Why do you ride?

tonywar

I was meandering along on Sunday, my first ride of any distance this year? My thoughts drifted through the usual subjects like the meaning of life, theory of relativity, what Girls Aloud would look like naked. You know the usual stuff. But I came across a question that I couldn't clearly answer. Why do I like cycling?

Originally I started cycling as a need for cheap reliable transport. With two babies and a low income we couldn't afford 2 cars. Public transport was too unreliable and lengthy, I could ride to work in 30 minutes, the bus ride would be an hour.

But I found that I enjoyed the ride. Then I was riding on my days off. Investing in proper gear. Upgraded my bike, which I replaced this year after 20 years of faithful service.

But why do I ride.Because I love the ache you have later in the day after a long ride, it's a sort of 'that was a good ride ache', it's a positive feeling. It makes me feel good about myself. Not smug.Just I'm glad to be alive sort of happy.

So come on everybody bare your souls why do you do it?

Porgy

I started cycling as a kid back in Plymouth aged about 5. By the time i was 9 or 10 I found I had the freedom to go anywhere within about a 4 or 5 hour cycle ride - the whole city, Dartmoor, the coast, even bits of Cornwall.

I cycled to school till I was 18 and eventually I was cycling to Polytechnic in south London, the occasional ride round Kent and in Central London. I just loved riding my bike.

I stopped cycling round the time of my first marriage in 1993 - I stopped for maybe 2 years. It was only because some of my friends were involved with Critical Mass that I started cycling again. So by the time I was 30 I was cycling miles again.

There's no way I'm going to stop now - I hate public transport - slow - uncomfortable - smelly - too hot/ too cold (delete as appropriate).

Eat My Dust

I cycled loads up to the age of around 16. Got a moped. At 17 got a car. When Mrs EMD and I decided we were moving to London I sold my car and bought an average MTB. Driving in Edinburgh was bad enough, never mind London. It's one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life and I never regret it. So I cycle now for the pure love of it, but did start out for the convenience of it. BTW before I moved London I had the romantic image of me cycling along the Thames bank, cycling past Westminster etc. Since moving to London I've worked in Wembley, Acton, Shepherd Bush and now Park Royal, completely shatering my "romantic image"!!!!

Nuggs

tonywar wrote:

I was meandering along on Sunday, my first ride of any distance this year? My thoughts drifted through the usual subjects like the meaning of life, theory of relativity, what Girls Aloud would look like naked.

While in lycra? You were lucky not to be arrested... :shock:

redddraggon

Mainly it's only commuting at the moment (but I do 5 times a week without a doubt).When the weather starts to pick up a bit more, I'll start getting out a bit more at the weekend.

Another reason is that going out on the bike gives me an excuse to buy more cycling stuff "It's OK, if I get it, it'll get used".

Rich Hcp

I cycle to enjoy the peace and tranquility

And to try to be and stay fit

I try to do 2 charity rides a year, to make me feel better and as an catalist to keep traiing!

Brian B

I ride to keep fit. Rewind a decade and I was fat and unfit and cycling let me loose over 4 stone, eat better etc and now I do things which I could not have imagined myself doing and at 37 probably fitter than I was when 20.

I havent being enjoying much cycling this side of xmas though - its only the hard sportives and trip to the dolomites that has forced me to go out in appaling conditions to build for my summer fitness.

sean65

tonywar wrote:

Why do I like cycling?

Yesterday whilst doing the SWRC Early Spring Sprotive I asked myself the same question many times. Had a real mix of emotions during the last third of the course. Considered the question over and over. Thought about selling the bike on ebay when and IF I ever finished. Then when the end was in sight I decided I love my bike and in some perverse way I had actually enjoyed the ride.

Bloody weird day!

But every now and then you have a magic moment. Had one last Monday. Cycling through the Surrey Hills, sun flashing like a strobe between the tree's as I rode down these green moss laden back roads feeling stronger and more alive than ever.

They don't happen often but when they do they're magic

tonywar

I always tell my colleagues at work that you can smell the change in the seasons. Part of my commute took me through a wooded area, the smell was beautiful, the colours beautiful, you miss such simple pleaures when whipping through at sixty in an air conditioned box. It's the simple things in life.

meagain

"it's a positive feeling. It makes me feel good about myself. Not smug.Just I'm glad to be alive sort of happy."

That's pretty close I guess. Doubt I pedalled more than a 100 miles from 18 to 48, then a bit for a few years mainly with the son. Didn't really get into it regularly until I kicked the booze (one of many motivations being that I could no longer balace sufficiently to ride AT ALL). Cycling every day (2 mls, 3 mls, 4 mls etc) became a part of my re-hab and of course a replacement addiction. That's partly what it remains.

It got me fit enough mentally and physically to ride m'cycles again so last year pedalled few miles - but back out there every a.m. again since New Year. It gives me a reason to get up and to stay a non-drinking alcoholic (nearly 5 years).

And it keeps me (all things considered!) relatively fit!

TheGreatGatsby

the reason I ride is so I can return.

What makes my early morning rides more enjoyable is the though that in 3-6 hours time I will be back home having breakfast with my girlfriend.

Gats

lateralus

Rode as a kid, but in late teens/twenties got into motorbikes. They got ever bigger, faster, and more expensive to maintain.

When I moved to the UK some years ago, didn't have the money for a motorbike, bought a £100 mtb and took it on the train out to the forests to get my two wheeled fix. Really liked it. Summer came, the tube was hot and crowded, and suddenly realised nothing stopping me from riding it to work. What started as a bit of fun rapidly became a year round obsession. It saves me £1000 a year on public transport, takes half the time, keeps me fairly fit, and is the best thing ever for clearing the head at the end of a long day stuck in an office.

That's all the practical, logical reasons, but the bottom line is I just love the feeling of gliding along on 2 wheels. Can't imagine life without it.

lateralus

TheGreatGatsby wrote:

What makes my early morning rides more enjoyable is the though that in 3-6 hours time I will be back home having breakfast with my girlfriend.

Gats

that's either a really late breakfast, or you're much better at getting up in the mornings than I am!

GeorgeShaw

Pain. Then endorphins.

tonywar

lateralus wrote:

Rode as a kid, but in late teens/twenties got into motorbikes. They got ever bigger, faster, and more expensive to maintain.

When I moved to the UK some years ago, didn't have the money for a motorbike, bought a £100 mtb and took it on the train out to the forests to get my two wheeled fix. Really liked it. Summer came, the tube was hot and crowded, and suddenly realised nothing stopping me from riding it to work. What started as a bit of fun rapidly became a year round obsession. It saves me £1000 a year on public transport, takes half the time, keeps me fairly fit, and is the best thing ever for clearing the head at the end of a long day stuck in an office.

That's all the practical, logical reasons, but the bottom line is I just love the feeling of gliding along on 2 wheels. Can't imagine life without it.

It's a good destressor after a bad day. You have time to refelect on the day and if you have to you can vent your frustrations through the bike. You arrive home chilled, your loved ones don't bear the brunt of a bad day.

feel

GeorgeShaw wrote:

Pain. Then endorphins.

plus stress busted - it's an addiction.

geoff_ss

I can't think of a better way to explore the countryside. We walk a lot too but cycling covers ground just that bit quicker and doesn't involve driving the car. I used to a bit of rough stuff, often on a normal bike, but it's pretty well all on tarmac lanes now.

I've been roaming the Peak District for more years than I care to remember. First on family picnics in the 50s by van, then on a 3 speed Norman cycle until I was old enough to buy my first motor cycle. I rode motor cycles for 20/30 years both off and on road. We started dinghy racing and cycling seemed a good way to get fit for that. The rest, as they say, is history.

We used to use the tandem to ride from the camp site to the dinghy park at national championships even - though not wearing wet suits.

Geoff

davelakers

To me it is a new addiction. I played football regularly until 2 years ago, then age and previous injuries forced me to hang up my boots. I put weight on in 12 months and at 1 point I was up to 17 stone. At 5' 10" thats a bit excessive!!!!! I never thought I would find an interest/sport that would give me the same buzz and rush of endorphins that football did. I had a medical at my doctors and I was told I had high blood pressure and if I didnt get it sorted soon the problems would get worse. So I bought myself a cheap hybrid from Halfords and started daily rides of 5-6 miles. I kept that up for a few months then bought a better hybrid through a cycle 2 work scheme and upped my daily miles to around 20. After 12 months of that I decide to go balls out and get myself a road bike and I havent looked back. I eat, sleep, drink, dream cycling. Im dying on my arse after a long ride but soon as Im back in Im planning and looking forward to my next ride. I cycle 24 miles commute each day, out at weekends for 40-50 miles and I still cant get enough. Im upping my weekend miles in training for the Lakeland Loop in April and for various sportives throughout summer.

And the biggest plus is that my family like me again and I like them again. The ride home is the best remedy for stress possible.

wastelander

For quite a few reasons - for the feeling of self awareness and tranquility that you get from a ride in the countryside in the early hours of a weekend morning watching the world slowly come to life around you. For the reminder that of all the complex devices in life you can still derive immense pleasure from a simple self-powered machine. For fitness, physical and mental well being. But mostly, because I can!

NWLondoner

I do it to try and get fit. It's also a great way to see other parts of London that i don't usually get to see.


Can't wait for the summer when all the chantilly clad European girls will be all about town 8)

pjh

Why do I cycle ....for a hundred different reasons each as good as the other.
Sometimes the pain makes me feel more alive than ever and sometimes the quiet and
the solitude helps to calm troubled thoughts.

Sometimes it's the fresh air that reaches the very bottom of my lungs and then
it's the pure feeling of speed and traction as I burn through my favourite section
of road.

Sometimes it's the look on other faces (I didn't know bikes went that fast or ... that looks fun)
and then it's the beauty of an early morning and being up with the larks.

The blackest night with the brightest stars can be a blanket like no other.

Then there's the wildlife and looking over the tops of hedges, or concentrating like
crazy because the road's a little dodgy, and occasionally some wally on 4 wheels makes
you happy you're on two!

And maybe it's that cold one after all the effort that seems so well earned ... I can't put
my finger on it really .... but I know for me cycling makes the world a better place
and as long as my legs will let me ... I'll be cycling

hisoka

Well with me it started as I never had money for the bus, and after being involved in three bus crashes I started to not like them.
So I had gotten a loan to sort out finances, and had some left over. So I went, bought a Giant Expression and thought "this will get me into and out of town and will not have to pay another penny"
I was wrong about not paying another penny, but DAMN it is great fun. I love to ride now, do it every chance I get and it is a slow day if I don't do at least 6-7 miles on the cycle. Which is impressive to say I am "husky" or "damn fat" as some people call it. Though the cycle helping that go down now.

But why I ride now? to get from a to b, with enjoyment and excercise and more speed then public transport.

pst88

Cos I'm damned if I'm gonna spend £3 on the bus everyday! That and I wanna lose a bit of fat (18% atm).

Lagavulin

I justify it financially as my primary means of staying fit. However, that's just my cover for the fact that I really just enjoy being out on a bike, be it my mountain bike screaming along some coastal paths or out on the open road.

I currently work a twilight shift up until 9 o'clock which means I don't really get the opportunity to play five-a-side any longer and I don't go down the gym.

While I eat far more healthily than I did in school (wouldn't have touched sushi, an olive or a sardine with a barge pole back then) since I started college and uni my alcohol consumption has rocketed and I no longer play football, badminton, hockey or represent the school/town at cricket or athletics.

So this is what I do now. In the summer it's a god send. I can get up at 6:30 or 7, go out for four a five hours, come home, showers, eat and then go off to work.
The downside is that, depsite the nice hourly rate, it's still essentially a part-time job. So my upcoming spend of £2,000-£2,300 on a shiny new Izoard or Madone is a significant chunk of my salary.

Still, while the bank account would love it, you can maybe appreciate my reluctance to get one of those 9 to 5 proper job thingies.

LeighB

I started cycling as a child with a normal boys road cycle, I always wanted a ‘racer’ and when my friend showed me his new Eddy Merckx (Falcon I think) racer I was spurred into action. I sold my road bike (flat bar) and saved birthday & Christmas money (I was 13 at the time) and bought my first ‘racer’. My friend and I joined the local cycling club and rode in time trials over the next couple of years. After starting work I began racing motor cycles, this was my main sporting activity for the next 14 years. I always had a bicycle and up to 2002 rode my bike to work every day. With marriage/children the motor bike racing came to an end and for about six years all I did was go to work and be ‘Dad’. As the children started to ride bicycles I bought a cheap (ASDA £79) mountain bike to ride with them. I started to ride this bike round the lanes near home in the evenings during summer; this is when I started to enjoy cycling for the second time. As I ventured further I began to get aches in my arms due to the single position flat bars; again I wanted a ‘racer’(now considered a road cycle, no mountain bikes when I was a kid). I bought the first of my current ‘stable’ of road cycles and have never looked back. I ride a fixed gear bike a couple of times during the week, usually 1 to 2 hours and at the weekend go out in the mornings on longer rides dependent on the weather and how much time I have. Last year I did my first ‘Sportive’ (Three Counties Challenge) and enjoyed the experience so this year I have entered the ‘Fred Whitton Challenge’ and ‘The Three Counties Challenge’.
Why do I like cycling?
I enjoy the health benefits, had a medical-low blood pressure etc.
The feeling after climbing a mountain road with my heart and lungs bursting, reaching the top then elation- I’ve done it!
Sweeping down the other side like I’m racing a motor bike again.
Going out in the morning, simple peace and quiet, no phone ringing, no ‘Dad can I have’, no ‘this bedroom needs decorating’, just me without any pressure.
Riding out and up the quiet fell roads and looking at the landscape, how small I am; it helps me put things in my life into perspective.
I have an affordable sport I can compete in where (within reason) the equipment is not as important as the rider.
That feeling of ‘victory’ when I cross a new personal boundary.
It all makes me feel good, even when its freezing cold and wet I feel the benefit of the simple exercise, it then makes me glad to be back in the place a couple of hours before I had to escape from.

shockedsoshocked

So I get to wear obscenely tight clothes and eat all the cake I want :twisted:

Nuggs

I've taken it up primarily to help with stress and secondly for fitness.

il_principe

A raft of reasons really - I ride in London because it's the best way to get about. Case in point, this morning had to take the bus in as I'm off out this evening, what takes 10 mins on the bike took 1 hour on the bus this morning, I cannot understand how people can put up with that 5 days a week.

Living in London I love the fact that I can be in the surrey countryside within 40 mins of leaving home.
I love early summer morning rides in Richmond Park, watching the sun rise over the city.
I love the sense of satisfaction after conquering a big hill, or a 100k Sunday ride.
I love competing with my friends and chasing down other riders.
I love commuter racing (on the rare occasion I come up against a non RLJ'ing competitor)
I love my bike, and I love buying upgrades for it.
I love cruising past traffic jams with a huge grin on my face.
I love being fit and healthy.

But most of all I love the sense of freedom a bike gives you.

redddraggon

jashburnham wrote:

Living in London I love the fact that I can be in the surrey countryside within 40 mins of leaving home.

That'd do my head in, 40 mins 'til proper countryside fighting with traffic. Within 40mins of home I can have rode through the countryside, and climbed a pretty solid hill and have started descending

Mog Uk

I do it because I can.

Cycling is me, it's just what I do, be it commuting, riding with my 4 year old son in the park, club rides on a Sunday, Sportives or Club time trials. It's how I get my kicks and I'll cycle till the day I die....

tonywar

Does cycling give you tenacity? We've all been there, 20 miles from home, the weather has changed, it's drizzling your riding into a stiff breeze, your knackered. But you can't just give up and catch the bus you still have to continue. Does this determination affect our everyday lives? I like to think so.