41 years old
5 reasons why I ride-
- Rode BMX freestyle growing up and liked the mechanical side of the activity. Getting back into cycling as an adult, the restoration and modernization of c&v frames hits that interest.
- I was a multi-sport athlete growing up, continued into adulthood playing competitive team sports, and cycling has filled the void left by leaving all but one of the team sports. I can't dunk anymore or keep up with younger players on the cpurt6, but I could ride faster and longer than any of those guys!
Typical story- individual transitions to solo endurance activities as they age.
- It was a way to connect with my oldest daughter when she was young and that has continued to this day 15 years later for both kids- we periodically ride to get breakfast or lunch or ice cream. Fun activities.
- Keeps me in a good mood. Call it mental health as a catch all, I guess. Exercise helps people have a better perspective and cycling for 1.5-4 hours does that for me. adter 4 hours of hard solo riding, I go to a dark place for a handful of miles, but then come out of it and it's great again.
- I help run a teen nonprofit mentorship program. that works with kids to handle life's challenges. We use cycling as a way to meet, address challenges, and gain confidence. We meet a few times a week from March thru July and prepare the kids to ride across the state on RAGBRAI. It's a given that I kinda sorta have to ride!
One more reason I ride that's sorta related to a point above- I ride because the other aerobic activity would be running and running is for the devil. I guess I could swim, but that is close to just as miserable.