How'd you get into riding?

[2knees]

Wow, Andy. A strapping young lad, you were. What the hell happened? :lol:

I was gonna say that pic must be 20 years and 100 lbs ago.

 

[severine]

I'm also looking forward to getting my wife back on the bike and doing some riding with her now that there's no physical impairments stopping her.

Me, too.

 

[andyzee]

I was gonna say that pic must be 20 years and 100 lbs ago.

Forgot the 50 women. 8)

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Ok, blueberries have left system

I always used to ride a bike as a kid. My dad didn't make much money, but he spoiled the hell out of me especially when it came to bikes. I needed a new bike, I'd tell dad and we'd be off to the store. So, as a kid I always rode. When I turned 17 I got my drivers license and dad spoiled me with a car and that was the end of my biking. By the time I was 18 my weight went from 180 to 230. Didn't start riding but did start running and eventually got the weight back down to 170.

When I was about 25-27 I started visiting the newly formed nude beach in NJ, Sandy Hook. There I met this girl that I got really friendly with and one day we decided to take a trip to Cape Cod together. She was a triathlete and excersiced like crazy, especially liked biking and planned on doing a lot in Cape Cod. As a result I purchased an inexpensive bike to keep her company. Well as good as she was and she was good, she had trouble keeping up with me. I really enjoyed picking up a bike again. My goal for that year was to ride my bike from my house to Sandy Hook by the end of the summer, I was doing it within a month and did it every weekend, 50 miles each way.

I've always been obsessive and that transferred over to the biking, I pushed myself as much as I could, one day I biked 175 miles. And my Grand Finale was a 1000 mile ride from NJ through NY, VT, NH, MA, CT, and home again. I say Grand Finale because after that life and work took over and the biking miles decreased. I now bike when I can but nowhere near as much as I used to. Life sux and then you die (but I still do my best to enjoy ) Me at John Belushi's grave on Martha's Vineyard during that trip:

Nice socks you stud..the 80s called and they want their socks back...lmbfao...yeah you were a skinny mo-fo..

 

[andyzee]

Nice socks you stud..the 80s called and they want their socks back...lmbfao...yeah you were a skinny mo-fo..

One thing I'll never be accused of is caring about fashion, never did, never will. I am what I am :lol: Entered one bike race in my life and I dressed far worst than that. Everyone else had their nice bike clothes on and their custom bikes, etc... The only reason I didn't win the race is inexperience. I had the lead up until the last 50 yards and didn't think of turning it on in the final stretch.

 

[tjf67]

I will skip the littl kid stuff. I started riding in college in 88. Had a raleigh, No suspension. I dont think there was any at that point. Used to ride with a couple firend up around pburgh. After graduating I bought my first full suspension bike around 94. A proflex 756. Great bike I gave it to my nephew recently and it still going strong. Road that around Grafton and used to kill my buddies that only had front suspension. The old schoolers used to laugh at it at the time until we got on the trail and even though they were stronger riders they could not take the beating. In 00 I bought the bike that I am currently riding now. I.H Hollowpoint. The bike is serving me well. Its only got 3 inches of travel and the guys I ride with have 4 and 5 but the old horse holds it own.

Biking is great exercise, your adreneline gets going so much you dont even notice how much you are doing.

I thought the hills in Grafton were nasty. OMG the hills up here are insane.

 

[bigbog]

...about the same position....

Today's MtnBikes are so nice.....demoing a few this coming week....

 

[jplynch019]

Learned to ride at 4 years old. Didn't have my own bike so I used to wait for the kid down the street to go to school and would take his bike out for a ride, then replace it exactly where I found it. Stop thief! After that regular biking around the neighborhood. At age 15 I realized with 2 older siblings that my chances were really slim at getting to use the family car. So I bought my first "serious" bike. It looked like this:

Did some solo rides as a teenager, then quit riding as I became a "dad". Tried Mountain Biking and didn't like it all that much. Went through a few more road bikes, started commuting to work every day. And I guess I'm hooked. Did a 900 mile, 9 day ride to Chicago from CT in the beginning of June 2008. And that's pretty much it.

 

[Marc]

Learned to ride at 4 years old. Didn't have my own bike so I used to wait for the kid down the street to go to school and would take his bike out for a ride, then replace it exactly where I found it. Stop thief! After that regular biking around the neighborhood. At age 15 I realized with 2 older siblings that my chances were really slim at getting to use the family car. So I bought my first "serious" bike. It looked like this:

Did some solo rides as a teenager, then quit riding as I became a "dad". Tried Mountain Biking and didn't like it all that much. Went through a few more road bikes, started commuting to work every day. And I guess I'm hooked. Did a 900 mile, 9 day ride to Chicago from CT in the beginning of June 2008. And that's pretty much it.

That's pretty cool and pretty crazy. You ever considered doing any brevets or randonneuring ?

 

[jplynch019]

I guess I've thought about it. The Chicago trip was definitely a "randomly organized" trip. I knew I generally wanted to follow US RT 6, but at the same time didn't want to deal with Cleveland. Of course this was a solo ride versus something organized. I would like to cross the USA but can't get the time off from work to do it. I am considering appying for ride leader on one of those "for pay" bike ride vacation companies as my "next career". Not sure if I have the patience to wait for slower riders.

 

[Marc]

I guess I've thought about it. The Chicago trip was definitely a "randomly organized" trip. I knew I generally wanted to follow US RT 6, but at the same time didn't want to deal with Cleveland. Of course this was a solo ride versus something organized. I would like to cross the USA but can't get the time off from work to do it. I am considering appying for ride leader on one of those "for pay" bike ride vacation companies as my "next career". Not sure if I have the patience to wait for slower riders.

That would be pretty fun actually. I'm still kinda thinking about going the long distance direction. I think I've got my knee pain figured out (knocks on wood) after a lot of advice from my soon to be D.PT g/f and I'm not much on road racing. I'd much rather go out and beat the clock than have some asshole elbow me over in a crit. Plus I'm a really slow climber.

 

[cbcbd]

Rode as a kid... nothing serious, no trails, living in the city, roads dangerous, just in the park or around the neighborhood.

Moved to the US - got a no suspension Giant mtb... rode around aimlessly around neighborhood, used it for transportation sometimes, took it to college, let it almost die of rust.

After college wanted to get into trails more... got some clipless, some shoes... hardcore... hit some trails, scared myself, kept at it a little but not seriously.

Bike got stolen in '05... Roadie friend wanted to get me into road... I was reluctant until I got on the bike --- sooo fast compared to the mtbs I was used to. He lent me his old road bike, a Mangusta 7000: (this bike but in teal)

Had lots of good rides with that bike... really got me into the road.

But then I still had to get a new MTB so I got my current one, Rocky Mountain Slayer 50:

Then got really into it... getting more technical, learning proper techniques, and dropping bigger and bigger stuff. I still have a long way to go, but I'm going in the direction that I want to now.

Then I busted some spokes on a wheel of the Mangusta on a Greylock hill climb 100K ride... and it was time to get my own road bike and return the Mangusta... broken , so I got my current one, RM Solo 50AC:

I try to ride both equally but the MTB just gives me the rush that I need more often. I have to find some local trails I can regularly hit and now I'm waiting for parts on both to get them 100% but the road bike will be used mainly for getting around town for a while, I think... until I add a city bike to the quiver

 

[Greg]

Another college buddy then convinced me to buy a mountain bike a few years later. He was pretty into it and I had fun trying to keep up with him. After graduation, I did a few solo rides since my parent's house (where I lived for a few years following college) bordered a state forest. Looking back, I wish I took advantage of that more as I would love to now have a reasonable MTB option right out the door. Anyway, I then did a few rides with a guy I worked with which was cool. I last rode that bike in any serious MTB capacity around 1998 when the guy I normally rode with got a new job.

Here's that sick Trek I used to ride back in the day:

Johnnypoach killed it after one ride...

 

[Grassi21]

I bought this beast as a senior in HS (1995). I crashed it hard one winter while riding to a friends house. It say in the garage and got light usage by my little bro. I resurrected it last spring to get a taste of MTB. The next ride I used Greg's Trek you see above. Now I ride an '08 Cannondale F5 hardtail. The Giant was recently reworked as a single speed. It is at the LBS now getting a once over by the mechanic. I'm going to cart my son around on this ride so I want to be sure its put together correctly by this wrench turning noob. I will post a pic of it when I pick it up later in the week.