What has cycling done for you?

XJR-Joe

Its helped me lose 40kg so far.
Reading Gaz's posts and seeing his achievements has spured me on to lose the next 12. I topped out at around 22 stone. and I'm aiming to be 14 stone by my 40th in august.

The last year has been a struggle, but it will happen. Its also emptied my wallet a bit, and I thought motorcycles could do that quite well.

Gaz, well done.

Joe

lostboysaint

XJR-Joe wrote:

Its helped me lose 40kg so far.
Reading Gaz's posts and seeing his achievements has spured me on to lose the next 12. I topped out at around 22 stone. and I'm aiming to be 14 stone by my 40th in august.

The last year has been a struggle, but it will happen. Its also emptied my wallet a bit, and I thought motorcycles could do that quite well.

Gaz, well done.

Joe

Nice one! I'm down 10kg, but hadn't scaled quite those heights. It's helped me get fitter/stay fitter for my "proper" sports as well as re-introducing me to all the dirty fun that I used to have as a kid on a converted 27" wheel racer frame with cowhorn handlebars and a singlespeed!

Oh, and mine is a red 955 Sprint ST that you may see if your commute takes you through Fareham!

XJR-Joe

Nice one! I'm down 10kg, but hadn't scaled quite those heights. It's helped me get fitter/stay fitter for my "proper" sports as well as re-introducing me to all the dirty fun that I used to have as a kid on a converted 27" wheel racer frame with cowhorn handlebars and a singlespeed!

Oh, and mine is a red 955 Sprint ST that you may see if your commute takes you through Fareham!

Cowhorn bars.......proper memories 1985/6.
Funny. I had a Sprint 955RS prior to the big Yam. I made it look like a 125 at the time. Deceptively quick though
Commute up to Fleetlands on cycle, Bike out and about though. Usually stop at Southwick for a brew at weekends, on my way out or back, top or bottom of hill but not Micks. Trish and Maria make a good brew.

One Man And His Bike

I know gb155 (Gaz) from elsewhere as it turns out (CT.nl) and his efforts have been amazing and his blog is interesting.

My efforts are not as Herculean as his but rather than copy and paste content over from my own place and possibly screw with Google and Co, link to why I started riding here, however here is a little incentive/clue...



Which I got riding a bike oddly enough...

pollys_bott

mikedobson wrote:

Hard to put into words but in essence it saved my life.

I was a smoker, a big smoker, unhealthy lifestyle, terrible diet. The sort of man who subsumed his own self-loathing by mocking those who took care of themselves.

A girlfriend was into cycling, just gentle sightseeing type, but also had a high quality threshold and therefore invested a lot of time and effort into buying the right kit. She filled the house with cycling magazines and books, watched endless reruns of the Tour highlights, furnished me with the history of cycling and its characters. By an incessant process of exposure and osmosis some of it eventually dripped into my own psyche and despite myself I found I was starting to organise my evening's viewing around the Tour highlights and even noticing the different types of bikes I saw each day.

Inevitably, and to keep us together, it became necessary for me to get a bike. It was an awful thing, dreadful. Custom made by a backwater outfit who supllied frames and kit to the cheaper end of the market, but - and it's a big but - it was a start.

Our first ride together (well guys you know what I mean) was a 21 mile flat coastal route in Norfolk. Couldn't have been flatter. I passed out at mile 17 and was only dragged back to consciousness by the swift administering of apple juice and malt loaf. I stumbled back to the car, half pushing half drifting while my girlfriend, all 8 stones of her, cycled besides me uttering kind words of encouragement, with nary a puff of breath.

When we got home she went on another ride and I went to the Co-op for 20 Bennies. I opened them up, removing the cellophane rapidly as ever, flicking back the box lid, removing the always beautiful golden flap to reveal them standing, sentry like, in their tight formation. Little tubes of pleasure. A quick flick of the lighter wheel and their promise of warm nicotine enhanced smoke would be fulfilled, tunneling into my greedy lungs.

But I couldn't do it. Something intervened. Some annoying, competitive, urgent thing had slipped into my head. Some desire I never knew I possessed had entered me somewhere inbetween Walsingham and Cromer and resides there still.

I threw the cigarettes horribly away, unthinkable in my previous universe, I watched them disintegrate and fall into a bin through eyes I could have sworn belonged to someone else. I looked at my ridiculous bike and my ridiculous stomach and things just slipped into place.

That was 14 years ago. I cycle every day (except when icy), I do about 300 mile a week in the summer and I have a small flotilla of bikes in various states of (dis)repair ala the most ardent "I can do that myself" wannabe bike mech>

The girlfriend vanished years ago, ran off with a millionaire financial adviser and now lives in luxury. I'm pleased for her, she helped in the revelation.

I'm most pleased for myself though. For that transcendant feeling each time I mount a hill I would have feared before, or when a warm wind catches me over a hedgetop and fills my lungs with a natural, free narcotic. I'm 47 now but fitter than a lot of people 20 years my junior. I have firm legs, a good ars*, I'm alert, up for a challenge, just happier.

That's what cycing's done for me.

Beautifully put. One of the best posts I've read on any forum anywhere.

psiturbo

Was tired of the constant shin splints, knee and back pain from running. Always knew I have no legs for jogging at all as the max I have done is 14 miles, after that my knees are like jelly beans.

Went to Canada during a vacation and had a few days to burn. Walked by a bike shop and saw they had a carbon Trek as a rental. I had to leave the credit card for me to get the bike. Never ever before used Shimano 105 shifters, only the classic suicide downtube ones. RIght at the moment it was magical, the feeling of cruising downtown Vancouver by bike, at the end of the day I was destroyed.

That same night on the ship spent the hours reading all I could about bikes.

Today I have one cross, one MTB, two road bikes (carbon and aluminum) and a BMX for backyard trail fun.

SOme of the best times have been on the bike. Always thought going to Mardi Grass or to Fantasy fest that would be the pinnacle of a young guy. I was so wrong...


Sometimes stumble into old cyclists, men in the sixties and although I dont tell them I always say that is going to be me at that age.

jibi

it has given me the opportunity to see lots of the world at a slow pace
to meet people
to learn languages
to be banned from Australia for 3 years for overstaying my visa cos I was having too much fun cycling from Perth to Sydney ( with a month's detour around Tasmania

to have friends from south America to the Phillipines

to see the giant heads on Easter Island

To lose a few friends along the way due to accidents or muggings

It keeps me ALIVE

george

Crapaud

Good to see you back, Jibi.

I don't know that being banned from anywhere is ever going to be a selling point for cycling. Sounds like you were having a lot of fun though. Sounds like quite an adventure.

Have you blogged it all up?

jibi

Crapaud wrote:

Good to see you back, Jibi.

I don't know that being banned from anywhere is ever going to be a selling point for cycling. Sounds like you were having a lot of fun though. Sounds like quite an adventure.

Have you blogged it all up?

thanks for the welcome

some of it is on the web somewhere..I lost my website due to failing to pay on time..
and googlepages went too

I have loads of journals to enter

blog...some photos are missing due to move from google pages

https://sites.google.com/site/imjibi/home
george

tobermory

Left me skint 8)

DHTT

Given me sun burn.

JamieRa

empty my bank.



oh and get me fitter

LJAR

given me an inferiority complex - I was quite a good rower am a rubbish cyclist!

t.m.h.n.e.t

Helped me rebuild strength in my legs after breaking 5th metatarsal last year and being immobile for 3 months +

Now cycling is helping me lose weight and get fitter in general.

StanwaySteve62

A year ago I had no vision of being fit, now I only see myself as being fitter.
Im still old and fat ( but getting lighter gradually)

woodnut

Lowered my blood pressure. Lowered my weight. Turned me into a cycling bore, who, yesterday, found himself explaining what a compact chainset was to his wife, while having a meal in the pub :oops:

welton

I now know what a free spirit is, without the hippy add ons.
Sane in mind (I think) - fit in body (more or less).
Taken nearly 70 years to find out!

ohara227

Now having a road bike as well as MTB, has made me realise how quick you can go on a road bike! And how obbsessive I have became about matching clothes to match the colour of my bike...opps!

yenrod

CYCLING: Has allowed myself to 'know' pretty much every direction in my locality within a 100ml radius..which astounds most drivers I talk to.

Meet some nice people and some strange people also.

I've also discovered that for some inane reason a car driver hates the fact, even tho' they are sitting on their arse, they dont like stopping ! - WHY ?

Its kept me fit - i've been riding since I was 16yrs of age on a 100 quid catalogue bike - now I have a custom.

Ive nearly died on the roads & seen some crazy sights: ive experienced every emotion on a bike.

God knows how far i've rode but its beyond guessing...

END POiNT: Why do chain gangs go soo fast, half end up 'sitting on' ?????? lol

AlunP

Broke my arm. Emptied my bank account. Left me bitter and twisted.

http://3415milesonabike.blogspot.com/

But there is always someone worse off then you. eg You settle down in your mansion to watch a movie with your wives and some uninvited guests drop in. They don't even ring the doorbell.

Sleeping_menace

Hmm..
As a sport, it's stood by me, and given me purpose through the ups and downs of my life.. (which have been quite extreme in both directions)
It's given me a perpetual hobby in building and maintaining bikes.
It's taught me more about material properties, manufacturing processes, metallurgy, and composites.
It's helped me drop 60lbs of crap weight that I used to carry before cycling,
It's given me a reason to spend a lot of time out in the countryside, and taken me down roads I would otherwise never have travelled (both literally and figuratively).
It's introduced me to many friends, and been a conduit for many a good weekend get-together.
It's replaced my car, as a primary source of transportation.

And last but not least .. it's been a place to spend money (lots of it) without getting in too much trouble >> ).

solsurf

Its a great way to see places and really see them. I remember reading a book by Josie Dew and basically it gives you an excuse to be somewhere, if your in a car or walking, people look at you with suspicion but if you are walking a dog or on a bike it seems give you a reason for being there.

The other thing is you really notice the seasons

richrock

I've ridden on and off for many years, but hadn't really bothered for the last few. My childhood was spent aspiring to compete like the legends I saw in the Tour, however, in my early 20's depression and alcohol abuse put paid to that for about 14 years.

I never really stopped riding, just never as much - maybe once a month or even less. Recently my mountain bike was stolen and made me realise how much bikes are a part of my life. I missed it immensely.

I got a road bike secondhand and committed myself to riding more. Now I commute 15 miles every weekday, and go out for a longer ride weekends. It gave me a great sense of satisfaction to return to my childhood where I would just go out and ride 25 miles or so, just amazed at the scenery here in Wales.

I tried a time trial, and loved it - the first time in years and years I actually felt like I was aiming for something, taking part in something competitive. I'd never had the courage to try this before. Now it's not a lot, but I'm living a dream I had many years ago.

Being on the bike clears my mind for the day ahead, gets rid of stress, reminds me of a reason not to plough into alcohol and is slowly giving me self-esteem no self-help book or drug ever could. It's given me goals (with time trialling - which will no doubt empty a wallet or three) and a sense of achievement and purpose.

My wife even thinks that I'm a much more balanced and settled person - she's also a great encourager for me. If I'm ever feeling a little down on myself, she's the first to tell me to get on my bike, just go out and ride. When I get back, I wonder why I was feeling miserable in the first place...

Herbsman

made me fitter, made me more skint, made me suffer. made me angry at caropoly. given me something to do in the evening instead of drinking and smoking.

BelgianBeerGeek

Left me with a lot of inner tubes that need repairing and an addiction to biscuits.

cabbage1879

Left me skint and 5 stone lighter almost...

argonrider

It gives me a release after sitting behind a desk at work for hours on end, it also makes me do no overtime at all as the whole working day im thinking about getting out on the bike.

Redhog14

Got me laid

Charles74

Riding bikes is good for your health, it can upgrade your stamina and reduce fat like it did to me.

Roadsters

It has not done much but it has bought up some muscles to my leg and my stamina has upgraded a bit.