Bicycle riding...

[BuzzKillington]

is a hell of a lot more fun when you're lighter.

I used to ride my bmx bike all. day. long. back when I was younger every day of the week. If I wasn't sick, at school or riding motorcycles I was on my bike. Despite this, I was always fat but hell, I could rep 750 on the leg press (which is weird because they say running/bike riding too much actually eats away at the muscle). Highschool came around and I stopped riding bicycles. I stopped riding motorcycles as much. Got lazy but didn't drop the eating habits.

The last time I rode a bicycle was when I was at my heaviest... 260lbs. I rode it up the street (about a half mile with a fair hill) and was DYING!

I recently picked up a 24spd mountain bike as some of you may remember from a thread I posted a while back. So far I've been having a blast on it. I'm currently fluctuating between 192 and 195 so really, this is the lightest I've been on a bicycle in a long, long while. It's a lot more fun feeling more agile but I can definitely tell I don't have the legs anymore so I've been taking short trips of just under 7 miles. Today I averaged 15mph through the ride and it was a beating. I had to sit in my car for a few before driving home because my legs felt like they were 200lbs each.

I just felt like posting this because A) I'm happy to be back on a bike and B) Maybe one of you will feel like getting the bike out of the corner of the garage and taking it out. When we were kids our lives revolved around bicycles but after we start to grow out of them we (I did at least) forget about the excitement they bring.

[billygoat333]

I love my bike. i love mtn biking, just riding around town, even just dicking around in the parking lot @ my apt. lots o fun.

[FuzzyPlushroom]

I do seven and a half miles (on average, that's my usual route) of mixed gravel/tar most evenings during the warmer months of the year (from snowmelt in April to October or November). I don't get much other exercise, so the biking keeps me slightly in shape and gets me some fresh air.

I've actually been modding my bicycles as of late. I like to think Bucko would be proud.

[BuzzKillington]

I couldn't sleep last night so I just stayed up. I decided to go on a bike ride at 6am, did 7mi and came back home. I ran some errands then decided I still wasn't tired so I went to a different place to ride. I get there and forgot that it was pretty much 3 miles of down hill from where you park... which meant 3mi up hill to get back to the car. Thank god for 24 speeds. That hill was a !@#$%. I would imagine it would have been a little easier if I was rested but I feel great from the ride(s).

...thought I'd share.

[Luke122]

I miss my mountain bike. The beach cruiser is nice for cruising, but that's about it.

When I was at my best, I was riding 7 days a week, at least 2 hours per day from April to November. I was on a 42lb downhill bike with 7" of suspension, and I was commuting with it! The commute was only 20 mins each way, but there was a bike park close to where I worked, and a couple of us would go hit it up every day.

I'm talking full blown hucks, skinnies, fast singletrack, and tons of sketchy, technical downhills. I would wear a backpack to work with my lunch, and my freeride gear (I always wore a full face helmet, gloves, and leg/arm pads when I rode.. you never know when you'll feel compelled to bomb off of something) and a camelback with some tools.

Once I moved to the small town I'm in now, I ended up in a flat ass prairie farm town, with one hill.. up the railroad crossing, and down the other side.. lame. I sold the big bike (REGRET! REGRET!) and bought the cruiser. It's suited more to the flat land here, but I'm still kicking myself, since I'm only 20 mins from the Rocky foothills.

*sigh* And I'm pushing 230lbs now.. stupid desk job.