What inspired you to start?

Tynancp

commuting in london when I got sick of the tubes and the car

packed it in six years ago when we moved to the outskirts, too old/too far, rode a scooter, got fat and unfit, started to see the rest of my life being fat and unfit, broke through the 17st barrier, volunteered for L2B

giving it another whirl, week four and liking it

Rich Hcp

I was a fat bloke, I'd had shingles, a bit of a mess.

I needed to sort myself out, dusted off my MTB and got fit enough to do the South Downs Challenge. (Which I completed in May)

Most of my "training" was on the road because off road solo is not fun and I realised I needed a road bike.

I signed up to do the Suffolk Coast Ride in aid of the Anthony Nolan Trust, which is this August.

Ordered Allez Sport for that.

I also find cycling helps me clear my mind.

It's all good, I'm 2 stone lighter and feel great

Richard

Best thing I ever bought for a bike?
Padded shorts![:D]

Unknown

Saw a number on the bathroom scales I'd never seen before. Coincided with my GP's semi-regular health/lifestyle questionnaire which showed how little activity I was getting. Also coincided with my brother giving me his old bike (œ49 Asda job which I stuck with for 3 weeks before heading to lbs).

Mark Alexander

needed space and time to think, then thought I wanted to go faster, bought a road bike.
still like to think.

my baby elephant has more memory than my PC

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3480&id=567849808

cyclinggirl

Moved house, felt alot happier in myself, jumped on my bike one day, went for a 6 miler and really enjoyed it, that was 3 months ago, still loving it.
Love the feeling of being fitter and like the way my legs are toning up.

Unknown

what a fantastic thread!

Last April stepped down from what was for me a high stress management job and went back to pushing widgets round a radar screen. brought a bike to commute on(distance to work now 6.6 miles and not 37!) my lbs talked me into getting an orbea road bike rather than an urban MTB; they were so right. i've loved it and taken to riding for pleasure round the southdowns. Just had my 40th so got myself a special bike (Thorn(old mans bike))so now riding what feels like a bently soaking up the road vibration. the riding has seen me through a bout of depression and lost me a stone in weight.

I am a happy man[:D][:D][:D]
Windy

Wot, get up early and ride to work.... are you mad?

Felix-da-house-mouse

starting cycling no stabilisers around 2 1/2 and thats been me ever since, plus i cant drive plus watching the tour brought me to the world of amoothe as silk tar hmmmm

my steed
http://s195.photobucket.com/albums/z63/ ... C00172.jpg


ooooh ya cheeky munkee

Got-to-get-fit

Always cycled to work in the summer months, then had a 2 yr lay off when i joined the management team and hours seemed to get longer and more knackering. However read a couple of Lance books this year and thought... right im geting back on the bike!.....Lame? probably!

my evil toad army will rule the world

safc3

I'd been thinking about it for a while but not done a thing about it.
Then I got a call one Saturday morning to say that one of my friends who I'd been chatting to in the pub the night before, had gone home, had a heart attack and died. We had been in the same year at school together and he was only 41.
He left a wife and two kids. It sort of hit home that that could be me if i didnt change my ways. I cant stand the thought of leaving my girlfriend and two boys age 4 and 2.
I still drink on a friday mind! But I can now cycle without thinking that its the cycling thats actually going to give me a heart attack!

SteveOC

Great thread andy66,

I loved riding bikes as a kid, progressing from second hand white tyred girls bikes to a BMX and then a Raleigh Elan road bike which was my favourite thing for a few years in the late 80's. When I got a job I cycled to work but never got out on it during my free time. I brought a Cannondale M500 MTB with thoughts of off roading but I just used it as a commute bike.

I had a year off work and realized I needed to do some exercise or buy bigger trousers so I jumped on the M500 and started going out for an hour nearly every day and started to love it again. I finally destroyed the headset on it through years of neglect and had to dust off the Elan which took a bit of getting used to again with its gear shifters on the down tube and drop handle bars but now I remember why it was my favourite thing all those years back, it's fast! [:D]

I got new tyres and pedals for it and I'm now wearing cycling shoes and clothes which have improved my performance but those shiny new road bikes are getting hard to resist [;)]

the full nelson

sitting quite unhealthy, for a 21 year old, eating my breakfast reading the paper about the tour de france. I couldnt believe the distances they covered. caught lance armstrongs last year in the tour and felt inspired enough to buy some of his books. after reading them i went out and bought my first road bike. terrified myself on a big hill and havent looked back since. Now one of the fittest of all my mates and heading to france with bike this year instead of usual lads trip to some terrible spanish/greek island.[:0]

beow

Slipknotjonny

I cycled virtually everyday from the day I learnt to ride until I left the army some 20 years later.

I then did n't sit on a bike again until last November, 15 years later. I have now become obsessed, it's like being 11 again. Problem is it's costing me a jeffing fortune [:)]

Infamy, Infamy they 've all got it Infamy

www.justgiving.com/jonnyemmett
http://jonnyventoux.blogspot.com/

laertes

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by h4ydn</i>

Manboobs.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Me too. And turning 40, and nearing 15 stone and the cyclescheme and the cost of commuting into London..

..and finding it was such fun.

shockedsoshocked

Went from doing cycling with my dad, to swimming, to rugby (as I put more weight on) to nothing. Reached a peak just over a year ago when I was pushing 17 stone. Thought this was no good. Got myself a bike due to always having a good pair of legs (in my eyes!) and because I didn't fancy grinding away in the gym when the North York Moors were on my doorstop. Rode an MTB I got over the summer, and got a Giant OCR3 at the beginning of December. Was the best thing i've ever done. Cycled as much as possibly over the next few months, got in with some local lads and cycled to some great places, and came on leaps and bounds. Just completed my first sportif in a very good time I think, and now i'm looking forward to a great summers cycling and the prospect of doing more sportifs next year! (and maybe a new bike)

@Got-to-get-fit: Where abouts in M'bro are you?

__________________________________
There are you, drive like a demon from feed-station to feed-station" - David Bowie

Crankycp

Bought a cheap 'racer' in 1981 to commute to work in Birmingham as parking was getting expensive and never stopped after that. Started exploring off road so bought my first MTB and got completely addicted. Bought a better road bike when I moved here and joined the local CTC group (a relatively young group actually). Now have a small collection of bikes and finally sold my car last year.

bahzob

(Re)starting cycling turning 45 and realising I had been trying to lose 2 stone since I was 25.

Doing something a bit more serious: Chancing on a copy of French Revolutions, thinking to myself "If he can do it why can't I?" and then doing it.

andy66

Great thread - isn't it amazing to see the variety of real-life stories we've all had that have inspired or re-inspired this passion. Some great posts - whether it's hitting 40, wanting or needing a life change or just feeling the need to get out and do something these are a real inspiration to keep going.

Andy

de_sisti

I had vague memories of watching the odd bike race on ITV's
World of Sport during the 70s. I've had a bike since I was 16,
mainly for riding to and from work.

When I gave up football and rugby due to advancing years and
knee injuries I had to find something to take up the time I
used to spend training and playing.

I started to ride my bike a bit more and often came across a
couple of hills I couldn't ride up on with my 5 speed 'sit up
and beg' gents bike. I then bought a mountain bike which didn't
see much off road. To replace that I bought a Raleigh Vitesse
road bike, then a Trek 300, joined a club.

The bicycle honeymoon period still continues.

soltydog

Stopped cycling about 15 years ago, once i could afford a car, but last year the next door neighbour was planning on doing the BHF Humber bridge ride & asked if i fancied it.
I started training for that around August last year & was knackered after 10miles on the flat.
I've since bought 2 new bikes & cycle approx 300 miles a month & commute as often as shifts & fitness allow, 32+ miles round trip which i would not have dreamt of this time last year. I'm lucky that my commute can take in the TPT from Hornsea to Hull & even on days like today with upto 18" of water i still enjoy it [:D]

loobster

Always enjoyed bikes but never really got into it properly. I had a mountain bike and enjoyed doing a bit of off road but I used to smoke and drink a lot and be very unhealthy. Ended up joining a band with a dude than ran a bike rental store in town and spent a lot of time cycling around and giving cycle tours around London to tourists, mostly hot American college girls. Which wasn't bad at all. From there I bought a cheap hybrid/commuter/sports bike and ended up going for longer distances. Then got a racer and never looked back since.

Like an earlier poster said I use the bike for fitness (vanity?!), and often to mull things over, do some thinking and get away from everything - I think cycling keep me sane. I try to do about 100 miles a week out in the lanes. I love it. It's also really sparked an interest in the culture of racing too...which is cool because previously I couldn't give a sh*t about sports of any kind, really.

Check my bands page:

www.myspace.com/arktorusrann

Updates soon.

Slow Downcp

A knee injury at school stopped me doing any sports at 14 for almost two years. Attended physio twice a week during this time, had numerous x-rays and doctors prodding me, with no improvement or indication of what the problem was, so at 16 decided to ignore all advice and started palying football again and strted cycling to build up leg strength and get a bit of fitness back. The guy who owned the local chippy (who the family had known for 30 years and cycled every Sunday) found out about me cycling and he invited me along one Sunday for a ride out - 21 years later and still enjoy cycling.

Carlsberg don't make cycle clothing, but if they did it would probably still not be as good as Assos

Tomonabike

The Tour always looked so good on the tv as a child but my mum was never too keen on me having a bike, roads were too dangerous.....

....post uni, had a drunken plan to ride round Ireland, while there visited Galway picked up "Its not about the bike" and within a week of getting back I had a road bike, sort of been hooked ever since. Mum still doesn't approve either!

WolfUK

A lot of expensive repairs to my car coincided with my GP recommending that I lose weight and get fitter and cycling seemed the way to go since I had a cheap bike that a colleague had given me a couple of years earlier when he emigrated. The bike was terrible but it rekindled the love of cycling that I had as a child and I'm now the proud owner of a Dawes Super Galaxy with grand plans to tour across the world!

Simon Wolf

scapaslow

As a kid in the late seventies everyone seemed to have a bike. I got a Raleigh 10 speed racer for Xmas one year and used it all the time. It was great at that age to be able to go anywhere you wanted on a whim. Empowering really and years later still is. Later at Yooni my bike was nicked and i couldn't afford another. Then came jobs, marriage, kids, etc... and the bike was long forgotten for 20 years. 18 months ago I decided i had to do something after being sedentary for too long and having high BP after a nasty virus. Got a 2nd hand Raleigh 10 speed racer (exactly like 20 years ago!) from LBS who invited me to join the 'beginners Sunday run' which was part of the local triathlon club. The folk were so friendly to newcomers and really inspired me to keep going. Alas, i had to relocate due to work and mainly cycle alone now but got me a shiny new road bike recently and don't intend to ever stop now. Planning to up the miles and maybe try some sportives in the near future.
Its really great and inspiring to hear all these stories of cycling reborn.

goo_mason

I'd stopped smoking at ths start of 2004 and by the start of 2006 I realised with horror one day that I'd piled on weight and was totally unfit. There was no way I was going to a gym (too expensive), and then work offered the Bike To Work scheme. I decided I could try cycling to work once of twice a week (20 miles a day), and within months I'd got the bike, upped it to 4 days a week and was loving it.

At the start of this year I let my annual bus-pass expire and I didn't renew it for the first time in 10 years (and I don't own a car).

I do my 20 miles, then carry my bike up 5 flights of stairs and I've got my breath back by the time I've got my key in the door ! Brilliant ! I've lost almost three stone, have leg muscles and have had to remove a link from my watch strap to tighten it up.

My ex has chronic pancreatitis, so at least now there's one parent who's fit enough to hopefully be there for my daughter in the years to come...

Cheers !

Grant
Three From Leith podcast
www.threefromleith.com

graham_g

Got a job as a transport planner three years ago and thought I'd better practise what I was soon to be preaching and dusted off an old Claud Butler MTB that I'd bought and never used whilst at uni. Only 4 miles each way at first, now 6 but the other influencing factor was the buses - they just got held up by too many numpties in cars so I wasn't prepared to spend two hours commuting a day when it could be done in 45 minutes both ways!

Unknown

Way back in 1969 I lost my knee cap when I was in the Royal Navy, running the Field Gun Crew competition at Royal Tournament, so this stopped me participating in the sports I had done prior to the injury.

During Physio I spent a long, long time on a cycling machine, and realised that this was something I could do.

So nearly 40 years on I am still cycling, and still enjoying it.

george

_________________________________
Trip
www.pedalpatagonia.co.uk

2 Bikes
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/imjibi/Bikes

mossycp

I finally got a job in town only 3 miles from home. A year after starting I suddenly realised that a few cyclists were beating me home from work and I woke up to the "green" issues what were emerging. That was over 9 years ago.

I bought a cheap mountain bike that was too big, it absolutely poured with rain on the way home, my wife had a WVM go into the back of the car and one pedal seized. Not a good start!

Riding to work kept me fit for football and badminton and I gradually became more obsessed. After a year I bought an Orbit Harrier, after another year I bought an alu Ambrosio Stelvio and started to ride at the weekends as well. It's only been the last year that I've got into competitive stuff MTB, Cross and TT's but I wish I had given up football years ago and taken up cycling more seriously. At least I could have another 40 years of competitive cycling in me! Trouble is the veterans are all quicker than the seniors!

So, 9+ years riding, now doing 500 miles a month and loving it!

<font color="blue"><h5>Today is your day, your mountain is waiting, so get on your way {Dr Seus}</h5></font id="blue">

DavidTQ

Well as a young lad I was really into my bikes, starting with some hideous orange fixed wheel thing, before getting into BMX's of which I had a few over time, before saving up my paper round money to buy a Mountain Bike, Which was pretty cool at the time I believe I was the first kid in the school to have 21 gears [:D] I used to cycle everywhere as my parents didnt have a car, I had done my cycling proficiency and was using the roads from about the age of 10.

At 18 I got my driving license, 6 weeks later I still had the natural fitness to run the london marathon without training, then fast forward to 3 months ago.

I had been thinking for a few years that cars were costing too much and thinking about getting a scooter or something. Since getting married I havent been driving for pleasure and car commuting offers very little opportunity for fun.

Had a 4th kid and so "had" to get a 7 seater, which was drinking fuel and cost far more than I was used to paying for parts. Being a 7 seater it was absolutely no fun to drive.

I had also for the last few years been watching my waistline grow, and feeling more sluggish etc. I decided the answer to my problems was cycling, however I also knew that I was lazy, very lazy. Couldnt afford to buy a "decent" bike, but even if I did have the money I wouldnt ahve risked it because there was every chance I was going to be too lazy to cycle to work, and give up on it.

3 months later Ive now sold the car, got a road bike, the family finances are looking good enough for me to justify splashing out on bike kit, Ive lost 3/4 of a stone, Im feeling far more alive and positive, Im often beating cars along the commute and always beating the bus, and now my "old" bike is going to my brother who works at the same place as me, whos also decided to have a go at this cycle commuting thing.

Unknown

My wife mentioned "I should get a hobby" a few years ago. Now four bikes later and my car standing idle outside, I am 32 pounds lighter( sort of rediscovered my youth)and am loving every single minute of it. Lets face it , there is nothing negative about cycling....albeit the cost, but I think it's money very well spent. I do sometimes think my wife regrets mentioning the "hobby" thing though