Cycling for fun, fitness and happiness

konstrukt

I started cycling to stay in shape and commute. I am pretty lucky that my house is right near a dedicated trailhead that goes almost the entire way to work. I get to exercise instead of sitting in my car. I'm in the US so it's pretty rare to have such a great cycling commute.

Lately I've been getting more interested in bicycling as a sport, especially after a recent holiday trip to Mexico, where I rented a bicycle and did a long and amazing ride around the island of Cozumel.




Anyone else out there who is either a seasoned or beginning cyclist who wants to share your experiences?

sijomial

Gave up cycling age 16 when my bike had to be sold to help fund the purchase of a motorbike.
Short break of 37 years (!) but then bought myself an urban hybrid primarily for fitness.
Dabbled in some longer distance charity events and one I did in memory of my Mum got me into road bikes when a friend persuaded me riding a horribly harsh hybrid (nicknamed "Boneshaker") over 110 miles wasn't a great idea and loaned me his spare road bike.

Now 9 years after getting back in the saddle I've done over 41,000 miles, have a garage full of bikes, have done 100+ rides of 100km or more. Still getting faster/stronger at age 62 - late developer!!
Set my fastest ever Century ride this year and I enjoy chasing Strava segment PR's - almost 1,300 PR's so far this year. Nice outlet for my self-competitive nature.

I do a few Audax events to explore new areas, often there are octogenarians on these rides still cycling well and long distances which I find quite inspiring.
Keep meaning to ride more off road as I can completely zone out enjoying the countryside and not chase speed or power goals.

Djproulx

I've enjoyed cycling both as a fitness tool and source of fun over the last ten years. Have done a bunch of riding both in races (triathlon) as well as touring. A couple memorable rides have included a Miami to Key West ride done over two days, as well as the beautiful bike course that was part of the Ironman Chattanooga race. The bike course heads south out of Chattanooga and is mostly ridden in the farm country of northern Georgia.

Most recently, this past Sunday, a group of us joined a 75 mile ride in support of cancer care. This was a very hilly ride held in hot humid conditions (95 degrees) yet all of us had fun doing it. So for me it's
not only a source of fitness, but also lots of fun and social interaction.

NorthCascades

I love cycling. It's fun and beautiful and makes life more fulfilling.

cwolfman13

I love cycling. I was pretty big into endurance road cycling for about 5-6 years. My first endurance event was the ADA Tour De Cure for Diabetes shortly after my dad passed in Dec 2013 due to complications of type II. I hadn't really intended to take it any further than that, but I ended up really getting into endurance road cycling...mostly charity stuff or other non-competitive touring, but also a few USAC events.

I'm kind of out of that game right now and mostly just ride for fun and exercise and I've gotten more into mountain biking and trail riding. As my kids have gotten older, my available time has become smaller with having soccer practices and games and track meets and archery tournaments and homework, etc. I may get into the endurance stuff once again down the road a bit but for now I'm pretty content to be pretty regular, but more recreational.

konstrukt

Thanks for your replies! I love cycling, and have been thinking of joining one of our groups, but I'm not sure I am ready to be peer pressured into spandex quite yet

I'm currently at about 35-40 pounds over my goal weight and was thinking that when I get to that weight, I'd give myself a nice Bianchi road bike as a reward.

But this morning commute was a weird and awful one. A cicada smacked me in the face and knocked my glasses off into the grass. And the damn bug made an angry noise me as it flew away. The nerve of that thing... Took me forever to find my glasses. They were in the grass, and I didn't have my glasses to see.

Then going up the last hill to work, my crankcase broke, and the front cassette now won't turn. I hope it won't be too much to fix. I have a Specialized Sirrus, so I don't want to throw too much money into it. I just hope I'm not without a bike for too long.

allaboutthecake

konstrukt wrote: »

Thanks for your replies! A cicada smacked me in the face and knocked my glasses off into the grass. And the damn bug made an angry noise me as it flew away. The nerve of that thing... Took me forever to find my glasses. They were in the grass, and I didn't have my glasses to see.

omg I'm so sorry I giggled at this. I've had bugs hit me like that. Those suckers are huge.

gmcurtis

I also commute to work and live right by a trail that goes all the way to my work as well! It’s awesome. Where I live I can bike all year round. It gets pretty rainy but I’ve got good gear. I love it because even if I didn’t do some other dedicated exercise that day (a run or weights) I always have biking.

I have done 2 sprint triathlons and LOVED it. So fun. I’m a horrible swimmer but I made it through! And this weekend I’m doing a 45km bike ride (a mass participation ride, like a race but not) and that will be my longest ride yet!

konstrukt

gmcurtis wrote: »

Where I live I can bike all year round. It gets pretty rainy but I’ve got good gear.

What part of the world do you live, and what gear do you have? I usually have my computer and a change of clothes in my backpack so I try not to ride if it is too wet, but I do pretty well in cold weather. Good layering and especially a decent balaclava to make sure wind doesn't get in my neck are so important.

Oh, and yesterday was my birthday and my wife surprised me by buying the bike I've been wanting to get. Did a nice 11 mile ride this morning to break it in, and it is really nice, especially on the climbs, as where I live is the foothills for the Appalachians, so we have a few steep inclines all over.

konstrukt

allaboutthecake wrote: »

omg I'm so sorry I giggled at this. I've had bugs hit me like that. Those suckers are huge.

The worst is swallowing small bugs. I can't count the times it makes me dry heave for 20 minutes.

NorthCascades

konstrukt wrote: »

gmcurtis wrote: »

Where I live I can bike all year round. It gets pretty rainy but I’ve got good gear.

What part of the world do you live, and what gear do you have? I usually have my computer and a change of clothes in my backpack so I try not to ride if it is too wet, but I do pretty well in cold weather. Good layering and especially a decent balaclava to make sure wind doesn't get in my neck are so important.

Oh, and yesterday was my birthday and my wife surprised me by buying the bike I've been wanting to get. Did a nice 11 mile ride this morning to break it in, and it is really nice, especially on the climbs, as where I live is the foothills for the Appalachians, so we have a few steep inclines all over.

Happy new bike day! And happy cake day too!

What bike did you get? Do you have any pictures?

AnnPT77

I'm a li'l ol' lady cycling a couple of times a week on a hybrid bike on the local trail system (short distance, usually around 20 miles lately). It makes me happy, which makes me smile . . . but I'm learning to smile with my lips together because of that bug issue. 😉 In between (4 days a week), I row boats - those skinny ones like in the Olympics, but mine is a lot slower. 😆 (That's my main sport.)

I also started doing some easy pace, even shorter group bike rides recently - so far, only 6-10 miles, and at a pace slower than I usually ride solo. Last ride, one woman brought along her pet rabbit, Tribble, in one of those little 2-wheel zip-up carts that people use for dogs or toddlers. He seemed happy about it.

sijomial

Fun - ice cream with a chocolate flake and enjoying a stunning view over the South Downs (England).



Fitness - 68 mile round trip from home with almost 5000' of climbing.

Happiness - being in beautiful countryside and a sense of achievement from hitting my goal of a PR up the almost two mile climb.

konstrukt

NorthCascades wrote: »

Happy new bike day! And happy cake day too!

What bike did you get? Do you have any pictures?

It's a Bianchi Via Nirone. It's a zippy little roadbike. I've been riding a hybrid Specialized Sirrus for the last 5-6 years, so it's a big change. One of the things I didn't expect is the change in shifting mentality due to the fact that the front cassette has only 2 gears, while the specialized has 3. Don't have any pics that I can post right now, but i hope to have some soonish...

It's the first bike I've ever had with those newfangled shifters on the brakes. Didn't take all that much getting used to, because once you think about it for two seconds, it makes sense, up and down.