Litespeed

How has your life changed in a positive way because of bicycling?

jabike

I know at the age of 30, my resting heart ticked about 74 beats per minute. Now, at almost double that age, it is closer to 55-57. I also notice that I recover very rapidly from even rough workouts. I also noticed that being on a bike seems to bring people together and exchanges of "hello, how ya doin" come much easier than they seem in the crowds of downtown Atlanta where such words are usually returned with a stare of astonishment.

DnvrFox

Well, my wallet is considerably lighter!

Roody

You got a carbon wallet?

RonH

I'm 55 pounds lighter than I was when I started cycling in 2000.
My doctor only checks my BP and cholesterol every three years because they are always so low.
My resting HR is ~45.
I'm MUCH healthier than any of my kids.
I'm MUCH healtheir than any of my neighbors.
I'm healthier than my doctor who is about 20 years younger than me.
I bike to work year round rather than SIT in traffic so the weight stays off and I'm not stressed when I get home.
When I go out with friends I have something different to talk about (bicycling) rather than what's in the news or sports (other than bicycle racing)
.....

DnvrFox

No, but it is missing about 8,000 dollars

webist

I have more fun.
I get more exercise.
Habits which interferred with my riding are no longer (drinking/smoking).
My wife and friends are impressed.
I know when I am making progress.

Red Baron

Dang ! I like that response!!!!!!!!!

Roody

This sounds corny, but...

Beside all the usual good things--health, fitness, fun, etc.--I have gotten a simple sense of pride and accomplishment. The only time I have ever felt the pride of an athlete (and that is pride in my efforts, not my abilities) is when I was riding my bike. I felt the pride of self-reliance when I realized that I could get anywhere I wanted to go under my own power, and again when I discovered mecahnical abilities as I started to learn how to maintain and repair my bike. I felt the pride of ownership when I paid cash for a machine that is far nicer than any computer or car I have ever owned. And finally. I felt pride when I discovered that I am now associated with other cyclists who are already as tough, rebellious, fun-loving and fit as I try to be.

Marge

everytime I accomplish something new on my bike...well it's a big ego boost.
I'm much healthy then I was in my 20's (no joke).

JavaMan

The first positive change in my life from cycling was that I could wear shorts. I always avoided wearing shorts because I had chicken legs - very skinny. After a few years of cycling, my calves had literally doubled in size and now I wear shorts all summer.

Rowan

Nice post.

Travelinguyrt

Being part of a group of folks who DO, not sit around and gripe is the biggest turn on

Having a stress test, and having the cardiologist question as to if the person sitting across from his desk was the person whose results he was reading. told me they were the figures from a man 15 years younger than was my actual age

Riding is a big ego builder.......like having folks tell me my bike looks fine, (and me also some times)

Liked getting hit on a few times at morning coffee at the local beach coffee shop

Rowan

TPIUWA = this post is useless without address

DnvrFox

Man, I must be missing out on an important aspect of life. I can't remember (perhaps that is my problem) being hit on since my 20's!

So, tell us more about those folks hitting on you. Male or female? Twenties or fifties? Good looking or not?

Perhaps always having my wife with me has something to do with this?

stapfam

I know that it has saved my life.
Severe Angina attack followed by a Bypass. Consultant asked me whether I was a swimmer or a Cyclist.
Couldn't be a runner as I did not have the legs for that. What saved my life was that when the arteries blocked, the heart was still pumping good and strong to force blood through the arteries till help arrived.

It was the help of several of my friends that got me back to cycling, and able to still beat the youngsters up the hills. That still give me a boost when I go down the Gym and the 30 year olds warn their mates to never go out with me on a sunday morning ride. I took a crowd out last year to get muddy on our local hills, and finished up having to abandon the ride after 30 miles and the 4th hill as they literrally could not cut it. For some reason. I never get any new riders from the Gym to come out with me.

jimshapiro

First, I get to ride with my both of my sons, one son almost every weekday (weather permitting), the other one whenever we get together. And in the summer my wife and I ride together. It just doesn't get any better, (well, much better).

Then there's the energy issue. I like to eat, and bicycling, especially riding my fixed-gear, uses a lot of energy, so I get to eat just about anything I want. In fact, at 64 I weigh less than I did in high school!

I maintain all my bicycles and it makes for a relatively cheap hobby.

Jim

flatlander_48

I am now 56. Four years ago my doctor said that my cholesterol had been creeping up 2 or 3 points a year. He said that he could fix it with medication, but I had no desire to do that. My solution was to buy a mountain bike (Fisher Tassajara), but I had not done any biking in about 30 years at that point. The other complication is that I have had arthritis since I was about 6 years old. The only low impact sports with aerobic benefits that I could do appeared to be swimming or cycling. Unfortunately I don't swim. Anyway, I started riding with my girlfriend who has continued to ride over the years. At first it was tough to do 5 or 6 miles. I would get off the bike in pain (everywhere) and look like the proverbial cowboy who was shaped like his horse after he got off. I also started to commute to work, but I only live less than 2 miles from my office. However, the return ride has a Very Steep hill. This took some time before I could ride up the hill in one shot. As a matter of fact, early on I had a motorist stop and ask me if I was OK since I had stopped part way up and was breathing very heavily. Eventually I worked up to the point of doing 10 to 15 miles on the flat pretty easily. The cool thing is that my cholesterol dropped 40 points to put me well within the normal range. I credit cycling and taking flax seed.

In January of 2004 I came to Taiwan for an extended work assignment, but I didn't bring my bike with me. After being here for a month and a half, I decided to buy a road bike (a Giant TCR 2) and started riding a bit after work and longer on weekends. My first goal was to ride to the plant on Saturdays, which is about 15 miles one way. I can now do that comfortably, even in 98 deg weather. Even though I don't have a particular training regimen, my distance gradually increased. I'm now comfortable with a continuous 32 mile ride with an average of about 14 mph.

So, Positive Changes:

Lower Cholesterol
Muscle development in my legs
Much better cardiovascular function
Weight control (still creeping a bit, but it could be much worse!)
The amazement and admiration of people who know how old I am and how far I ride
Riding with a bike club here in Taiwan and keeping up with 95% of the folks (young and old)
More stamina for working 12 hour days when needed
Being seen on the bike miles from home by people I know
Grinning when I pass people on scooters!

Roody

People who have had a heart attack, or who are at high risk of a heart attack, should be aware of something else before they quit taking their cholesterol-lowering medicines.

I agree that exercize, especially cycling, is a good way to bring cholesterol down. Vigorous exercize may also increase levels of HDL, the "good" cholesterol. However, I found out that there are other good reasons to continue taking statins (the common class of cholesterol-lowering drugs), even if your cholesterol is normal due to exercize and diet.

Besides reducing cholesterol, these drugs have other benefits for the heart and circulatory system. I am not sure what these are, but benefits may be related to anti-inflammatory actions of the statins. So, the risk of heart attack is reduced when people take statin drugs, even when their cholesterol is already low. The same is true of some, but not all, of the blood pressure drugs. Most doctors believe that the benefits outweigh the risk of side effects for high-risk patients.

I suggest that you check with your doctor before discontinuing heart meds. There may beo other reasons to keep taking them.

Travelinguyrt

Live in FT lauderdale, def not home to near dead, everyone I know belongs to a gym,or rides a bike, 2 of my tenants are triathletes, one tenant is 58 and swims regularly in the Alcatraz to SF masters swim, another is a champ ocean racing sailor, in another post today I mentioned we were sailing and got dumped,then it started to rain , oh H-LL i sound like some of my other neighbors, the bridge and golf types; only prob there are no hills here

OldShacker

I enjoy the adventures of commuting to and from work. I also enjoy riding my tandem with my wife. You might say it works all the stresses out of my life. I love cycling as a good workout as well. The best thing is the most cyclists are good people.

blandin

How long have you been living in my brain? I couldn't have, and won't try to improve on this. A perfect "10".

greywolf

Positive ?? I dunno but I smell worse & dress funnier

berny

Besides, what other activity can you go out in public dressed as we do