BubbaDog

And that's why he doesn't invite his Dad over for weekend barbecues anymore ....

B'Dog

buelito

to paraphrase George Mallory-- "Because I CAN!"

train safe

badger1

Voted; I find these difficult! Put 'fun' primary because when I re-started cycling at age 51 after a 25 year gap I was immediately (and I mean one ride!) re-hooked on that part of it. But, I re-started as a result of (potentially) scary wake-up call from annual physical -- the usual (chol. levels, heart stress, blah blah) -- however, I've put this as 'secondary' because (others of us??) I'm one of those who just CANNOT bring himself to engage in any form of 'exercise' unless it has a true 'game/sport' aspect; in other words, can't 'work out' for the sake of fitness, but can happily gain fitness incidentally if I can goof around to do so. Then, like another poster, I realized (doh!) that I could combine more of both of the above, save money, and assuage my environmental conscience by commuting. Consequence: what I hope is a (rest of) life-long addiction to all things cycling! (OK -- if being honest, love the machinery, too!)

stapfam

I started riding as a form of keeping the fitness that I had left after a 10 year old nearly beat me running up the road. Got in with a small group of likeminded souls and found that once I had got bike fit- I enjoyed it. So most of my riding- although mainly for fitness- was giving me a lot of enjoyment too. Still ride for fitness- with the enjoyment that goes with it- but have to set myself a personal achievement target that I wish to keep up each year. Most rides are taken with vigour to keep the training side up for those big achievement rides that I want to make.

trackhub

You left out one: To answer the question, "Why do 50+ year olds bicycle?", a good secondary reason would be, "To oggle young, fit female cyclists."

Hey look, man does not live by cycling alone.

cruzMOKS

I enjoy cycling therefore I stay with it to get fit. So enjoyment comes before fitness.
Commuting would be the third reason for cycling. I would not commute if I didn’t enjoy
it.

lhc

You can actually smell the world around you. The pine trees being harvested, new spring growth, lilac bushes, horses, even dead skunks. Also, my son didn't believe his mom was too old to start biking again. He's a jock(football, wrestling, rugby) and loves biking. His encouragement did the trick!

PaulH

I started riding because it was more convenient than driving. Now that I have been commuting for eight years, I think that fitness is now my primary motivation. I save about $2,000 a year by riding, but I'd still put "fun" ahead of "saving money". If car parking spots had been more plentiful and driving more pleasant here, I would not have started. What gets you started and what keeps you going can be very diferent.

So:
1 Fitness
2 Fun
3 Convenience
4 Saving money

There are several possible motivations that were not in the poll.

Paul

will dehne

I did NOT notice anybody mention "Escaping Reality".
I can assure you that a 28 day bike trip at your maximum capability is that. It will really take your mind off things you rather not think about.

roccobike

At this age, if it isn't fun or life sustaining, I'm not doing it. Cycling is both to me. Additionally, it solves my need to tinker. Part of the fun for me is finding an old bike, cleaning and restoring it back to a servicable piece of equipment.

jwbnyc

My primary motivation for cycling is... motivation.

I ride to get places.

My secondary motivation is because it is enjoyable.

I ride almost as many miles on my days off as I do on workdays.

Big Paulie

Isn't it possible that your incredible 28 day bike trip was reality, and the rest of it (besides your family and beloved friends) is a fabricated crock? Including your (and our) mortality?

will dehne

Yeah, my thoughts exactly.
-----------------------
Darn it, it costs money, ~$200/day.

DnvrFox

I am wondering why the choice, "meeting personal achievement goals " was not chosen by anyone as their primary motivation for bicycling? It was chosen by only 5 folks for their secondary motivation.

Yet, we have had a number of threads such as,

Time trial personal best tainted

Another Goal Met

At 68, I rode my age

and similar, which would indicate that a number of folks are very goal/achievement oriented.

In fact, I placed it first on purpose, as I thought it would be selected a lot.

Was it how I worded the selection?

Or are the concepts of riding for fun or fitness so broad that is is totally inclusive?

Help me out!

bobkat

Keeps me walking and fairly pain free following back surgeries, a stroke, etc. If I don't do at least 10 - 15 miles per day on my bent I sieze up. Gets the endorphins flowing! Also for a lot of fun and personal satisfaction.
Not surprised on the racing. The local bike club here seems to be 98% racing and "hammer groups" but not many over 50's if any, into that.

Makeitso

I picked fun first and fitness second. When I looked in the garage and seen the bicycle I used to ride all the time sitting in there and realized it had been sitting in there for about 12 years since I last rode it, I figured it was time I sold it or started riding it again. I justify all the money I've spent since then by knowing that it will keep me in much better shape. When I look in the mirror I can tell this is true, my wife agrees.

stercomm

Big Paulie, Gary said peer group not pee group.

I am coming up on one year of getting seriously back into cycling after about 3 years of only sporadic riding, use to ride a lot. Fitness is the key for me; have dropped 20 pounds as of this week, got cholesterol down to 190 from 236, got blood pressure down to 108/65 got triglycerides well down and below being any sort of issue. Plus I can still drink wine and beer and not gain any weight. Only issue I have now is if i don't ride for 3 days I get real cranky. I also love the time alone to think and enjoy nature's beauty and "interact" with the steel machines, had a dump truck try a dust off on me today

will dehne

OK Denver, here is my read on that.
Number one by far is to be happy and healthy. Everything else pales in comparison. What good is achieving a goal if that makes you sick or damages your joints or ruins a relationship or causes financial disaster?
I had to consider all that when I picked a cross country ride as the least potential damage.
So, why pick a goal at all? Well, we human beings need MOTIVATION. Without that we get lazy and slow down. Competitive spirit, group behavior and boot camp mentality all help to keep us motivated. But do not loose sight of the fact why you do it------Stay happy and Healthy-------

Gary W. Graley

Fitness/weight loss, plus I trick myself into exercising At lunch time I do my errands on the
bike, which turned 30 yrs old this year, old timey Schwinn Super le Tour 12.2, I have two friends
at work, both have very nice bikes, and both are in way better shape and a lot younger, they
have taken to bringing their bikes in for a ride at lunch too, but, they ride up this ridiculously
STEEP road, no way I can climb that beast yet, maybe by the end of summer but each day I
head up it as far as I can go and then back down and through town to do my errands, bank
post office, movie rental, and then back to the office, just over 10 miles in about 40 minutes
with stops, so it gets me going, turned 52 this year, winter was not good to me so I have about
40 pounds to drop and the bike will get me there, I was in that good a shape last summer but I
let the winter waist me away, but I'm back on track and riding well.
G2

DnvrFox

We now have 100 voters. A pretty darn good response, despite how some of you "deride" my polls!

The Verdict:

If I use a shamelessly unscientific statistical paradigm and assign 2 points for the "Primary" votes and 1 point for the "secondary" votes, it comes out like this:

Fitness ------------------169
Personal Time/Fun --- 112
Competition -------------- 9
Personal Achievement-- 7
Social Interaction ------- 4

greywolf

number one commuting
2 personal time

Bud Bent

I chose fitness, then fun. Fitness was always the main reason, by a wide margin. Being so much fun just made it an easier fitness plan to stick with, than any other which comes to mind.

no motor?

Fitness was my main reason, the personal time/fun was my second choice in that I could pedal during my free time - ie no need to go to the gym at a set time.... And it was the closest form of exercise to motorcycling! I've lost most of the weight I wanted to, and have actually had fun while doing it the last few times I've been out. Before that pedaling was a means to an end, and I looked forward to the end of each ride when I could quit. But now I'm able to go farther and faster, and have begun to be able to experience some of the fun I had motorcycling while on my bicycle, just at a much slower pace and without the feeling of connectedness that comes with riding a vehicle you've maintained (you gearheads will know what I'm talking about).
One of my fun rides was when I pedaled over to my girlfriends house (about 5 miles one way) and we went and pedaled some more before I pedaled home. A great date, and some good exercise too.

NeilM

Fitness and transportation/not having to fill the tank every week.

AshevilleFusion

If "fun" had subcategories, I would've specified "Time Travel."

Lemme 'splain. From a rational standpoint, my RANS Fusion is geared too tall, period. Up here in the NC mountains I could use a lower low, and even on the middle chainring I can still spin up to about 30 mph going downhill. My ex-computer-programmer logical analysis says that's sufficient.

However, the big ring lets me enter some kind of steep-descent Twilight Zone wherein I'm sitting straight upright and pedaling, and going 40+ mph by the computer. This absurd-but-delightful state of affairs temporarily recalibrates my age from 58 to about 13. Even with my adult part still watching for traffic etc, I'd say that qualifies as "Time Travel" :-)

- Dave