rsbob 

Rather than resuscitating an old thread where respondents may have moved on (so to speak) decided to start anew...

Always interesting hearing how people become interested in their hobbies, relationships (but we aren’t going there) and life choices.

To be more precise, what got you into being a “serious” or humorous cyclist doing distance rides, becoming competitive, yada yada? Not talking about your Big Wheel, paper bike, or first Huffy unless you still ride those.


My story. Being “blessed” with a fair amount of nervous energy, I always tried to reduce it through distance running. Played soccer and ran track in HS, ran recreationally all through college years to the point of exhaustion to reduce that energy or anxiety or whatever. After 10 years of running I kept injuring myself and just ran from one injury to the next. A neighbor who was a triathlete suggested trying a bike for cross training. So I did that for a few years and really enjoyed the cycling component but not so much the running, even though the injuries were less. Eventually I transitioned about 80% cycling and then ran through the rainy months but cycled on group rides so I could feel good about not being a bad weather wus. Got tired of squishy shoes, cold hands, poor thermo regulation and bike cleaning and Bought a trainer. So I credit nervous energy (still got it), running injuries and my over achieving neighbor.

trainchaser

I've never stopped since getting my first Schwinn ten speed bike when I was 12 years old, been riding since then, road bikes, mountain bikes, a flat bar road bike and now my new fitness bike, Trek FX-1 disk which is my commuter bike. Never stop riding!!!

branko_76 

I was "blessed" with growing up poor, and being a poor college student, no money for a car so the bike became my main form of transportation, excercise and recreation


...

goojoob

I started in the 90s, loved watching the famous races in tv and fall in love with the bike since then

FiftySix

Short version . . . riding a bicycle is easier than running and is cheaper than motorcycling.

Gary in NJ

I was a runner for 30 years. Three years ago my left hip got an over use injury (aka arthritis) and last November the hip was replaced. I've been spinning as a cross-training exercise since the mid-90's and spinning was one of the exercises I could still do with a bad hip (an elliptical machine worked too). I continued to exercise right up to the day before my my hip replacement. I went into that operation in very good physical condition and was able to walk out of the hospital without any aid the day after my surgery (with the doctor looking very nervous). Anyway about 30 days after the replacement I was ready to begin exercising again and I started off with spinning and the elliptical machine. Things were going great...and than COVID restrictions came and the gym was shut down. After a month of doing nothing I took a crack at running again. My new hip felt fantastic, but after about 6 weeks my knees began to hurt and I could feel my body telling me that the running days are over.

My wife suggested cycling - and she wanted to give it a try as well. We were able to find her a bike at a local shop and I took my son's old Trek Marlin 5 (a total POS) and modified it the best I could for road use (replaced the springer fork with a solid carbon fork, put road tires on it, shortened the stem, cut the bars down...). I've put about 700 miles on the FrankenMarlin and replaced it with a Fuji Gran Fondo with an Ultegra group set.

I love cycling. I love it more then I loved running...and I loved running (marathons and lots of competitive 5k's). If my wife hadn't suggested it, I'm quite sure I would not have found it.

GlennR

Not in all situations.

FiftySix

I could've sworn I gave an answer that applied to myself.

GlennR

If you're talking to yourself then there's no need to post it on the Interwebz.

blue192

I my case I always enjoyed riding since I was little. The major reason why I got really serious into riding is because I live in Ottawa and our public buses go on strike often. The 1990s strike lasted several months so just rather bike around instead of paying an organization whose members stop working.

Juan Foote

Sine we aren't telling first bike for Christmas stories...

When I was little I was snooping through some old stuff my dad had and found his old bikes. Among them was a MUCH newer "10 speed" that I could barely straddle the top bar on. It had friction shifters on the downtube and if I contorted my hand just right I could pull a brake lever. Had pops pump up the tires and started riding it up and down in front of the house. The ease at which I could come up the steep hill down the street was only over-prioritized by how FAST I could go down. It was a few years later that I fully made the jump from BMX to road bike, but that is where it started.

livedarklions

Dodging revenuers smuggling whiskey over the Canadian border.

FiftySix

Those were the days.

wolfchild

I started out as a mountain biker and commuter way back in the summer of 2007...Been riding all year round ever since.

2cam16

Never stopped since I was a kid. So not much in my story.

GlennR

Rode as a kid and into my early 20s for transportation and then stopped. My son got into cycling and triathlons so 10 years ago I decided to get back into it for exercise and weight loss.He's dragged my a$$ up a number of climbs.

indyfabz

As an adult, I got fat in college. Used cycling and diet change (not a diet) to lose 90 lbs. in 9 months. And I actually really liked the activity as much as I did when I was a kid. First it was transportation and weight loss, then came “real” road riding. In 1999 I branched out into self contained touring for two years, which I then picked up again in earnest in 2009.

fujidon

When I was 13 my family moved to a new neighborhood about 10 miles from my old neighborhood and friends. The best way to visit my old friends was by bike so I bought a Schwinn Varsity. That bike was a revelation because nobody on their single speeds or "english racers" could keep up with me. Not even my brother who was 2 years older nor his friends. For me, that bike was a real freedom machine and I would often get lost on purpose just to make my rides longer.

I rode several different 10 speeds, the last of which was a Schwinn LeTour until kids came along and then cycling was only a very occasional thing, but I still enjoyed it.

Fast forward to my mid-30's and I thought I really needed to get into a regular exorcise program. I set up my LeTour on a trainer in the basement and starting doing about 20 minutes a day. It was so excruciatingly boring that the next time we had nice weather, I decided to take the bike out on the road instead. I did 17 miles! Wow! I didn't think that was possible. I was hooked.

Still riding 3 decades later.

Marylander

My brother bought a USA Raleigh in the mid/late 80s, likely due to Greg Lemond being on tv (aka, the 80s bike boom). He wasn't really riding it so I borrowed it and started riding with a friend of mine. Well, next thing I knew my brother did want to ride and I had to buy my own bike (I also got a USA Raleigh, a Technium). I rode up until 1996, about a month after my 2nd daughter was born. I was out riding when my wife went into the hospital and this was well before cell phones were common so... I decided I was riding too much so I stopped.

Fast forward to the end of 2019 and I've been running for the past 11 years from the time daughter #1 went into high school and wanted to run cross country. In spite of running a fair bit my blood pressure wasn't great. My doc put me on a med that really screwed up my running and basically ruined my best year. Somehow that made me want to get another bicycle and I've been back at it for almost a year now. I haven't run since march...

Random11

My situation is similar (and similar to Gary in NJ). I was a runner for more than 50 years, until knee problems made me give it up. I've been cycling for a bit less than three years now, substituting the cycling for running. I'd still be running if I could, but one thing I'll say for cycling is that I've had no injuries from cycling, and my knees are no longer giving me problems. X-rays and CT scans show I have advanced arthritis in my knees, but they work pretty well and are now pain-free, which I attribute to the time I spend on the bike. And, I enjoy riding.

martianone

IN the latter 50's, I had a kick scooter that I got around fairly well with.
then in 1960, my folks got a bike for my birthday.
transition from scooter to bike was almost crash less.
it was like I had been given wings,
wings of wheels!
been riding since.

RandomlyWest

For me, it wasn't what, but who - it was my dad, who I didn't particularly have a good relationship with (heavy drinker, dreamer, longtime denier of reality).

In his early 50s, my dad decided he needed to get some exercise. So, he bought us bikes at a garage sale (him, me, my brother) and we began going for family rides around Huntington Beach, CA, where there was a big new network of bike lanes and a great new Class I bike path (the Santa Ana River Trail). Dad rode an orange K-Mart All-Pro, quite possibly the worst 10-speed ever made, with a wide saddle that looked like it had a plastic slip cover. I rode an orange Huffy that was this quasi-BMX thing with a rear disc brake (1978). My brother, 11, rode a Huffy meant for somebody about 8 or 9.

They gave up, I stuck with it, and I've ridden all kinds of bikes thousands of miles in SoCal and around the West. Thanks, Dad.

gear64

Love at first flight around 6. It was my primary mode of transportation through college. Then I've continued to enjoy it through adulthood. I've never taken it seriously, it's just a link to my inner child.

rydabent

I lived on a farm, and it was a mile and 3/4 to my one room country school house. I got a bike with 24 inch wheels when I was in the 3rd grade. To put it bluntly, it was either walk or ride. I rode.

Troul 

figured cycling would help with outgrowing immaturity, still cycling.