why do you ride?

lewis1641

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probably been done to death but i havent seen a thread like this before so i'm wondering, whay started you riding/ did you ever stop? why do you ride today?

having recently been obsessed with the ride journal (www.theridejournal.com )

i have become aware that there is more to riding a bike than i realised.

i started riding as a kid like every other kid. fun and transport.

when i got a little older my bike became my only transport as i became less reliant on my parents and stood on my own two feet.

when i think back to the days of commuting year round 30 miles a day on road on a mountain bike i dont think i really apreciated it at the time. i really found it a chore and to be fair as soon as i could afford to run my car i didnt cycle anywhere much, even for fun.

looking back now though the most memorable rides home were the ones in the depths of winter. pitch black and cold. i used to get a kick out of it. i dont think i realised at the time but i must have done as i turned down so many lifts.

the ride into work was always hard work but i used to love the feeling of freedom riding home.

i had a 5 year gap where i piled on a stone a year. a while ago i decided enough was enough and dusted down my (now knackered) fire mountain.

the memories of being a kid came flooding back. only now i have a van to throw the bikes into, drive somewhere intersting and have a blast for a few hours. so i ride for fun again.

i also think it is head emptying. stressful day forgotten within half a mile.
awesome.

i just need to ride more
 
Simply because its quicker than walking .

My brother whose 15 years older than me was riding bmx in the 80s when i was born . I've always been around bikes , of course when i was old enough to get on the things i inherited my brothers old bikes and parts as he got into motorbikes . I didn't ride much in the late 90s , i call those the playstation years , having a dodgy knee didn't help much either .

If i needed to get anywhere it was on the bike , ive never been into the whole driving to a place to ride . Cars are very confining , sat behind the glass looking at the world through a distorted picture frame , i lose concentration very quickly , you can't beat the breeze in your face and the feel of earth beneath you .

From an early age i learn't you reap what you sow , you get nothing out if you put nothing in . puncture , you fix it yourself , need to get to a shop 20 miles away , you ride yourself there , want something to ride , you dig it .

The first tool i picked up was because of a bicycle , my first friends ( and subsequently every friend worth having ) was because of bicycles , everything i have ever learn't can be linked back to bicycles .

why do i ride ? to quote ruben "its easy , you do ? "
 
I always just messed around on bikes as all do when kids. Through school I mainly played rugby but a couple of lads I became friends with later on were into cycling and started...I just followed into it with them and found I really liked it.
I just kept on at it. I think I stopped a year or two after uni. I have discovered the joys of alcohol and just rode less and less cos I was usually just hungover :D When I did have a ride it was tougher cos I had lost my fitness which made me want to ride less till eventually I just never did.

Started again to lose weight after discovering the Radbmx site and wanted to do the same...Unfortunately 10 years of beer, crap food and no exercise I had ballooned to a huge weight.....Morbidly obese. 18 months later I still have a way to go but have lost over 5 stone currently and riding is a genuine pleasure
 
I ride to keep fit so I can look after my disabled son. He is 7 and has Autism and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. His DCD will get much worse over the next few years and will be wheel-chair bound in a few years time. It also keeps my weight down.
 
its iroic this post is here as ive been asking myself this question a lot lately.thing is i am a biker at heart(the big single cylinder chopper type) even tho i do love my bike thing i have going on i have been going thru a time where im finding it hard to enjoy the ride.i know it keeps me fit and its a nice bike and all that i just cant find that good feeling i used to have when i rode in the 90s......perhaps i need some inspiration or something...


we ride because we can.. :shock:
 
Mainly because i dont have a car.
Some other reasons about helping avoid people on public transport and general fittnes[keep things moving :LOL: ]

Nice too, to be out pottering about the parks and trails :cool:
 
you can forget about whatever's going on at home/work as you are concentrating so hard on that patch of ground 5ft in front of your wheel....


that and shiny bits, and a good pub at the end :D
 
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