# What got you interested in cycling (or interested again)?



## Shaun (27 Jan 2014)

As a kid I was always bombing around on various shapes and forms of bikes (the neighbours used to bring all their old scrap bike bits to our house and me and my mates used to mash-up rad combos and make our very own oddball BSOs) ... and up to around the time I discovered girl, cars, and beer I cycled all over the place.

Then it stopped and I didn't pick it up again until around 10 years ago when I quit my 40-a-day smoking habit. I bought an MTB with the first couple of months money I saved and have since acquired all manner of kit and a couple of very nice bikes.

So what got you started (or re-started) in cycling?


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## DooDah (27 Jan 2014)

I used to ride loads as a kid, then a bit when commuting in London, but stopped riding for about 18 years. I also gave up smoking about 2 months before I turned 40, so decided a road bike would be good for my 40th, mainly just to get fit. This was 2 years ago, and now I am addicted to cycling, I have 2 road bikes and way too much kit


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## Peter Armstrong (27 Jan 2014)

Sadly STRAVA.........


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## LCpl Boiled Egg (27 Jan 2014)

I used to cycle a lot when at college but stopped when I started driving to work. I restarted about 10 years ago after moving house and job which allowed me to get the train with a Brompton and cycle every weekday. Got rid of the car about five years ago, and in the last year or so I bought my first ever road bike. I just need a bigger shed as I can't keep the bike in the spare room for ever.


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## ianrauk (27 Jan 2014)

Peter Armstrong said:


> Sadly STRAVA.........




How did Strava get you on or back on a bike?


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## Rustybucket (27 Jan 2014)

I got a Hybrid bike on C2W in Aug 2012 - I used to run alot but did my knees in (getting old). So started Cycling instead & love it. Will be getting my 3rd bike hopefully this week.
Its bloody expensive this hobby...


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## Scoosh (27 Jan 2014)

Shaun said:


> .....
> I didn't pick it up again until around 10 years ago when I quit my 40-a-day smoking habit. I bought an MTB with the first couple of months money I saved and* have since acquired all manner of kit and a couple of very nice bikes*.


... and the very best cycling forum ...


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## ScotiaLass (27 Jan 2014)

I rode from about age 10/11 and kept doing so until I finished my nurse training when I was 21.
I even used to cycle to work, several miles away, and remember being tailed by the Police about 5.30am one morning as I headed to work.
It was only when I got there that I realised the clocks had changed and I was out cycling at 4.30am 
They must have wondered what I was up to at that time of day!

Edited to add: I was super fit back then and was ploughing my way up a hill standing up on the pedals - I'd like to think they were just admiring the view!


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## ianrauk (27 Jan 2014)

As with most kids in the 70's, we did everything on and went everywhere by bike. Not new ones but usually bikes either given to us or found (a few times at the local dump) which we cobbled together (I do remember a lovely Coventry Eagle that I picked up once). I used to Cycle to school and then used to commute to work in the early 80's. Then a few things happened at once that caused me to give up cycling in the mid 80's. I had a child, I got a job which meant travelling around the UK and Europe and to top it all my bike was nicked. I never got a replacement.

Roll on forward nearly 20 years, I was approaching my 40th birthday I was fat and unhealthy, we had just moved house which was a mile and a half from the nearest train station. I thought I know, i'll kill 2 birds with 1 stone... I will get a bike, cycle commute and get back to being fit. And that was it. First few times I thought I was going to die. It took me 7 minutes to cycle and half an hour to recover. But I kept at it. Extended the commute and started doing longer rides with a local group. That was 8 years ago and I haven't looked back.


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## Peter Armstrong (27 Jan 2014)

ianrauk said:


> How did Strava get you on or back on a bike?


 
Well I was only cycling once a week when resting from running. Someone said try strava, then I found myself hunting KOM's. Before I knew it i wasnt runing at all and just cycling.


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## TissoT (27 Jan 2014)

Same ... used to ride around the open roads as a youngster(70 s) 5 lads in our street decided to start a club early 80 s

We started to go further a field ... I need a new bike to keep up , I used to help a local milk man for pocket money.

I needed £75 for a bike in a shop window ,I bought it from 2 years savings , we used to strip down the bikes in the week

Ready for the weekends rides ... had 10/15 years off (children work etc) now back in 7 years ago ... now ride with a club

And track regular ,I have 4 bikes 3 road 1 track.. Best sport in the world !


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## Bayerd (27 Jan 2014)

As with most blokes in their 40s I spent a large amount of my childhood on a bike. Then I moved away to college and didn't take one with me.
My sister gave me an Apollo hybrid about 4 1/2 years ago when I decided it was time to shed a few stone in weight. Some of it has gradually come back on in the meantime, so I've pushed myself to get out there more often again.

I'm glad I did, I'm really enjoying my cycling again :-)


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## mark c (27 Jan 2014)

Shocked by a pic of a fat me into doing something, and since i loved cycing when younger and it was easier on the knees than jogging so it was off to lbs .


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## BrianEvesham (27 Jan 2014)

Rediscovered the joys of cycling after teaching my sons to ride.


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## Doyleyburger (27 Jan 2014)

In my late teens I always cycled to work, even though I had a car as I found it quicker to get home on a bike filtering through traffic etc
Fast forward 13 years and I hadn't touched a bike apart from making up my daughters one for Xmas.
Anyway a couple of mates joined a local bike club and and I followed. On my 2nd bike now since last July and I can't get enough of this sport


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## MontyVeda (27 Jan 2014)

Shaun said:


> As a kid I was always bombing around on various shapes and forms of bikes (the neighbours used to bring all their old scrap bike bits to our house and me and my mates used to mash-up rad combos and make our very own oddball BSOs
> 
> ...



Everyone seemed to do that when i was a lad.... massive cow-horn bars, chopper bars on an old racing frame, wheels that were too small for the frame, inverted drop bars, huge bendy aerials (?!?)... there were no rules, and no ramp was too big!

Never got round to learning to drive, so never stopped cycling about as it's quicker than walking... so i guess i can only blame my dad as it was he who taught me to ride a bike when i was too young to remember.

Cycling for me has always been about transport and never about sport.


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## Rickshaw Phil (27 Jan 2014)

I've cycled since I was very little - had my first bike when I was about 4 and can still remember the feeling of frantic excitement when my dad took the stabilisers off for me and I wobbled away balancing for myself for the first time.

Around the time I started secondary school interest was waning a bit until I decided I was sick of getting on the stinky, overcrowded bus and started riding to school. This was a great decision as I had a quiet leafy commute  that I didn't have to share with certain people I hated.

Work followed and interest waned again as I learned to drive and got my first car. I did carry on cycling but the rides were infrequent and only ever 3 or 4 miles long. Then a couple of things happened: Firstly, when buying a new (to me) car the salesman questioned why I needed a car at all when I could easily cycle the distances I usually drove at the time. Then I spent an afternoon sailing and realised that I'd allowed myself to get so unfit it was an unpleasant amount of effort to tack a dinghy.

I decided to buy a cheap knockabout bike, that I wouldn't care too much about if it got stolen, and ride the 3 miles to work at least 3 times a week. That reignited my interest and led directly to my first ride up the Long Mynd and a desire to see more of the local countryside under my own power.


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## Sara_H (27 Jan 2014)

I started cycling as an adult because parking near my work became virtually impossible. I work in an NHS hospital that has no parking for staff at all so parking was in surrounding streets. Council then put resident parking zone around the hospital. 
I usually had at at least a one mile walk through dodgy area's late at night back to my car. I realised I'd be better off getting on my bike at work and riding through the dodgy areas as quick as I could!
It grew from there, really. At first I only used the bike for commuting to work, and I gradually started to use it more and more for transport until I got to the position where I hardly used my car, so when it was written off in a crash a couple of years ago I didn't replace it. My OH has a car that I have access to a few times a week, but I rarely use it.


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## snorri (27 Jan 2014)

I lost the cycling habit for some years due to travelling away from home in connection with work but eventually got a job close to home which was a few miles from the nearest town. I realised when I was driving into town, for shopping etc. I often saw people I knew along the way and exchanged a friendly wave in the passing, however on the few occasions I used the bike I actually stopped and chatted to these friends and aquaintances. If I really wanted to keep in touch with what was going on in my community it was clear I was going to have to cycle more, so I did and have never looked back.


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## John Shingler (27 Jan 2014)

tight fitting clothing


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## Easytigers (27 Jan 2014)

Don't remember many days when I didn't cycle as a kid and ALL of my favourite Christmas presents were bikes (especially the lime green BMX with mag wheels!) Then I don't know what happened...just stopped riding at the age of 14ish. At Uni all my housemates were into cycling and I just laughed at them while I caught the bus/walked everywhere (no logic to my behaviour but I think I was secretly scared because they were all super fit...who'd have thought with them being cyclists!!!).
Anyway, age 33 I decided to get a bike to go to work on to save money...what a life changer!
I'm now fitter, happier and skinter than I've ever been!!!


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## LutherB (27 Jan 2014)

I got a Raleigh Grifter when i was 12, cycled everywhere, used to sneak out at night to cycle the empty roads of Leighton Buzzard.  Moved to London and had a scare cycling down Chingford Mount when my brakes failed!  Bought a mountain bike and cycled everywhere in London on that, then a hybrid commuter thing for work. Moved out to Berkshire 3 years ago and bought a road bike - absolutely love it! 32 years cycling in all, best form of transport ever


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## Kies (27 Jan 2014)

A child of the 70's and 80's i went everywhere by bike.We famously went camping on the IOW and would lock all 10 bikes together on the beach!!! Even after i had learned to drive, i would cycle to work in Ruislip and often come home for lunch, it really was quicker by bike than a car and i could only borrow dads car on a weekend anyway. 
I got older and had enough to buy a car, so the joys of cycling were forgotten, life got busier, first a wife, a mortgage, kids and an ever expanding waistline. Weekly football was played for almost 20 years, so I could pretend I was getting fit, but in reality a social pastime that included a few pints post match.
3 years ago a knee injury meant it was time to hang up the football boots, and do something else, but what? That's when the doormant cycling gene kicked back in and it was time to embark on my first love all over again.
At the age of 44 i bought a cheap MTB and started cycling, i remember well that first 3 mile loop i did - sweating and puffing - sure i would die without a puff on the ventolin inhaler. I kept thinking,when did cycling become so difficult (still remembering the days of my youth). Cycling slowly became easier and i got a little faster, signed up to C2W scheme and bought the Defy, found CC and a few parish members nearby that gave me the social side as well .... never looked back (unless i hear a vehicle).
Now it is my drug over all others, i am grumpy if a cannot cycle. I have done a fnrttc, and a 107 mile ride for charity. The thought of doing long rides in 2014 ( L2B, London to Warwickshire) are filling me with a buzz like no other.


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## ComedyPilot (27 Jan 2014)

Like others I was a kid in the 70's that rode everywhere. I also remember riding my bike with a leg in plaster, and the other leg in one of my mum's leather boots pretending to be Barry Sheene. Kept riding most of my youth till I left school.

Met Mrs CP in 1988 and drove everywhere, living in rural Yorkshire does that to you. Moved in to a house in Driffield in 1993 and started riding BSO/MTB to work every so often. Fast forward to 1999 and I moved jobs so drove most days - I also had developed (or was still suffering from) chronic adventure sport overload, so all my time money etc was spent climbing skiing, motorbiking, gliding, paragliding, skydiving, so cycling never really got a look in.

Moved house in 2001 closer to work so the BSO/MTB got dusted off.

Then around 2004 I started to ride more and more.

Got a Merida racer in 2006 and really started piling the miles on.

By 2009 I really wanted to stretch my horizons, so started touring on the BSO/MTB, and did a 4 day tour of Yorkshire in 3 days.

2010 saw more miles on the BSO/MTB tourer when I used it to ride 800 miles round the Netherlands in 8 days.

2011 saw the purchase of my first 'real' tourer, a Dawes Karakum, which was quickly utilised to do a tour of Germany, 1400 miles in just over 2 weeks, self-supported, fully-laden tour.

2012 and 2013 were quiet years, just doing local rides/commuting, and a really enjoyable brewery tour with 4 blokes from work (all newbies to touring)

I have recruited my younger brother to cycling (June 2013) so we now ride together most weekends and the odd midweek eveing. 2014 has no real plans on the horizon yet, but I would really like to do some more Audaxes, and a couple of FNRttC to make the latest addition to the stable (Ridgeback Tour 2013 c/w SON hub) pay it's way. There's a small tour to the TDF Yorkshire in July, but other than that I am taking it as it comes.


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## Bryony (27 Jan 2014)

Used to cycle loads as a kid, my friend and I were always out and about around the village where we lived on our bikes. 

When I left school at 17 I started work at a stable yard about 3 miles away and since my mum didn't drive it was either walk or cycle, as cycling was quicker that's what I decided to do.

Just over a year later I left that job and started a new job and so the cycling stopped.

Fast forward 10/11 years and I have a heart problem, and a bit of a weight problem. Me and my OH were talking about trying to lose weight and get fitter and we were trying to think of something we could do together and cycling came up. He already had a bike so I went on eBay to look for a cheap bike, found a dual suspension MTB for £31 went and picked it up and took it out the following day and I was hooked from there!!!

I have since got rid of that bike and now have my lovely road bike and hard tail mountain bike and looking forward to lots of fun and happy miles on them!!


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## cosmicbike (27 Jan 2014)

Like many I spent my childhood riding bikes, from the early chopper style which is entirely accountable for my first scar and 8 stitches at age 6 (well, the ramp didn't look that big, or indeed quite as wobbly as it turned out to be..). My Dad was, and still is, a keen cyclist, commuting into London daily by bike was normal for him, so he was fully supportive of us getting out there. As I got to my teens it was all about mountain bikes, my beloved Raleigh Discovery covering thousands of miles until it was stolen on the last night of a holiday on France when I was 15 years old. This led to my first road bike, a Raleigh Team Banana which served as my college bike until I learned to drive, at which point bikes got forgotten...
Fast forward 20 odd years, and 2 kids now riding bikes, so picked up a Boardman Sport MTB. Dad took me on my first ride in 20 years, straight up Tite Hill, cheers Dad I needed 3 stops and felt very  at the top. 20 miles later I was hooked again, but safe in the knowledge that my 20+ a day smoking habit had to go. 2012 saw a new ride, a Trek 7500 E hybrid on the C2W scheme, and I did my first commute early 2013.
The road bike was collected 3 days after being discharged from hospital, and did 200 miles before I went back in On the plus side, it's been a great re-building tool this cycling lark, and if nothing else has made me appreciate how bad my fitness, particularly my breathing, had become as a result of smoking.....


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## morrisman (27 Jan 2014)

Type 2 Diabetes
Hypertension
Obesity

All of which are much improved


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## ColinJ (27 Jan 2014)

What got me interested in cycling again ...

Eating and drinking too much and getting no exercise led to me putting on 5.5 stone in 3 years. I needed to fix that.
Stress was killing me, and I needed something to calm me down.
The man giving me a lift to work was over 25 years older than me but way fitter. That made me think.
I remembered how much I had enjoyed cycling as a child.
Watching Greg Lemond win an exciting Tour de France victory in 1989. I decided to buy a bike and get fit. So I did.


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## Glow worm (27 Jan 2014)

I cycled a bit as a kid in the 70s and 80s but never that much and stopped completely as a teen. It was only at college in Wales in 1992, I bought an old BSO for a tenner - the reason? I'd moved out of Bangor to a village 3 miles out (Talybont) and was too tight to pay for a cab to get me home from my local in town at closing time.

The bike was unrideable on purchase, so I took it to the LBS. I'll never forget those first few yards pedlling away from the shop after they'd fixed it up for me. The feeling of total freedom - I was completely hooked and have been ever since.

Turned out my 'BSO' was a 1950's road bike made by Carpenter- beautifully light and worth several hundred quid, though I'd never sell it of course. It lives at my parent's house in Norfolk now in graceful retirement.


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## Andrew_P (27 Jan 2014)

Rode everywhere, L2B aged 15 without a plan other than follow the A23. Loved cycling. Got my driving licence bike went rusty.

My middle daughter, Emily gets these bees in her bonnet and fads and we were on our first family holiday in France idyllic location and on site there was a Cycle Hire and she kept on and on about hiring some bikes for me and my three daughters. As it was holiday I capitulated after a week, hired them for three days. I was 5 stone over weight and 44 hadn't ridden for years I remember as clear as if it was a minute ago that instant feeling of euphoria as all the cycling memories came flooding back as I wobbled up the path. That was summer 2009

That afternoon I have my other clear as day memory in my excitement we went off on the cycle paths got lost ended up on quietish back road, there was a hill which we all struggled up then I belted down the other side and suddenly remembered I had my three kids in tow looked round in panic but then saw them all flying down the hill with great big huge grins. Seriously those two memories are burnt in as clear as day and will be for the rest of my life! Changed my life forever (she still lays claim to be the life changer)


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## wiggydiggy (27 Jan 2014)

Cheaper


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## screenman (27 Jan 2014)

Been a cyclist since I was about 14, not always ridden the bike though. I have for the last 25 years though not had a break from it. I will add that I do not always enjoy riding the bike but do enjoy the feeling I get afterwards. I have never commuted or toured by bike, and have always considered myself either a sporting or racing cyclist.


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## gavgav (27 Jan 2014)

When I was little I used to love riding my bmx and during my teenage years got my 1 and only racing bike and I used to love cycling the lanes around where I grew up. After I went to sixth form, university and then moved away to work in a stressful job, and I pretty much gave up cycling. I quit my job in 2005 and had a break of 7 months before I started a new job and I needed something to get me out of the house as I became a bit depressed at having nothing to do and so I bought a new bike and got back into it again, with the encouragement of @Rickshaw Phil . I have progressed from there really and after I had a heart operation in 2011 I was determined to get fitter and my recovery spurred me on to buy a better bike and up my mileage. I love the feeling that being out on my bike gives me and I reckon a few GP's ought to prescribe cycling instead of pills to improve people's mood!


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## subaqua (27 Jan 2014)

used to ride everywhere as a kid. to and from school ( to avoid the bullies) then once i was home i would go out and ride for hours and hours. now i look at the routes i rode and the times i was doing it in i realise i must have been fairly good at it ! loved watching the TDF and wanted to be Stephen Roche ( glad i didn't turn out like him !)
sadly at 17 discovered beer birds n cars. stopped riding and my trusty heavy gas pipe bike ,upon which i could beat the scirrocco and 531 frame guys  , languished in my dads shed. I brought it to London when i moved down here 15 yr ago. 

I was a fat ( still am compared to some racing snakes) , unfit smoker rapidly heading to 40 with a cholesterol level also approaching the " you should be in a coffin" level, when i started to work on constructing a significant part of the olympic park . the options to get there were spend 90 minutes on pubic transport to travel the 3 miles to the south portal and then cross 3 miles over the park to the north. decided that i could cycle to the north portal and walk the 500yds to site and it would take me about 45 minutes. that was in Aug 2010. them 3 miles nearly killed me but it got me hooked again and i now have more bikes than my wife would like me to have and have donated 2 to Charity projects ( my original Raleigh Phantom with shifters on the down tube, and my BSA west coast town clunker ) . I ride 8 miles into work and in nice weather 25- 30 miles home. 

my kids love riding and i would ride everywhere if i could.


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## stevey (27 Jan 2014)

Started like most on here with a raleigh grifter (blue) loved it pretended to be a speedway rider 

Then discovered the thing called alcohol,kebabs and partying....  Put on a sh*t load of weight became very unhealthy always convincing myself i was the party animal...Forward 20+ years, just stopped got myself a MTB started riding over the local park absolutely shattered started to loose the weight actually really enjoyed it,

Thought to myself "how would i get on with a road bike" so i bought a cheap one from the LBS from that day of first MTB'ing to this day of road bikes totally hooked
It is the one thing that gets rid of stress from work and all the other crap, you can just get on your bike and go.... Love it


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## TeeShot (27 Jan 2014)

Like others I cycled as a kid/youth. Transferred my affections to motorbikes, road and trials, in the early 80's and got married as well. Fifteen years later son number one learns to ride a bike and obviously to keep him company I had to get a bike. He is now 21, his brother is 18 and we now have far too many/not enough bikes. I have to say most of our biking has been off road but in the last few years we have started to get out on the road bikes. So 50 years after pretending to be Dave bickers ( scambling, for those too young to remember) around the local park the wheels continue to turn.......


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## DooDah (27 Jan 2014)

Seems like there are many on here from the Raleigh Grifter club. I was part of the Raleigh Chopper set myself, wish I had never got rid of it, although I did progress to a Raleigh Winner. Now THAT was a road bike, stunning metallic black/silver/red colour scheme and the best foam bar tape/grips. I wizzed around for miles on that.


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## ianrauk (27 Jan 2014)

DooDah said:


> Seems like there are many on here from the Raleigh Grifter club. I was part of the Raleigh Chopper set myself, wish I had never got rid of it, although I did progress to a Raleigh Winner. Now THAT was a road bike, stunning metallic black/silver/red colour scheme and the best foam bar tape/grips. I wizzed around for miles on that.




Chopper (Yellow)..then upgraded to a blue/grey Grifter


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## Andy clarke (27 Jan 2014)

Same ol' really cycled a lot when I was younger,
No 34 nearly nine months post kidney transplant,
I had bought a cheap rock hopper I don't even know how old it is! End of November I started riding to work 5.5miles each way.
I swapped an air rifle for a 2010 team carbon boardman with just over 100 miles on it!!! 
Today for the first time I rode 40 miles!! I'm not allowed to lift heavy weight until may but I'm allowed to cycle so game on!!


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## Pat "5mph" (27 Jan 2014)

Never had a bike when a kid or an adult. Used to walk a lot or take the bus. Hate driving.
At about 40 something bought a bike in a car boot sale, used to ride it maybe 6 times a year during the summer to go to town.
Then, years later, started shift work in large venues out of town, public transport practically non existent, used to take me 90 minutes for a 5 mile commute.
A colleague suggested cycling, so I dusted the old bso off, never looked back.
Got 3 working bikes now, plus 2 not operational , lots of gear and tools, discovered cycling for pleasure. Training to be a cycle instructor: love showing women folk the freedom a bike gives you and the amount of chocolate one can eat with impunity


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## DooDah (27 Jan 2014)

ianrauk said:


> Chopper (Yellow)..then upgraded to a blue/grey Grifter


Yellow Chopper for me as well, loved the three gears until I slid forwards off the saddle, then it hurt a lot. Wish I had kept it, brings back great memories.


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## ianrauk (27 Jan 2014)

DooDah said:


> Yellow Chopper for me as well, loved the three gears until I slid forwards off the saddle, then it hurt a lot. Wish I had kept it, brings back great memories.




Yup....they were great fun bikes. Unstable as buggery if you got it up to any speed..but great fun.


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## DooDah (27 Jan 2014)

ianrauk said:


> Yup....they were great fun bikes. Unstable as buggery if you got it up to any speed..but great fun.


If I remember right, you could pull great wheelies though


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## Peteaud (27 Jan 2014)

Had an old mtb in the garage and when we moved decided to get back on it. Then new job and the guy i worked with cycled in most days, grew from there.

Then quit smoking, loved the freedom a road bike gives me and never looked back.


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## cosmicbike (27 Jan 2014)

DooDah said:


> Seems like there are many on here from the Raleigh Grifter club. I was part of the Raleigh Chopper set myself, wish I had never got rid of it, although I did progress to a Raleigh Winner. Now THAT was a road bike, stunning metallic black/silver/red colour scheme and the best foam bar tape/grips. I wizzed around for miles on that.


 Indeed, the Raleigh Grifter, heaviest bike in the World, but remember the tyres, how cool Though of course the Chopper had the way cooler shifter...


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## openroad (27 Jan 2014)

My Mum and Dad where into cycling so I had a bike from about 5yrs old. When I was 13yrs old I saved up money from strawberry picking to by myself a bike can't remember what make it was but was chuffed with it!!!.Then as the years went by I did less cycling until I stopped altogether.The first bike I bought was a Dutch style one In my mid thirties it looked lovely but I nearly fell of several times when indicating so decided to sell it.Then I moved to Norwich bought a cheap mountain bike to get fit and cycle the Marriotts way, then through meeting other cyclists poping into bike shops I now find myself owning 3 bikes.It's the best thing I've done. have met so many nice cyclists and am getting fitter am not a speedy cyclist but love it


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## Leescfc79 (27 Jan 2014)

Never really had bikes as a kid, I had to learn to ride one at school but never really had any interest and used to walk everywhere. Even as a adult although I owned a BSO its only use was my annual trip to centre parcs.

But about 2 years ago I decided I needed to get fit and lose some weight so joined a gym, after about 6 months I was sitting on a exercise bike bored and saw someone ride past on a bike and thought I'd much prefer to be outside than stuck indoors, I haven't looked back since. All this happened at the same time as the Olympics which I think had a lot to do with it too.


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## shouldbeinbed (27 Jan 2014)

I started riding at 5 and haven't really stopped, its ebbed and flowed over the years with work & family & a couple of big injuries changing things, I'm not competitive at all anymore & am a happy utility/commuting/leisure rider now, out on one bike or another pretty much every day as it still makes me happy, gives me some me time and lets me drink beer & eat pizza without ever having to set foot in soulless gym hell.


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## RedRider (27 Jan 2014)

Moving to London did it for me. I'd had my first car less than a year when I moved down but I only ever used it to escape the city. It was just taking up space while I sweated the tube to work so I swapped it for a bike after six months and discovered London as a bike-shaped city and me a bike- shaped person.
That was 16 years ago and still exploring.


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## Dave 123 (27 Jan 2014)

As a lad, riding round with my mates on my Raleigh grifter,doing jumps, falling off, having smashes,having fun,seeing blood and seeing beyond my nose.
Then a Raleigh winner came along, I suppose I was 13. Rides to Chester, playing KOM on the hill from the pretty bridge up to the zoo.... Can I ride up it no handed....? Give it a bash. Off around the wirral for the day in the holidays, usually being chased by farmers!
Then I passed my test...." I'll still ride to work three days a week"
Like hell I did!
I had a mountain bike in my 20s that I rode around Devon, playing on the moors when I lived down there. In my 30s I had a BSO that fell to bits quite soon.
Then after wanting road bike for about 4 years I got back on a bike about 4 years ago, and felt like a sack of fat crap! These days I am really quite fit, addicted, and loving it.


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## simon the viking (27 Jan 2014)

Got fed up of spending precious money on petrol for the commute when it was within cycling distance and I wanted to get a bit fitter so sold B.S.O and bought a cheap road bike and never looked back


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## MontyVeda (27 Jan 2014)

ComedyPilot said:


> Like others I was a kid in the 70's that rode everywhere. *I also remember riding my bike with a leg in plaster*,
> 
> ...



there was a lad at my junior school who had his leg permanently in a calliper... he also went everywhere on his bike! It was yellow and called a _Spider_... i was well jealous!


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## MarkF (28 Jan 2014)

Loved my bike as a kid, had an Elswick Hopper road bike at 12, my parents used to think I was nearby, but I'd be off to Skipton or somewhere in the Dales 30/40 miles away. I can't remember when I stopped cycling, must have just put it away one day at 14/15 I suppose.

30 years later after 30 years of football, I had hip problems, arthritis meant I'd often "lock up", sometimes I'd be totally immobile and in great pain. A doctor suggested cycling as a low impact sport, I bought a bike, well, several "wrong" bikes, before discovering hybrids, I took to it again immediately. My hip "freed" up, I lost weight and within 2 years I was touring, a while later I'd done the C2C, then across France, then across Spain. I still feel my hips but I've had a decade of full mobility and have been able to coach footie for 5 years.

I wish I'd never stopped cycling, I've got enormous pleasure from it, both physically and mentally and hope to continue till I pop my clogs.


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## Doc333 (28 Jan 2014)

As a kid my mates and I were into cycling in a big way as we had our own regular bikes and then went to scrapyards and started building bikes. We had fixies which were fun once you got over the lumps and bruises of learning, and we modernised bikes by putting smaller wheels on the front or pram wheels to make 'choppers'. All great fun but then we noticed girls ......

Fast forward to mountain bikes in the early 90's and I got involved in that in a big way, and enjoyed being crudded up and bruised from fire trails and dodgy downhill stuff through forests. Work then dominated and so not having the time then took up golf for the next 20-years until I have a heart attack. Fast forward a few months and realising I need more than golf to get my heart working on an arobic plain, I decide to get a bike again. 2 months on and very unfit late 50's bloke is seen gasping for breath around the lanes of Cheshire. Doing over 20-miles each time which I'm well chuffed about and starting to feel great. Always enjoyed the roads and lanes on a bike and so pleased to get back into it, and it's a nice break from any problems


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## Doc333 (28 Jan 2014)

Mark believe it or not my first bike was also a Hopper, and it just brought back memories of cycling up to the local bike shop (Eddies) we knew it as. Great bloke, stocked everything and knew his stuff. A few years later I learned of his death as well as the local high street, and found out he was well respected around the country. He rode for England, he built bikes for pro's, he designed state of the art tubing and his funeral was standing room only. He was from Yorkshire too and his bike shop was in Leeds where I grew up.


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## Gravity Aided (28 Jan 2014)

Had Schwinns, as well as a Raleigh Chopper, better bicycle money around here came from de-tasseling corn, got a nicer Raleigh. When I got married, I got a house, and so needed a bicycle. Bought a Murray commuter. Did not ride very much, and got a very nice ten speed at a parish sale 8 years ago, and have been involved with cycling since. I now have a 1981 Schwinn Voyageur Tourer, an Electra Townie 21D, and a Diamondback Outlook.


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## Jody (28 Jan 2014)

Started riding when I was 4. I saw some local youths pulling wheelies when I was about 5 and then I was hooked. My sole aim at that age was to pull a wheelie like the big boys. Went through a few bikes, BMX's and a racer (5 speed gears on the down tube) then got a MTB when I was 10. My first decent branded MTB changed everything. I was going to but a Raleigh Activator but managed to get my parents to agree on a GT which had no suspension but seemed a lot more apt for what I wanted from it. Spent all my time riding until 17, which I was effected by booze, birds and cars. I carried on riding off and on until early 20's and then the mountain bikes quickly gathered dust.

What got me back into riding? Weight, age and needing the buzz of riding like we used to. Trails, jumps, speed, a bit of danger and fresh air. What more could you ask for.


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## Doc333 (28 Jan 2014)

Happy days and this post got me thinking about some of the kit that was fitted to some of those old bikes way back then. The 3-speed trigger, loved playing with the very expensive, high tech dynamo that seemed to be spage age. Those old huge heavy lights and heavy batteries, bells that rusted as soon as fitted, first time I ever saw toe clips I tghought they were stupid, no such thing as straight bars it was either drops or huge bends like on a grocers/butchers bike which had no cables for brakes it was steel rods. What about hub brakes .... I was in another world with that lot and struggle now trying to remember how my 105 gears work


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## Dogtrousers (28 Jan 2014)

I was a keen cyclist up to my mid 20s, going cycle touring every year. Then I went and lived abroad for a bit. Came back in the late 80s and London traffic was much more scary than I remembered it. Or maybe I'd lost some of my youthful fearlessness. I took up running (well "lumbering" to be technically correct), the bike gathered dust. Then had its pedals removed as they were a trip hazard (bike lived in the hallway). THen I moved to somewhere with a garage. Bike banished.

Then a few years back, a mate asked me at a party if I fancied going out cycling. Which I did. New old bike obtained from ebay. And I wondered why I ever stopped.


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## Dogtrousers (28 Jan 2014)

Doc333 said:


> Happy days and this post got me thinking about some of the kit that was fitted to some of those old bikes way back then. The 3-speed trigger, loved playing with the very expensive, high tech dynamo that seemed to be spage age. Those old huge heavy lights and heavy batteries, bells that rusted as soon as fitted, first time I ever saw toe clips I tghought they were stupid, no such thing as straight bars it was either drops or huge bends like on a grocers/butchers bike which had no cables for brakes it was steel rods. What about hub brakes .... I was in another world with that lot and struggle now trying to remember how my 105 gears work


 
Which of the new advances in bikes since then would you not live without? Brifters? Meh. Nothin wrong with down tube shifters. Threadless headsets? Quill stems are so much prettier. 

But lights that actually work? Oh yes, I'm keeping those. And clipless pedals over toe clips too. I never properly managed to master toeclips, it always took me a couple of goes to get my foot in. I love clipless.

Anyone feeling nostalgic for cotter pins?


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## HLaB (28 Jan 2014)

As a kid I had went through the Chopper, road bike stage (courtesy of my older brother much to his disgust). Then it was the BMX, and Mtb phase but although I had access to a bike for most of my childhood and did use them, I never really got bitten by the bug and largely forgot about cycling when I got a car. When I moved to Dublin (circa 2000 iirc), the majoritory of the office cycled and I followed the trend bought a no name near BSO steel hybrid. Initially it was just a transport thing but after a year or two I got into the freedom thing and when I moved back to Scotland (2005 iirc), I bought the sirrus and then the road bikes and haven't looked back.


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## Doc333 (28 Jan 2014)

Down tube shifters still look cool today and i remember a local bloke bought a bright red bike which had a down tube shifter, what was it? he said this is for a derailer gear ..... Whats that? Wow new technology on bikes which have French stuff on them now ....... Campagnolo is Italian and now they're at it too. 2 shifters whats that all about .... what it moves the front ring????

Being a kid back then is like being a petrolhead nowadays. New farrari, or Quatroporte is unveiled and erection time. Back then it was the same being a kid watching the latest technology being fixed to a bike and seeing the difference. An ice lolly stick in the spokes was the nearest to high tech for me


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## Jody (28 Jan 2014)

Doc333 said:


> An ice lolly stick in the spokes was the nearest to high tech for me



Or bread tags on the brake cable outers until they stop working.


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## subaqua (28 Jan 2014)

Dave 123 said:


> As a lad, riding round with my mates on my Raleigh grifter,doing jumps, falling off, having smashes,having fun,seeing blood and seeing beyond my nose.
> Then a Raleigh winner came along, I suppose I was 13. Rides to Chester, playing KOM on the hill from the pretty bridge up to the zoo.... Can I ride up it no handed....? Give it a bash. Off around the wirral for the day in the holidays, usually being chased by farmers!
> Then I passed my test...." I'll still ride to work three days a week"
> Like hell I did!
> ...


 

Pretty Bridge to the zoo ? which hill was that . I grew up in N Wales and riding to Chester to see my Gran in Upton ( not the Bache proper Upton ) was a great way to avoid being stuck in a car with my Brother


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## Mannion (28 Jan 2014)

For me it seems a way of keeping fit that is also very enjoyable.
I initially thought of the idea of taking up cycling last summer when i saw the great manchester cycle so hope to enter myself this year and raise some money for Diabetes UK!


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## Dave 123 (28 Jan 2014)

subaqua said:


> Pretty Bridge to the zoo ? which hill was that . I grew up in N Wales and riding to Chester to see my Gran in Upton ( not the Bache proper Upton ) was a great way to avoid being stuck in a car with my Brother


The bridge from the canal up to the zoo. It was known as the pretty bridge in our house, and I think locally...... 
At the bottom of the hill was the public footpath that took you through the middle of the zoo.
I used to fish the canal there as a lad with my dad, warm summer evenings listening to lions roar!


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## Dave 123 (28 Jan 2014)

Who pegged a playing card or rectangle of cereal packet to the seat stay so that it went through the spokes? Motorbiketastic!

Might do that on the commute in the morning


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## NorvernRob (28 Jan 2014)

I used to ride MTB's a lot when I was younger, and once did Sheffield-Skegness with a mate when I was around 15. I kept riding until my 20's then got a car and didn't bother much.

When I was a kid I had allsorts of bikes, and the brakes were usually my foot on the back wheel 

I've still kept an interest and a mate at work getting a road bike encouraged me back into it. I signed up to the work cycle scheme, had a trip to Planet X and came home with this: 





All I'm changing is the calipers, they are standard Planet X ones and I managed to pick up a nearly new set of Sram force with the swiss stop pads for under 60 quid. 

I got a set of Tacx rollers as well and have been on them most nights, really enjoying it and should be getting out for a first proper ride this weekend unless it's icy or p*ssing it down!

Rob


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## Brandane (28 Jan 2014)

Similar to the theme running through this thread. Lost my stabilisers when I was too young to remember and then used my bike to get around through childhood and into my late teens. 
Then fell in love with motorbikes and stayed loyal to 2 wheels until I finally got fed up getting cold and wet and passed my driving test at age 24. Then fell in love with cars but always kept a pedal cycle, even if it didn't get used much.
Fast forward to age 48 ish and there came a drop in income, just at the same time as I realised I was putting on some extra weight. Having a history of heart disease running through the family, I decided to try and do something to ward it off, and hopefully save money by buying less petrol at the same time. Bought my Specialized Tricross and everyone said I was mad for paying £700 "for a bike!" I was determined to show them that it was worth the money. Driving mileage dropped from around 20k miles per year to about 5k last year. The Tricross is now nearing 10k miles and has been joined by N+1 (x 5 ).


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## ufkacbln (28 Jan 2014)

Used to do miles and miles as a kid, then when I joined the Navy it was easier than a car.

Then became rich! able to afford a decent bike and became a convert to recumbentss in the early 1990s

Have always toured or commuted.

I simply have an interest in bikes. My present collection (between the two of us in now over 20 and all are rideable. I have folders, recumbents, cargo bikes, cargo trikes and every one has a use or history that makes it "necessary"


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## Supersuperleeds (28 Jan 2014)

Always rode a bike as a kid, even carrying all my fishing gear to the river on one. Gave up when I got a car, then about five or six years ago decide I was to tight to keep paying for petrol and bought a hybrid to get to and from work. I would pootle 5 miles to work, taking well over 30 minutes to do it. Nov 2012 I found this place and started upping the mileage, weight started falling off and now I am a little bit addicted to extended commutes, have three bikes and browsing for a fourth


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## ianrauk (28 Jan 2014)

Dave 123 said:


> Who pegged a playing card or rectangle of cereal packet to the seat stay so that it went through the spokes? Motorbiketastic!
> 
> Might do that on the commute in the morning




With a Grifter you could just bend the mudguard to make a nice motorbikey noise...sort of


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## lesley_x (28 Jan 2014)

Honestly? I started getting sore joints due to an autoimmune condition and thought, I need to do something about this! Cycling appealed and was low impact unlike running etc. Now I love it


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## Jason.T (28 Jan 2014)

I won't dwell on this to much as I've pretty much said my reason in my welcome thread when I joined cycle chat 

I got interested in cycling after the devastating loss of our 3 month old daughter to a rare undetected heart condition , 3 friends done a incredible charity ride of over 600 miles in 4 days to raise money for the lullaby trust in the memory of our daughter 

This got me really wanting to get out on a bike and someday be able to do something amazing like they did 

Anyway loving every minute on the bike, should of done it years ago and haven't looked back since 

A picture of my daughter Lexi Mia


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## Dusty Bin (28 Jan 2014)

@Jason.T - I clicked 'like' - but when I say 'like', what I actually mean is 'huge respect'....


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## Jason.T (28 Jan 2014)

Dusty Bin said:


> @Jason.T - I clicked 'like' - but when I say 'like', what I actually mean is 'huge respect'....


I know that mate, cheers


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## Piemanpaul (28 Jan 2014)

Living in Sheffield in the mid 70s I can remember having a red Raleigh racer, what type of Raleigh I have no idea, I can remember in the 6 weeks holidays being on it constantly. There is a road in Sheffield called bishops court, every town has one steepest hill I could find, I can remember smashing it and feeling like Miguel indurain when I got to the top.
Then I found girls and beer, the bike I think rusted in a shed, I started running a few years later and competed in a few fell runs (tough) I carried on running until about 2 years ago when I felt something pop in my knee. I realised that I wasn't getting out enough so started cycling, I am now hooked and am now in the process of buying my first road bike


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## Sheffield_Tiger (28 Jan 2014)

Packing up the fags.

Used to cycle a lot from the age of 13 to 24. Then got a bike 6 years ago after a 10 year gap, as I gave up smoking.

Now I'm not sure how I used to afford petrol and fags......


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## Gravity Aided (29 Jan 2014)

Sheffield_Tiger said:


> Packing up the fags.
> 
> Used to cycle a lot from the age of 13 to 24. Then got a bike 6 years ago after a 10 year gap, as I gave up smoking.
> 
> Now I'm not sure how I used to afford petrol and fags......


That is a truly good question. I have no idea how I afforded gas, University, and cigarettes on what I made at summer jobs and part-time during school.


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## subaqua (29 Jan 2014)

Dave 123 said:


> The bridge from the canal up to the zoo. It was known as the pretty bridge in our house, and I think locally......
> At the bottom of the hill was the public footpath that took you through the middle of the zoo.
> I used to fish the canal there as a lad with my dad, warm summer evenings listening to lions roar!


 
Caughall road towards Chorlton . thats about 5 mins from what was my Grans house.


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## lesley_x (29 Jan 2014)

Jason.T said:


> I won't dwell on this to much as I've pretty much said my reason in my welcome thread when I joined cycle chat
> 
> I got interested in cycling after the devastating loss of our 3 month old daughter to a rare undetected heart condition , 3 friends done a incredible charity ride of over 600 miles in 4 days to raise money for the lullaby trust in the memory of our daughter



What an inspirational story  Credit to you for getting out there after something so devastating.


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## ttcycle (29 Jan 2014)

Well, I used to cycle about a lot up and down the pavement in the grey, little town that I used to live in back in the Midlands as a nipper in the 80s. That and rollerblading were ways to be alone and free at the same time through my own pedal power. I can't remember the bikes I had, just that my favourite one was an orange mountain bike, graduated up to a shimano geared mountain bike when I was a bit older and then eventually stopped riding in my teens and for a strange unknown reason, took to public transport and the rubbish network of buses.

Moved down to London for Uni and never thought to cycle as a student but then had dreams of buying a little folding bike to take me on the overground trains to work as travel costs got higher and higher in the capital. When I left Uni and started working, the closest train station was probably about a mile away. Bought this little clunky red bike (Dylan) from Ebay and that was the start of commuting. Eventually, moved and needed a bike that was better going up hills, got my first Specialized Hybrid. Changed jobs which gave me a substantial commute, about 8 miles one way and I got my first carbon road bike courtesy of the Cycle to Work Scheme. That was the start of a couple of years of hardcore cycling and training, living, eating and dreaming for a TT/triathlon as a team that didn't materialise due to illness unfortunately. 

Riding has been a bit on and off for me since then as life stuff or health has got in the way but hoping to pick up the reigns again properly when it's possible.

Oh yes, and if anyone tries to tell you that you can save money through commuting on bike instead of public transport...it's all lies! You end up acquiring more bikes/components and clothing/kit. You know it makes sense!


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## SatNavSaysStraightOn (30 Jan 2014)

Started cycling when I was a very young child. Got given a bike to take home with me on one of my maintenance visits to my father (so before the age of 7) and cycled all the time, but never really had my own bike until I was 14/15 when my mum and (now ex) step-father gave me a BSA road bike. Bike went to uni with me and was used daily until I had an accident at work when I was 20 which left me slightly paralysed down the left side of my body and my left wrist dislocating 20-30 times a day. Made most things difficult and cycling impossible. Took 7 years to get back on a bike with much help from an old friend in the RAF and his assistance with a knowing someone who ran a bike shop: one thing led to another and they both helped me find a bike (mountain bike) that I could ride again and made the necessary modifications free of charge. Getting back out again was hard, even 1 mile with a 10m climb was a killer at first! 

After 4 years as a company car driver, barely seeing the daylight, I was made redundant, took a low paid job close to home and cycled to work - and literally saw day light! 5 miles each way was a killer initially with the last 2.5 miles all being uphill. Talked my work place into the cycle to work scheme, bought a newer, much lighter mtb with disc brakes (yeh - can now actually use the rear brake) and changed my route to be 8.5 miles each way cross-country.

11 ops and 15 years after the original accident and my wrist no longer dislocates and I can ride without pain, so quit my job 2 years later and went off to cycle around the world instead. The rest is history as they say....

And the best bit, I have recently been able to return to riding a road bike (though doubt I will ever be able to use the drops due to restricted movement in my wrist and won't ever be able to use 'clipless' due to not being able to rotate my lower left leg) and suspect at some point in the future I will have to accept defeat and move to a trike (balance issues from the slight paralysis and other such health problems) but I don't have access to a car during the week and use cycling as my main form of transport and live rurally so get plenty of cycling in normally. Walking is still a problem though (which has been the love of my life for most of my life  ) from the dog bite though but I have a target for getting out hiking/mountaineering again for the end of this year: still feels a long way off yet, but will keep trying.


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## Boon 51 (2 Feb 2014)

As most of the posters have said I started at the age of three or four with a little bike with stabilizers, I got my first road bike at about 5 yrs and my bikes got bigger as I got older and taller.
My first bike bike was a Raleigh 5 speed which I thought was the dogs danglies and by the age of 12/13 I was cycling from Canterbury to Margate and back with my mate Fred ( wonder where he is now?)
By age 14 a chance of an old BSA Bantam 175 ( ex GPO telegram bike) came along and, after stripping it all down, I started riding that on a farmer's field, so I sort of lost interest in my old push bike.
Having got through my bike career without too much mishap, a couple of years ago whilst riding my 450 motocrosser I had an arguement on my 450 motocrosser with a big boulder/rock and damaged my neck so decided it was time to retire from motorbiking altogether.
A year passed and my neck had got a lot better I decided to take up cycling again. Now after a year and a bit and a few hicups on the way I've got back into it with a passion and love every minute of it.
My next move is to get rid of one of my hybrids and get a road bike to go with the endurance one I have now.
Its funny how one door shuts and another opens.. I suppose I do have a one regret and thats not carring on with the cycling in my middle years of life.
Cheers


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## Stonechat (5 Feb 2014)

Always had an interest
Here were the old days

Well cycled as a lad - can't remember much but they had Sturmey Archer Gears.
About age 16 had first road bike, they were called racing bikes then.

Sometimes cycled to school - about 4 miles

About this era remember seeing Tommy Simpson on television - he won sports personality of the year.
Did a tour of Cornwall, managed to bend my forks after hitting a fence post

1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh - saw track cycling at Meadowbank - great fun., For some reason never saw any more track cycling

Did not cycle for some time then

1980 New job very unfit Got a Peugeot road bike. Did a lot of birdwatching so always carrying gear.
About 1985 Got Claud Butler 10 speed road bike. Outing I suppose went up to 60 + miles

1993 company moved and got a car - cycling dropped away

Followed the tour and the resurgent British team at the olympics especially Brad

2012 Nov took early retirement
We decided to use only one car so got a bike - hybrid (mistake) should have got touring type road bike would've covered all my needs.
2014 Got road bike Felt Z95

The interest was always there. Television coverage of cycling events always kept an interest alive

Had a work colleague who cycled a lot did a few races and who did the Etape up Ventoux


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## Mo1959 (5 Feb 2014)

I think I probably did most of my cycling in my childhood. Can vaguely remember a blue trike when I was really small. First two wheel bike I can barely remember but I know I struggled a bit getting my balance. I always remember Mum telling me I was nearly chucking it away in a fit of temper because I couldn't get the hang of it, so she went back into the house and left me in the garden trying it on my own and when she peeped out the window saw I had finally mastered it and was wobbling round the garden. 

First decent bike was a good secondhand green Rudge with 3 speed gears. I think it must have been bought for me to grow into as Dad had to fit little wooden blocks to the pedals so I could reach! I used that bike a lot but don't remember getting another after that so no real interest in all the intervening years apart from occasionally thinking I would like to cycle again, buying a bike and getting fed up pretty quickly and selling it again.

I think a combination of the Olympics, TDF, etc and a bit of a mid life crisis got me interested again. When I retired early from work I wanted to drop a lot of the weight I had accumulated working shifts and get out into the fresh air during daylight as much as possible after years of night shifts which aren't supposed to be good for you.

So, now over 2 stones lighter than I was when working and feeling much more relaxed and stress free I have accumulated two road bikes, a hybrid and an old mountain bike. Like some others, I am currently struggling with the weather and perhaps not enjoying it as much as in the summer but, although some weeks I only manage out two or three times I have still done much more than last January so hopefully a good base for the better days to come.


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## Justiffa (5 Feb 2014)

I must hv had a tricycle as a child like most kids do but the earliest I remember of having my very own bicycle was when my parents gave me a raleigh for my 11th birthday. My dad was in the army so growing up within the secure area of the base was great fun. I was free to explore every nook & crany and do lots of crazy stuff (even got away with driving a car when I was 9, eyes barely cresting the top of the steering wheel he3). it all stopped when I was shipped away to boarding school.

I rediscovered cycling end of 2012 due to injury brought about by running, a sudden spike in mileage while training for a marathon was a bit too much for ye ole planta fascia lol. I started off with my son's dusty unused mtb and later a friend who was training for a triathlon helped me get my very own roadie (some of u would know about tizzy my roadbike) and its been go, go, go since then. 
Cycling in my 50s and just loving it


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## uphillstruggler (5 Feb 2014)

a half cut conversation one evening - my mate said that he was doing the L2B so I said I would do it too and that I would go out on my bike the next day with him. I stayed at the party til 3am, he left at 10pm and turned up at my house at 8am. he waited til I got my sorry backside out of bed and we did a 12 mile ride around the lanes near me. I was breathing out of my backside the whole way round.

it took me about 4 months of fitting rides in as and when possible to get fit enough to do the L2B comfortably and not put a foot down on the beacon.

that was about 5 years ago.

we have done the L2B day and night rides - the first night ride was with the Fridays and would still rank as one of the most enjoyable rides I have ever done.

since then, I have bought 3 bikes and kept the old faithful ridgeback 604 that got me up the beacon the first time.

unfortunately I don't commute by bike as my job takes me round the british isles but I ride to work if there is a possibility.

it still makes me laugh thinking about that first ride out, now it takes about 12 miles to warm into a ride.

and it still costs a fortune.


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## Cycling Dan (6 Feb 2014)

One day I remembered how much I liked cycling round the street when I was 12-13 so one day I got out on my bike . Like meth once I tried it again I was hooked. Similarly like meth it has taken all my money too.


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## Paspie (8 Feb 2014)

Want to start up again because I'm kinda in the mental dumps and feel that getting out more would enlighten me abit.


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## Bromptonaut (8 Feb 2014)

Had the usual bikes as a kid. Dad wouldn't let me have a Chopper. Said it was a toy. Too small at 11 for a drop bar bike I ended up with a Trusty Spacemaster, a step through shopper bike similar to Dawes Kingpin. Rode around district in usual way, to school, swimming , friends etc. 

Around 14 in 1974 I got interested in plane spotting. We lived close to Leeds Bradford Airport and as there was no direct bus I started riding there. At first it was a struggle but as I got fitter I could be there in 20mins - quick enough to catch on the ground someting I'd seen on approach. Over a couple of years I explored alternative routes home - over the Chevin , via Scotland Lane & Otley Old road and began to venture out into the edge of the Dales. A part time job at 16 meant I could afford a proper bike in form of a secondhand Yeoman. Bog standard five speed steel sports bike but with mountings for mudguards and a rack which I duly fitted. Also upgraded the huret derailleur to a Sun Tour. 

In 79 I moved to London and took the bike down after a few weeks. Commuted occasionally and did some solo YH touring before joining a YHA group in Harrow. Several years touring followed. The Yeoman was further upgraded with alloy wheels, cotterless cranks and a dual chaingring. Met my partner to be through the group and she and I did lots more cycling together until the bike was stolen from outside our flat in Harrow. 

Bought a new Dawes out of the insurance which I still have and now ride regularly again.

Arrival of kids in 92 & 94 cramped my style for a bit until 99 when I bought my first Brompton. The sheer elation of riding it away from Evans in The Cut and onto Waterloo bridge will never be forgotten. Used it and its successor everyday from Euston to work until I took redundancy last November. Somewhere along the way I also picked up a Claud Butler Ravanna ATX hybrid which is great for trail rides like the Brampton Valley Way.


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## sazzaa (8 Feb 2014)

I became interested because I couldn't find a way to fit exercise into my day, so commuting by bike was the only real option. And then I realised I enjoyed it.


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## alans (8 Feb 2014)

A cancer scare succeeded in frighteneing me into giving up smoking which resulted in a 40% increase in body weight so returned to cycling after nearly 30 years off the bike to shed some of the lard.


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## Old Plodder (9 Feb 2014)

Paspie said:


> Want to start up again because I'm kinda in the mental dumps and feel that getting out more would enlighten me abit.


Go ahead & do it - there are others on this forum, as you will find out if you stick with it, & they, & the rest of us will give you the encouragement.


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## Old Plodder (9 Feb 2014)

Just reading through this thread, I see I don't appear to have added my starting point, so here it is.

I used to ride around the local pavements on an old second/third/fourth hand solid tyred tricycle when I was around 3 or 4 years old, but I don't remember where it went.

Next I had a beaten up old single speed 24" wheel bike I was given to get to secondary school in 1961, used to ride it at the weekends into the countryside.
Somewhere during that time I upgraded to a 26" wheeled wreck with 'cowhorns' & used it to go 'tracking' (what they now call offroad riding). It was also used to get to work until I joined the Army in 1969.

When I left the Army in 1975, I bought my first ever new bike, a Carlton, & started riding further afield. That lead me to joining the CTC, which of course increased my mileage & love of cycling, until I was riding 100 mile plus Sunday rides.

Circumstances at home meant a curtailment of my cycling down to just a 25 mile Saturday morning ride weekly. Lost all my lovely fitness that I had built up, & am still struggling to get more than a fifty mile (occassionally) ride in. It's like being a beginner all over again - so frustrating.

So this is my come back year (I hope).


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