How old are the newbies to road cycling?
Comments
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Age 46.
Been a MTBer for many years; nothing too strenuous though, mostly local XC and low tech single trail. I had my right hip resurfaced September last year and probably carrying about 10-15 kg too much and need to build up my strength and fitness. So decided to buy a road bike to give my self more route options as local XC trails rapidly lose their attraction once you've done them so many times. I try to cycle home (~40km) 2 to 3 times a week, either on the road or XC and find it's a good workout. At the weekends I try to get in a slightly longer ride if I can.2011 Scott Spark Team 29er
2014 Cannondale CAAD8 7 Sora0 -
Hi All.
43 and only really just taken up seriously. Enjoying every minute and much easier on the joints!
First post so a we hello to all. Thanks.0 -
Hey! I am 29 years old and about to buy my first bike. I rode mountain bikes back in high school but haven't continued riding as an adult. I have wanted to get into riding for a few years but never really had the time or extra income to make the commitment. I am active duty military and so I exercise quite a bit. I am a frequent medium distance runner (2-6 miles), but as I get older I find myself wanting to maintain the long aerobic workouts, but avoid the high impact nature of running. I am also a fairly competitive person and would love to get into racing at the novice level. Definitely not looking to be a superstar racer by any stretch of the imagination but having some friends that I can compete with would be great!
I don't currently have a bike, though I have pretty much narrowed the search down to the Trek Emonda S 5. There are several reasons why I settled on this one. The biggest draws for me are the fact that it comes with all Shimano 105 components and it is carbon instead of metal. I like the feel of carbon more than than metal so that was a requirement for me. Also, not only does this bike have what I am looking for, but it is a little cheaper than the other bikes i have found that meet the same criteria and have similar components.0 -
38. used to do some road biking 20 years ago but gave it up after nearly coming a cropper too many times. been using a mountain bike sporadically in the meantime. It's nice to be back on the road though.
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Age 43
Became really unfit and unhappy with my weight after stopping Rugby. Then my good lady brought me a Triban 3 and its one of the best gifts ever given to me really can wait to get out most evenings and I love them hills.
since then I have dropped 3 stone and feel fantastic and nothing better then an early morning ride.
I have am now looking for my next bike Felt / Raleigh / Forme undecided.
Robert0 -
Age 62 coming back after a 47 year break!0
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I'm 37 years old.
Have been mountain biking for 20 years, until children and a badly broken arm put a spanner in the works.
Am back on the MTB but have just purchased my first road bike (a Felt Z85) since I was 15!!
Am looking to get my fitness back to where it used to be, and shed the weight along the way.0 -
Hi I am 60 going on 20
I am not entirely new to road cycling, I had a racing bike as a teenager can’t remember the make, bought it with pocket money, rode 80 miles week cycling to see my gran several times a week over the Berkshire downs for about 5 years. I was into running cross county, mile and 400yards then 400m, held a county record for 22 years, I was told when I met up with my old PE teacher.
Then there was years of no cycling. Had kids bough a Raleigh Record Ace, 531 tubes, Campag equip. Rode it fairly regularly for many years, pretty uncomfortable as I recall especially with a kiddy seat bolted on the back!!. Then took to MTB with my teenage sons, bought and still ride a Specialized Ground Control FSR Extreme, I fitted a front disc brake as the rim brakes were not quite good enough in the forest.
The boys grew up and we got into building and racing cars, 500bhp, 600bhp and finally 825bhp, had a lot of fun, then sold up. With kids grown up and gone had no one to ride with so took to hill walking and running. Had a nasty accident last year, snapped all the tendons on the bottom of my left foot, ruptured my Achilles in two places and tore my left calf muscle, nearly went insane not being able to do anything for three months, then another two learning to walk all over again.
I needed to get fit again quickly, but have to avoid high impact sports for a couple of years, so began riding my MTB on the roads. I met up with a few local cyclists on a charity ride run by my local pub back in April. They are a really great bunch of guys and girls, all ages. Though I might fit in, but not on an MTB, so bought a second hand Trek Madone Carbon about three months ago as an advanced birthday present to myself. I replaced everything but the bars, frame and forks with new components and Ultegra group set - total weight, computer, cages and pedals – 7.8kg, any further weight loss is coming off the body not the bike.
I started out gently in late June, gradually pushing myself harder every ride, with the “Map my Ride” voice shouting encouragement to do better. I ride every other day when I can, as the old body does not recover as quickly as it used to. I am hugely competitive so constantly strive to better myself. I ride/train intervals with a heart rate monitor so I don’t kill myself. It seems to be working, as my resting rate has improved from 63mpm to 54bpm since July and I peak at 181 bpm during uphill spins. (Had my heart and bp OK'd by my GP before I decided to go nuts on the bike)
I love the Trek it feels like riding air, surprisingly it has a much smoother ride than I expected. On my 60th birthday in July, I managed to get the 30mph speed camera to flash at the end of the hill leading into my village. To be honest riding that fast scared me more than driving over 200mph in my race car.0 -
35 years young.
Bit of a mid-life crisis given I've had to hang up my football boots due to have nothing much left between my knees. Sold my d/h mtb after having various bits smashed up (I'm more like the 6million $ man now!).
Road cycle is an evil to an end; keeping me fit for work as running plain hurts. I hope to fight the good fight against belly spread (currently losing the battle). 0 -
46.
Doctors telling me that I'm obese and need to lose weight (6'4" and 110kg). Started with an old mountain bike doing local stuff and just bought my first road bike.0 -
I've been riding a road fixed for some years but only short rides, got more and more into it of late with a 'proper' geared bike and building up the miles...and 46 years old...argghhhh.0
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Had my first road bike for 4 weeks now after taking the plunge and loving it. Covered around 300km so far.
I'm 24 and wish I had taken cycling up earlier0 -
26 years old (tomorrow!).
Got my first road bike, a Cannondale R300, about 3 years ago, but have been riding mostly fixed for about 2 years now. Since the beginning of the year I've been transitioning back to road cycling, mostly due to an amazing touring adventure through Europe this past summer. Still love riding my track bike, but prefer the road bike for longer trips and will definitely do a lot more touring in the future.0 -
Just under 40!!!!
Come into road riding as a compliment to my swimming. Isn't cycle to work scheme great!
Ex MTBer in my youth....0 -
22.
I cycled a lot as a pre-teen, but that was around my neighbourhood with my father trying to find hills to go flying down.
I think I found "proper" road cycling at the right time for me!0 -
53
got in to the cycling four years ago as a result of an injury on the treadmill and am glad I did,started for fitness and really liked it straight away,keeps the knees mobile and helps a little with the spread0 -
I was 52 years 10 months and 2 weeks when I bought a 2nd hand Giant LX expression off EBay. the last time I had ridden was when I was 13-14. I had tried walking to get fit but kept getting shin splints and heel pain. I simply wanted to get fit, so got on the bike, and rode 1.72 miles. Nearly had a heart attack, but loved every second of the ride and became totally obsessed with everything to do with bikes. I even good a course in bike maintenance, loved all the oil and grease but not sure how easy I would find changing chains at home! First week I managed to ride 35 miles, but within 3 weeks was going 50-80 miles. Which is not bad because I just ride the cycle paths around my home. I feel like a kid again, I love the feeling of speed (I usually manage 12-14 mph) and stuggle with all hills. I love the fact that more people have said hello in the 4 months that I have been riding than in the last 10 years.
Had an accident (inexperience and my own fault) on my first commute to my office, and without a doubt it has affected my confidence (had to stop riding for 4weeks), but have also been on my first group ride, which I really enjoyed. It's the most fun I have had keeping fit EVER! I paid £190 for the bike, and definitely got a bargain, it was in extremely good condition. Saying that, I have spent an absolute fortune on anything I can.
I am slightly worried about my obsession as its all I think about, even at work (and I love my job), but it's the best fun I have had in years. Finally, the one thing I have found out is that there is no need to ever be lonely if you ride a bike ( which is a great thing to know as you get older). I love my bike0 -
31 years of age
Started as a means of travel to get to work quicker, dad has been cycling for a few years so decided to start myself, I'm not a member of any team or have any friends that cycle but I do tend to "tag along" when some teams are out cycling, none of them mind, I'm in my first year and really enjoying my time doing it
AI dont really have any experience with cycling per-say, just kids stuff! I gave up smoking over a year ago and am also using this as a means to clean out my lungs ad have fun.
I'm riding a Forme cycle right now and it's doing me just fine just getting to grips with the basics and learning new techniques to improve my endurance. 0 -
What an interesting post. Enjoyed reading earlier replies. Hard to say when I started. Had a mountain bike for about 4 years (aged 48) but it's spent most of the time,about 99%, in the garage. Joined the gym about 3 years ago but started to get bored. However I had enjoyed the bike so I decided to get a road bike instead, hoping it would inspire me into some sort of action. I think seeing the Grande Depart helped..... Also had two taster sessions at the National Cycling Center in Manchester, which I'd thoroughly recommend.
My bike is due about Christmas, by which time I'll be fast approaching 53
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36 Years Old
Was without transport for August this year and borrowed a MTB to commute to work. My brother in law had a road bike so one weekend we set off on a 10 mile ride, I was hooked, knackered but hooked.
Very quickly invested in a Boardman Comp in September (which I love), as and early Christmas present from my fiance (who now may regret that decision as all she hears is bikes, bike stuff and more bike stuff haha).
I have spent the last year and a half at the gym bulking and toning so weigh in at about 100 kgs (14st 8lbs at last weigh in), so climbing is hard, especially when I ride with lighter folks, but descents are my forte.
Living in the suburbs of Gateshead, getting out into the countryside is easy and it is not flat, Sunday morning I broke the 40 mile mark, elev gain 2309ft with an average 14.1mph. I love my Garmin and Strava, I now just want to go faster and further, I have my eye on the coast to coast in 2016.'In want to ride my bicycle,
I want to ride my bike.
I want to ride my bicycle,
I want to ride it where I like.'0 -
im 14
Got into it because my friends dad took us to his clubs open day. really enjoyed it and everyone was friendly. I got a road bike from him and we rode it nearly every day in the summer but not so much now. Cant wait for spring now so i can ride again 0 -
34
Needed something I enjoyed to keep me fit, so started by training for Lon-Bri. Did it with a heavy hybrid, loved it, still doing it but now with a road bike!
Used to row at school, then took up squash and running sporadically. Squash hurt my back and always needed a fellow player, running I found a lot of effort for little reward and a bit boring. Now found my ideal sport!
Bianchi Nirone 7 with Campy Xenon0 -
And what are your reasons for picking the sport up?
33, I did a 16 mile bike event on an old crappy mountain bike. Then, for some reason, I bought a proper road bike.
I've had a broken back all year and cycling seem's to be the only fitness that doesn't aggravate it.
Also what cylcling / exercise / fitness history do you have?
Used to do a lot or martial arts mostly. Freerunning/Parkour and road running when I was much much younger
Finally what bike have you bought / now use?
Bought a Defy 4 2014 back in August. The white one Had it custom fitted, replaced half the bits 
but it's great. Spent a fortune on accessories though. Generally aim for 10-15 mile rides 2-3 times a week. Going to push that up to 20 soon and then upwards and onwards! Really struggle with up hills though, whether its 5 meters or 500 0 -
Age 41
Dutch, so on the bike since I was 3. Used a bicycle when I was young for practically everything, and nowadays still.
I own a crapy "city" bike to go to the pub, a decent city bike to drop my children at school/day care, a cyclocrosser, a bad weather bike and dry sunny day bike
I started as a student with a race bike as part of a charity race: from Blantyre to Utrecht (Holland) for a children's hospital. From then on I did my kilometers, but not more than 2000 a year, while I was still playing hockey. When I stopped playing hockey I got addicted to cycling and nowadays I'm doing approx 10k annually and I'm always busy with my bikes.0 -
My son suggested cycling as a way of doing exercise after a hip operation 3 years ago. Bought a GT Avalanche MTB and got hooked. After a year bought a Ghost full suss. Doing a bit of Road cycling so have just bought a B'twin 500 SE. joined the local cycling club where most of the boys are into triathlons so have entered a duathlon in march next year. Well a truly hooked on cycling but MTB still my favorite. Am now 62 and competing! Only ridden as a kid up to about 12 before.0
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51.
Been mountian biking for 25 years on the same 1989 Specialized Hardrock MTB. Anyway, rode a 60 mile road sportive in the summer on aforementioned bike, not surprisingly was the only person on a MTB, which got me thinking ... Have just started going to the velodrome, absolutely loved it, so I bought a track bike and two days ago bought a brand new road bike ... it arrived this morning, I put it together and set it up on my turbo trainer - can't go out due to bronchitis.
This coming year I'm looking forward to a bit of off-road, hopefully the velodrome once a week, a bit of road cycling (hopefully a 100 mile sportive) and sessions on the turbo trainer.0 -
64 - OAP next year.
I have cycled to work for years but it was only 2.25 miles.
Four years ago I started cycling with a friend on hybrids doing about 25 miles.
We now both have road bikes (I've got 2) and are happy with 60+ mile outings.
Now I've finished with work the phrase "I won't be long - just going out for a ride" happens every couple of days.0 -
I started about 6 years ago at 40, previously I had played football at the weekends on both days since my teens and went to the gym 5 days a week, I had to curb things a bit (a lot!) when I got married at 35 and then within 4 years had three kids! It was slow but the weight started to creep up and I was soon a couple of stone overweight, I bumped into a friend who was a good standard rugby player who had recently taken up cycling who extolled the virtues and certainly looked a lot slimmer than when he was playing. I bought an entry level bike and did a 30 mile ride one weekend with a cycling buddy and was hooked. It's given me something to focus on and have since joined a local club, I love the cameradarie and banter you get when out with the club but it's so different (and nicer) than the football clubs I played for. I really wish I'd got into cycling at a younger age. I am gently trying to encourage my kids to get involved.0
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I am 28 years old and I am just awaiting my first bike, a Btwin Alur 700. I have gone for the Cycle2work scheme so am just awaiting the certificate however my bike has been reserved.
I am taking it up as I like to keep myself fit and also like the outdoors and the countryside, so this seems a perfect mix of them all.0 -
I'm now 42 yrs old.
I used to be a runner, and did hilly and trail based half marathons for fun.
I had surgery in my foot which left me with two titanium screws holding my big toe together and my running days were advised to be over or I'd need more surgery and it wouldn't be as successful.
Simple decision to turn to cycling and now I've got the bug, and can't understand why I didn't do it sooner.
Bikes - I swapped a mountain bike I had for a basic roadbike and two months later sold it and bought a boardman pro carbon roadbike from a cousin of mine who has more bikes than he has had birthdays and it was sitting unused.
Safe to say I am hooked and love it. Targets for this year are to get as many KOM peaks on strava as I can. I'm loving the hills on the bike as I did when running. If it ain't got a hill, I ain't got no thrill.0
