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Returned to Cycling After Sports Car Phase

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Returned to Cycling After Sports Car Phase

Old 09-18-21, 07:48 AM
  #101  
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Sold a 73 914 to buy a 76 Capri II which I raced w some success. After a bunch of other cars currently driving a 993tt and started riding semi seriously again over fifteen years ago
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Old 09-18-21, 10:23 PM
  #102  
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Originally Posted by chaadster
I had a 928 thing for about 15 years until selling them off last year. It was never that I stopped cycling, but the car club stuff took time away from cycling club stuff, and about 8 years ago, I decided that I wanted tocycle more than drive, so the cars sat in storage mostly.

I managed to do both for a few glorious years, but other life demands caught up to me, like kids and work. My other hobbies, wristwatches and wine, also conspired to create a lifestyle I really could not afford to maintain. The cars got the hatchet…though I still keep a ‘76 Fiat spider that was my in-laws since new and is sentimental for my wife.

No more car club stuff though, and no regrets. The cycling lifestyle is so much better for me…if only because it’s easier to integrate wine with cycling than with driving!



The ‘91 in Linen Grey metallic had a supercharger kit on it and laid down 478hp at the wheels on a DynoJet!

The ‘88 was my first and favorite.
Always wanted an 88 but just never got around to getting one. Also was out of garages - then there was the Mrs - the major obstacle. Sounds like similar paths. Gave up on PCA and now just (or pre-COVID) hung out with my pre-74 early car club. One of these days will start getting together again for dinners but my high speed driving days are done.
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Old 09-19-21, 07:26 AM
  #103  
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Originally Posted by rsbob
Always wanted an 88 but just never got around to getting one. Also was out of garages - then there was the Mrs - the major obstacle. Sounds like similar paths. Gave up on PCA and now just (or pre-COVID) hung out with my pre-74 early car club. One of these days will start getting together again for dinners but my high speed driving days are done.
Yeah, I hang occasionally with the Points and Condenser Preservation Society, so you know what they’re about! Annual Spring dust-off and Fall color tours with them were always fun and are still on my radar. Once I finish the interior resto on the Fiat, I’m sure I’ll run some of those again.

My DD is an Alfa Giulia Ti Sport Q4, and I did a couple of meetups and local AROC events, but with these new cars, there’s just not that much to get involved with them, there’s no sound-n-fury, and they whistle along at terrifying speeds at the drop of a hat; a few simple mods, and my 2L 4cyl turbo was pulling Dragy verified 4.3sec 0-60s and 13.1xx 1/4mi at +102mph on the street. I don’t need to get fatter doing car stuff and wind up in jail, too!

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Old 09-19-21, 08:04 AM
  #104  
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Nice. I had a 124 spyder (74?) I bought for $500 to fill a gap while waiting for ordered car to come in. Reliable in MN winter and perhaps most fun for $500 ever. Eventually broke a piston but it had more than paid for itself by then
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Old 09-19-21, 12:14 PM
  #105  
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Originally Posted by dbf73
Nice. I had a 124 spyder (74?) I bought for $500 to fill a gap while waiting for ordered car to come in. Reliable in MN winter and perhaps most fun for $500 ever. Eventually broke a piston but it had more than paid for itself by then
Good deal! In ‘94 or thereabouts I bought a ‘74 Toyota Corolla 4dr for $400. It was a well-whipped ride, but I had my VW Westy on stands getting outfitted for a tour, and my ‘74 Honda CB 500T wasn’t getting it for Michigan winter, so the junky, funky 4spd Toyota did the trick and was surprisingly fun…until the front left control arm mount rusted out of the chassis! It paved the way for a ‘69 Volvo 164 E, which was a supercool ride for 25 year old me. It was red, and with a bike rack on the white vinyl roof carrying my MTB, that straight six would hum along smoothly at 75mph all day and I felt so cool hanging my elbow out the window…. Getting a 124 spider for $500 would have been wayyy cooler though!
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Old 09-23-21, 11:18 PM
  #106  
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Owned miatas since 1994. Joining a car club changed my life, For years, our life revolved going places, doing stuff, with ourr miata friends. Meanhile, my wife and I were casual bikers, Our big thing was to ride 10-12 miles on Chicago's Bike the Drive when they shut down the lakefront. And then we might ride another 90 miles the rest of the year.

We got into ebiking in 2016, and have put on, per my records, over 10000 miles since then, 2200 miles for me this year, more than I gave driven my miata. I still did 110 miles this year on a regular bike too. .
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Old 09-24-21, 07:34 AM
  #107  
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Originally Posted by dbf73
Nice. I had a 124 spyder (74?) I bought for $500 to fill a gap while waiting for ordered car to come in. Reliable in MN winter and perhaps most fun for $500 ever. Eventually broke a piston but it had more than paid for itself by then
I had a 124 Sport Coupe. That was a very nice car but it rusted away.
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Old 09-25-21, 06:43 AM
  #108  
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Originally Posted by bruce19
I had a 124 Sport Coupe. That was a very nice car but it rusted away.
my $500 124 came pre rusted
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Old 09-25-21, 04:30 PM
  #109  
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Originally Posted by rsbob
About 18 years ago a friend of my wife drove to our house in a 1972 911S with sport exhaust and threw me the keys. I took it out for 45 minutes and was utterly hooked. The power, the sound, the classic shape were absolutely intoxicating. I pretty much gave up cycling and got into pre-74 911s. Joined a sports car club or two and spent my free time working on the cars, making them lighter and perform better. I learned a ton and improved my mechanical skills. Meanwhile my bikes sat collecting dust. Weekends were spent driving with the club, along with club dinners and lunch drives. I found to my shock that sports car guys eat crap food. I was a bit shocked at first but ate the way I usually did with an occasional cheeseburger and fries. Did week long drives with the club to California where we would drive more and of course eat. One thing about pre-74 cars is no catalytic converters and the exhaust was a mix of unburnt fuel, oil and normal combustion. In other words, don’t get trapped behind one, or worse yet, 6 or more.

With COVID and the increasingly alarming changes to the climate, I decided it was time to be a bit more responsible pollution and food-wise. (My weight during those years went up 15 lbs). In 2020, I sold off my cars and returned to my first love, cycling.My fitness was abysmal, endurance horrible and hill climbing an absolute miserable struggle. After almost a year and a half, I don’t miss sports cars, and their horrendous expense. Since then my fitness and mental attitude have greatly improved. I lost the 15 lbs and in general feel much better. When we get through COVID I will meet again with my car-nut friends for a beer since I miss the comradeship. What I wont miss are the exhaust fumes and getting 12 MPG on supreme.

Now my life is about improving fitness and buying bike toys, like my new Garmin 830 to track my fitness and structure workouts - something I have never done but will be fun to explore, especially if it works.

Anyone gone through this or something similar? Left and returned to cycling, the great time machine that it is?
my bikes share the garage with a ‘72 TR6 (the poor man’s midlife crisis&#128512. Bought it ~10 years ago for a tinkering opportunity, ended up doing a frame-off restoration. At some point, I stopped tracking how much I spent, but imagine I could’ve been in a decent used Boxster or Z4 for the same money. Still, the Triumph is a lot of fun and part of the family (my daughter is my go-to assistant for bleeding the brakes). The great thing about old cars is that you can wring them out without acquiring any tickets - fun and games at- or around the speed limit. And the smell of old car when I go into the garage is awesome!
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Old 09-25-21, 10:51 PM
  #110  
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Originally Posted by Litespud
my bikes share the garage with a ‘72 TR6 (the poor man’s midlife crisis&#128512. Bought it ~10 years ago for a tinkering opportunity, ended up doing a frame-off restoration. At some point, I stopped tracking how much I spent, but imagine I could’ve been in a decent used Boxster or Z4 for the same money. Still, the Triumph is a lot of fun and part of the family (my daughter is my go-to assistant for bleeding the brakes). The great thing about old cars is that you can wring them out without acquiring any tickets - fun and games at- or around the speed limit. And the smell of old car when I go into the garage is awesome!
You are a lucky man. I absolutely love TR6s. Next to early XKEs they are my favorite British sports cars. Absolutely love the exterior and interior. One with a tuned exhaust sounds so right. Always regret not buying one. Enjoy your classic and post a picture.
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