Having a wide range of interest in bicycles, a great satisfaction is preserving or salvage an old lightweight and also the physical ability to yet ride them. I don't think it would be the same feeling if I couldn't.

Equally great is getting into a hard or challenging ride, to experience the bike as it was designed for.

The nostalgia, good-bad and the ugly- an awesome humbling fun time. Could be even the study of old parts, tires, gearing, shifters etc - just do it. Having a flat or two during a warm summer rain. Toe clips, that kind of thing.

Here's a couple of bike shop dumpster stuff of which they had no interest in. Top was just the frameset and the other was a complete.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c2666008c8.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...14ae99f1ba.jpg

This pretty much sums it up for me. The pace( at least mine) that you travel is perfect. You're going somewhere, but not to fast to enjoy your surroundings. All your senses are aware because you are not enclosed and making very little noise.

I really don't like anything about them, but I don't have much else to do.

My eyes would have jumped out of their sockets if I saw that Zunow in the trash. How's it ride?

I agree about the working on bikes stuff too, there's something really satisfying about putting together the right combination of parts and fitting adjustments to really bring a frame to life and make it sing. I also find it fascinating, the endless variations of ride quality from various frames using various geometries and materials. Even how much the ride from different steel bikes can vary from one to another.

This.

In addition to all of the physical benefits, there are those of us who experience a spiritual dimension to cycling. It's my moving meditation.

Its not the kids, its the parents who spoiled them believing that any amount of activity makes them lower class. They even took fizz Ed and made it just a break time period. Kids can choose to be active or just sit it out. That was an adult decision, not one the kids had the ability to make. This constant barrage of PC is not always a good thing.

I taught my niece and nephew (children of my wife's brother) how to ride: Lord knows their parents weren't going to do it. It took 20 minutes, tops, before they could pedal on their own. As they were cheerfully riding around the school parking lot we used, my nephew stopped and exclaimed: "I'm sweating!" (The tone was one of surprise and concern, not happiness.) All I could say was: "Good!" He looked confused.

I don't get to see them very much, and haven't seen them at their home for four years or more. If their bikes are not sitting on their patio unused, rusted, cobwebbed, and unrideable, I would be shocked. Their parents would be angry and defensive if they heard me say this, but they have done virtually nothing to encourage their kids to physically active. :(

That is exactly how a Zunow should look - like it survived an explosion in a paint factory. :thumb:

exactly....

LOL! The key word is AFTER. :)

Actually, I like the riding, too. Sometimes, the bike just disappears under me - this is as close to flying as I will ever get.

I feel like a better person when I'm riding.

I know that feeling, but for me it is carthartic. Every time I do it which I can't right now, as my trike is in France and I am not, the World, it's people and me just feel nicer.

As one currently sardine-canned in an El train on the way home from work due to heavy rain this morning, there's nothing so freeing as being master of your own commuting destiny on a bike.

So, there's that.

I haven't done much group riding in a long time, but there were rarely any young people on rides. Mostly over 40. I've suspected that $2,500 being an "entry level" bike may have something to do with it. On the other hand, I hope my vintage steel doesn't become worthless!

It is autumn in New Zealand. In an hour I will have finished work. I have already planned what bike I will ride at dusk around a local 30km loop. In that hour or so I will see mountains, sunset, the Tasman Sea, farmland. I will loose my work mind, open my lungs and pump my legs. I will feel blood flow and my temperature rise as the cold air descends from the local Paparoa Range making the air thicker. I will likely scare a hawk feeding on prey in a roadside drain and for a moment we will both move at the same speed. I will be reminded of how good it is to be old and fit while at the same time be reminded of my own limitations as I "attack" a gentle rise. I will once again marvel at the sweet sound of perfectly tuned gears, lubed chain and quality tyres and the natural posture while in the drops. I will probably find myself struggling to hit form somewhere on that loop as I again be reminded how tough this sport is. In the 8km straights home I will find a perfect cadence and marvel at all thinks bike. I will eat and sleep well. I can't wait. See ya later. PS (It will be the Miyata ninetwelve)

Nicely written @BarryCW!

Brent

Physically, mentally and mechanically challenging and satisfying all under your own power.

In Bill Strickland's The Quotable Cyclist, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is quoted from an 1896 Scientific American article:

"When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking."

Now that's vintage!

Bikeoholism is a dangerous, wallet disfiguring disease. We play in traffic and spend money on expensive bike paraphernalia that we don't need, can't afford, but buy anyway, because it's cool. We are cyclologically impaired.

I love the feel of the bike and the rush of the wind as you ride. Makes me feel like a 12 year old again. As a youngster, my bike was a magic carpet that could take me anywhere. I also love the satisfaction of bringing an old machine back to life again. We both are happy , I feel.

Well said. Its one of the few things in life I enjoy as much today as I did with my first ride so long ago.