Brandane
Legendary Member
- Location
- Costa Clyde
Good story ..... depending on where he started out from! Was it Aberdeen, or Catterick?!
"Local" doesn't give much away when you have no location on your profile.
Your very first ride
- Thread starter davdandy
- Start date
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"Local" doesn't give much away when you have no location on your profile.
summerdays
Cycling in the sun
- Location
- Bristol
I did ride as a child and probably into my mid teens, though I had a couple of accidents on the bike (my own fault ones) and gradually stopped.
I remember at Uni my friends having bike to get into Uni (but Blackboy hill was enough to make me think that wasn't a good idea). I do remember us all going on a group ride out towards Portishead, so I must have borrowed a bike from someone. I came to think of a bike as something you hired once a year at a cycle trail for a day out. Then the eldest needed a new bike which was going to be 26 inch and I started borrowing it for rides. It fell apart very quickly (being a heap of junk from Toys r Us), but I had caught the bug and bought myself a bike and started using it in town. My parents were worried as they just remembered their accident prone daughter, but I think I've proved them wrong now!
From that trip on the borrowed bike at Uni, this was just over the suspension bridge when we stopped to fix a puncture!
I remember at Uni my friends having bike to get into Uni (but Blackboy hill was enough to make me think that wasn't a good idea). I do remember us all going on a group ride out towards Portishead, so I must have borrowed a bike from someone. I came to think of a bike as something you hired once a year at a cycle trail for a day out. Then the eldest needed a new bike which was going to be 26 inch and I started borrowing it for rides. It fell apart very quickly (being a heap of junk from Toys r Us), but I had caught the bug and bought myself a bike and started using it in town. My parents were worried as they just remembered their accident prone daughter, but I think I've proved them wrong now!
From that trip on the borrowed bike at Uni, this was just over the suspension bridge when we stopped to fix a puncture!
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galaxy
Veteran
- Location
- Middleton On The Hill
He started from Sunderland.
Jefferson Meriwether
Veteran
- Location
- Worthing
My first ride was a 12 mile round trip to work and back on an old mountain bike that was given to me for free. Pretty much every single incline defeated me; I reckon I spent more of the journey into work pushing my bike than riding it. At least the journey home was more downhill than up.
360 days ago. Started riding to work to save money (yeah, that did not work out) on a Trax TFS1D from Halfords. 5.1 miles 50 minutes going by my watch. Downloaded Strava on 27/7/13 whilst in work and commuted home in 35 minutes. Got the bug, tried longer rides loved it, bought a new bike which was my Sirrus. In November I did 42 miles with the seat too low and twanged my knee, 4 months on and off the bike, mainly off, then returned "full time" at the start of April. Since April I have been injury free, completed a 50 miler which was accidental (got lost) and a 100 KM. Currently have routes for 75 and 85 mile rides saved.
BirdOnnaBike
Active Member
Yes, like others here had no first 'grown up' ride as such as started riding at about 5, and then rode with no major breaks til in my mid 20s. Lived in the middle of nowhere, so if I wanted to see my mates in other villages, it was a case of cycle there. Then in my 20s did a bit of touring.
Stopped riding for a few years and my first ride when I returned, several years ago, was on a Halfords BSO which I probably (don't remember) got as far as the next village - about 1 1/2 miles - found it nothing like the cycling I remembered, and nearly gave up. But luckily, returned it, got the money back and then added some more money to that to buy a Pashley from a decent bike shop (cos I live somewhere flat and wanted a steel bike) and not logn after would have been managing Sustrans route 65.
I know every winter I have stopped riding, only to start again in spring and have found that first ride back out is always agony. One year, I only got about a mile down the track and thought I was dying! Next time out, not so bad. Third time out, 20 odd miles no problem. It's weird like that. Every year I vow I won't stop in winter, so I don't have to regain my fitness...
Stopped riding for a few years and my first ride when I returned, several years ago, was on a Halfords BSO which I probably (don't remember) got as far as the next village - about 1 1/2 miles - found it nothing like the cycling I remembered, and nearly gave up. But luckily, returned it, got the money back and then added some more money to that to buy a Pashley from a decent bike shop (cos I live somewhere flat and wanted a steel bike) and not logn after would have been managing Sustrans route 65.
I know every winter I have stopped riding, only to start again in spring and have found that first ride back out is always agony. One year, I only got about a mile down the track and thought I was dying! Next time out, not so bad. Third time out, 20 odd miles no problem. It's weird like that. Every year I vow I won't stop in winter, so I don't have to regain my fitness...
summerdays
Cycling in the sun
- Location
- Bristol
This isn't a criticism of not riding in winter, each person has their own set of choices and options to live with, but I'm interested to know what are the stopping and starting points each year? Is it when it becomes dark or icy and how do you know when it's time to get the bike back out of hibernation?
BirdOnnaBike
Active Member
It's as the days get shorter, as I don't like riding in the dark and am often too busy in the day to fit in say a morning ride (even though I work from home - deadlines, etc). Whereas when the evenings give me a few hours of light after the kids are fed at teatime, I can get out... It's not the cold or getting wet that bother me - just the dark! So by October, I find myself simply not going out... Start again varies. I really, really don't want to do this, this year. Just want to keep going. But will have to shoehorn it in, in the mornings, probably... And make a conscious effort. I live in a remote area, which means cycling on a narrow country lane with a lot of blind bends and sometimes, a surprising volume of traffic - cycling when it's dark just doesn't appeal. If I lived in a city, it wouldn't be a problem.
That said, I'd have to save up for some seriously decent lights, too! I do a lot of my cycling on a Sustrans track - it's the cycling to get to the track that's the problem. And also the fact, I'd feel too vulnerable even if I could get there, cycling there on my own, in the dark. Daytime, I'm often stuck at the computer. The few odd times I did get out in the winter - and they have been really few and far between, not enough to keep my fitness - I've really enjoyed it. But yes, I do feel like a lightweight - not just keeping going. It's more about lack of daylight hours though than weather, in my case, as I have always taken the attitude "I live in Britain - it's going to be cold and wet. If I want to get out and do something - I do it regardless of weather!"
