defending his territory, ripped my knee wide open and left onlookers in horror. Stitches and physical rehap cured my ills and the dog was forced into a fenced yard.

Fast forward 8 years and I now own a Cook Brothers Cruiser. The rumor was there was a nudist camp in the neighboring town. Needless to say at the age of 16, the thought of seeing a nude woman was enough to warrant a 25 mile ride to find this alleged camp. We never did find the nudist resort but we had a blast cranking out the miles. It was that ride that got me hooked.

Fast forward another six years and I am stationed in Germany riding a Cannondale "Black Lightning" that I bought from a guy returning to the states. It was way too big for me and I actually had to lower the seat to rest on the top tube but it was fast! I eventually graduated to a used Bianchi with Campy components that was a hand-me-down from my then girlfriends father. He was part of the German national team in the 70's - or so he claimed. All I know is that he rode a Colnago and routinely left me in the dust no matter the distance or terrain.

I just (last week) graduated from a Trek 1000 to a Serotta Fierte and couldn't be happier. I'll leave the story there since it feels like I am discovering cycling all over again!!

[Frankwurst]

Early 70's, going to college, My girlfriend dumped me, thought I was in love and decided to take my depression out on my body but found out over time I wasn't in love and riding made me feel a whole lot happier and better than she did. :beer:

[kbwheels]

Hi, this is my first post and what better wayto tell you about myself than how I got started riding. I lived next to two brothers who I considered to be my brothers. They had both started racing and of course I had to follow in their footsteps or should I say their draft. Anyway, I had some success racing as a junior in the mid 1980's and that continued into the early 1990's. For a few years I keep riding because I thought I was still going to have a "career" as a cyclist, but that was not to be. I now enjoy riding for many different reason. Although, I still do a few races each year. Since this is my first post I would like to thank Mr. Ben Serotta for providing this forum and allowing such free discussion about so many topics. It's great to be part of the club.

Tailwinds,
kyle

[Ray]

Thought I'd contributed to this thread the last time around, but I guess not. I rode everywhere for transportation as a kid, like most of us did in the late 60's and early 70's. Rode a little bit for fun and transportation in college, but not much, and then basically dropped it completely. I always worked out and stayed in some sort of shape, but as a young adult, with a new career and young kids, I didn't have a "sport" that I really loved or spent any time on any more (played a lot of football, basketball, and tennis as a kid).

I was always waaaay into music and was something of a Deadhead. Catching a few Dead shows every summer was kind of a hobby (although they were getting pretty bad in the last couple of years). But then Jerry died and that whole scene went away. I was looking for something to do the next summer and a friend convinced me to get a mountain bike. I fell in love with mountain biking that summer, but found myself putting slicks on it and riding on the road a fair amount and really liking that. So, in the autumn of '96, I bought a lugged steel Specialized road bike. I rode 2000 miles the next year, bought a Rivendell and rode 5000 the year after that, and I've been lost in it ever since.

It's always been a release and an escape from the pressures of life, so I've never trained or raced (well, aside from a couple of mountain bike races early on), but I can't seem to get tired of riding a bike.

-Ray

[cycler48]

I got into cycling for fitness reasons. I'd always been a runner, but the pounding was taking it's toll. In 1983 I bought a Trek 620. I still have that bike, but it needs a bunch of work.

[William]

Newer members to the forum, What got you started?


William :)

[Spinsistah]

Newer members, what got you started?

William :)

I rode bikes as a kid around the neighborhood with my friends. In my 20's, I would ride a couple of times a week on the Loveland bike trail, then for some reason, quit riding. I played tennis, walked, snow skied, etc. - not competitively, but for fun. Blew my knee out playing tennis in 2001 and gave that up.

I can thank Mr. Metro for getting me into cycling. The first couple of years we dated, he would go out on various rides. In March of 2003, he bought a new Cannondale, I looked at the bike and thought "this is something we can do together." I bought my first bike, a Specialized Sequoia, logged over 4000 miles that year, and the rest is history.

Cycling has provided me with an outlet for stress, a means of conditioning my body that no other sport can, and so many lifelong friendships. I would have to say the latter is the most important to me. The friends I've made cycling are very special, probably more so than at any other time in my life.

[csb]

in walpole mass there was this cool
little guy and his bike shop. i would
ride over and oggle at the european bling.

then there was the bicycle exchange
in boston where a french dude (con moustache, beret, shorts)
took down from the ceiling a GREEN nova,
proffered it to me and declared, 'thizfitteau'.

lemond sunk the nail.

[97CSI]

As a consultant I spent too much time in too many different cities away from home. Wanted something I enjoyed as all those expense-account meals started weighing on my waist-line. I can only do so much time in a gym and lack of cartilage in one knee makes me a non-runner. Bought a Trek no-suspension MTB and stored at the plant I was working on for several months. Nice bike trail in Plano to get in about 20 miles per night. Took a permanent job at the plant and decided to get back into being a roadie. Many miles and $$ later, here I am with my very nice CdA (and Paramount and Trek 770).

[beungood]

<<<Am I the only one on this forum who was never a jock?



Ahhhhhh yeaaaahhhh. How exactly did you get in here?

Umm, wait right here.>>>>


Tme to activate myself...Ahem! hey you! Show me your hands, step away from the Forum! :no: Do it now!

[beungood]

Well, I rode quite abit in Highschool for transportation and adventure. A best friend and I defied our parents and rode into Boston when the Pope was visiting. We took all back roads, it was 35 miles and rode as fast as we could. And we were caught as we were filmed by WBZ on TV up a tree waving at the Pope But thats another story....

What really got me back into it was trying to get 5 years out of my running shoes, and some ankle and knee pain and mentioning it to William. He lauded the Cardio /low impact benefits. And the second thing was holding the Thai Pads and being the recipient of a couple of his full power Thai round kicks and the resulting sting in my arms. Thought to myself Damn id like to do that to someone too.... and lastly was after riding for a while and a few impromptu "races" while out training and I was hooked. :banana:

I only wished he mentioned what looking at a custom bike with well crafted ornate lugs and trolling ebay drooling at Serotta,Kirks and Colnagos would do to me....... :argue:

[Bruce Jacobs]

Bikes as a kid were 60# Lone Rangers and later, a Burger(Dutch) 3 speed. Tried cycling again early in our marriage but it did not take. We were into tennis and I played a lot of tournament.

In 1992 my wife had a hip replacement. A rollerblading accident in 1995 brought on a year of PT for her. I bought her a mountainbike which she rode around on paved trails in a park. Later she bought me a mountain bike and we got into off road.

Our first trip to Moab was in 1998 prior to which we were told that Lois' hip had to be redone. We got into some road about that time buying steel Bianchis. Her hip was done again in 1998 and we continued MBing with some road. Lots of Moab, Fruita, Hawaii, etc etc etc. We also did some road acquiring Colnagos.

Evidently she came back too fast from the hip surgery and the new cadaver bone did not fully grow in and the hip was replaced last October.

Three times, not one complaint. She rehabbed, hiked and wondered whether she would be able to ride again. I had her measured for an Ottrot ST and she was finally able to get back on a bike in the middle of May 05. No more MBing, which meant my Fango was now a second class citzen.

I was happy with the Colnago until I had an unexpected windfall and bought a Legend ST which I got on the road a week or so ago.

Road is where we are at 5 days a week. We try to get 25 miles after she comes home from work and a longer ride on Saturday. Sunday is an early day because I work so we see how many hills we can ride in two hours or so.

We are hooked and only wish we had gotten serious about road years earlier. I find it frustrating that age has robbed me of the ability to improve as quickly as I might like, but we both work hard at it and she is really good.

William, hope this is what you are looking for from newer members,

B

[William]

:)

William, hope this is what you are looking for from newer members,

Exactly. :cool:


William

[jdoiv]

Lemond in the Tour in the mid-eighties. I started riding my sisters old 10 speed. I have no idea what it was. It wasn't nice or anything near light. It was this hideous yellow tank and I used to ride it around the neighborhood hills for fun (pretty steep climbs). Got to college a few years later and picked up fencing. Got pretty good at that but I needed something to cross train with to increase stamina for long days of competition. Cycling seemed to be a good way to increase my overall fitness and was good for leg strength (lots of that needed in fencing). Also, I have bad ankles and knees, so running isn't much fun for me, so cycling it was. Talked my Dad into buying me a bike in 1989 and loved it. Did a century ride my first summer with the bike. The second summer (fencing is a winter sport really, even though they have it in the summer olympics) I regularly put in 300+ mile weeks. Have gone through times of riding a lot and times of not riding much (only rode a couple of times during the 6 years I lived in LA). Back to riding now and hope to stay with it for a while.

[Fixed]

bro I did a report on a great american in grammer school Major Taylor and I've tried to be like him ever since.cheers :beer:

[Cadence230]

We lived in Ft. Scott KS in 1979 and went to a bike shop in Kansas City(big city)were I took home a Schwinn brochure. I would ogle that thing over and over dreaming of someday having one of those cool race bikes that looked totally different from the bikes at a dept. store. We moved here in 1981 and I was now in suburbia. Because we could'nt afford a Schwinn I went and bought a Huffy Wind(Christopher Cross had his song in the tv commercial for the bike)at KMART. Well I rode and rode it all around and WAY out to the lake. One evening on PBS there was a show called Numero Uno that aired periodically which profiled atheletes who were at the top of their respective sports. That evening was a profile of Eddy Merckx. I was blown away! These guys riding effortlessly up mountains with snow and sweating no doubt! All the colorful jerseys and who knew what any of it meant. That nite I took the family car out in our hood and marked off a 1 mile course and tried to ride it as fast as I could to try and average 30 mph just like they said they could do on the show. Shortly after I got togehter enough money doing odd jobs to save up and put a 1981 Univega Gran RAlly on layaway. Started going into different shops to feel out where the best support and guys went to and started to pursue my passion of passions....the art of cycling. Went to my first race (Wutcher Memorial in St. Louis in Forest Park which at the time was the oldest annual race in the country) on a borrowed liscense and promptly got dropped out of juniors(Monninger was there). I got to see Fred Schuler of 7-Eleven lap the field twice in the pro 1-2! So there you go it pretty much except for the pure love of riding is alot of romance and imagination(I love old stories). I still exclusively wear all those colorful team clothes that I have no idea what meaning they have or do I care. mike

[Frankwurst]

Jilted by my girlfriend and decided to take out my hostility on my body via my bicycle. That was thirty years ago, haven't seen her since that day but really would like to thank her! :beer:

[bostondrunk]

Well.....hold on, taking a pull of budweiser......<burp>

It was that really good episode of Different Strokes, where the bike shop owner had all the young boys that he really liked doing things for him....yeah....we all benefited from that one..... :D :beer:

[Dr. Doofus]

Well.....hold on, taking a pull of budweiser......<burp>

It was that really good episode of Different Strokes, where the bike shop owner had all the young boys that he really liked doing things for him....yeah....we all benefited from that one..... :D :beer:

oh man...changed my effin life

and when that episode of What's Happening showed the evils of bootlegging when the hey hey hey dude got caught taping the doobie brothers on a portable cassette player the size of a bking sheet (cause the doobies were *it* in compton in the late 70s...ABC said so)...doof saw the light and stopped selling bootleg tapes of all sorts of people to those guys at the park who seemed to like em....

actually, seein the flying nun pedal in the opening credits made me want to win the tour

[L84dinr]

In Wichita, KS Me and my friends down the street. We'd ride to downtown along the river paths, (make sure you have thorn resistant tubes!). Wichita was our oyster! Loved the freedom. In '79 my mom bought me a Motobecane, HS grad present, was a black bike with red panels, set up for touring, (I think my brother still owns the bike). I replaced the ranoduer(sp) handlebars with flat drop bars, the long cage RD with a Suntour shortcage, and corncob gear freewheel for the touring freewheel. Learned how to wrap handlebars, break chains, rebuild BBs' and wheel bearings; basically become a bike mechanic. I loved it! Wrecked my car and ended up riding my bike for practically a year saving money to buy a beater 1961 Ford Econoline, (a Cool truck). When it rained I wore Trash bags... When it snowed I wore everything I could! I put a rack on the back to carry lunch etc... I ended up moving a couple of times and ended up in Norman, OK. Followed my future wife to OU and enrolled in school. During this time I had entered a few amatuer races and loved the competition. I bought a used Eisentraut from a friend of a friend of some racer dude from Wichita, KS. What a bike. I crashed that thing like crazy! (RoadRash sux). Anyway I raced cat 4 races for a couple of years for CRRC. Loved it! My 'Traut ended up breaking, so I had Fred Karcher make me a frame, and then life got in the way. I had to pay for college and lifes necessities so the bike got put up. After about 12 years a bud of mine from OU calls spring of 2004 and says lets do the MS150. I said no way. Wasn't even sure if my tires would hold air. So ended up training and rode a shorter 35 mile event. I am amazed how my cycling legs have come back. Making circles is second nature. Now wondering how I can squeeze training/riding in so I can race the 45 masters class next year. Also building a cross bike. I love the competition, don't care if I win or loose... Just Do IT!

Sorry to be so long winded,
Raymond

[shinomaster]

When I was 17 it was Greg LeMond, Davis Phinny, A young George Hincapie, And then Lance...
Oh yeah...I was a mountain biker back then...John Tomac, Julia Furtado and Ned. I wanted a Yeti.....

[sn69]

I was fairly sure I had no chance in hell with Mary Lou, so cycling seemed like a reasonable alternative.

[JohnS]

I rode a Schwinn Continental in 1974-76 while in high school until it got ripped off. Then I got into Harleys and didn't touch another bicycle for almost 20 years because they weren't "cool". In about 1994 I got a Specialized Crossroads just for fooling around. In 1997, my brother and I were coming back from a backpacking trip in the Porkies and took a detour on the way home. We were driving near Harbor Springs, MI and found ourselves in the middle of an organized century. It looked like fun. A few weeks later I went to the local road shop and they answered my questions for an hour. I bought a Bianchi Campione. Three years later I upgraded to a Concours. I must be the only person here that never played competitive sports in high school...I had to work.

[William]

Let's hear from the new folks! :)


William

[Cary Ford]

I grew up in a small conservative Missouri town on the Mississippi River, population 30,000. There was one bike shop in town. I was maybe 8 or 9 years old and desperately wanted a Schwinn Chopper - which was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. But against my wishes, my dad instead bought me a Raleigh Record - that 24 inch wheel ten speed that came in British racing green - and 'surprised me' with it on my birthday. I was annoyed, but I think the owner of the shop needed to get rid of it and sold my dad on the fact that it was a bike more suited to an 'older kid' - (ie. I wouldn't outgrow it as fast as the Chopper and, therefore, my dad wouldn't have to buy me another bike anytime soon.)

I reluctanly started riding it and found it to be kind of cool. I had more gears than anyone else in the neighborhood. One thing led to the next, and then a few years, and another, bigger Raleigh later, my best friend and I started riding out into the country roads surrounding my house on 'bike hikes' as we called them. We would go miles without ever seeing a single passing car (how I long for those days - I think i was in 6th grade.)

I started pining for things like panniers and racks and all sorts of 'touring' equipment.

Then one day I was in the bike shop, probably flipping through a catalog for panniers or rear view mirrors that mounted on my glasses, and I met an 'old guy' (he was a 20 year old college student who had just moved to town from St. Louis) wearing a funny yellow hat that said "Campa-something or other" on it and wearing black wool shorts and leather shoes with holes in them and wooden soles. He had in his hand a piece of flimsy newsprint that he showed to me. It was a copy of something called "Velonews."

I looked at the 'magazine' for a moment, then looked up at the old guy.

"You mean people RACE bikes?" I asked.

"They sure do," he responded.

I never looked at a catalog for panniers or racks or mirrors ever again....

[Serotta_Andrew]

What was it that got you interested in racing, touring, or long distance riding? Was it watching a particular race? A friend or a relative? Or just having that urge to pedal to the horizon and see what’s there, and just keep going, under your own power (to loosely quote a gentleman for the crazyguyonabike website)?

My first andventure biking around the block on my BIG WHEEL!!! does this count???

[catulle]

I fell in love with the looks of the first race bike I ever saw. I knew I had to have one. Then, in a street corner near my house a bunch of guys would hang out with their bikes and I made friends with them. I soon managed to buy my first race bike for $25. It was a Bianchi with old components and had the right rear drop-out soldered in place as it had broken at some time. If I recall correctly, it was soldered with a bronze like material (maybe?); it was such a long time ago.

The moment I rode that old bike for the first time I was hooked. I learned to fix it up, switch parts, deal with tubulars, but after some time I sold it and bought the Legnano. To this day my infatuation with bicycles and riding hasn't diminished any, atmo.

[roman meal]

These, and the smell of Tubasti.

[72gmc]

in the beginning, i rode a bmx bike all day long because i wanted to be the guy in the picture below. about the same time dad said i would have to buy my future motocross bikes myself, i realized i was done with motocross and really liked riding my bmx bike (funny coincidence, that).

many years of soccer and track and cross country and skiing later, i went into a bike shop and saw a euro road racing rig that had been ridden in that year's hawaii ironman. it was a beautiful bike (no tri geek gear back then) and i got the hankering. bought a trek 400 with a loan from mom and i was off. greg inspired me to upgrade my bike and start racing in '86.

[William]

It's that time again. For the new folks to the forum, what got you started? :banana:



William

[J.Greene]

It's that time again. For the new folks to the forum, what got you started? :banana:



William

My Dad, I owe it all to him. He never tired of hauling us to the bmx track or driving us all over the state to crits.

JG

[regularguy412]

After two years of trying to become a runner ( unsuccessfully, I might add), I purchased a quasi-department store type bike with cottered cranks, zinc spokes and stem mounted shifters. The thing weighed close to 40 lbs. I rode that thing hard, until I broke the weld of the seat tube where it goes into the BB. Had it re-welded and used it as a trainer bike for three more years until the cone races in the BB literally fell apart.

Mike in AR

[MarleyMon]

2 weekends ago I watched my grand-neice and goddaughter, Abbie Rose, a week shy of her 5th birthday, demonstrate her skill on a 2-wheeler. One training wheel had broken, and so the other came off, because she wanted to RIDE.
She was just beaming with joy and it reminded me of my first ride. That feeling of " I am actually doing this on my own!" - novelty and mastery combined.
I rekindled a bit of that feeling recently with my first build-up. I stripped my C'dale CAAD 5 flat-bar road bike (a 9 sp triple) down to frame and fork and built it up with all new parts: Ult BB, FSA CT carbon crank (36-50) & fr. der., DA 10 sp shifters and rear der., chain, Deda 215 bars, Ritchey Pro stem.
I had a fitting done in Jan. (by Frank @ BGI, thanks!) and it seemed that the bike I had fit pretty darn good, just needed drop bars, etc., so I shopped the stuff and did the work myself.
Everything has worked great for the first 250 miles, and I can honestly say its a joy to ride a bike set up to the specs of a Serotta fit technician!
In the near future I hope to move up to a Serotta frame, in the meantime I'll keep riding, and smiling like Abbie Rose!

[Frankwurst]

1974 My girlfriend dumped me so I took out my frustration on my bike. I wish I still had that bike. :beer:

[bironi]

My dad or brother pushing me, and guiding me on a flat stretch back and forth on our neighborhood block. I had asthma, and a very heavy bike, but loved descending, and after the asthma faded and getting a lighter bike, I loved climbing also.

[chuckroast]

This is cool, thanks for bumping it. In 1988 I was 32 years old, fat, and looking for a fitness activity. I remembered that I enjoyed riding when I was in college ( a Takara, remember those?) so I went to my LBS and bought a Schwinn World Sport. $200 as I recall, index shifting (on the stem) and 27" wheels. But it was light enough and I rode it and stuck with it. By the next year, I did my first century and there was no looking back. I'd love to have that bike back quite honestly, just for the retro restoration.

[LesMiner]

My bike lust began in 1955 while I lived in Gary, Indiana. Some neighborhood kid came home with the first 10 speed bike anyone had ever seen. His parents bought it at Sears under the Sears sporting goods name JC Higgins. It was touted as a true "European Racer". Another kid got a Schwinn 5 speed because his dad worked for one of the refineries, his dad ordered the bike directly from Schwinn in Chicago for a wholesale price. Another kid had a Raleigh 3 speed. It was fast, he could almost keep up with 30 mph city traffic on a good day. While I was stationed on Okinawa in 1969, I use to go past this bike shop with a Fuji 10 speed in the window. I use to dream about buying that Fuji but just could not part with the money. I was not sure how it could make it being shipped home. I did not buy a road bike until 1974 after serving in the Army, college, marriage, birth of my first son, first Engineering job, and purchase of the first house. I had the money. It was a Schwinn Traveler. I also purchased a matching womens Traveler for my wife at the same time. Many more bikes since then, Giant, Bianchi, Gary Fisher, Raleigh, Litespeed, and waiting on the delivery of a new Serrota custom Legend ST. The lust never ends.

[William]

Somebody is digging deep into old threads

That's the cool thing about these threads. New people join the forum all the time so I occasionally bump them back so others can contribute. It's cool to see how each person got their start atmo.


Write on!!!


William

[BB63]

I went to a bike show at the Columbia mall about 1971 when I was 13 and was instantly taken by the racing bikes. Started racing at 15, quit school at 16 and went to work at my LBS, and was managing it at 17. 36 years later I still have not been able to get bikes out of my system. There are worse addictions.

[Chad Engle]

Went with a friend to watch his bmx race in 1980, Dad hauled me to around 5 races per week from 80 - 87. Mountain bike, then road bike in 2002 and CDA in 2004.

[GregL]

As a kid, I rode my bikes everywhere and enjoyed working on them too. Like a lot of young men, my interest turned to cars, girls, and other sports (not necessarily in that order...) in high school. Bikes were still cool, but there was no time for them.

Fast forward to my mid-twenties. I was fit from running and weight training, but not "into" cycling. Then I met this really cool girl. Smart, pretty, great sense of humor, and very athletic. She blew off our second date to go to an organizational meeting for one of the first local MS150 charity rides. She taught me how to windsurf, but instead of driving to the lake with me, she would ride her bike (round trip ~35 miles). The only way to keep up with her was to get a road bike. The rest is history. We've been married for nearly 17 years now and still ride together 3-4 times a week. Our daughter is growing up to be a clone of her mother, and I could not be happier!

Regards,
Greg

[myette10]

Kids in my neighborhood rode their bikes everywhere in the early 80s, so it wasn't unusual to ride just about every day it wasn't snowing. I always lusted after the good stuff, like the gts, hutchs & redlines of the guys above. THe obsession with performance cycles and gear continues today to the dismay of my wife.

I played hockey too, right through college, so cycling was fading from my life. Then my dad of all people (not much of an athletic guy) bought a mtn bike and said it was a blast. I rode once with him in the woods on my lavender GT pro performer (with white skyway mags... yeah baby) that had not seen the light of day in 7+ years. I think I was 21. After borrowing a friends mtn bike for a few more rides with pop, my folks bought me a mtn bike for my 23rd birth day and I started to ride more with my dad.

After college, hockey started to get annoying (lots of random injuries) so I was on the mtn bike even more often with a younger crowd as dad was no longer able to keep up. Fast forward several years, and in 2001 a friend of a mtn biking friend bought a rode bike and we had a good laugh about the whole spandex thing. I watched the Giro that year on DVD and got hooked on the gear (recurring theme with me) and the strategy of road racing. I bought a used Dean Culebra and haven't looked back. I think I've had 5 road bikes since then and three cross bikes. Last year I finally replaced that 1994 gary fisher my parents had bought me.

[bozman]

My senior year of college, 1990. In those days my small university in Indianapolis had a knock-off (now defunct I believe) of Indiana University's Little 500. Some buddies of mine from the swim team used to ride road bikes after swim season ended and one of them sold me his Schwinn Paramount so I could train for this event. At the time I thought all those 15-30 mile rides were fantastic but for whatever reason cycling did not stick.

Fast forward to 1997. I met Crossjunkee at an IBM distributor in Indianapolis shortly after I was hired there and we became fast friends. He was/is an avid cyclist and he convinced me to purchase a LeMond Reno which I rode as much as I could for the next several years.

My wife and I moved to Colorado in 1999 and the cycling scene here is terrific. Two years ago I helped Crossjunkee get a job with my current employer so he and his fiancee could move to Colorado. He suggested that the time was right to "go custom" and I agreed so last year I went to Bozeman to see Carl Strong and ended up with an amazing road bike which I rode in my first race since college, last year's Iron Horse.

[TMB]

My Dad had been a bike nut in his youth, growing up in Ireland. The bike was his method of transport.

I had a trike, a steel one ( can’t remember if it was lugged) that I used to race the other kids on. Then I got a CCM, two wheeler, red and white and I went everywhere on that.

I graduated from that to a Raleigh 3 speed and I could outrun anyone on that thing, I was fast!

From there to a Norco 10 speed ( with stem shifters), then a Taiwan Bianchi, then an Italian Bianchi, then a Derek Bailey custom, then ……………………….

My Dad taught me how to do everything on a bike, sure he had cone wrenches and BB wrenches but everything else I learned to do with what there was. The mark of a kid growing up poor in Ireland – you learned to just do it.

I hammered cotter pins out with a ball peen hammer and a block of wood. I learned to take a chain apart and put it back together using a steel nut, a concrete floor a nail set and a hemmer. The hammer had to be a ball peen though so you could round the rivet off after you got the chain back together.

Headset cups were removed with a hammer and a drift, pressed with a threaded rod and washers.

I learned to take every single bit and piece off my bike, clean it, service it, re-pack it and put it back together. I learned to have paper under the bike so the ball bearings didn't get away and I still to this day prefer to use parts with loose balls rather than sealed bearings.

Although my tools have got better and more specialized, I still follow the lessons, I can still do it if I don’t have “The Tool” and I still love doing the work.

As much as the love for the machine, my Dad through this practice instilled in me the love of riding the bike as well.

The “one” that got me started was, probably, my Trike.

Truthfully, the “One” that got me started was my Dad ( may he RIP).

[rounder]

for me, the thing that started it was when the tour de trump came to baltimore in 1989. until then, i just rode around the neighborhood on my green free spirit. they blocked off the streets at the inner harbor and raced. the trump princess was tied up by the pratt street pavillion. i had never seen a bike race before and could not believe how close you could get to the action. loved the chain sounds and you could feel the breeze when the race went by. olaf ludwig (ger) won with steve bauer (can) second. a few weeks later, the tour de france was on tv and greg won by 8 seconds. i sold the free spirit and bought a bianchi brava. anyway, a woman on my bowling team(??) was married to a guy who raced and i started riding with them. i gave up bowling and have been riding my bike since...never looked back.

[William]

New forum members, tell us what got you started into this obsession!! :)




William

[Erik.Lazdins]

I started on trikes and moved onto a bike with solid wheels and training wheels. I remember asking my dad to pull them off when I realized I didn't need them - I don't recall how old I was.


The first time I realized I loved it was the first day I got to ride to school (Conerly Road School in Somerset, NJ) the feeling I had passing all the walkers was indescribable, when I got there I rode back home just to do it again.


When I was 12 I got my first road bike - a heavy orange Kia that was a lot faster than the bannana seat bike I had. During the summer when all my friends went off to summer camp, I was alone and decided to ride my bike and explore. I rode my bike all day long, every day, while my friends were away. I went out to places I hadn't been on a bike before and had this great feeling again.


We moved to St. Louis and I would be sent on my bike with a backpack to Kroger or the farm house up the road to get fresh tomato for mom. During this time I kept riding some, but nobody I knew had bikes they rode. I saved up and bought a Raleigh that I kept riding and maintaining.

In college I left the bike at home and started lifting weights - which was a lot of fun but rode my bike when I got home during the summer.

I kept riding occasionally until the birth of my daughter was nearing. I was looking for something to do on my off lifting days so I rode my bike more seriously. I was immediately aware of that great feeling again - In a few months I went from lifting 5 or six days a week to riding 5 or six days a week. That was back in 2000 and I have been hooked since.

[William]

Bump again....




William :)

[William]

No takers on the last round.

Any of you new forum friends out there want to tell us how you got started? :)



William

[bhungerford]

edit: actually started with a little 12" Huffy bmx that was black and red, road that little thing from my home town towards lake ontario with my dad back in WNY, about 25 miles.....i think i was 5 or 6....but more serious biking started...

started with getting a bike to ride around Purdue, that was stolen, got a nicer bike, got into mt biking, raced with the club team, but trails were so far away that i got my dad's old Trek road bike, so i started riding right from the door, and it's nice riding around there, country, no cars, miles without seeing houses even! wrenched for Cherry Bikes part time, and basically totally hooked to the point that my whole basement is now my "Bike Room" :beer:

[xjoex]

Flatland bmx was the rage when I was really young and all the nieghborhood kids did it. So I puttered around on mine trying to do tricks.

Never a jock, I was a fat kid in to computers and taking things apart.

Then somehow my dad got me a free puch mountain bike when I was like 13, never rode it much. But then I went on a YMCA 7 day backpacking trip and lost 15 pounds. Over the next few months I lost 50 pounds total.

I rode that puch mountain bike every day after school and during the summer. Valley Forge park was 5 miles from my house and I'd ride there and hit this mountain bike loop before it was illegal like it is now(why? No one even uses the trails.)

Then I crashed bad one day and f'ed up the puch, bent the frame. Got a trek 930. Rode that al the time, senior year of high school I got a Kona AA, cool ass bike. Bought clipless pedals with my graduation money... that meant you were serious to a 17 year old.

In college I rode mtn, road and cross. Worked in bike shops, raced, couriered for a little. Didn't have a car, did everything by bike.

I moved to Boulder, CO, where I rode less as I was doing lots of running, rock climbing and mountaineering.

I got back in to riding seriously as I got a bonus and bought a new cross bike on tuesday, signed up for a race saturday and raced the whole season on it. Moved back east and I still ride every day and ride it all.

-Joe

[majorpat]

I honestly can't recall a specific event that got me going. I rode my bike as all pre-driving teenagers did but I do remember the local bike shop was where I bought my sneakers for cross-country and I liked the cool looking bikes.

Next thing I remember, I was on a 1984 sky blue, lugged steel Fuji League riding in my lacrosse shorts and adidas sambas (because they were black and looked like cycling shoes) in the weekly 10 mile time trial. I liked getting out to other towns, long rides that made me weird to the neighborhood kids. Soon I had the shoes shorts and a new Cannondale and was watching Greg LeMond on the Sunday CBS coverage.

I was off the bike for about 10 years through college and the Marines but got back on in 1998, seemingly for good.

Pat

[Fixed]

tom warren
cheers

[CMY]

My father has always been into it, and there was always some sort of cycle floating around the house (along with cars and boats, two other passions of mine).

Like most, my interest waned when I turned 16 and it pretty much stayed like that for the next 15 years.

Oddly enough, I have to indirectly blame (thank?) Big Daddy for getting me back on track the second time around. I started following R&R after an old friend of mine got a sponsorship from them to race at Indy.. and then in an odd twist of fate my girlfriend later went on to work at the company. His approach changed my perception of the cycling world (boring & elitist) and in turn I felt a little more freedom to put my own spin on it.

[MilanoTom]

It started out with girlie magazines for me.

When I was in high school (mid-1970s), I had Playboy magazine with a cover shot of a model standing with a yellow Schwinn (Continental as I recall), and inside was an article with color drawings of racing bicycles. I remember that one of them was a totally cool Bob Jackson.

I also had a Oui magazine with an article on Eddy Merckx. It started with a description of the physical agony of breaking the hour record. The drawing with the article was sort of a half-Mercx, half-steam locomotive profile. It's the kind of thing that would have made a cool poster or t-shirt.

I never really did any riding until I was in my 30s. I was living in South Carolina and my (eventually ex-)wife had bought a mountain bike so she could ride on a local bike path with her law partners. I thought it would be fun to pull out the old Schwinn 10-speed from my high school days and do some riding of my own. She and I separated a couple of months later, and I kept riding. Eventually, the limitations of the Schwinn became painfully apparent, and I found a barely-used Torpado at a steal of a price at a little mom-and-pop shop in West Columbia, and I never looked back.

The breakup of my marriage was pretty miserable. My nearest kin were a thousand miles away, and I felt utterly lost. Finding that Torpado (it was almost as though it was there waiting for me) as well as the friendship of other riders and the local shop staff (who became almost like a second family to me) probably saved my life.

Regards.
Tom

[trocared]

Previously, I have never viewed riding as a way to stay in shape, it was simply a mode of transportation. I believed the only way to get fit was by running. While I loved running outdoors (especially after hard Iowa winters), my body was taking a beating (shin splints, hip and knee problems). Last year, I decided that my last marathon was my LAST marathon, thus I gained 20 lbs., high bad cholesterol, low good cholesterol, high blood pressure with low energy levels to boot.
A friend showed me the errors of my way, and suggested I try cycling. My only previous cycling "experience" was on RAGBRAI several years ago. I guess I only rode that because all Iowans must ride at least one RAGBAI. I truly enjoyed that experience, it just did not "stick". Anyhow...being a newbie to this cycling world, I gave Clydesdale the mission to seek a bike that he thought would work...he found a killer deal on a Peg fina estampa.
I truly enjoy going out on noon fitness rides, enjoying nature and companionship...riding for the health of it. I recieve the same benefits I loved from running, with less wear and tear on my body. I am currently attempting to force my wife to realize the errors of her ways (she's currently training for a marathon) by buying her a beautiful Serotta Legend frame. I am looking forward to to my first build, and her companionship on the road

Trocared

[Volant]

Just born that way. I've been in love with cycling as long as I can remember. My uncle (tool and die guy) helped me fab a frame when I was 11. I wish I still had it; I gave it to a kid who didn't have a bike; it was stolen from him.

[flickwet]

At age eleven I received a red Murray with chrome fenders, headlight tank and beautiful whitewalls. I rode this bike through the country side of Northern Indiana until I was 18. Of course as a teenager I had to remove the fenders and tank because that was certainly not cool.

My lust for multi-speed bikes began at age 13. The local Montgomery Wards had a European bike of some sort on display. With racing handlebars, bottle holders and shifters it was the coolest bike I had ever seen. At age eighteen, I bought a Schwinn Continental after dreaming about one from looking in a frequently reviewed Schwinn catalog. I guess seeing all those pretty girls smiling and riding in the catalog pictures was too good of a dream to not take action on.

The Continental expand my riding range from 15 and 20 mile rides to 50 and 60 mile rides. I literally wore this bike out because the only thing ever lubricated was the chain.

The rest is history. At age 50, I still think of bicycling as my link to childhood. It is still as thrilling for me to go for a ride as it was when I was 11. I can't imagine not riding a bike. Riding is singularly the most therapeutic thing that I do.
Essentially the same thing for me same kind of Schwinn too. Quit riding serious but dabbled until 2002,weighed 217, back to 181 now "I was older then I'm so much younger than that now".Outside I'm 50, inside I'm 19.

[Ken C]

Growing up Boulder and following the Coors Classic races. I lived 15 minutes away from the Morgul Bismark loop. My buddy and I both got some french lugged 650c bikes, with exposed brake cables, dt friction shifting, and standard reach brakes. I can't remember the name of the maker, but they were great first bikes. Afterwards I graduated to a pre CAAD Cannondale with Shimano 600. We then started racing in the Mini Red Zinger races for youths. The largest race was the Boulder one. some of the stages were, match sprints on the Hill near CU, a team time trial on US 36, a road race up to Jamestown up left hand canyon, and out and back on the Morgul Bismark, and a criterium around downtown Boulder. They also had smaller three stage races in Vail, Ft Collins and if I remember correctly Apsen. The Vail races were especially cool because they had a time trial up Vail pass and a criterium right in the main area of Vail Village.

Kids would travel to come to these races, one year there was a couple of brothers who came from Mexico to race. Chris Wherry got his start racing in the Mini Red Zinger. I grew up with his younger sister who also raced.

After racing my last year in it, I gave up racing, but I have continued to ride ever since. It is really a shame that they no longer put these races on for kids. They were really a good way for kids to get into riding.

[flickwet]

Hey william keep bumpin this puppy , perhaps finest thread ever.

[WadePatton]

A quick glance tells me I haven't participated in this one yet--so here goes.

Skipping over the days of bigwheels and 20-inchers...

Fraternity in college. One guy was a racer and a couple more were roadies, and so I gots me a road bike. Then mountain bikes became the thing. Didn't have much for trails, but I got one of those anyway. 3x6 and rigid aluminum!

Off and on for years. Transportation in college. Supported racer friends in the late 80's early 90's(pre-rides and camp parties). Started racing off-road in 2001 and have now committed to a cyclo-centric lifestyle. Was "off" the last two years. Now I'm back, getting fitter and faster than ever--at 41.

Ride and enjoy. I owe Mike Kobeck and Hap Harrington some thanks. :banana:

[rsl]

I don't think I've replied to this either...

As a kid living in the country I probably biked like all kids living in the country. I rode my huffy mountain bike around a (very) small path I had created in the woods almost every day, and I remember the thrill of coasting down a HUGE (for a 7 yr old) hill on the long gravel road that led from my house to the only other house that had boys my age. Those friends and I used to set up ramps to jump our bikes, and at one point I tried to impress them (they were a little older) by jumping a "ramp" that was really more of an obstacle created by a piece of firewood and a board. That resulted in a trip to the ER and 18 stitches by an oral surgeon on my lower gums after I went over the bars...

Flash forward to college when I decided that I needed a bike to commute around campus. After a trip to the bikestore I started obsessing over mountain bikes, and eventually bought a Trek 6000. I didn't know it at the time, but I had chosen a school with a pretty good outdoor culture, and plenty of nice singletrack in the area (Go Mizzou Tigers!), so I spent plenty of time in college riding the Trek, which was traded up a couple of times until I bought a Litespeed Obed.

I took the mountain bike with me to grad school in Boston, but after it went unridden for a year, I decided to buy a road bike. I figured I'd ride this, you know, just until I could start mountain biking again. Little did I know that my mountain bike obsession was nothing but a mild crush compared to what I'd discover once I had a road bike...

[William]

Let's hear from some of our newer members. :cool:




William

[TweeWielen]

I bought a Schwinn High Sierra MTB in 1984 (maybe 1983(?)) with a mountain of cash saved up from my $10 a week afternoon paper route. 15 spds used to get me around the hood quick enough. From there it was all downhill to better expensive faster. Man, that was a sweet bike for a 14yr old kid. People didn't even know what to make of it.... some sort of bike for dorks too old to ride a bmx bike. :)

[girlie]

Grew up on a 6 and half mile dirt road - so far in the woods they wouldn't run cable TV to us. We had one TV station CBS. One weekend I was watching TV for whatever reason......and this bike race came on. I was a runner so got interested and started listening. Was probably 12 or 13 years old. The stories were amazing and the concept of it being a team sport fascinated me. 5 kids in my family.....when I was outside running wild in the woods one of my sisters would yell to me, "Hey that bike race thing is on." I'd come running into the house and plop down in front of the TV, usually by myself. It was the Tour de France and did not really understand how important of a race it is - but I could feel the energy of it. I got excited and would follow the race even though I knew nothing about racing and no one I knew in Vermont even raced.
Pointed at the TV and said I'm going to do that someday. Freshman year of college saved an entire summer and bought my first race bike. Stopped running and switched to the bike:)
Still love the stories of the Tour...I'm bad with names! The guy with the blond hair and the pony tail (tall and skinny) Lemond and the guy who didn't ride for his teammate and rode for himself causing the big controversy. The climbing stages grown men with such looks on their faces.....and I understood pushing yourself to limits having come from running.
Basically I fell in love with the sport and wanted to play!

[cadence90]

@ girlie: maybe you mean (or maybe not) Laurent Ponytail Fignon (who in 1989 Lemond beat by 8 seconds on the final stage TT, after being down by 50 seconds at the start ramp, and therefore christened aero bars forever), and "The Badger" Bernard Hinault (who in 1986 as La Vie Claire teammates and co-captains) Lemond attacked after Hinault promised to support him and then didn't (looking for a 6th Yellow), and then went on to demolish Hinault and win his first Tour. Bad blood all over the route.). Lemond, despite all the criticism levelled against him these days (which for some reason I don't quite understand) was a true b*d*ss in his day....

[biker222]

I had always enjoyed biking, I can remember my 1st road bike. I was a handme down from my cousin. It was CCM 9 speed, 3 in the hub, 3 on a free wheel. I got that bike when I was 12 or 13 and rode until I was 17.

When I joined the military the riding took a back seat for about 10 years. During that time frame my weight went from 189lbs to 230lbs. Too much partying, drinking beer, and smoking. I hated running so I started riding seriously in 1983 on Nisihiki Landu. I have owned 6 bikes since getting back into cycling. Current rides is 2007 Nove and 1987 Apollo Kukahara Mtn Bike that has become my comuter bike. Since then I have stopped smoking and my weight is back down to 185lbs. I still enjoy my beers after a hard ride.

[girlie]

@ girlie: maybe you mean (or maybe not) Laurent Ponytail Fignon (who in 1989 Lemond beat by 8 seconds on the final stage TT, after being down by 50 seconds at the start ramp, and therefore christened aero bars forever), and "The Badger" Bernard Hinault (who in 1986 as La Vie Claire teammates and co-captains) Lemond attacked after Hinault promised to support him and then didn't (looking for a 6th Yellow), and then went on to demolish Hinault and win his first Tour. Bad blood all over the route.). Lemond, despite all the criticism levelled against him these days (which for some reason I don't quite understand) was a true b*d*ss in his day....

Yeah I know:) but that's how I remembered it for years...the names were details I can remember there faces and those looks of pain and that constant never giving up they all have! It was true love at first sight.

[cadence90]

Yeah I know:) but that's how I remembered it for years...the names were details I can remember there faces and those looks of pain and that constant never giving up they all have! It was true love at first sight.
It always is.

[johnnymossville]

I was in 8th grade, too young for the Cross-Country team in school, but one of my older brother's teammates also raced bicycles. He had a really great looking Schwinn Paramount. I lusted after that bike more than girls at the time.

That, and there was a 100 mile road race that went by my house every year. I remember watching the race organizer out re-painting the arrows on the road pointing out the route. While out running/training those marks would always remind me of how cool racing is. As soon as I had enough cash I bought a road bike myself. A Schwinn Super LeTour, and started racing. I got dropped in my first race after a mile or so, but I was hooked!

Not much long after that I started winning races. My freshman year in college was the last time I ran cross country, the division championship meet being my last competitive running race. It's been all cycling since then, with a big gap of women/marriage/kids thrown in for good measure.

[ThasFACE]

Always been riding in some form or another. As a youngin' in VA it was my summer transportation; I was on my GT bmx rig for hours every day (destination? The 7-11, way far away on the W&OD). In HS I would ocassionally get out on my Step-Dad's old Italian steel rig, but I was _really_ into the baseball thing at that point. By the time college rolled around and I realized that I wasn't quite so good at baseball as I thought, I went off to school and played another sport. Cycling was still an occasional diversion. Continued with that until I did my acl/mcl/meniscus in '04 and since then have (re)dedicated myself to riding hard.

Bikes = sweet.

[jabbahop]

I got hooked on racing when in college @ DePauw in Indiana that had a version of the Little 500 bike race made famous by the movie Breaking Away. Our dorm started a team and I ended up dropping off the soccer team and spending my time on the bike.

It was a great time for cycling. I lived a bit in Vail and raced (Cat 4) a bit up there and got to see the Red Zinger/Colorado Classic come through town with the heros of the day - Ron Keifel, Davis Finney, Eric Heiden (man he was HUGE!), Alexi G., racing around town.

My mom lived in SD so after college lived @ home and raced in SoCal (the fiesta island evening "races" where a hoot!) bit and was able to go up to watch the LA Olympic road race won by Alexi and Connie.

Was travelling in Europe in 86 and was in Paris to watch Lemond win his first yellow jersey from my Mom's hotel with a balcony DIRECTLY over looking the course.

http://api.photoshop.com/home_994a7a59f6b346f7b4dc1b23e237d0bc/adobe-px-assets/dc7515654ba3403482d974f1e824483a


Great memories

[Fixed]

I wanted to be like john howard
cheers

[jcmuellner]

Reading Eddy Merckx stories at age 13-14 and I was smitten with the Euro bike world. No road racing, but I've been riding ever longer distances since....

[northbend]

I learned how to ride something like 45 years ago on my sisiters blue step thru Schwinn - legs too small for me to sit on the seat so I am pedaling standing up. Big brother Mike pushing me up the street and I am asking 'how am i doing Mike?" and he'd say 'you're ok!" reassuring me that he was there keeping me upright holding onto the wire basket slung over the rear fender. That is until I asked once and he was no longer there, laughing a 1/2 a block away. Crash! A few years later, a yellow Schwinn 'lemon peeler' was my ticket to freedom. Bikes moved outa my life during my early teen years but then after high school I bought a Nishiki international and rode it everywhere. Next came an italian built Univega. My first high end bike was a Coicc when I first hired in with the Company I still work with today. In 1981 I traded that bike for a Bruce Gordon from a co-worker that I still ride. I have a nice Ti bike that is a joy to ride but there's something special about riding my old BG. I love to ride my mountain bike because it makes me feel like kid again on my lemon peeler blasting thru mud puddles. For me, the hook was and still is freedom and a sense of adventure. As I got older, I started to appreciate a bike for it's simplicity and the asthetics. I also like how riding makes you fit in a very sneaky way - while having fun. Thats it for me..

[girlie]

I learned how to ride something like 45 years ago on my sisiters blue step thru Schwinn - legs too small for me to sit on the seat so I am pedaling standing up. Big brother Mike pushing me up the street and I am asking 'how am i doing Mike?" and he'd say 'you're ok!" reassuring me that he was there keeping me upright holding onto the wire basket slung over the rear fender. That is until I asked once and he was no longer there, laughing a 1/2 a block away. Crash! A few years later, a yellow Schwinn 'lemon peeler' was my ticket to freedom. Bikes moved outa my life during my early teen years but then after high school I bought a Nishiki international and rode it everywhere. Next came an italian built Univega. My first high end bike was a Coicc when I first hired in with the Company I still work with today. In 1981 I traded that bike for a Bruce Gordon from a co-worker that I still ride. I have a nice Ti bike that is a joy to ride but there's something special about riding my old BG. I love to ride my mountain bike because it makes me feel like kid again on my lemon peeler blasting thru mud puddles. For me, the hook was and still is freedom and a sense of adventure. As I got older, I started to appreciate a bike for it's simplicity and the asthetics. I also like how riding makes you fit in a very sneaky way - while having fun. Thats it for me..

Thanks:) This is the essence of it isn't it....it kind of feels like your flying.....reminded me of things I forgot.
For me there seems to be two stories about getting involved with bikes. The none racing one and the racing one. I remember that feeling of freedom as well.....and riding 63 circles in the driveway on my banana seat "Desert Rose" while mother kept yelling time to eat.

[Samster]

I knew a guy in high school named Bob. One day, he showed up with his slick "le jeune" 10 speed with dt shifters. I was hooked.

[William]

New forum friends, please tell us about how you got started in this crazy fun obsession.


Thanks! :beer:





William

[97CSI]

Dad took the training wheels off when I was four. Been at in some form or another ever since. At my age, if you wanted to get around when you were a kid you rode a bike or walked.

[false_Aest]

As with most things I('ve) do(ne)...

There was a girl I wanted to impress.

Note: leg shaving and lycra wearing doesn't usually impress girls that dress exclusively in JCrew and A&F . . . .



.....oh highschool.....

[kaze]

A friend decided that he needed to get some exercise because of his family history with heart disease and bought a bike. I was 24 and had given up motorcycling due to a very severe motorcycle accident another friend had. I missed being on two wheels so the idea of getting a bicycle sparked an interest (I stopped riding a bike the minute I bought my first car). I bought a low-end Raleigh and my buddy got a low-end Trek. Ironically, a year later I was hooked and upgrading, my friend had stopped riding.

[gman]

A girl I dated for 5 years went to Alaska on a solo vacation to visit distant family members and to simply "get away".

She stayed.

Left with a hole in my heart and a hole in my life, I got my old steed from high school out of the storage shed, cleaned it up and went for a ride. I rode 20 miles on my first ride and it took an eternity. I did it again a few days later, and again after that.

That was 24 years and many, many bikes ago.

She met a preacher man and got married, moved back and had a half-dozen kids.

Good for her...

Better for me.

[KJMUNC]

Seems like our family was always on bikes riding somewhere. We'd ride to get ice cream at Baskin Robbins and my dad knew a secret cut through in the fence behind the local movie theatre that I alwas thought was cool....Saw American Flyers on a cross-country flight during a family vacation and was hooked....A buddy's dad was into riding and he always wore an ancient green Campagnolo cycling cap that I thought was hella cool.....I learned a lot about Euro cycling from him, and then saved up enough to buy my first bike the summer we moved from Oklahoma to St. Louis. I didn't know anybody so I just rode every day. I was 13 and the bike was my escape....it was the summer of '89 and I'd crank out hours on the bike by myself while waiting to hear news from France.

[rugbysecondrow]

Like other said, I am from a small rural town in Illinois (pop 2400) that required either biking or walking to get anywhere, so I biked some. From biking to school, paper routes, girl friends etc etc, that is how I got around. It was more or less transportation.

Fast forward about 15 years....I live in Maryland and the Chicago Bears just lost the Super Bowl. In a drunked stuper, my friends decided that we could find redemption in a triathlon that was upcoming that Spring. I know, but it seemed perfectly rational at the time. I also played D-II Mens Rugby (and had for the past 8 years through college and clubs) and thought that the conditioning would help me get in shape for the 15's in the Spring and 7's in the summer. Anyway, after my first race, towards the end of 7's season, I had an accident at home where I pulled all the muscles in my back, herniated two discs and tore one of them. I used some upcoming triathlon races as motivation to rehab for 8 months, but biking was my least favorite mainly because the Tri bike I had at the time felt good before the accident, but hurt like hell afterword. It was just unpleasant. I sold that bike and bought a steal Lemond Poprad as an all around ride. Great bike, and that is what helped me enjoy riding again. I did sell that bike, but only after I bought my first Serotta Colorado, which is a wicked fun bike.

I really enjoying riding now, but I also never played Rugby again. Not certain which I would rather have, but I also don't think in those terms. I am grateful for what I HAD as well as what I HAVE, and that is all I think anybody can reasonably expect.

Anyway, I still do triathlons and do bike training for the races, but I have also learned to enjoy just getting out and about. I bought a bike seat for my daughter that she and I both love called an I-BERT (http://www.ibertinc.com/). Anyway, that has energized me as well because I get to share my experiences with her, both on trail and neighborhood rides as well as some smooth off road stuff.

Good times and thanks for reviving the thread. Perspecive is good sometimes.

Cheers

[William]

BUMP!

Lets hear from some of the newer forum folks.....What got you started? :)








William

[mtnryder]

BUMP!

Lets hear from some of the newer forum folks.....What got you started? :)


William

I lived in the more rural parts of my town, and like others, needed a moutain bike to get around. I started out with a black Huffy 10 spd that I beat the living snot out of (hard to do since that thing was made entirely of steel pretty much; must have weighed 40 lbs). Upgraded to my first "real" moutain bike in the early teens, and bought a Specialized RockHopper. Started riding trails and getting muddy, and was hooked ever since. Upgraded to a Stumpjumper right before I left for college (worked at my LBS, got a smokin deal), and raced it several times for CU-Boulder. I actually did pretty well and podiumed in a race my Soph. year.

Road biking started in college. I wanted to try and race with the road team, but after the first "warm up" ride of the season, where I got DUSTED, I decided it would be recreational only for me. Had a CDale R700 (sold), upgraded to a CDale CAAD 7 Team Saeco frame (sold :crap: ), and just yesterday took delivery of a used Serotta Colorado TG with Easton carbon fork , and hope to build it up and ride it come spring time.

Future plans to include a Legend Ti built with full carbon, and TiMax with full XTR and Rock Shox SID Race fork :beer: . Just need the $$$ first...

[cdn_bacon]

Was a cousin of a friend of mine came to his house all duded up with his new Falcon road bike and matching kit. The bike looked fast and shiny and nice. Something inside of me said that I'd like to try road riding. Turns out that the next year, I bought his Falcon, clipped in, fell over with bike attached and have never given up riding since.

[54ny77]

what got me started? i have no idea. nor do i ever want to know, really. too much thinking hurts. :banana:

[William]

It's that time again!! New members, what got you into cycling? :)




William

[William]

Let's try again! :cool:

Anyone want to share?


William

[azrider]

Moved from CHI to PHX years ago and had what some would say a bit of a partying/boozing problem. Finally one hungover Monday morning an avid runner at my work told me to give up the partying and challenged myself and several others to a Triathlon. Winner got a paid dinner at Mastro's (http://www.mastrosrestaurants.com/) and bragging rights, which, in the male dominated office in which we worked was worth much, much more than the dinner.

I got serious and touched up on my swimming and running but never had a 'nice' bike. I incorporated the help of my brother who raced as CATI back in late nineties and a best friend from high school (successful CATIII and forum member) and bought a road bike with some detachable aero bars. I think the day that i got HOOKED, was when I went on my first group ride here in Scottsdale called the BOS- considered to be one of the hardest group rides in the "Valley of the Sun". I remember going straight to the front at the beginning of the ride and looked over my shoulder every 2 seconds. I was giving it everything I had and the riders at the front were just looking at me laughing. Finally once the road tilted upwards i was dropped instantly and was passed by a couple on a tandem shortly thereafter................pure humiliation.

That was five years ago so I'm fairly new to the game and loving every minute of working towards my II upgrade. Oh, come the day of the triathlon i was the only one that stuck with the commitment and ended up placing in the top 20 out of 200. I never swam or ran again after that race.....got the dinner and still to this day rub it in my co-workers faces.

[William]

Anyone willing to tell us how you got started riding??? :)




William

[Germany_chris]

Anyone willing to tell us how you got started riding??? :)




William

I'm an 80's kid from Florida there were two things important in the 80's down my way..BMX and Skateboards I couldn't and still can't skate. But you put me on a bicycle and I could/can make it do whatever I want!!

[Wilkinson4]

My Junior year in H.S. I sat next to a kid who would bring in Bicycling magazines during Language Arts and I would read through them. He raced. That was in 84.

That started my interest and then I saw my first TdF and Lemond, and started to follow american cycling.

I then started coveting and by the time I graduated I had put what little I had on an 84 Ciocc at the Denver Spoke. Gotta love lay-a-way!

Paid for it by the time I turned 18 and I have been riding ever since.

It saved my life I think. Most of my friends were from the wrong side and ended up in jail, etc. I stopped all that non-sense when I got the bike and I'm better for it :)

mIKE

[rugbysecondrow]

Growing in a town of 2600 in Illinois, biking was my mode of transportation, I went everywhere. I bought my first new bike (specialized hard rock) and rode the snot out of it. Upgraded to a rock hopper when my paper route began to be lucrative (All relative of course). Rode that rock hopper through under grad and grad school, sold it three years ago to buy road bike for my first triathlon.

I had been sidelined from Rugby due to a back injury and in a drunken stupor decided (with some buddies) to sign up for a triathlon. From there, I almost gave up on it as my back still hurt and I had mistakenly purchased an ill fitting tri bike. I sold it and bought a lemond Poprad, that bike kept me riding and got me in love with steel. I then sold it to purchase a used Serotta Colorado, it has been downhill ever since (in a good way).

Cheers

[onsight512]

I was having chest pain last year. Enough that, even at 41 years of age, I didn't think it would be prudent to ignore. Went to my family doc, who did some blood work. Advised me to change my diet, get some exercise, and see a cardiologist (just in case).

I took his advice and bought a Bianchi Pista to commute to work on. The thought was that it'd be an easy way to fit some exercise into my schedule. Works like a charm. It didn't take long before I was hooked. Love it.

A few months after that I was back on that bike, having had a new aortic valve installed, and pedaled up my first hill. Legs burning, lungs burning, and a pounding in my chest, but no pain. Amazing.

[Dave B]

Mine is kind of a lame story, but I was in grad school in 2001 and depressed. I was the youngest in my group and the only one single. I was getting over a girl and boy things were not going well. My grades were great, but I was drinking loads...I mean when classes were over I was after it. Began watching the tour highlights on Lance and bought his book. I think I read it like 4 times in a week and picked up a lemond zurich for like $800 which was a huge chunk of my financial aid.

Went out for my first ride in years and went like 12 miles I equated it to running and thought that was crazy. My junk hurt so bad it took me a few more days to get back on the bike. I stopped drinking like I was and rode and rode and rode. Depression went away and I got into Lance big time. I mean big time.

Got hit by a car and the bike just exploded, so with the insurance money to replace the bike I had (I told them it was used, but they wanted a new quote) so i bought the red/wht/blue Trek postal bike. I rode it every day and found a focus I had ever known.

Today I don't care much for Lance's crap, but I will always give his words their due credit as it pulled me out of a serious funk. I don't want to race much anymore and find myself enjoying getting lost on the road. Just with my thoughts and learning through this and other forums.

Cycling is more then a hobby for me. It gives me an outlet for anger, frustration, and joy. Losing myself on the bike re-finding my life rhythm is something I absolutely love. I am not a good cyclist at all, but I do love it and the things it has done for me.

I had bikes before, but never with as much passion as I have now. I should get out more, but don't and when I do I make the most of it and enjoy all the moments I have.

[thegunner]

i was a chunker my entire life, lost a ton of weight from rowing and eventually started rowing competitively at a DI collegiate program. we had a coach who believed in doing as many meters as possible and well... like rugby, i blew out my back. c4/c5 injury. my doctor advised me from continuing with rowing, but since i have a serious case of exercise ADD...

i took up cycling. a couple of my teammates already did it for cross training. i'd go out for rides with them on a cheapo road bike and get my ass kicked. loved every single (breathless) second in the red. eventually took up collegiate racing and well... here i am.

[vsefiream]

New forum friends, please tell us about how you got started in this crazy fun obsession.


Thanks! :beer:





William

OK, well.... BEER did help but not that far back.

I really don't know to be honest with you. I think some things are hereditary! My mom came from Italy when she was almost 12 and her family did everything they could to be more American which included not teaching us how to speak Italian :crap: Anyhow I never really took a liking to baseball, football, basketball, ya know the typical American sports, still don't get excited by them. However I was always a cycling and soccer fan. My earliest memories were on a bike. I rode them, fixed them, and built them. I ended up working in a bike shop in '90 and joined the USCF. I raced on Watkins Glen race track and various other areas with the Genesee Valley Cycling Club. It was at that bike shop that I met a guy who used to braze for Serotta. I bought my first Serotta frame from him which was a custom. BEER, ok got that out of the way. SQUIRREL, gotta be EO sorry.
Anyhow, that was my first and only Serotta custom. I rode that for a while and slowly lost interest to cars in my very early 20's. I have been playing with various 2nd generation Trans Am's and Formulas which is where my screen name comes from. Since then and my cycling passion was on the back burner until recently when I joined this list after finding an Atlanta on CL. The rest is history else where on this site, see my first posts here:first post (http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=87658&page=1&pp=15)
Now I'm tweaking my CSI for more comfort and have put over three hundred miles on it since I got it in the end of this past May. I have been pushing myself to commute to work more often and get out for a ride when it doesn't interfere with family time. Soon enough, the kids will be ready to ride with me. Hopefully they will say they got the bike passion from dad if they are ever asked!!
OK time for a BEER!! Honey Brown please ;)

[FlashUNC]

Growing up on a farm in rural North Carolina, the bike was a fun way to get around as a kid. I remember taking this awesome Huffy with knobbies and a sweet race number on the front over all kinds of crazy stuff.

Then stopped as I outgrew the bike. Once I got to high school, I had a JROTC teacher who was a former Cat 3 racer who got some of us interested in mountain biking. I saved for a Specialized Rockhopper, went to do the 5 mile loop trail at a nearby park with a buddy, and thought my lungs would explode.
But I was hooked.

About a year later, after riding the mountain bike on the road more and more, the parents decided to foster my habit by getting me a Specialized Allez from Cycles de Oro. This was 1995 or so. Still have the frame hanging in the garage. I build it out every once in a while. Great riding frame.

Rest is history...

[rounder]

I was riding around on my neighborhood bike (sears free spirit) in 1989. The bike wsa green, air in the tires, seemed ok to me. Bought a newer Schwinn for daughter. Everything about her bike was better. Went out and bought a Schwin Traveler with cool wrap. I thought i was fine. Then, guy on my bowling team said you should ride with us...so i did and went on an 18 mile ride that went out beyond the neighborhood. Meanwhile, Greg was nailing it on the TDF. Went out the next day and bought a Bianchi road bike. I was fine for a few months and then realized...what would it be like to ride a bike like the pros ride.

Did not know much about bikes but knew that i had to have an E. Merkcx (7-11) or Serotta (Coors Lite). Davis Phinney was cool. Went with Serotta and never looked back.

[firerescuefin]

I was an Air Force firefighter in Florida the mid 90s and was a workout/gym rat. Golf had been/was my previous passion and I carried a 2 handicap. Cycling would later completely cure me of my Golf obsession.

A good friend of mine, who has since past away, started taking me out on MTBs and beat me like a red headed step child every single time we went out. I would learn to appreciate that Eric was a very good MTBer, and an even better friend. Anyhow, I was hooked and being the obsessive personality I was dove headlong into the sport, racing MTBs for 5 years... until being introduced to road bikes. The accessibility of rides, speed of the bike, number of miles traversed, and dynamics of group rides and races hooked me line and sinker.

At the end of the day, other than spending time with my boys, nothing brings me the joy or release of a bike ride. Whether hammering alone at the limit, or sharing a slow ride with a good friend, talking the hours away.

[regiolanthe]

Like many, used the 10 speed as a main mode of transportation for much of HS (I didn't get my license until the summer after I graduated). I rode a lot on that bike to jobs, and around the neighborhood, and trying to get a glimpse of a cute girl who lived 4 or 5 miles away...

Rode a bit during college - but not too much, except during summer jaunts (nothing too long or serious).

Started riding more when I moved back to NH a couple of years post college - usually lunch time riding with people at work, but some commuting during nice summer days.

First long distance rides came about 5 years post college, when a work buddy convinced me to do RAGBRAI ('93, I think) - and then followed up in '94 with DW and a couple of other work folks.

Never raced (except for a few triathlons), and never really done any more long distance touring - but I'd say I've put 1500 to 3000 MPY pretty consistently on the bike for the last 15-20 years from spring to fall.

[jgspin]

3 years ago after years of sedentary lifestyle, I joined 24 fitness to lose weight. 3 months later I was 20 lbs. lighter. The instructor recommended that we join her on the Tour de Poway a month away. I thought I was super fit so I bought an aluminum bike 27 lb triple (too long of a top tube I found out weeks later). I rode the bike to the gym about 5 times; a 5 mile round trip. I rode to the start with lights blinking, a white cotton long sleeve shirt over a borrowed 5 year old jersey and spin shorts with thin padding. I also had chocolate bar, wrapped pastry and snacks in my jersey pockets plus 2 full water bottles.

I was signed up for the 50 miler. I've never seen so many cyclists, I was excited. I cramped on mile 17 and could not pedal out of the saddle from then on. Except for the descents and flats, I was in the granny for over half of the ride. Many people passed me. I never stopped at the aid stations cause I was ignorant and didn't know any better. I didn't stop till Carlsbad and only because I ran out of water. I didn't eat any of my food cause I was scared to steer with one hand. I stopped again at the next aid station cause I was hungry. I ate my chocolate bar which was melting and tried some of the food they had. My shirt was drenched and heavy.

I cramped so badly on the hills I was tempted to call my wife to pick me up but I somehow convinced myself that if I finished, I could do anything. My neck hurt, my butt ached, my back was in pain and my toes were also cramping. Anyway I ended up riding almost 9 hours 103 miles cause I didn't know where to go and just followed people. I was never so happy to see the finish line. All the suffering I endured seemed to go away. When I got home I took some ibuprofen and slept till the afternoon the next day.

I'm happy to say that was the turning point of my life in regards to my health and cycling. From zero bike miles to about 6000 miles a year did wonders for my speed. I can now do the same ride in about 6 1/2 hrs and at 123 lbs I can climb a little bit faster.

[soulspinner]

3 years ago after years of sedentary lifestyle, I joined 24 fitness to lose weight. 3 months later I was 20 lbs. lighter. The instructor recommended that we join her on the Tour de Poway a month away. I thought I was super fit so I bought an aluminum bike 27 lb triple (too long of a top tube I found out weeks later). I rode the bike to the gym about 5 times; a 5 mile round trip. I rode to the start with lights blinking, a white cotton long sleeve shirt over a borrowed 5 year old jersey and spin shorts with thin padding. I also had chocolate bar, wrapped pastry and snacks in my jersey pockets plus 2 full water bottles.

I was signed up for the 50 miler. I've never seen so many cyclists, I was excited. I cramped on mile 17 and could not pedal out of the saddle from then on. Except for the descents and flats, I was in the granny for over half of the ride. Many people passed me. I never stopped at the aid stations cause I was ignorant and didn't know any better. I didn't stop till Carlsbad and only because I ran out of water. I didn't eat any of my food cause I was scared to steer with one hand. I stopped again at the next aid station cause I was hungry. I ate my chocolate bar which was melting and tried some of the food they had. My shirt was drenched and heavy.

I cramped so badly on the hills I was tempted to call my wife to pick me up but I somehow convinced myself that if I finished, I could do anything. My neck hurt, my butt ached, my back was in pain and my toes were also cramping. Anyway I ended up riding almost 9 hours 103 miles cause I didn't know where to go and just followed people. I was never so happy to see the finish line. All the suffering I endured seemed to go away. When I got home I took some ibuprofen and slept till the afternoon the next day.

I'm happy to say that was the turning point of my life in regards to my health and cycling. From zero bike miles to about 6000 miles a year did wonders for my speed. I can now do the same ride in about 6 1/2 hrs and at 123 lbs I can climb a little bit faster.

To me this is Ive worked in bike shops, to get people to get fit, stay there, and have fun doing what we love-pedalling our butts off. Good on you, keep it up.

[William]

Great stories!! Thank you for sharing. :cool:



William

[Bob Loblaw]

I was always the super skinny quiet kid on the soccer field...I developed reasonable ball skills but never had much endurance or speed in spite of periodically running for fitness.

I had a track coach really help my speed while training me for 100 meter high hurdles, but it all came to a stop when I broke my toe (the first of many).

In an effort to hang onto speed and fitness, I started riding my bike, a three mile loop that exhausted me at a 15 mph pace.

Then it was six miles. Then twelve. Then twenty. Soccer season rolled around and I opted out, instead kept riding. My dad, sensing the change, finally relented on soccer and bought me a racing bike, a Motobecane Jubilee Sport.

Twenty a day tuned into thirty, and by a miraculous coincidence a kid in my high school raced for a local team. He and I started riding together.

My first taste of racing was getting my doors blown off in a local Tuesday Night crit series. I was hooked. There have been periods in my life when I dabbled in other sports, but I've always come back to cycling.

BL

[R2D2]

Love....
I fell for a girl who lived many miles away. I couldn't afford a car.
So I bought a Raleigh and rode over to just hold hands and then ride back.
Then I fell in love with riding. It keeps me grounded.
Also I have two brothers who fell in love with riding.
Maybe it is the Dutch genes?
We still ride a century together every fall.
Was luckiy to be schooled by excellent racres in the 80's.

[Hindmost]

I grew up in the Berkeley CA hills riding a 1960 Royce Union, English 3 speed. We could keep up with traffic on the down hills.

Went to college at Chico CA. Everyone had a campus cruser 10 speed. I borrowed one and rode in that amazing park by the creek. I couldn't believe 10 miles could go by so quickly.

Bought a Campy-equiped Falcon and road one Summer all over South Lake Tahoe. Spent two years in the Army and rode all over Marin County CA.

While sprinting in traffic I met a CAT 1 racer who encouraged me to come out and ride and then race.

That was 35 years ago. There was no turning back.

[William]

Bump!

That time again. Any of the newer members want to share?







William

[rounder]

Did not read back to see whether i had already posted. Anyway -

It was 1989, Bought daughter a bike at a good shop. Her bike was nicer than my sears ride around the neighborhood bike. So, got a nicer ride around the neighborhood bike. Then, Tour de Trump came to downtown Baltimore. You could hear the chains whrrrrrrrr when the bikes rode by, I had seen good stuff before, but had never seen anything like that (Sebring, etc.). Fell for it. Sold the neighborhood bike and bought a Bianchi. Wanted sonething better and had to decide...went for serotta over merckx. Did not look back. No regrets.

[bobhufford]

In the mid-60s to mid-70s we were just kids and we just road our bikes. Sting-Rays then three-speeds and one day Dad spent a good part of his take home pay buying me and my older brother new 1973 Schwinn Super Sports in Opaque Blue. We rode these everywhere and all-day long if possible. We'd just get together with buddies and ride to the nearby small towns in the area. We called these "bike-hikes".

My Super Sport was stolen within six months in broad daylight as it was locked on the front porch (my brother still has his to this day -- he kept his locked in the back) so I was on my own for a replacement. I was swayed by the vibrant lime green color of a mid/lower level Motobecane Mirage. Rode it on a 100-mile overnighter to Stockton Lake with a buddy who had a 15-speed Lambert. It was heavy, but what did I know? I finally discovered that cranks weren't supposed to be the one-piece Varsity level or cottered steel. I picked up a used Fuji Special Road racer that was a bit too tall and rode the heck out of it. No racing ... just riding.

A buddy in high-school had a nice bike and knew all the buzz words (some were magical like Campagnolo ...) so I saved my busboy pay and bought a new 1975 Peugeot PX-10. Since I had no interest in racing, I left the sew-ups with wired/soldered spokes at the shop and ordered some "touring" wheels from Bike Warehouse (now Nashbar). I rode that bike everywhere for almost a decade -- long road rides, to work, in all weather -- I just loved it.

I eventually met "the" girl, we got married and moved way out in the country far from paved roads. I sold the Peugeot to a buddy at work. This was in 1983 and mountain bikes were new at the time here in the Ozarks. The only one I borrowed and tried to ride offroad was an '82 Univega Alpina Sport with a geometery that left something to be desired.

So ... I had kids and got fat.

In the mid-1990s I was into vintage VWs and found a nice Schwinn Sting-Ray at a car swap. I bought it for my son ... well for both of us really. This started me on a mid-life attempt to recreate my youth by progressing through the bikes I had as a kid until I finally stepped up to that Schwinn Paramount that I lusted for in 1973 when picking out the Super Sport.

I rode it some, but not really that much. I bought a few other nice vintage lightweights (top end Schwinns, Raleighs, Motobecanes, Peugeots, Treks, Specializeds, Bridgestones, Ritcheys, Mercian, Tesch built John Howard, etc.) and though I did ride them, I didn't really put too many miles on any of them -- I was just a collector. At this point I was really fat and having some health issues. My wife and I decided to lose the weight so we started riding. I had found us both mid-1980s Schwinn Voyageur touring bikes and we started out on the local rail-trail, then moved out on the rural roads as the miles accumlated.

I was finally getting back into the joys of road riding and was dropping lots of weight. I lost 130 pounds (down to 169) and my wife lost 85.

A couple of years ago I found a 1999 Seven Axiom in my wife's size for $600. Once on this she would not look back at her Schwinn. I was still a holdout. I loved steel, lugs and my old Schwinns.

Last year I ran across a 2000 Waterford 2200 for a great price. I drove from Springfield, MO to Madison, WI to pick it up. It was a dream bike for me as it was steel, lugged, pinstripped and the evolution of the Paramount! I put many miles on it in 2010.

I loved this bike, but (as I consistently marvelled at the weight of my wife's Seven when loading it in the pickup) found myself lusting for a ti bike. You know ... just to see what it was like.

Last night I finalized the purchase of a 1997 Holland with Joe Bell paint. I won't be able to ride it until June as it's in San Diego (in my brother-in-law's garage) and I won't be visiting them until then (I don't want to risk shipping).

So I'll keep riding (and loving) the Waterford and will get back with a ride report on the Holland ... down the road. :)

Bob

[19wisconsin64]

i lived in san francisco (off of geary avenue near golden gate park) when i was a little kid from 1967 to 1970. i had a very little, very rusty red tricycle, that i could spin very quickly around the block. it was a magical time, and haven't changed one bit from then...still ride a red fixie. well, i did get taller and older, but that's about it.

the joy of racing other kids got me hooked.

[benitosan1972]

I grew up around 4 neighbors:

#1: former Pro Road Racer from USSR (this was the 80's after all)
#2: former National Track Racer
#3: five-time RAAM competitor
#4: USA Junior BMX Champion (Patterson Bikes)

I HAD to ride a bike, I had NO choice, it was MY destiny!

[cekte]

From the Big Wheel, training wheels, to BMX and later F1, then to Mountain Bikes, on to Road bikes, then to Track bikes, and now to Cyclocross. Been into some sort of bike ever since I can remember.

[leooooo]

Obama gave me 8g's back for buying a house.
Stated purpose of refunding 8g's back was to stimulate the economy (according to government) so I decided to jump head first into cycling.

The bike industry was suddenly 8g's richer.

[Nooch]

I started riding for weight loss, after taking my old mountain bike from my mom's garage, tuning it up, and going for some rides at rockland lake.. I wanted more, so I bought a used bike of Craigs. I wanted more than that, so I started working at a shop and got my first "real" road bike, my caad9.

I needed something to focus my efforts on to keep my motivated to lose weight, so I started riding with faster people. One of the shops best customers came in one day and asked the manager to ride with him the next morning, looks over at me and says "you wanna come?" I said sure, why not? He's been my mentor, riding buddy, coach, best friend ever since. Nothing better than having a race coming up to motivate you onto the bike, so I started training and racing instead of JRA.

[Fixed]

john howard at montreal olympics
cheers
Bikes were very cool in the early seventies

[AgilisMerlin]

my brothers puch bmx bike, double top tube. woods wilton conn.

[William]

Alright, I know we have new members here....So tell us what got you started!:banana:





William

[William]

BUMP!


C'mon now, let's here what got you started. Lots of new members here since the last time this thread came up.






William

[weisan]

Two things or events set me off this journey some 30 years ago...

1) Watching the team pursuit in the Olympics - the power, the precision, the unified movement - perfection.

2) 1988 Tour de France. The commentary by Phil Liggett. The 7-Eleven Team. The win by Pedro Delgado. Yanni music playing in the background.

[AJosiahK]

My brother no doubt

And though I had a car in college, commuting via bike gave me a great feeling enoigjxto build up a Merckx Pro w/ chorus 10s... that bike sealed the deal.

[Kingfisher]

Watched "Race for the Yellow Jersey" on PBS while freshman in college.

Then going to a local criterium and seeing Bill Watkins from West Point Team crash 2-3 times in the rain, kept getting back in the field and I think he still won or placed. I was hooked.

[thunderworks]

I was hot for a girl who was into bikes . . . That was 45 years ago. The relationship went nowhere, but bikes stuck.

[mbrtool]

Kind of boring, but here's my story. I've always loved/needed hard physical play to make me happy and balanced in life. Short story covering 69 years, riding a bike as hard as I can is the last hard physical play I can do 4 or 5 times a week.
Luckily, my life is filled with love; riding is sort of like dessert; but it's great that it's there.
Ray

[beeatnik]

Beer

and

The Brooklyn Hipsters

tru story

[makoti]

Took a ride From San Mateo to San Jose with three friends to buy bootleg records. Straight down El Camino. In retrospect, it was insane. Did get "The Coming of Kohoutek", a Pink Floyd boot so it was worth it. On that trip, one of the guys and I decided that, when we turned 30 (we shared a birthday) we'd ride cross country. 14 years later, at 30, I did.

[rounder]

Took a ride From San Mateo to San Jose with three friends to buy bootleg records. Straight down El Camino. In retrospect, it was insane. Did get "The Coming of Kohoutek", a Pink Floyd boot so it was worth it. On that trip, one of the guys and I decided that, when we turned 30 (we shared a birthday) we'd ride cross country. 14 years later, at 30, I did.

Good thread. Thanks William.

[exapkib]

Commuting from Alexandria into DC - - - I still remember the day that I looked at a map and realized that I was spending 90 minutes on public transport to travel roughly 14 miles. A couple of tries on my cousin's mountain bike convinced me that I could handle my commute on a bike. I found a used Surly CrossCheck, two sizes too big, but what did I know? That bike became my daily ride, and created a great deal of mental health that had been lacking during my early years of graduate school.

The rides gradually became longer and longer.

Soon after, we moved to SE Michigan, and I was entranced by the wide open spaces of Washtenaw County. I eventually traded the Surly for a CAAD9 that actually fit, and there was no looking back.

I've since swapped the Cannondale for a used Yamaguchi that seems to be a lifetime frame. It's been joined by a Black Mountain Cycles cross frame that has picked up the inclement weather duties.

Now, I can't imagine life without my daily trips up and down the canyons or along the valleys.

[carpediemracing]

I grew up in Holland. Ironically I don't remember ever seeing a drop bar bike there. Never saw a race, a cross race, nothing. Saw rally cross (race cars - there was a track in our town), watched some rally racing coverage on the very limited TV. In Holland a the time it was 2 channels, noon-11 PM or so, that was all that was broadcast, and weekends were pretty dead. We didn't watch a lot of TV.

Moved back to the US. Saw a guy on a road bike going around a corner. I later learned the guy was a strong Cat 2 (Scott Donovan). I couldn't believe how skinny the tires were on his bike. Started looking for books about cycling in the library. The only pro racing picture I saw was one of Eddy Merckx. He became legendary because of the 6 or 7 books, he was the only racer mentioned.

I decided I wasn't the big thighed racer the Bicycling guy kept describing. I forget the guy's name but he always wrote about touring and his search for the perfect drivetrain for a bike (half step + granny). I was dreaming about a 14-28 and 52/48/24.

I was 13.

Bought a road bike (Schwinn Traveler III, red) when I could finally ride one. Short legs, 19" frame was a bit big. Wrote the gear chart (52/40, 14-28) and taped it to my stem. Practiced double shifting. Got toe clips.

Second bike, Dawes Lightning, dark/light green fade. Changed gearing to what I thought was ideal, 48/34, 14-21 or 14-23 (for either "flat rides" or "hilly rides"). Eight usable gears out of ten. Got 700c wheels. Learned that a kid (Ken Bowler) in a bunch of my classes was an actual bike racer. Peppered him with questions 4 of 7 classes for a fall and winter.

I was 14.

He told me that in a race he'd have climbed Wolfpit (Wilton, CT) in a 53x15. That's basically the same as my max gear 48x14, and that blew my mind. I asked him repeatedly to make sure he wasn't telling me he'd descend down Wolfpit, not climb the thing. He kept insisting that he was referring to going uphill.

I tried it in the spring, going up the hill in a 48x19 or 21 first and working my way up. I got to a 48x15 but all the efforts made my legs fold in the 48x14 and I had to pull a u-turn halfway up the hill to avoid falling over. A kid Kurt in our school, who got a pro triathlon contract ($16k back in 1983?), got clocked and ticketed for going 50 mph down the thing. It's steep.

Shortly after my Wolfpit experience I went riding with Ken and his dad. I was absolutely shocked at how fast they went on the flats. Appalled, really. I thought the flats were the easy part when I rode, but the reality was that climbing was always hard and the flat stuff was ultra fast. Fortunately his dad got stung by a bee and required medical attention, else I'd have been dragging them down for 80 out of the 100 km ride we'd started. I think I still have the badge from that ride, the Bloomin Metric.

That winter I used all my current savings, my birthday present, my Christmas present, and some extra earned stuff, and ordered a Basso with Campy and Excel Rino on it. $550, $585 with tax. Campy NR derailleurs and shifters, Modolo brakes. And Excel Rino? Excel Rino had to be good, Lon Haldeman won the RAAM on it.

I was 15.

Excel Rino was horrible, it was cast aluminum with the density of styrofoam.

But the bike was built by a mechanic who got 2nd in the Jr State RR. He asked if I wanted to join his team. He built my bike with Junior gears, laced over GP4s, put Clement Futurox tubulars on, and I raced that bike for two or three years.

I rode to escape all those teenage angst things. Lots of long rides deep in the boonies, roads I'd never seen before. All my friends through high school were my cycling friends and teammates. There were a couple Juniors (including high school classmate AgilisMerlin) but most of my friends were in their 20s and 30s.

My favorite days to ride are the gloomy 45-55 degree overcast possibly raining days. I guess that's sort of Holland weather. For some reason it really calls to me. Just pounding the pedals, rolling, feeling the tires dance over the pavement. I also hate riding in that weather, it's tough, it can get unpleasant, and it's always a bit iffy if it's wet or sandy.

Now it's a bit different. I train indoors most of the time. But my last ride was in 50 degree, rainy-at-first weather. We were on flat roads next to fields lined with trees, wind blowing hard, rain falling sort of sideways. My head was pounding from the cold, I could feel the wind piercing my long sleeve jersey just past the wind vest. It really was just like Holland. Horrible. I loved it.

[purpurite]

Lemond and Fignon.

Was mesmerized every Saturday watching the recaps on CBS Sports—from the race, the coverage, to the bikes, to the John Tesh music, the amazing finish—it made me completely infatuated with cycling.

Oddly enough, I spend zero time on a road bike and haven't really since the early 90s.

[sales guy]

My father and mothers hatred of having to take me to soccer and baseball when I was growing up.
Which just led into my fathers hatred cause I didn't go into the family business.
Which led to more hatred from him.
And then mild displeasure from my mother for continuing in this industry.
To more hatred from my ex and my now current wife because I am in this industry.
Which led to my hatred of not being able to ride anymore.

Fun day at home folks.

[tigoat]

Okay I will play along.

I grew up riding motorcycles so riding with two wheels was in my blood from a very young age. I spent all of my time and money on motorcycling in high school and in my 20s after college. When I got my second job at 31 around 16 years ago, I met and became friend with a cyclist at work. At that time I tried to convince him to be a motorcyclist and the vise versus. We actually went into a Harley Davidson (I had a Harley at the time) dealer to look and to buy one. Harley had a very long waiting list and a high markup at the time and for some reason I don’t remember, the deal fell through and he never got a motorcycle. Instead, I bought a bicycle, my first, a Kestrel, and became a cyclist. The rest is history. We are still friends but nowadays he is a casual rider (he used to be very competitive) while I become a more serious cyclist every year. I hope to hit the 11K mile mark this year, it will be my first annual high mileage ever. Toast!

[pooneej]

If this was gone over and over and over I'm sorry - delete.\\

I grew up in the mid-late 70s so all we had was to ride bike to get around lol. Schwinn - stingray. Banana seat. 5 speed. We'd pack lunches and ride and ride from morning until dinnertime home.
10 years later BMX - I got a Schwinn Scrambler but really wanted a Schwinn Sting. Even with paper delivery money that wasnt gonna happen.

Driving years and biking forgotten until after college then my first road bike - to 'cross train'.

Hooked ever since!

[William]

Welcome! No big deal, the original thread is here...

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=4706&highlight=started

Also added to the Resource page stuck at the top of each forum.










W.

[Mike V]

This guy

https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/greg-lemond-of-the-us-rides-on-the-champs-elysees-in-a-23-news-photo-51550912-1559322597.jpg

[pooneej]

old thread bumper sorry !

These days nostalgic hitting - so: just thinking about how I got into riding.

I;m older so all we had long ago mid-late 70s was to get out and ride. Plus the parents (mom) would tell us to get the hell out of the house. Different times sad to say - moms dont say that now.
So we'd plan our rides. Pack lunches and ride all day long . Back for dinner. We didnt have cyclocomputers so we didnt care one bit about average speed lol. We just enjoyed outside.

Years later - heavy duty middle distance runner college. So bought a road bike and got hooked. !

[Chris]

I was 14. Wide World of Sports had its 10 minutes per week of Tour coverage. I caught a glimpse of the ‘85 Tour on the stage that Lemond was forced to wait on Hinault. Bought a road bike from a guy across the street the next day.

[Gummee]

My mtn bike got stolen.

I'd bought a road bike 18mos or so earlier but didn't ride it often. Used the insurance $ for rent, and had to ride something, so hopped on the Cannondale Criterium.

Loved the bike for short rides and crits (duh!) but anything over 90min and I'd come back with a sore back and sore other parts

Which lead to a PDM Concorde, which led to...

M

[charliedid]

I rode around lake michigan with 80 other kids in 1976

[Mike Bryant]

Eugene Sloane’s bike articles in Popular Mechanics. 1970’s.


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[saab2000]

I rode around lake michigan with 80 other kids in 1976

I didn’t do this, but it was about the same time or a few years earlier. Grew up north of you in NE Wisconsin.

My earliest racing awareness was Eddy Merckx then Bernard Hinault.

Been into road riding my whole life. My family rode bikes as transportation around town all my life.

[flying]

Winning Magazine ...When they had the yellow border back in the early 80's ;)

Edit: Of course i mean real road bike riding ;)

Otherwise like everyone else I started as a kid :bike:

[cabriggs]

I also grew up riding the 70s. First a beige banana seat Huffy that I spray-painted the frame black. Then a Raleigh R10 BMX (looked a lot like this one (https://bmxmuseum.com/bikes/raleigh/95402)). Both were great around the neighborhood, and the Raleigh was good in a then-undeveloped area we called "the pits." Early gravel riding. =) Then I got a 10-speed Schwinn in high school, didn't care for it, and probably wouldn't have ridden much anyway as I was never home.

Fast forward 30 years and the longer I watched my kid on her bike the more I wanted to ride again. So I got a hybrid, thinking I'd do some road and some trails, and I did but (spoiler alert) the hybrid wasn't very good at either. What really got me going was doing lunch rides with some guys at work. They had drop-bar bikes and it just seemed like I had to work harder. Thanks to cp43 for letting me try a couple of his and I decided drop bars were for me. Sold the hybrid and got a Diverge (still gravel riding =)). Have also picked up a full-susp MTB and a fat bike (from cp43) and, most recently, a carbon Synapse for faster pavement riding.

I thought I'd like MTB more but I really like road riding. It's easier to just get out and go, feel the breeze, and knock off a bunch of miles. Now (well, not right now), I bike commute sometimes (about 20 mi. each way, and often with cp43).

[colker]

I always liked bicycles since a very early age. I got back to it thru mountain bikes and when i realized road bikes were so much more comfortable over long distances i got hooked.

[paredown]

I'd seen a proper racing bike in the basement of of friends of my parents--their son was riding a cool Cinelli in the early '60s--and then I started to see "10 speeds" around. I think the son tried to explain the way that it worked--or at least someone did. Skinny tires!

We had one shop importing Cinellis (and other nice stuff)--who was also importing bike boom French bikes branded "Olympic" with gas pipe frames and Simplex--saved paper route money and got one. Then my best bud's parents bought him one, and the two of us rode the whole city together--pre-driver's licence--1968. First one brother and then the other bought better bikes--a Peugeot PX10 and a Cinelli B respectively...

Then another friend got hooked and somehow heard about the Canadian Junior Road Race Championships that was happening--spending one day watching those guys scream down the hill at speeds over 50mph, and make a hard right at the bottom sold me on racing...

Then we did a couple of long tours...with me still on my 26 pound wonder...

Entered my first race that fall (1969) riding my brother's Cinelli B, won the damn thing (probably all those miles on my Olympic) and I was on my way...

[dzxc]

I had always rode my ten speed around the block. But after I got out of high school in the 2010s a friend had a Kestrel road bike he was willing to sell me for cheap. Ended up taking it, and then going to the bike shop and getting pedals. Rode it around the block like I used to my ten speed, and it was so much faster! Learned everything I could, eventually started upgrading parts to lighter weight parts, and just really enjoyed everything about the experience. Reminded me of when I first got into performance cars when I got my first car at 15 and spend all my time researching and thinking about how to upgrade it, except bikes gave me the awesome feeling of being outside under your own power, you can't just buy speed, it comes from hard work. From then on I was hooked.

[Steve in SLO]

I was running track at UCSB in the late 70s, and developed shinsplints early in the first season. Had to give it up and was looking for a alternate exercise. At home I had a next-door neighbor who was into road cycling and that first summer I bought a bike at the local police auction (lucked out with a Gitane TdF model) and rode with him around Saratoga/Los Gatos area, sporting a flannel shirt and OP shorts. Absolutely loved it and returned my sophomore year to start racing.

[boywonder]

In ‘83 my best friend bought a Bianchi , quickly lost interest and it was my size , and actually too small for him, so I bought it . Been hooked ever since.

[rinconryder]

Lance.

[the bottle ride]

Lemond vs. Hinault
My family never spoke of sports ever till that summer- I still remember the conversation vividly.
A year later I was riding a road bike.

[marciero]

1999. Lost my license to drive. For the second time. Someone loaned me a department store 10 speed type bike. But then my brother gave me his 80's Mercian, lugged, 531. A real race bike. Pretty quickly got hooked into racing scene-as rider and fan. I'd rent VHS tapes from World Cycling Productions from lbs or their catalog. Was the first Lance year. TV coverage was mostly limited to highlights so following that took a bit of effort. That Mercian acquired a Joe Bell paint job, including correct decals, cycled (so to speak) through two girlfriends, then was sold here on PL a few years ago.

[buddybikes]

1969 day after Christmas. I always had my brothers hand-me-downs (banana bikes). 12 years old, I earned money from shoveling and other odd jobs plus Christmas money. I wanted my own first bike, stared at the Raleigh catalog. Went to bike shop in Worcester with my father, on the rack was French made Flandria (vey odd) that was 7.00 cheaper than Peugeot U08 (89.00) (PX10 in Window for 175 that I lusted the crankset and lugs...at 12 years old!). Rode this till I was of working age and met the importer of Flandria's and took to chatting. He had little retail store and asked me to work there. Rest is history. He got me (junior in hs) a Flandria Pro (one step down from Flandria racing in TDF) first team to be sponsored by Shimano. Kept that till I took frame building class at Tanguy Cycles in Sommerville MA in 1976 - same location as Chris Chance (he took over shop at later date).

[slambers3]

I had substantial interest in the MTB side of things as a youngster but my interests shifted to road due to Lance.

[oldpotatoe]

Always had a bike..various Schwinns, a Jeune, a Gitane..mostly a runner tho (7 marathons, MANY miles pounded) until injuries said no mas..bought a really nice Ciocc in 1985(still have it)..ridden since, miss the simplicity of running tho..

[charliedid]

I didn’t do this, but it was about the same time or a few years earlier. Grew up north of you in NE Wisconsin.

My earliest racing awareness was Eddy Merckx then Bernard Hinault.

Been into road riding my whole life. My family rode bikes as transportation around town all my life.

Yep

I think we probably both count our selves lucky. People don't think of this region when it comes to cycling and I get that but it was a pretty magical time from Sting-Rays to Paramount and TREKS. Wisconsin especially jumped in with both feet.

[ntb1001]

When I was a kid in grade 7 a teacher gave me a book about cycling and bicycles. For whatever reason it grabbed me. I learned about the different kinds of bicycles and brands like Campagnolo. I built up a road bike with old parts I scrounged up from a bike shop until Grade 9/high school. There I had another teacher from UK who used to race, and ride his old Legnano to school every day. That year working part time I bought my 1st real road bike...a Peugeot , followed shortly after with a Pinarello.


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[Rpoole8537]

Like Old Potato, I started running at age 25 to relieve the stress of grad school . After about 10 years, my right knee and back started giving me issues. I sat around for about a year, tried many different treatments but none were successful. One day while at work, a friend dropped by my office and asked if I wanted to go for a bike ride. I had an old 10 speed Ross in my tool shed that had a lot of squeaks and rattles, but we rode 20 miles on a windy day in Central Florida and I was hooked. That was 1989. I was in the local bike shop within three weeks picking out a new Bridgestone RB 2. A few years later, Grant Peterson's newsletter convinced me to purchase a Waterford 1200 which I still have today! I love the mechanical aspects of cycling, and even though I suffer a bit from arthritis in my hands, I love to get lost in my basement working and tuning on a bike. Best sport and hobby for me ever!

[Velocipede]

I was 11 and playing on a travel soccer team and my parents wouldn't drive me to practice. So I would ride my bike all the time. A kid who played on the team with me road a Bianchi. He introduced me to a former state champion racer. He and I became friends and have stayed friends while my buddy ended up doing drugs and not riding anymore. Still friends to this day with Ray. Dude is like my dad.

[Seramount]

have been riding something since age 3.

started with a tricycle, then a little dept store bike w/ training wheels, then a Huffy, a Murray (thing was an absolute TANK, indestructible)...

it wasn't 'cool' to be on a bicycle in high school, everyone was into cars...but a friend showed up one day on a brand-new Raleigh 'ten-speed'...thing was gorgeous, dark green with gold lettering. knew I wanted to get something like it some day, but spent all my money on parts for the hot rod.

in college, inherited a beater road bike, put a few thousand miles on it, but it was a POS, so passed it on. in the mid-70s, for my college graduation present, I treated myself to a sweet metallic gray Motobecane Grand Touring. being a total noob, did a century on it wearing cut-off Levis and some worn-out running shoes. agony ensued.

at one point, thought I wanted to be a tourer, bought racks/panniers...but tried it a couple of times but found that it didn't appeal.

so, ditched the touring ride and and bought a race-geometry bike. a much bit fit for my personality...liked the speed aspect.

[thunderworks]

In 1973 I was interested in dating a great looking woman who rode bikes . . . seemed I'd have a better chance if I rode a bike too! Got a bike, loved it, rode the first RAGBRAI, ended up in the bike business for the next 25 years.

The relationship didn't last long. Bikes did.

[C40_guy]

For me it was the natural progression...Schwinn Stingray to Raleigh 3 speed tourer to road bike, an Atala Grand Prix ('72).

Then I got into cars and lost interest for a couple of years...saw Breaking Away and bought my first higher end bike, a Proteus with all Nuovo Record. The Proteus wasn't really a high end frame, so I traded it for a custom Condor Cycles frame...and years later the flock started to grow... :)

[mastaliu]

It was 1989, and my best friend got a Torelli with Shimano Sante - it all looked so good, black and red frame with fishnet effects and that stylish looking groupset. And finally, a sport for a skinny kid like me at a time when size and bulk was all the rage. I was hooked for life!

[William]

BUMP!:banana:

Newer members, what got you started down this crazy, fun, and exhilarating path?







W.

[XXtwindad]

Since I never answered the first time (I don't think). Years of basketball shredded my cartilage. I needed something low-impact. Thought about croquet, but couldn't stand the ruthless competition.

[colker]

I always rode a bike since a very early age. Then i stopped because i thought i was an adult. One day i saw a bicycle at a walmart and bought it. The fun came back. From then on it was just upgrades untill i decided to try a road bike. I was immediately hooked.

[reuben]

BUMP!:banana:

Newer members, what got you started down this crazy, fun, and exhilarating path?







W.

Early to mid 80s. Had been running 10k races and the like. Saw a triathlon on TV or somewhere. Looked cool. Looked awesome, in fact. I was young. I was stupid. I was amost, but not quite, indestructible. So I bought a bike.

At the time, Look pedals, indexed shifting, and aero bars were just coming out. I bought Look pedals and indexed shifters, albeit still on the downtube. And a pair of what I think were called Scott aero bars at the time.

On weekends I would go out for a 10k run in the morning. Take a shower, eat. Then a 50-60 miles ride in the afternoon. Then go to the beach and just hang out.

These were the days of Kelly, Fignon, Roche, Hinault, Lemond, Rooks, Theunisse, Lauritzen, Bauer, and Hampsten. Indurain was still a domestique for Delgado on Banesto.

Stopped riding in the early to mid 90s, but kept eating like I was still doing all of that training. Oops. Old habits can be hard to break.

Later I would go out and run 8-10k twice per day (really), and enjoyed that as well, but it didn't burn as many calories, although I took a good 30 seconds per mile off my 10k pace.

Now, 25 years later, I'm riding again.

I like it.

5 or 10 years from now? Who knows?

[Fixed]

Cross training for karate-do
In the early seventies
Cheers PEUGEOT Px10

[Repack Rider]

I was a roadie for a rock band in the '60s. One of the band members drove my car into the ground, and I had no other way to get around other than a rusty Schwinn Varsity that a friend gave me just to get rid of it. It was the first 10-speed I had ever ridden. I was 24 y/o. My first ride, I crashed and got bitten by a dog.

Later I upgraded to a cheap, very used Peugeot. I noted that even though I was new at bicycling and had a cheap bike, I rode faster than most of the other people I saw on bikes. I did my first 100 mile ride on that bike, wearing sneakers and cutoffs. Bicycling was the first sport I had tried where I was better than average.

I kept upgrading both knowledge and equipment, and within a few years I was in a bike club and racing a Colnago.

[bthornt]

I was stationed at Osan Air Force Base in the Republic of Korea from 1975 to 1978. Because of my low rank (E3 and E4), I couldn't have a car so my friends and I decided to buy bikes. We rode those bikes everywhere, including through all these rice paddies with very narrow paths. Many falls were experienced. When I got discharged and returned to the US, the first thing I bought was a "real" bike, in this case a Fuji Dynamic 12. I have owned at least one bike ever since.

[DeBike]

One of my first, and fondest memories is the first time I got started on a bike with no help, no being propped up or leaning on something to get started initially. I think I was 4 years old. The streets in my childhood neighborhood were very narrow with sand/dirt to the sides. A car was coming, as we were taught to do at that time, I got off the pavement and stopped to let the car go by. I was only 1 1/2 short blocks from home and was determined I was not going to be walking the bike to get back. It took a few tries to get mounted and keep rolling, but it happened. I still very much remember how thrilled I was when I got home, where my siblings and parents were watching, and proceeded to excitedly tell them the story. I have had some stretches, some long, that I did not ride much, but I have alway loved riding bicycles. I just turned 68 and this will be the 6th consecutive year that I have ridden more miles than any previous year. Bikes are a huge part of my life. I believe I enjoy, and appreciate them, more now than ever before.

[fkslksj]

I was lonely moving to a new town after college and had nothing better to do than to exercise. Started off running but after a year or so I hurt my knees from overuse. Literally couldn't walk without significant knee pain.

After recovering a bit, I picked up cycling as an alternative. Started on an old K2 hybrid bike riding the Des Plaines River Trail north of Chicago. I'd start by the Wisconsin border in Wadsworth, IL and go a little further each ride. Ended up doing several rides to Chicago and back. Cycling stuck with me on my move back to California :)

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[ORMojo]

(As an adult . . . ) My wife. She was a competitive triathlete when I met her.

[weisan]

i was 14 when I saw the peloton flew past my house during the national championship. Actually, more accurately, I heard a loud siren coming from downstairs and I ran to the window to check what's going on, and I saw a motorcycle speeding past on my street followed by a lone rider about 50 meters behind going at the same speed as the motorcycle :eek: About 30 seconds or so later, the rest of the peloton came by, but it felt like forever. The next day I saw pictures on the newspaper and realized it was the national road race championship. The lone rider, who was the eventual winner, managed to stay away over the course of the remaining 10km from my house to the finish, I was amazed first at how fast he was going (like a motorcycle) and secondly, the fact that the entire peloton couldn't catch him. I knew nothing about racing at that time. Next morning, I went to the market with my mum to buy grocery, I popped in my head into the small modest neighborhood bike shop that was next to the market. Most of the bikes there were children's bikes. I told the owner what I saw yesterday and he brought out his "best bike" in the shop, a Fuji with the most amazing iridescent blue shade that I have seen. It was heavy but I don't care. It costs $150 and I begged mum to give me a "loan", :p

After I took my first road bike home, I "decorated' it was luminous orange and white tapes here and there to my liking, installed a hub-driven "speedometer", and went out riding. I rode everywhere with it. Every. Single. Day. A year later from the day I took possession of my first road bike, I took part in the national road race. I remembered drawing a lot of attention from people in the peloton who were riding in shining chromed Colnago, Tommasini and Raleigh. They smiled at me and I smiled back....:D

As they say, the rest is history.

[BlueHampsten]

Well, 15 years of baseball and softball as well as 20 years of racquetball wore out both of my hips.

One of my racquetball buddies said come ride bikes with us in the mountains. I bought a used Trek 5500 equipped with Ultegra 9 speed and started to ride 16 years ago.

I had both hips resurfaced and have continued to ride since. Don't plan to stop until I can't ride anymore.

Great for physical fitness, good times, good friends and keeps me busy planning my next bike build.

[madsciencenow]

My dad bought me a Golden Eagle BMX when I was maybe five or six years old. I rode that bike for many years and even did a 50 miler on there with him. I pretty much always had a mountain bike going through middle school, high school and then through college. In my late 20s I was fat and outta shape and started running and kinda quit riding (I really wasn’t doing enough to call it quitting). I ran for the next 7-10 years and lost 50 lbs. About seven years into running I relocated and about the same time picked up a road bike and got back into riding on my off day of running. I ran into a few local riders while out on one of these rides and found out about some additional rides from these dudes. I figured out real quick that riding once a week wasn’t enough to hang on a group ride so I started riding more and gradually the running faded into the back ground (probably a good thing as I’m not sure my body could continue to handle the miles I was doing). Two years ago I finally gave running up and have been riding 6-7 days a week. I’d like to get back into running but it’s hard to do both well so for now I’ll just be riding.


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[untarded]

I was a competitive distance runner inspired by Lemond as a kid and always enjoyed cycling but it was a sport I couldn't afford. Ran for a big college and several years after. The turning point for me was when one of my college teammates had a knee replacement at 40.

[paredown]

We rode all the time as kids--including paper routes--but the cool bike phase started when we were in our early teens. We had seen exactly one a "real racing bike" in the basement of a family friend (a Cinelli)--but didn't quite know what to make of it. It was the mid-'60s and information (and bikes) were scarce.

Then one friend bought a decent "10 speed" bike, and my older brother went on a bike trip with him, riding some clunker.

Shortly after, my best friend and I got matching French imports from our one good shop--Simplex gears and squealing center pull brakes--and started riding everywhere. Then both my brothers picked up used bikes, and we rode to the beach together, and explored the city. Another friend who lived in a different city was inspired--and he got a bike, and then stumbled onto his local racing scene.

When he next visited he was full of stories of "real race bikes"--and the arms race began; bikes got upgraded, all of us tried racing for a time...

[gbcoupe]

My folks used to ride, but they hung their bikes up well before I got the bug. I had to go along on a few family bike camping trips. I remember those as torturous. I suppose that planted the seed though.

My bike was stolen while I was fishing with a friend at a nearby quarry. Found a replacement in the local paper. A gold and black Chiorda. It had upright bars and a plush spring seat. Not cool, those had to go. So I guess I started wrenching, upgrading and riding all at the same time.

2 friends bought bikes at about the same time. A Peugeot PX-10 and a C.Itoh. We started venturing out for long rides. Just the 3 of us. Joined AYH shortly after. We did century rides almost every weekend from early spring - fall. I ground the hub bearings to bits.

This was all several years before we were able to drive. We grew up and my buddies stopped riding during college. I guess I never got smart. ;)

[fords4life]

My Dad road when I was a kid, but aside from cruising the neighborhood it was never something I was into. This last May my wife decided she wanted bikes for our anniversary. I picked up a Trek DS1 and have 500 miles on it. I'm a bigger guy and have knee problems from a birth defect. I also have 3 year old son that I want to do things with. Riding has been amazing for my knees and my health and I'm hooked. Currently cleaning up my Dad's old '85 Raleigh Prestige to try a road bike.

[Sawas]

My best friend got me started on BMX bixes when I was about 14. The OCD me even in that age made me buy parts and build the best damn BMX bike ever.

[Cy Trivialities]

sweet fixies.

[crappygator]

A friend who recently introduced me to road biking. Before that just occasionally took out my hybrid.

[97CSI]

Needed exercise (as in being too 'fat'). Did not lose that much weight, but much healthier and a great way to "get outside".

[ripvanrando]

Not sure but I do recall a formative incident. The rich kid in 6th grade had a Raleigh Super Course and he let me take it for a ride. I got it up on the big ring and smallest cog. I just kept pounding the pedals and the speed was wicked intoxicating. Somehow the chain jumped off the big ring and I went over the bars. No spills, no thrills.

It took me many years of saving to get a decent bike. I was maybe 17 or 18.

[SlowPokePete]

We loved riding bike when I was a kid.

Learned to ride a two wheeler at age four ... talked my mother into taking the training wheels off, interrupting her from a bs and tea session on the back porch with my best friend's mom, Mrs. Baron.

License at age 16 kept me off the bike, but around 22 years old i wanted to do triathlons, and bought a Cannondale SR500 (Aki @carpediemracing wouldn't remember me, but I think he worked at the shop in Norwalk, Better Bicycle Center, where I bought it brand new).

Quit the triathlons in favor of whitewater, had kids, gained a bunch of weight, and eventually got back into it.

Ex-wife wasn't too tolerant of bike rides, as in "well you already rode your bike once this week" but my wife Debbie gets it and understands my need to ride regularly.

SPP

[Gummee]

As a kid, I sttarted riding my BMX bike to go fishing down on the Potomac.

Got a license and stopped riding till I got to college when I figured out a bicycle was the easiest way to get to class. Don't have to pay for parking and you can park your bike right outside the building(s) class was in. Win!

Got an 87 Rockhopper and decided that riding in the mountains around Blacksburg looked like fun and started riding 'seriously'

Been uphill ever since (or is that downhill?)

M

[ntb1001]

I was a kid in grade 7 and had a teacher that liked cycling. He gave me a book about bikes and some info about the sport with some old pictures of races in Europe. I was hooked after that. It got worse in High School. I had a teacher that happened to being to the same cycling club I was in. When he realized I was a student in his school...he made sure I was in one of his classes...and he let me ride to school everyday and store my bike in his classroom.
He even tried starting a school cycling club. Didn’t work out...but it was fun.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[54ny77]

i somehow had a clunker of a 10 speed (schwinn varsity) and got hooked on the freedom it brought. i could actually go up hills with those gears! started hanging out at local bike shop, learned to work on my own bike and became "that kid" who just hung out all the time, asking questions about everything. fortunately, the guys at the shop took a liking to me and taught me some stuff. one was very good & competitive rider & racer, who inspired me to take things further.

fast forward a lot of bikes and miles later, pretty cool thing is i had a reunion lunch with two of those shop guys last year. we're all quite a bit older!

so yep, bikes were, and largely still is, a big part of the ingredients of my life.

[Redtires]

Well, maybe I missed it, but since I didn't see an official "introduce yourself" thread...this one seemed appropriate. I got my first "real bike" in 1987 when I was 16 after seeing LeMond, et al in the mags of the day. I had just moved to Boulder and fell into it so far it was a "career" and lifestyle well into my 20's. I dabbled in racing and ultra-marathon through the years. The last six-seven years have consisted of a lot of mountain biking, but still have strong attachments to road riding. Just turned 50 and I still get up at 4am to get in a ride before the day starts! :D

Nice forum by the way folks, I hadn't run across this one over the years, but I'm glad I did!

[john903]

I was 14 and being forced to sit at home and watch another boring football game, yuk. Mom can I go for a bike ride, "no just sit here and enjoy the came." This went on for most of football season. I think she had enough of me always asking to go outside and ride. I asked again waiting for the usual response but she said "oh ok go ride your bike." Poof, I was gone. I rode all over that day, out to Folsom lake and back, oh the freedom. I finally got home and she asked in a stern Mom voice "where did you go." Me, "oh Folsom lake and back." From then on no more boring football. As they say the rest is history. By the way I love my Mom.

[peanutgallery]

The Style Council motivated me:)

https://youtu.be/rmVkOlZFF3Y

[steveoz]

There was a bike magazine in the bathroom at work. All the shiny, beautiful bikes on the cover (back when bikes were beautiful and shiny) As a poor kid I couldn't have a nice bike, but as a gainfully employed "adult" I could buy as many as I like. And I have...boy have I ever bought as many as I like...

[reuben]

Well, maybe I missed it, but since I didn't see an official "introduce yourself" thread...this one seemed appropriate. I got my first "real bike" in 1987 when I was 16 after seeing LeMond, et al in the mags of the day. I had just moved to Boulder and fell into it so far it was a "career" and lifestyle well into my 20's. I dabbled in racing and ultra-marathon through the years. The last six-seven years have consisted of a lot of mountain biking, but still have strong attachments to road riding. Just turned 50 and I still get up at 4am to get in a ride before the day starts! :D

Nice forum by the way folks, I hadn't run across this one over the years, but I'm glad I did!

Cool story. Welcome to the Pleasuredome.

[SpokeValley]

1975. Fresh out of the Army, I dusted off an old Raleigh and poked around on it. Running killed me because of my knees. I got ogether with one of my buddies at home who had started riding, and here we are.

I bought my first "good" bike in 1976 from Bikeology...mail order! Niko Semi-Pro with SunTour Superbe. Been on two wheels ever since and blessed to have ridden in so many places and met so many cool people.

[k04rs4]

I grew up in Hunterdon County NJ, near the sour land mountains (more like hills), and would ride to friends, to stores, and just to get out. Bicycle equaled freedom. Got a road bike when I was about 12 or so to ride with a neighbor who averaged 17 mph for 40 miles which seemed impossible on my MTB. Started riding daily during summer break, first 17 miles then 28 then 50 plus miles. We moved away and I didn't ride with anyone. I outgrew my bike and didn't replace it. Had a large IRS refund come in when I was about 25 yrs old and found a likely used Colnago C40 and got the cycling blood pumping again. Had to sell it when moving into a condo with almost wifey, let her go and now I'm back to cycling and love it.

[Waldo62]

Running injuries in 1986. Riding was supposed to be a cross-training sport that was supposed to allow me to continue marathoning. Ha! -- I think I've run 75 miles since then.

[dolface]

A couple of things in here got me thinking about how I got in to bikes and how they shaped my life, I'd love to hear other folk's stories!

Here are a few of mine:
- Asking my dad about his dusty '68 Bianchi Specialissima with flat tubs sitting in the basement when I was about 10 (he still has it and rides it).
- After I asked he took me to the video store to rent "Breaking Away" and we watched it together (we didn't do movies much when I was a kid so I knew it was important to him)
- Greg Lemond winning his first TdF
- Buying my first "real" bike, a Performance Strada (I still have it, it was $600) and learning to tour and race on it.
- My boss at my after-school job inviting me out to ride with his group, and most of them being so willing to help the new kid (and also drop my butt in a hot second when the sprints happened :D)

[kiwisimon]

being the youngest who got hand me down everything, including beat up bikes (dutch style), when I was about 10 or 11 I started switching cogs and wheels building mullet bikes. These were coaster brakes so I could only switch rear wheels or have no brakes on the front.
Got my first real racing bike at 17 and started riding everywhere even though I had my drivers license.
In Australia carried on riding and racing, but nothing to write home about. I had a comapny car but kept the miles low, boss liked that.
Came to Japan and rode/ raced bikes as a way to stay in shape for rugby, Worked for a bike company here (factory) and got paid to ride bikes and give feedback to engineers for a while.
Still riding bikes and grab my bike before the car most times i am going somewhere alone.