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How Many Years Have You Been Cycling?

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway
View Poll Results: How many years have you been cycling?
< 1
1.73%
1-2
7.51%
2-3
3.47%
3-4
2.89%
4-5
4.05%
5-10
8.67%
10-15
9.25%
15-20
5.78%
20-25
6.94%
25+
49.71%
Voters: 173. You may not vote on this poll

How Many Years Have You Been Cycling?

Old 06-29-16, 12:47 PM
  #26  
RichSPK
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I don't know how to answer this poll. I've never really kept track of my cycling. After my accident, I didn't ride for a few years. How many years? I don't even know. I don't remember when the accident was, either, though I could look it up. How old was I when I started riding? I don't remember. I do remember my older sister taught me. I think it was on her blue Schwinn 3-speed, but I'm not sure. I remember the neighbor kid who taught me how to wheelie, then a few years later set our kitchen on fire.

Anyway, I don't know how long I've been riding, and I have no clue how many 'off' years there were in between.
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Old 06-29-16, 12:59 PM
  #27  
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Got serious about riding when I got my first ABLA (now USCF) racing license at age 13 in 1964.
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Old 06-29-16, 01:04 PM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by banerjek
Two things struck me when I saw this thread. The first is that I was surprised that the poll maxed out at 25+ years since that's not so long -- as evidenced by the high percentage of people in this category.

The other is that both here and on the road, cycling appears to be dominated by old farts. My only consolation is that sea kayakers and backcountry skiers are even older -- there seem to be relatively few good ones below the age of 50.
It's also the middle of a beautiful summer work day across much of the USA, so most older folks are in front of the computer and able to read and reply to the forum, while the younger folks are probably off doing something fun, like riding a bike, chasing tail, or whatever. Probably later in the day the balance will shift somewhat.
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Old 06-29-16, 03:48 PM
  #29  
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Riding bicycle since 5 years old. But, on a serious note, 26 years.
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Old 06-29-16, 05:45 PM
  #30  
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Started when I was 5 and have been deadly serious every one of the 43 years since then.

This is not a game.
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Old 06-29-16, 05:49 PM
  #31  
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Seriously, since I was eighteen which was eight years ago.
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Old 07-01-16, 08:23 PM
  #32  
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it's been my main mode of transportation pretty much continuously since the early 80s. a bit longer if you count riding in the baby seat on my mom's bike.
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Old 10-15-20, 06:51 AM
  #33  
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I've been cycling regularly for about 3 months recreationally and commuting/living and before that 5 years back
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Old 10-15-20, 07:07 AM
  #34  
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I think this confirms my guess as that most of the people on this forum are at least 50 years old lol. I started in 2005 riding BMX street but I also rode a lot of miles on my BMX bikes. Then I got a fixed gear, then a track bike. Now I have a road bike.
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Old 10-15-20, 07:41 AM
  #35  
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I got my first two-wheeler, a little, dark red, Raleigh at age 7 in, must have been, 1961. Shortly thereafter, my dad took me out on the streets of Manhattan and I was allowed off the sidewalk alone at age 9. Rode my first race in college, sometime in the 70s. Got my first carbon-reinforced polymer frame last summer and a power meter this July. It just keeps getting better.
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Old 10-15-20, 08:05 AM
  #36  
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Seriously cycling since Autumn 2014, with some down time for physical issues.
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Originally Posted by Velo Vol
People here don't get it.
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Old 10-15-20, 08:07 AM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by Trsnrtr
I have 212,017 miles as of yesterday since I started logging miles in April of 1982.
What about now?
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Originally Posted by Velo Vol
People here don't get it.
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Old 10-15-20, 09:20 AM
  #38  
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40+ as an adult.
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Old 10-15-20, 12:10 PM
  #39  
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When I was 8, that would have been in '53, I rode my bike to school and back, 2 miles of gravel, 2 miles of main paved road, from our Alaskan homestead house, but only when the roads weren't snow-covered. That was a 20" robin's egg blue girls bike. I almost cried from disappointment when I saw my 7th birthday present. Rode it anyway. When we moved closer in and I got a paper route, I saved up enough money for a $50 J.C. Higgens 3-speed. In summer if I didn't have chores, I'd put 2 PB&J and an Army canteen in my saddle bag and be gone all day. The furthest from home I remember riding was out to Eielson AFB, ~46 miles RT. I got my first used road bike, a full Campy Legnano, when I was a freshman in college. Rode my first century on that, around Cayuga Lake. After the Army, I didn't have a bike until I turned 50 and realized how far downhill I'd gone. And here I am again, realizing how far downhill I've gone. Always working on it, though.
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Old 10-15-20, 12:15 PM
  #40  
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Now 78 on a Trike
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Old 10-15-20, 12:24 PM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by hairnet
Seriously, since I was eighteen which was eight years ago.
First time I've seen a Blodwyn Pig album cover used as an avatar.

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Old 10-15-20, 03:13 PM
  #42  
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Cycling : 25+ years.
Serious cycling : 3 years.
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Old 10-15-20, 04:27 PM
  #43  
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Started serious riding in 1973 and haven't stopped. Started logging all rides--destination and miles--January 1, 1982. Since then, I've ridden 5755 rides for 144,862 miles.
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Old 10-15-20, 09:07 PM
  #44  
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40 plus years for me.
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Old 10-15-20, 10:11 PM
  #45  
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Learned how to ride a bike around 5-6 years old. Epic memories with my Dad making me take it on as a I was slow learn. But after that always used my bike. Had a 30 year down time and picked it up 10 years ago for a few years and dropped of again. C19:gave me the time to restart. Life changing to go again.
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Old 10-16-20, 11:12 AM
  #46  
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30 plus here.
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Old 10-16-20, 01:59 PM
  #47  
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This thread has been around twice as long as I've been cycling (as an adult).
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Old 10-16-20, 02:06 PM
  #48  
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Originally Posted by Rides4Beer
This thread has been around twice as long as I've been cycling (as an adult).
Sad to say, this thread has been around longer than the last time I actually saddled my road bike!
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Old 10-18-20, 06:04 PM
  #49  
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Originally Posted by Ogsarg
First time I've seen a Blodwyn Pig album cover used as an avatar.

Nice catch!
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Old 10-18-20, 06:27 PM
  #50  
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Road cycling for 48 years. Mountain biking has never done anything for me.
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