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

[HLaB]

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.

 

[Doc333]

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

 

[Jody]

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.

 

[subaqua]

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.

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

 

[Mannion]

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!

 

[Dave 123]

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!

 

[Dave 123]

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

 

[NorvernRob]

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

 

[Brandane]

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 ).

 

[ufkacbln]

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"

 

[Supersuperleeds]

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

 

[ianrauk]

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

 

[lesley_x]

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

 

[Jason.T]

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

 

[Dusty Bin]

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