Who started cycling again this year then?

[Beezie]

Me too - didn't have a bike as a child and felt too scared/embarrassed to get one later on but once you reach a certain age you think what the heck I'm going to do this. So - bought a cheapie bike, fell off lots of times, had lessons, bought another bike. A Sunday morning potterer only on cycle-paths, not confident enough to go on the road yet but who knows? I'm still scared of taking my hands off the handlebars to signal but I'm sure that will come. Who knows I might even be able to turn corners soon! It's so reassuring to know I'm not alone!
All the best to you all.......

 

[colinr]

Me! Well, I cycled a bit last year but this year I popped on here to ask about a new bike to replace the clunky cheap thing I had. Have ended up on a fixie road bike, gone clipless, worn lycra and everything. You lot are an expensive influence!

 

[Jane Smart]

I started cycling this year too, cannot believe how much I love it with a passion. Learned to ride a bike as a child and that was it, I never cycled at all. Took me a few months to get my hand signals down to a fine art and look back also was a problem, which I now no longer have any problems with

Now I do 32 miles or more, every time I go out which is 5 or 6 times a week and as mentioned in a previous post, I even cycle on the roads now

 

[slowmotion]

I started again in June. I must have been on a bike no more than a dozen times since 1980. It started with the odd 10 mile round trip commute, and then 20 mile pootles at weekends. If I can't get out on the bike a few times each week, I now start to get a bit twitchy. It has done wonders for my energy, and I have a far more positive attitude to life in general. I just love it, and regret that I did not discover it 25 years ago.

The terrible down-side is that I have developed a fairly serious "Wiggle habit".

 

[Sheepy1209]

Me too - had a bike for local trips to the shops etc but since buying my hybrid in the spring I've rediscovered the pleasure I used to get from cycling as a teenager - and thanks to commuting I've lost 20lbs without consciously modifying my diet.

I've always been confident on the road, but just couldn't break the fitness barrier - it's only when I realised that my knobbly-tyred steel-framed MTB could be vastly improved with slick tyres that I started to cover some distance - then the investment in a new bike seemed worth the risk.

Weather this last couple of weeks has been atrocious here in Blackpool - I'm happy to ride all year and don't mind the rain, but it's pretty exposed here and the gales are beyond a joke! I'm still getting out locally most days, but the commuting's been less frequent - it can't be like this all winter can it? Can it?

 

[Shorinjidude]

And me! Just commuting, a round 12 miles or so. Used to cycle a lot as a kid but once I moved to London lost the habit.....then motorbikes. My regret is buying a hybrid. I used to ride roadbikes back in the eightees- or racers as we called them. The hand position over the brakes is so much more natural and now the gear levers are there as well. Not sure selling a six month old bike is any good in London, not with all the stolen ones available for £100 (despite a grands worth of speck!)

 

[Hacienda71]

I got back into it this year. Always had a bike but rode it rarely in recent years. Doctor told me i needed to exercise more suggested jogging. I have hated running since a kid at school despite being good at it. Never saw the point of going nowhere slowly so took the mountain bike out of the garage soon put slicks on it then bought a knackered Eddy Merckx repaired that and now ride it three times a week or so. Commute to Macc and go all over the place at the weekends. Average speed up month on month as are my distances.Yet to recreate my ride as a student from Sheffield to Wilmslow but contemplating it. All good.

 

[PC_Arcade]

Thanks for the support all

It's good to be slim again and I'm only 12st4 now (at 6'1"), down from around 18st!

Like I say I LOVE cycling lol

 

[ACS]

Rejoined the sport officially April this year. Pottered around during last wnter on a BSO type MTB, decided in January that I prefered cycling to driving so I restored my old 531c road bike and in April I took to road with a vengence.

So far I have lost 2 stone in weight, cycled 83 miles in one day, completed two x 100 km audax, added a Tricross Sport 09 to my stable, and have just under 4k road milage in my legs. Met a loads of great people, being dropped by most of them and I smile from ear-2-ear every time it happens.

 

[accountantpete]

Found myself in a rut 5 years ago and packed it in. Started again in Jan and it was a hard slog getting back into the swing of things but I made the decision to go for second-hand high-end gear for my current steed which has given me a new lease of life.

 

[potsy]

And me,started in April doing 6 mile round the block rides after work which I found really tough,8 months later I did a 60 miler with some of the other cc'ers.Commute to work on bike now 99% of the time.
Lost 2 stone in weight and feel loads better now.Should end up doing 2500+ this year,will go for 3000 next year minimum.

 

[Arch]

Frigid arctic air has now started to blow in and soon snow and ice will grip the roads - and the sea! - so it's back to running for me until spring.

Ah, that's no excuse, I'm afraid. Never heard of Iditabike?

It's great to read all this stuff, and so nice to hear from so many 'newbies'. I've been into bikes for about 10 years now, commuted, toured, even worked promoting cycling, but it was only this summer I rode more than 66 miles in a day - my first century!

Whatever distances you do, at whatever pace, enjoy it!

 

[Rollon]

I started again after 40 years out of the saddle. Began looking at bikes and got a huge surprise in that compared to 40 years ago the selection and technology of cycles today is massive. I didnt have a clue, but after reading several books like Cyclecraft, Complete Bike Book and joining the CTC soon got relatively genned up. Started by getting completely the wrong bike off E Bay, but sold it for £120 profit after just three rides. Then got my present bike a Spesh Tricross Sports and promptly got hit by a car during my 4th ride out on it. Repaired now and done a 51 miler since. I then got an MTB and am up to 40 mile on that. My outings have slowed off now with the winter and am concentrating more on mountaineering at the moment but will be back in the spring on the bikes and hope to do some touring next year my 65th.
Dave.

 

[Bandini]

My first touring bike, after no real cycling for twenty years, should arrive at the shop this week. Intending to do a good few smaller rides over winter, then some touring and camping over summer. I have decent summer holidays. My girlfriend will hopefully get into it, but says she is waiting for spring (or I can see it being a bone of contention!) I am determined to get out a fair bit, when it is not appalling weather, over winter.

 

[Bayerd]

I've started again this August after a 20 year lay off. First few times were so tough, even just going a couple of miles. I'm now up to about 12 miles every morning before work with longer rides at the weekend. I'm still on a MTB BSO, which I think I might change once the weather improves next year.

I've also lost 3 1/4 stone in weight, which so far seems to be staying off. I currently have a day off about every 10 days, and can't wait to get back on the bike after a day off. I even enjoy riding in the rain (which I never thought I would).

I wish I'd done it years ago.

Next year I'm hoping to get some longer rides under my belt and will probably join a club to help with that.