Why do "YOU" cycle ??

[gbb]

Its all in your head innit...and there's NO escape,
Ive commuted seriously, all weathers, got photos of the bike plastered in snow after a brutal commute that still left me grinning, from my mid 40s became a bit obsessed with increasing speed and fitness, riding at every opportunity. I always got listless if im stuck indoors, edgy, fustrated.
My early to mid 50s saw health problems, TB, pneumonia etc, that kept me off the bike for nearly 2 years, one lung is partly adhered to the chest lining and TBH, its sore following excercise...and despite exceptionally meagre mileage over 3 years, a sometimes nagging desire to just pack Iit in, i still push myself, still fight the wind, get a sore chest, sore knees a bit...and still thoroughly enjoy getting out there.
Sometimes its hard, right now it is, but its in your DNA, you cant help it.

 

[RichardB]

When I was a lad, cycling meant freedom and independence, and a chance to go off with my mates.

In my 20s, I commuted and toured, I read Richard Ballantine and John Forester. When a 10-speed meant two at the front and five at the back. That's when I feel I really got into cycling.

In my 30s, young children meant that 2 hours a day commuting by bike felt like an indulgence, and I went back to my other love, motorbikes.

In my 40s, I went through a divorce, a move to a new area, a new job, and a new relationship. Then I was very ill and all activity stopped for a long time.

In my 50s, I got back into work, but remained fairly inactive, and my health was deteriorating.

At 60, I sold all the motorbikes and bought an electric bike (mainly so that I could enjoy gentle rides with my disabled wife) and thought I might go back to commuting. So I did. I got much fitter and lost a lot of weight, and my blood pressure and blood chemistry are now pretty much normal. I have totally refurbed my old MTB and bought a Dawes tourer. By next spring, I will be commuting by leg power alone. And I couldn't be happier about that.

So for me cycling is a lifetime love, it's freedom, fitness, health, fresh air. It's riding home from work at 6 am and seeing hills rising from pools of pink mist like islands, and crossing paths with foxes on a country lane. It's getting properly out of breath and sweaty and - for the first time in my life - enjoying it. It's feeling the hills getting easier and the times coming down. It's getting out there and doing it while I still can.

 

[tyred]

I just cycle because I feel it gives me an entitlement to post on Cyclechat.

You need to cycle to post on Cyclechat?