I never stopped from riding as a kid, although my "style" changed through the years. I did my 2-3 years as a newspaper boy in my early teens in southern California. After high school graduation, a friend and I biked the 60 miles to the beach and then biked between Newport Beach and La Jolla for a week or so before riding back home. That was my introduction to touring. In university, it was a way to get out and around a bit, enjoying the exercise and sunshine. I started touring again while in the military, and gave myself a coast-to-coast ride across the US as my gift to myself after retiring from the military. Now, it is more leisure rides or events like "Hotter n' Hell Hundred" because, for me, running is not enjoyable but biking is very much so.