Harvieu25

about road cycling that draws you to it? Was it a single thing, and has that changed over time? Do you still have the same level of admiration and appreciation for it, or has that grown?

I got into it because I have always admired cycling as a sport and I also wanted to increase my fitness with low impact to my body. I rode bikes as a kid, up until I got my drivers/motorcycle license at 16. From 16 to almost 45 I took for granted something we all, at least most of us experience as kids, the joy of propelling ourselves through the air. I am seeing cycling with different eyes now and I am amused, terrified, filled with excitement and sadness, lay in bed many nights unable to shut my brain off thinking about, and am head over hills in love with it. I know now that I can look forward to each ride as it leads to improvements in fitness that can't be seen short term, but looking back at past tribulations and seeing the current victories makes me happy to go through more. Thank you all for giving freely your time and knowledge to help others increase their love of a fine way of life.

Seizedpost

Part of it's the exercise, part of it is exploring. Walking is too slow if you want to get anywhere, running is necessarily strenuous and still pretty slow, and driving is so fast and isolated it's like you're not even there.

mcours2006

Love the idea of propelling myself to places faraway under my own power. I commute to work. That is my main reason for riding at the moment.

yashinon

I loved bikes as a kid pretty much through the time that I got my license. When my kids started getting into that age, I picked up bikes for them and myself figuring it would be a good "family" activity to ride around the 'hood. The kids got older but I realized that cycling would be good as "something to do" and provide fitness at the same time. Sure enough, the "bug" caught me. Besides family, my other love is photography, however photography is an expensive hobby. Cycling has other benefits besides fitness, which include stress relief and getting another perspective.

rpenmanparker 

Wait until you start building you own bikes.

gc3

Girls, I'm here for the girls...

92Esquire

For me, it's an escape. I work a lot of hours in a pretty stressful environment. This weekend I rode a metric century and spent just under 4 hours on the bike (yes, I'm old, fat, and slow). About halfway through, I tried as hard as i could to think about work. I simply couldn't. I've found that multiple times before. When I am on the bike, I am WITH the bike. I can't chew on work problems or other issues, I'm out experiencing the ride. That's worth the time and the effort, for sure.

Machka 

I started road cycling 43 years ago when I was 6 years old ... and I have stuck with it pretty much my entire life. I grew up in a cycling family. My parents both cycled, we travelled with the bicycles, and our house was full of bicycles and bicycle stuff. As a little girl, I read Bicycling Magazine back when it was good. And my parents still ride!!

However, there was a lull in the cycling between the ages of 17 and 23 where I didn't cycle much.

Then on April 29, 1990 ... I resumed cycling "seriously" (avidly, with great enthusiasm) and I've been cycling ever since.

And yes, my cycling has changed ...

I started cycling recreationally ... then I began increasing my distance and rode some centuries ... then I got to know some people from a racing club, and next thing I knew, I was racing ... after 3 years of that, I decided to move into randonneuring which I've been doing ever since. I also added commuting and touring into the mix.

It's what I do. It's the freedom, the challenge, the adventure, the stress relief, the exercise ... all of that and more. I can't imagine life without bicycles.

redfooj

i hate running, want to stay fit, like mechanical-gear-nerdery and enjoy the wind in my face

t595

Certainly this for me and I would add that if I cycle enough (75-100 miles per week) I can pretty much eat anything and not gain weight.

Wheever

This. Plus, for me, there's something really zen and meditative about the rhythm of pedaling.

thin_concrete

I was a runner who blew out my right ankle 3 times (once running, twice skiing) and just couldn't run any reasonable distance without pain, and I didn't want to get out of shape (round is a shape though...), so cycling seemed like an enjoyable way to do it.

@92Esquire - I too work in a highly competitive/stressful environment, and find that as hard as I try, I can't think about work on the bike as well. Great stress relief.

mrodgers

Road cycling as in riding on the road rather than as in sitting in a line 2 inches from each other flying down the road as fast as possible on a road bike "training" for something?

Easy one to answer. Change of scenery. I started with dusting off the old Walmart bike for some exercise and riding on the rail trail. Following spring I bought my hybrid and took to the roads. I rode about 50/50 trail and road since where I lived, most of the roads were dirt and gravel.

Now I have a nice area to ride in and I ride more like 15-20% trail and 80-85% on the roads. I like the exploration aspect of riding (along with the exercise.) Though I like to travel around and want to hit all the rail trails in western PA at least once, the local trails never change. Hitting back roads there are so many different roads, I rarely take the same route twice unless it's just a quick after work exercise ride.

I don't ride long distances. Long to me would now be 40 miles. I have some destinations I want to ride to from home that puts me in the 40 mile range, but it's the journey out and coming back a different way that is the goal, not to get to the destination.

bmthom.gis

Hmm. I like it bc it lets me explore new places and roads that I wouldn't necessarily see in a car, at a pace that is easy to take in the surroundings without being prohibitively slow. You can ride just about anywhere.

the sci guy 

This.

And being outside in the fresh air, enjoying the sun and the breeze or the elements.

popeye

[QUOTE=mrodgers;18734483] sitting in a line 2 inches from each other flying down the road as fast as possible on a road bike "training" for something?

This and the drug (endorphines).

thump55

Yeah, I am not sure if it is the tan lines, the saddle sores, the mushroom head helmets, or the elf shoes, but the chicks just come running when we suit up.

Doge

I like it has the right amount of variables to tweak to be on the edge. Esp for racing.
Things like too heavy, too light, to fast, too slow, too much training, too little training all are both understandable and things to tune.
Then the danger aspect adds an element that I have not figured out yet if I like.

Trying to perfectly tweak the combo human engine and the machine is a lot of fun.

Motorsports have too many things for my liking, and running / swimming too few.

mpath

Nope, none of those. The junk in the trunk.

mpath

If the tech prognosticators are right, man and machine will eventually meld. But for now, it's man and bike.

TimothyH

No one I knew was riding 100 miles on a bike in 1978 when I started riding.

It was one thing I could do that no one else was doing.


-Tim-

Doge

That is a reason I want no electronics in racing. On the bike, or on the person. Unless, of course there is an electronics division.

shafter

I like the exploring and independence cycling brings. I also like cycling better than because its faster and quite honestly, now I have a machin to mess with, fix, upgrade, clean, adore, etc....

Stratocaster

Podium hog!!!

Stratocaster

For me, it happened last spring.
I had played baseball (not softball) for many years, but finally retired when my eye's got bad enough and my body said "I'm not digging this as much as I used to."

My wife and I liked to take walks in a local park where there's a MUP - but on this particular Thursday night the MUP was closed and there was a crit race going on.
Still feeling some competitiveness in my being, I figured, "hmmmm...bike racing? - maybe I can give this a shot".

So I bought a bike and started riding. Then I bought another bike and continued riding.

I also bought some cycling clothes, accessories, magazines, etc. I WAS HOOKED!

The fact that a velodrome exists within walking distance from my house doesn't hurt. And cycling is big in this area.

Truth is, I'm not sure if I'll ever enter a race...but I really enjoy just getting out on the road, getting a good workout, meeting other cyclists, seeing all the gear and various bikes.
Seems like a no-brainer as a new hobby. It's a great way to get/keep in shape.