# How'd you get into riding?



## Greg (Jun 18, 2008)

My recent reintroduction to MTBing is pretty well documented here and not all that exciting. My first experience on a mountain bike was sometime around 1993, I guess. My buddy won a day of lift-serviced mountain biking at Mount Snow on the radio so he invited me. Imagine that - first time back on a bicycle as an adult and riding down the perilous slopes of Mount Snow. :-o It didn't go very well. A wet rainy day and I struggled with the toe clips. Still had fun though.

Another college buddy then convinced me to buy a mountain bike a few years later. He was pretty into it and I had fun trying to keep up with him. After graduation, I did a few solo rides since my parent's house (where I lived for a few years following college) bordered a state forest. Looking back, I wish I took advantage of that more as I would love to now have a reasonable MTB option right out the door. Anyway, I then did a few rides with a guy I worked with which was cool. I last rode that bike in any serious MTB capacity around 1998 when the guy I normally rode with got a new job.

My wife bought me a new mountain bike in 2005 and it sat idle pretty much until this spring. With the new house and two small kids, I just didn't have a lot of free time. I take a fair amount of time in the winter to ski so I didn't mind taking the off-(ski) season to hang back at the homestead a bit.

Things around the house are pretty much in order now and the kids being a bit older are much easier than the infant stage so this spring, I was determined to get back on the bike. First few rides went okay, and then I took a ride with a few fellow AZers so I got officially hooked. So much so in fact that I haven't really even entered into the typical early summer ski depression. Not one bit. In fact, I haven't really thought about skiing anywhere near as much as I have this time of year in the past. I feel that's probably a healthy thing. The only problem is now I'm fixated on when the next ride is, acquiring new gear, etc. Nevertheless, I'm psyched I have something to keep me content in the off season. Plus I should head into next ski season with some better leg strength and cardio.

What's your story?


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## davidhowland14 (Jun 18, 2008)

I started working at a bike shop last summer and pretty much had to take up riding. I started road last summer, mountain this summer.


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## wa-loaf (Jun 18, 2008)

I got my first mtn bike in 1988 when I first got to Germany. It was a low end Cannondale, I sold it 6 months later and got another one that was more off road worthy. I did a fair amount of riding while I was there, but there wasn't much off road near Munich at the time. Germany has great bike trails and fire roads in the woods, but the forests are heavily managed and there just wasn't much access back then. I had to travel down to Garmisch to find much single track.

Things picked up more when I got back to Maine in 91 and then spent a little time in Arizona riding around in the desert. Then moved to Boston started riding around Lynn and Medford and even worked in a bike shop one summer. The last 5 years have been kinda off with getting married having little kids and buying and selling a couple houses. Now sitting out the summer 'till me knee heals. I got a little taste of it last month and got the bug again. So I'm hoping to be in shape to start hitting the trails again in September. I've found Leominster State Forest has some really nice trails in my area.


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## andyzee (Jun 18, 2008)

It was awhile back, they invented this round thing called a wheel. I figured, wtf you gonna do with that. Saw kids playing with it rolling it down hills and stuff, but didn't see any practical use for the darn thing. Then one day, Ned a neighbor of mine, came by on this contraption. It was a big wheel in the front, and a lil wheel in the back, with a seat in between. I said Ned, what are you doing with that out here, california's the place you ought to be, so Ned packed up his family and moved out to Beverly, Hills that is. 

Anyway, Ned left his contraption behind, didn't know what it was, how it works, or what to do with it. Had a seat, saw kids rolling wheels down hills, so figured I take it to the hill and throw some kid on the seat, sit back and watch the fun. Kid hit a rock flew off the seat and into the ocean, never did see that kid again. But, as he was rolling down hill, I saw him use his legs to spin these odd contraptions under the seat, they had a chain attached to them. Hmmm... I thought, maybe the kid had something here. Figured I'd try it but not on the hill, try flat land first. So, one day I did, I got on this contraption on flat land and immediatly fell to the side. Got on again, same results, and agian and again. I don't quit easy. Then at one point as I got on I started spinning those odd things below the seat, suddenly I was able to keep my balance and the contraption started moving forward. It was a wierd sensation that I truly enjoyed. I did it again and again and again. And then I read about this bike thing one day and saw that what I was riding was a bike. Great lil do hicky......



I am in love with my little red tricycle
It has pedals, and a seat that has springs
And wheels that have spokes
That don´t speak ´til they´re spoken to
And a little bell that can ring
See? See? 

Thirty days have Septober
April, June, and Nowonder
All the rest have peanut butter
All except my dear grandmother
She had a little red tricycle
It´s mine now!


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## Greg (Jun 18, 2008)

andyzee said:


> It was awhile back, they invented this round thing called a wheel. I figured, wtf you gonna do with that. Saw kids playing with it rolling it down hills and stuff, but didn't see any practical use for the darn thing. Then one day, Ned a neighbor of mine, came by on this contraption. It was a big wheel in the front, and a lil wheel in the back, with a seat in between. I said Ned, what are you doing with that out here, california's the place you ought to be, so Ned packed up his family and moved out to Beverly, Hills that is.
> 
> Anyway, Ned left his contraption behind, didn't know what it was, how it works, or what to do with it. Had a seat, saw kids rolling wheels down hills, so figured I take it to the hill and throw some kid on the seat, sit back and watch the fun. Kid hit a rock flew off the seat and into the ocean, never did see that kid again. But, as he was rolling down hill, I saw him use his legs to spin these odd contraptions under the seat, they had a chain attached to them. Hmmm... I thought, maybe the kid had something here. Figured I'd try it but not on the hill, try flat land first. So, one day I did, I got on this contraption on flat land and immediatly fell to the side. Got on again, same results, and agian and again. I don't quit easy. Then at one point as I got on I started spinning those odd things below the seat, suddenly I was able to keep my balance and the contraption started moving forward. It was a wierd sensation that I truly enjoyed. I did it again and again and again. And then I read about this bike thing one day and saw that what I was riding was a bike. Great lil do hicky......



The first paragraph was mildly entertaining, then I lost interest about three words in the 2nd. Cripes, Andy. Rcoking' the blueberry tonight, or what? :roll:


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## andyzee (Jun 18, 2008)

Greg said:


> The first paragraph was mildly entertaining, then I lost interest about three words in the 2nd. Cripes, Andy. Rcoking' the blueberry tonight, or what? :roll:


 
Critics, dime a dozen. Blueberries next month!


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## Skier75 (Jun 19, 2008)

Been riding since I was a kid. Always have had a bike. At one time, that was my transportation.


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## Marc (Jun 19, 2008)

Started riding cause I wasn't doing much else.

The end.


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## dmc (Jun 19, 2008)

Wow...  you guys make me feel old...

I picked up a Schwinn Sierra in 1986 or 87...  Looked like a cool thing..
We started blazing old hiking trails in Wachung , Chimney Rock and Berkeley Hts NJ.  Slowed down a bit in the last couple of years since I've moved to Hunter...

But this summer I'm back..  Got racks for the car...  Ready to roll...


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## andyzee (Jun 19, 2008)

Ok, blueberries have left system 

I always used to ride a bike as a kid. My dad didn't make much money, but he spoiled the hell out of me especially when it came to bikes. I needed a new bike, I'd tell dad and we'd be off to the store. So, as a kid I always rode. When I turned 17 I got my drivers license and dad spoiled me with a car and that was the end of my biking. By the time I was 18 my weight went from 180 to 230. Didn't start riding but did start running and eventually got the weight back down to 170.

When I was about 25-27 I started visiting the newly formed nude beach in NJ, Sandy Hook. There I met this girl that I got really friendly with and one day we decided to take a trip to Cape Cod together. She was a triathlete and excersiced like crazy, especially liked biking and planned on doing a lot in Cape Cod. As a result I purchased an inexpensive bike to keep her company. Well as good as she was and she was good, she had trouble keeping up with me. I really enjoyed picking up a bike again. My goal for that year was to ride my bike from my house to Sandy Hook by the end of the summer, I was doing it within a month and did it every weekend, 50 miles each way.

I've always been obsessive and that transferred over to the biking, I pushed myself as much as I could, one day I biked 175 miles. And my Grand Finale was a 1000 mile ride from NJ through NY, VT, NH, MA, CT, and home again. I say Grand Finale because after that life and work took over and the biking miles decreased. I now bike when I can but nowhere near as much as I used to. Life sux and then you die (but I still do my best to enjoy  ) Me at John Belushi's grave on Martha's Vineyard during that trip:


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## dmc (Jun 19, 2008)

andyzee said:


> When I was about 25-27 I started visiting the newly formed nude beach in NJ, Sandy Hook.



wow... i think i just threw up in my mouth...


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## severine (Jun 19, 2008)

When my daughter was approaching 1 year old, Brian mentioned wanting to get into MTB.  So we bought bikes in April 2006.  He thought I only wanted a cruiser, but I wanted a mean looking bike  so I ended up with a Specialized Hardrock.  The thing hasn't seen many MTB trails (took it on rail trail with the kids and MTB a few times at White Memorial and West Hartford Res, but I missed out on using it entirely in 2007 because of pregnancy and then my broken foot).  But I like having the option.  I've only been out a couple times on the trails at White Memorial this year but I'd like to get out more.  It's become a weighing of the options for me since I do have 2 little kids...and most of the time, I pick running over MTB these days.


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## MRGisevil (Jun 19, 2008)

Timmy


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## Greg (Jun 19, 2008)

andyzee said:


>



Wow, Andy. A strapping young lad, you were. What the hell happened? :lol:

I, too, could have done without the nude beach part though...


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## andyzee (Jun 19, 2008)

Greg said:


> I, too, could have done without the nude beach part though...


 
WTF is the matter with you guys, didn't get into graphics, just facts :roll:  :razz: Now if you want pics, I'm sure I could dig those out :lol:


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## dmc (Jun 19, 2008)

andyzee said:


> WTF is the matter with you guys, didn't get into graphics, just facts :roll:  :razz: Now if you want pics, I'm sure I could dig those out :lol:



Please ban me...


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## andyzee (Jun 19, 2008)

dmc said:


> Please ban me...




:lol::lol::lol::lol:


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## severine (Jun 19, 2008)

andyzee said:


> WTF is the matter with you guys, didn't get into graphics, just facts :roll:  :razz: Now if you want pics, I'm sure I could dig those out :lol:


I think the hot tub photo was enough, thank you.


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## bvibert (Jun 19, 2008)

I used to ride bikes a lot as a kid (like a lot of kids I'm sure).  When I was in my early teens I got a real mountain bike.  It didn't see much off road use though, mostly road use around town.  I wanted to do more riding in the woods, but lack of trails near the house and no one to go with stopped that from happening.  Then I guess around the time I started driving I stopped really riding bikes.  I thought about it from time to time, especially the desire to ride in the woods, but didn't do much if at all.  I eventually went out for a ride in the woods with my Dad in 2005 and had a lot of fun, he convinced me that I'd have even more fun on a bike that had at least front suspension instead of my fully rigid bike from the early 90's.  So the next spring my wife and I took our tax return to the bike shop and bought two new hard tail mountain bikes.  I've done a fair amount of riding in the woods since then, the first summer mostly was on the fire road type trails at the local place near me.  Then last summer I started venturing out to more difficult single track stuff not too far from here.  I happy to hook up with other like minded riders in the area this year to improve my riding even more.  I'm also looking forward to getting my wife back on the bike and doing some riding with her now that there's no physical impairments stopping her.



dmc said:


> Please ban me...



:lol:  POTD candidate...


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## andyzee (Jun 19, 2008)

bvibert said:


> :lol:  POTD candidate...




Your response should have been "Your wish is my command"  :lol:


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## 2knees (Jun 19, 2008)

Greg said:


> Wow, Andy. A strapping young lad, you were. What the hell happened? :lol:



I was gonna say that pic must be 20 years and 100 lbs ago.


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## severine (Jun 19, 2008)

bvibert said:


> I'm also looking forward to getting my wife back on the bike and doing some riding with her now that there's no physical impairments stopping her.


  Me, too.


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## andyzee (Jun 19, 2008)

2knees said:


> I was gonna say that pic must be 20 years and 100 lbs ago.


 

Forgot the 50 women. 8)


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## GrilledSteezeSandwich (Jun 19, 2008)

andyzee said:


> Ok, blueberries have left system
> 
> I always used to ride a bike as a kid. My dad didn't make much money, but he spoiled the hell out of me especially when it came to bikes. I needed a new bike, I'd tell dad and we'd be off to the store. So, as a kid I always rode. When I turned 17 I got my drivers license and dad spoiled me with a car and that was the end of my biking. By the time I was 18 my weight went from 180 to 230. Didn't start riding but did start running and eventually got the weight back down to 170.
> 
> ...



Nice socks you stud..the 80s called and they want their socks back...lmbfao...yeah you were a skinny mo-fo..


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## andyzee (Jun 19, 2008)

GrilledSteezeSandwich said:


> Nice socks you stud..the 80s called and they want their socks back...lmbfao...yeah you were a skinny mo-fo..



One thing I'll never be accused of is caring about fashion, never did, never will. I am what I am :lol: Entered one bike race in my life and I dressed far worst than that. Everyone else had their nice bike clothes on and their custom bikes, etc... The only reason I didn't win the race is inexperience. I had the lead up until the last 50 yards and didn't think of turning it on in the final stretch.


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## tjf67 (Jun 19, 2008)

I will skip the littl kid stuff.  I started riding in college in 88.  Had a raleigh, No suspension.  I dont think there was any at that point.  Used to ride with a couple firend up around pburgh.  After graduating I bought my first full suspension bike around 94.  A proflex 756.  Great bike I gave it to my nephew recently and it still going strong.  Road that around Grafton and used to kill my buddies that only had front suspension.  The old schoolers used to laugh at it at the time until we got on the trail and even though they were stronger riders they could not take the beating.   In 00 I bought the bike that I am currently riding now.  I.H Hollowpoint.  The bike is serving me well.  Its only got 3 inches of travel and the guys I ride with have 4 and 5 but the old horse holds it own.  

Biking is great exercise, your  adreneline gets going so much you dont even notice how much you are doing.  

I thought the hills in Grafton were nasty.  OMG the hills up here are insane.


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## bigbog (Jun 21, 2008)

*...about the same position....*

Today's MtnBikes are so nice.....demoing a few this coming week....


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## jplynch019 (Jun 27, 2008)

Learned to ride at 4 years old.  Didn't have my own bike so I used to wait for the kid down the street to go to school and would take his bike out for a ride, then replace it exactly where I found it.  Stop thief!  After that regular biking around the neighborhood.  At age 15 I realized with 2 older siblings that my chances were really slim at getting to use the family car.  So I bought my first "serious" bike.   It looked like this:   
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Did some solo rides as a teenager, then quit riding as I became a "dad".  Tried Mountain Biking and didn't like it all that much.  Went through a few more road bikes, started commuting to work every day. And I guess I'm hooked.  Did a 900 mile, 9 day ride to Chicago from CT in the beginning of June 2008.  And that's pretty much it.


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## Marc (Jun 27, 2008)

jplynch019 said:


> Learned to ride at 4 years old.  Didn't have my own bike so I used to wait for the kid down the street to go to school and would take his bike out for a ride, then replace it exactly where I found it.  Stop thief!  After that regular biking around the neighborhood.  At age 15 I realized with 2 older siblings that my chances were really slim at getting to use the family car.  So I bought my first "serious" bike.   It looked like this:
> 
> Did some solo rides as a teenager, then quit riding as I became a "dad".  Tried Mountain Biking and didn't like it all that much.  Went through a few more road bikes, started commuting to work every day. And I guess I'm hooked.  Did a 900 mile, 9 day ride to Chicago from CT in the beginning of June 2008.  And that's pretty much it.



That's pretty cool and pretty crazy.  You ever considered doing any brevets or randonneuring ?


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## jplynch019 (Jun 27, 2008)

I guess I've thought about it.  The Chicago trip was definitely a "randomly organized" trip.  I knew I generally wanted to follow US RT 6, but at the same time didn't want to deal with Cleveland. Of course this was a solo ride versus something organized.  I would like to cross the USA but can't get the time off from work to do it.  I am considering appying for ride leader on one of those "for pay" bike ride vacation companies as my "next career".  Not sure if I have the patience to wait for slower riders.


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## Marc (Jun 27, 2008)

jplynch019 said:


> I guess I've thought about it.  The Chicago trip was definitely a "randomly organized" trip.  I knew I generally wanted to follow US RT 6, but at the same time didn't want to deal with Cleveland. Of course this was a solo ride versus something organized.  I would like to cross the USA but can't get the time off from work to do it.  I am considering appying for ride leader on one of those "for pay" bike ride vacation companies as my "next career".  Not sure if I have the patience to wait for slower riders.



That would be pretty fun actually.  I'm still kinda thinking about going the long distance direction.  I think I've got my knee pain figured out (knocks on wood) after a lot of advice from my soon to be D.PT g/f and I'm not much on road racing.  I'd much rather go out and beat the clock than have some asshole elbow me over in a crit.  Plus I'm a really slow climber.


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## cbcbd (Jun 27, 2008)

Rode as a kid... nothing serious, no trails, living in the city, roads dangerous, just in the park or around the neighborhood.

Moved to the US - got a no suspension Giant mtb... rode around aimlessly around neighborhood, used it for transportation sometimes, took it to college, let it almost die of rust.

After college wanted to get into trails more... got some clipless, some shoes... hardcore... hit some trails, scared myself, kept at it a little but not seriously.

Bike got stolen in '05... Roadie friend wanted to get me into road... I was reluctant until I got on the bike --- sooo fast compared to the mtbs I was used to.  He lent me his old road bike, a Mangusta 7000: (this bike but in teal)





Had lots of good rides with that bike... really got me into the road.

But then I still had to get a new MTB so I got my current one, Rocky Mountain Slayer 50:





Then got really into it... getting more technical, learning proper techniques, and dropping bigger and bigger stuff. I still have a long way to go, but I'm going in the direction that I want to now.

Then I busted some spokes on a wheel of the Mangusta on a Greylock hill climb 100K ride... and it was time to get my own road bike and return the Mangusta... broken  , so I got my current one, RM Solo 50AC:





I try to ride both equally but the MTB just gives me the rush that I need more often. I have to find some local trails I can regularly hit and now I'm waiting for parts on both to get them 100% but the road bike will be used mainly for getting around town for a while, I think... until I add a city bike to the quiver


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## Greg (May 5, 2009)

Greg said:


> Another college buddy then convinced me to buy a mountain bike a few years later. He was pretty into it and I had fun trying to keep up with him. After graduation, I did a few solo rides since my parent's house (where I lived for a few years following college) bordered a state forest. Looking back, I wish I took advantage of that more as I would love to now have a reasonable MTB option right out the door. Anyway, I then did a few rides with a guy I worked with which was cool. I last rode that bike in any serious MTB capacity around 1998 when the guy I normally rode with got a new job.



Here's that sick Trek I used to ride back in the day:






Johnnypoach killed it after one ride...


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## Grassi21 (May 5, 2009)

I bought this beast as a senior in HS (1995).  I crashed it hard one winter while riding to a friends house.  It say in the garage and got light usage by my little bro.  I resurrected it last spring to get a taste of MTB.  The next ride I used Greg's Trek you see above.  Now I ride an '08 Cannondale F5 hardtail.  The Giant was recently reworked as a single speed.  It is at the LBS now getting a once over by the mechanic.  I'm going to cart my son around on this ride so I want to be sure its put together correctly by this wrench turning noob.  I will post a pic of it when I pick it up later in the week.


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