Why cycle

[rowan 46]

First a confession. I am not a serious cyclist, cycling for me (at least since adulthood ) gets me to where I want to go. I can't drive.My bike is my means of transport so the joys of the open road and all that I don't get. Don't get me wrong you lycra warriors as you speed past me with your fast bodies and posh machines I admire your dedication and when you sit in your forums and talk of carbs and cadence and all the things that make you an efficient one with your machine, I have to confess a little admiration for your knowledge as well. Cycling is not my first love astronomy is so I put my scope on the trailer and take it out of the city to get a look at skies unpolluted by man made light or amble along for a 10-20 miles stopping and taking photo's during the occasional day when I have nothing else to do. These are the times I use my bike recreationally the rest of the time it's used for work.
I work as a home care assistant and the bike is an efficient way to travel. A journey round the city that takes an hour and a half by public transport takes me 30 mins by bike as I don't have to wait for connections.
I said earlier I don't get the joy of the open road and all that. So why do I cycle? why don't I just learn to drive? Well I do sort of enjoy cycling, not always when the rain is tipping it down and sometimes as I'm dragging my scope and trailer up a big hill the thought of a car flits across my mind. But when I'm filtering through traffic watching the frustration in a drivers eyes and their envy that I can get get where I want to go and they can't then I don't mind not driving. I like not having to spend half an hour looking for a parking space. I like that my footprint on the earth is light enough to leave it standing for future generations. i like not having to pay for tax and insurance, MOT, petrol and most of all I like that I don't have to think about exercising my exercise is a natural by product of what I do. I don't need to spend a fortune for gym membership. So why do you cycle?

 

[billy1561]

Initially i started cycling because a few guys in work had taken it up. But it was very occasional at first, until i had my car insurance renewal. Quite a shock and i had been cycling quite a bit more to be truthfull so i decided to sell the car.

Very radical i know but i have hardly looked back. Through traffic it's great and extremely therapeutic. I've lost 2 stones in weight since i ditched the car and feel so much healthier. Always brings a smile riding past a petrol station and seeing the prices on the boards.

Use my bike everywhere now and it's great. Even bought a road bike such is my passion but that's another tale entirely.

 

[apollo179]

I also was becoming increasingly dissillusioned with the price of petrol, insurance and the increasing hassle of sorting the mot etc. One day i found a dumped womans townsend mountain bike dumped outside my house and started using it. Good bike but got stolen in due course and i bought my current apollo for £16 of ebay. Good bike. Not much fun when its raining but i like the self sufficiency. I do up to 30miles at the moment - my feelings are more feelings of releif its over when i get home rather than feelings of enjoyment.
Ive lost 6kg since the start of june.

 

[Adasta]

I also was becoming increasingly dissillusioned with the price of petrol, insurance and the increasing hassle of sorting the mot etc. One day i found a dumped womans townsend mountain bike dumped outside my house and started using it. Good bike but got stolen in due course and i bought my current apollo for £16 of ebay. Good bike. Not much fun when its raining but i like the self sufficiency. I do up to 30miles at the moment - my feelings are more feelings of releif its over when i get home rather than feelings of enjoyment.
Ive lost 6kg since the start of june.

Congratulations! I would say that, if you like your Apollo, you're going to love your next bike!

I started to cycle "properly" as a way to get around London; I thought I would use it to commute. That's still the plan, it's just that the job is nowhere to be seen...

 

[gavroche]

I cycle because I enjoy the exercise. I hate the thought of being stuck in a gym, just looking at a blank wall.
I dont travel very far, may be up to 30 miles max sometimes, most of the time it is up to 15 miles, but I enjoy it.
I have nothing against cars, they have their purpose and are very useful and I dont worry at all about the carbon footprint. ( I think it is a lot of bullocks to be fair).

 

[apollo179]

Congratulations! I would say that, if you like your Apollo, you're going to love your next bike!

I started to cycle "properly" as a way to get around London; I thought I would use it to commute. That's still the plan, it's just that the job is nowhere to be seen...

Well actually ive just picked up a ridgeback 501 gs hybrid - largely as a result of the anti apollo vibe ive picked up on this forum. To be honest , and it is early days, it feels like riding on skates and im going round corners in installments whereas my trusty old apollo was rock solid , went round corners like it was on rails. But early days - hopefully i will get used to it - for the money i paid i had better get used to it. Otherwise it will be the most expensive waste of money on a bit of rusty old iron since the milenium dome.
Im mostly in and around london.
Good luck with the job hunting.

 

[MacB]

coz I'm a fat git and would be an even fatter git if I didn't

 

[marinyork]

I also was becoming increasingly dissillusioned with the price of petrol, insurance and the increasing hassle of sorting the mot etc. One day i found a dumped womans townsend mountain bike dumped outside my house and started using it. Good bike but got stolen in due course and i bought my current apollo for £16 of ebay. Good bike. Not much fun when its raining but i like the self sufficiency. I do up to 30miles at the moment - my feelings are more feelings of releif its over when i get home rather than feelings of enjoyment.
Ive lost 6kg since the start of june.

This is the sort of story I love reading about on here.

 

[gbb]

Why do i cycle ?
Having got married quite young, money wasn't growing in trees so it seemed the best way to commute...and thats what it was for many years. I'd never even thought of cycling as a fitness regime or just for the pleasure. (mind that commute was circa 15 miles a day so that was enough)
Took up jogging in my late 30s because i was starting to feel 'stodgy or lethargic ', don't think i had a bike at that stage.
Commuting by bike set in again at some stage, always have, always will ride as fast as i can and at some stage, suddenly got the urge to start riding further. No idea why now, but that was 10 years ago at 42.

Still havnt gone big distances, i think 82 miles was my longest, usually around 50's my mark, i start to get a sore prostate then...or just get plain bored, sometimes tired.

50 miles today, i always set out with big intentions, but after say 3 or 4 hours, i start cracking

 

[pepecat]

I cycle cos I like it.
I used to enjoy it a lot as a kid, and spend many hours cycling along the seafront where I grew up. Cycled as a student as a means of getting around....and then I got a car.
Watched the Tour every year, and every year said to the o/h 'Can I get a bike?' and every year she said she'd rather I didn't - dangerous / traffic etc etc, she'd worry about me....
Two years ago, all the grinding down paid off and she said as long as I promised to wear a helmet every time i cycled, i could get a bike. I was made redundant that year (knew it was coming), and used some of the redundancy money to buy my bike, so my ex employer actually bought it for me.....ha ha!!
Didn't cycle much for various reasons in 2009, and decided i needed a goal for 2010, so signed up for the British Heart Foundation Coventry bike ride - 30 miles of rolling roads round Warwickshire. This time last year, 30 miles seemed like a really long way......... now it seems like a piece of cake. Did that ride and felt really good at the end, and then decided I needed something more challenging, so did the 65 mile Dartmoor Classic this year.
What next..........?!

 

[rowan 46]

Congratulations! I would say that, if you like your Apollo, you're going to love your next bike!

I started to cycle "properly" as a way to get around London; I thought I would use it to commute. That's still the plan, it's just that the job is nowhere to be seen...

good luck with the job hunting

 

[Adasta]

good luck with the job hunting

Cheers!

 

[Paulus]

I cycle because I enjoy it. I have since the age of 5, I cycled to school, I cycled to work. I cycle for the fun of it. I do my shopping by bike, I race my mates at the weekend and in the evenings. I tour around the country and Europe. I love it.

 

[biggs682]

why cycle .

well work is 1.5 miles away so car doesnt even get warm or out of 3 rd gear , car park always busy .

and it only takes between 6 - 9 mins each way depending on wind conditions on any of my bikes also provides ideal short test route for any projects that are nearing completion . if something goes wrong its a max of 25 mins walk so can still get back to work in an hr lunchbreak .

plus it helps with the fitness and exercise level , and with petrol costing over £1.30 a gallon it makes sense

i think companys should encourage people to use other forms of transport . on average out of over 100 employess only 2 - 3 regular cyclists and then a couple of more non regular ones .

 

[gavroche]

1.30 a gallon!!!! I wish.