How'd you get into the sport of cycling?

[Deagol]

started at the age of 5 or 6 with BMX.
Got a road bike maybe around the age of 14?
Got a MT bike around age 17 or 18.
First MTB race was in college.
Same with first road race.
I have done a bit of both since then.
Joined a team/club maybe 6 years ago.

 

[GilTeamS&M]

"Boy's Life" magazine. When I was eleven years old (in the early 60's) I subscribed to Boy's Life, the Boy Scout magazine in the U.S. They always had a full-page, back-cover advertisement from Schwinn bicycles... the ten-speed Varsity was the ultimate bike in my mind! Got one for Christmas (thank's parents... best Christmas ever!). They purchased it from the LBS which was owned by an ex-racer. He loved the sport, and with every ten-speed bike he sold he gave the new owner a years subscription to American Cycling, the forerunner of Bicycling magazine. American Cycling had just that year switched from an all racing format to a primarily touring format, but they still had substantial national and international racing coverage. All the cool bikes! I loved it!

So I'm riding the crap out of my Varsity, trying to ride every road in North St. Louis County, and one day I'm riding up this hill and a blue Barracuda passes me and pulls over to the side of the road. Some guy sticks his head out and hands me a flyer as I ride past. It's all about the races at the local velodrome, and he's got his name and phone number written on the paper. So I call the guy... apparently he'd seen me ride up the hill by his house many times, thought I looked strong, and had the flyer in his car... waiting for the next time he saw me ride by. Cool! Got my dad to take me to the velodrome, rode a match sprint against a local hotshot junior, he on his Schwinn Paramount track bike and me on my Varsity (after promising not to shift or brake!) and I shocked the kid by almost beating him! Almost, but not quite... a theme that would be repeated.

I was hooked. Got my first racing license at the age of thirteen and have held a license nearly every year since, for over 50 years. A half-century of almost's and not quite's, but great times with great people that I wouldn't trade for anything.

Maybe I should tell you about the time my ex-wife took a camp axe to my Raleigh Professional. She was a little intense at times...

 

[masking_agent]

sep. 1985, I sat next to this guy in home room, who was drawing funny frame bicycles who loved Guido Bontempi. At the time he was laughing at some guy LeMond who was crying after a race. I enquired politely, then we chatted, and I caught the bug right then and there started riding with my high school cycling club and the rest is history

 

[bridgeman]

I wanted big calf muscles.

I was on a team with a guy who had toothpick legs, with hardly any calf muscles at all. He was a pretty fast guy.

He did admit that he started cycling with the hopes that it would help with the development of his calf muscles. It did nothing, even after years of racing.

Years later, he quit cycling. He then got calf implants.

 

[Handbrake]

I bought my first bike at 39 and also thought it might help my skinny legs and fitness for other sports. I quickly discovered some mates were hiding bikes in the closet and we started weekly rides that quickly turned into riding 3 times a week. 18 months later we did 300km in a day. Where was the warning label on the bike saying it could become addictive? Sadly I still have skinny legs but the fitness for footy has improved.

I also blame reading this forum and the last Giro for feeding the addiction.

 

[clipperton]

about 6 years (mid-20's) ago i got really, awfully sick with an immune system disease called sarcoidosis. had been a pack-a-day smoker and imbiber of other substances since my teens and suddenly found myself with aching joints, barely able to walk. spent the best part of a year on 'roids and anti-inflams and god knows what else and by the end of it was 6'3" and about 130kgs (290 pounds or so).
there was a spare bike floating about the office where i worked that had been left over by a foreign intern whose stint was over. i gave it a bash one weekend, 7kms took me 1.5 hours (most of which was spent coughing and spluttering on the side of the road). after a few years that ride took me 15 minutes and i'm now down to a more respectable 90kgs (though my friend still described my figure as being "like a bean bag on a table leg").
started following pro-racing late in the lance era. i know this may sound strange but the kick i get from watching cycling is very similar to that which i get from watching test cricket - the end is defined and the action is intermittent but it is the very diminishing amount of time to the defined end which imparts such exponential importance to every pivotal moment.

 

[BotanyBay]

Breaking Away. This sport spoke to me when I first became aware of it through this film. The sport found me, not the other way around.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

I live in Belgium.
You get born into cycling here.

 

[craig1985]

A non-cyclist four years ago, I got tired of waiting for buses, and having to stand during the journeys, so bought a cheap 1970's style ten-speed road bike with down-tube gear-levers, just to get around.

I found that I was arriving ahead of the buses I used to catch (they stop a lot).

One day, a Swiss roadie stopped his BMC next to me at the lights, smiled, waved, and as we set off, he changed gear in the drops.

I was stunned.

"Did he just change gear by moving the brake lever?!"

Soon after that revelation, I visited a proper bike shop, bought a modern bike (Jamis Ventura), and couldn't believe how wonderful it felt, like flying. (I have a PPL).

I entered the next UCI race on the calendar, and was immediately accepted by the peloton despite being twice their age, and using toe-clips! One of the chaps I knocked shoulders with that day was a former Pro.

It was then I realised how good the pros are, and began to follow the Pro-Tour via websites on dial-up, (no TV).

Biggest thrill was turning up for a local Criterium this March to find myself lined up against a +current+ Pro-Tour rider, Bbox's Yukiya Arashiro. He was on holiday here in Asia, and unannounced, brought his Colnago bike, Bbox kit, and Japanese friends along for a training race!

Top Bloke btw, humble, and a thrilling rider.

He came 9th in the 2010 World Championship at Geelong... the same year he raced against a bloke using toe-clips on his first road-bike.

That kind of experience gives the sport huge accessibility.

By which I mean; pop round to your local garage, buy a car and see if you're allowed to race; Vettel, Alonso, Webber, and Hamilton.

This punter bought a bicycle from his local bike-shop, and soon after, found himself racing the Ninth best rider in the WORLD.

You know who won, but who do you think had the most FUN?

Great story mate. Are you in Japan or Thailand (where Arashiro I know is a big fan of the country)? A few weeks back I rode with Robbie McEwen, Jono Cantwell, and Daryl Impey, at a local training circuit (it is a purpose built road/crit circuit, where you can train and race and never have to worry about cars because it's not on the actual road) where we have training rides every Saturday morning. They showed up unannounced as well. Too bad I was hung over

As for me? I went too high school with a cyclist (born in Hungary, and was living in Australia, and is now back in Hungary), and I was impressed with his training and racing, and his bike, so expensive he had to put it in the teacher's staff room for safe keeping. After that, I started to watch the 2003 TdF, and I had way too much spare for mine own good and I just started riding a POS road bike which was too small for me, to give me something to do. Just after my 19th birthday (2004), I got my first road bike, a year later I new road bike and I was racing, and really, the rest is history.

 

[craig1985]

I was on a team with a guy who had toothpick legs, with hardly any calf muscles at all. He was a pretty fast guy.

He did admit that he started cycling with the hopes that it would help with the development of his calf muscles. It did nothing, even after years of racing.

Years later, he quit cycling. He then got calf implants.

(Not at your post, but the fact this dude got calf implants)

 

[marinoni]

Two things. A friend bought a Fuji and let me take it for a ride. I'll never forget that first ride. It wasn't even that great a bike but compared to the $100 cheapos I'd ridden before it was so light and nimble. That feeling when you jump out of the saddle and the bike surges ahead is still one of my favourite things about riding. I bought a Marinoni a few months later. Just after I bought it I saw the Tour for the first time (1983) and it really inspired me. I would watch the race, at least what there was of it on TV then go for a ride, pretending to be Fignon or Pascal Simon or whoever. The 84 olympics and Lemond's early success really sealed the deal.

 

[Black Dog]

Started with BMX here in Canada the early 80's when I was about 10 years old. Loved riding my bike and the freedom that it gave me. We would ride for fun and to see what was past the next street. The father of one of my friends race as a kid in the UK. He got us into doing longer rides and thinking about racing.
Bought my first race bike in 1986 from a job delivering flyers for a summer. I was 14. The next summer I entered my first race, watched the '87 tour and have never looked back. I still base time before 1987 and after 1987. I was lucky enough to have raced against my heroes Roche and Bauer when they came to Canada to race in the GP Montreal in the early 90's.
I no longer race but love to ride and train. I still experience the sense of freedom and exploration that comes with the excitement of riding the bike; alone or with friends. It is still exactly like it was when I was 10 years old. The bike turned a chubby kid into a fit kid with some confidence and a lot of humility.

 

[ridingtorowfaster]

borrowed my older brother's aluminum road bike when i was 16 or 17. i was in pretty good shape and had never ridden anything but crappy department store bikes. i spent an hour riding a local loop i had seen some cyclists on.
the speed limit was 25 and each time a car came from behind me i would accelerate so that i matched its speed and rode alongside for a few seconds- i thought i was the man! I went home after all the adrenaline had worn off and my legs were toast and actually puked in my front yard.

 

[Bromers]

Was bored one day in the school holidays so was just flicking through the T.V channels when I stumbled across the TDF (2006) being shown live. It was a big mountain stage so just the most brilliant scenery. Then got more and more into cycling watching the next 2 tours and since 2008/09 I've been a keen cyclist and follower of pro cycling.

 

[Le breton]

I live in Belgium.
You get born into cycling here.

Born and raised in Brittany at a time when there were only 2 sports to choose from : cycling and football.

 

[Florian]

My father and big bother were fond of cycling races, I consequently grew up in this sport, watching the TourDeFrance and some classics like Paris-Roubaix on the TV.
At the age of 10, I used to take my mother's mountain bike to climb some steep roads close to my house. I liked it.
When I was 15, my brother gave me his old road bike. And at the age of 19, I bought my first bike, a Bianchi. I have become a "fanatic" from this period onwards.

 

[jimbob_in_co]

Even though I didn't actually learn to ride a bicycle until I was in second grade (very late, even in the US, but I was a very uncoordinated child), I started following The Tour de France & Olympic Cycling events in 1972

I followed (and attended stages of) the Coors International Bicycle Classic. I've been watching the TdF on TV since 1997, back in the ESPN days.

I bought my first ten speed (a lugged steel frame bike weighing about 30 lbs total) in 1976. It cost me $140, the most money I had ever spent on anything to that point in my life. I rode it everywhere, pretending I was in a stage of the Tour.

My mom gave me a used Motobecane Super Mirage when I was in college (again a lugged steel frame but lighter). I rode is ALL OVER the place.
It got vandalized my Senior year on the ONE NIGHT I ever left it locked up outside my apartment.

Finally, I bought a "Real" aluminum frame road bike in 2000. I've put 15,000 (or so) miles and many stickers/decals on it since (over 3,000 miles in one 32 day memorable trek in 2008).

I love the sport of cycling, plain and simple.

 

[SumoSprintStar]

New to the site. I always liked cycling but my first sport was athletics. My coach made me sell by beloved bike as it was hindering my sprinting development. After many years of sprinting and fighting injuries I decided enough was enough. Now I am a bit overweight but loving being out on the open road. I am thinking about joining a club in the Spring but am a little nervous about it.

 

[Hoekstyn]

I live in Belgium.
You get born into cycling here.

Born and raised in Holland, you can't help it. Left for Canada @ the ripe old age of 19 (1967), missed cycling for about 10 years then moved to Windsor ON. in the late 70s and got back into it. Three of our 4 kids are active riders and the grandkids also bike regularly. Read the post from the rider in Japan. Spend a month there last smmer, great country to ride in, felt just like being back in Holland.
And if you are really bored in the off season, rebuilt your bike(s) or go to the cyclocross forum and find the entree with the link to the CX races in Europa. Great to do, even better to watch (specially for an arthritic, pack a day 62 yr old LOL).

 

[Boeing]

I can't remember when I wasn't on a bike really.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

It's a strange thing here. When I was old enough, i bought my first race bike, and joined my father & his friends on his weekly trips.
Now i'm older, and most of my friends own a race bike.
No one of us races intensely, some only 4 times a year ore so, but still, riding a bike is in our blood here...

 

[VeloFidelis]

Like most of us, I started riding as a kid, mostly for transportation. (the Soccer Mom hadn't been invented yet) As a teen in the late 60's I got hooked on bike racing, with less than stellar results, but found it a great training tool for my first love which was ski racing. I was slightly more proficient there, with a reputation as a hopeless under achiever with a strong work ethic. My association with skiing opened a door to a career in the industry with an importer of French and Italian ski products. As family and career took precedent in the mid 70's the trusty 69 Raleigh Professional (25 lbs) spent far too much time hanging in the garage.

In 77 I blew up an ACL while skiing and cycling became a life line to recovery. I bought a custom Marinoni (22 lbs) and got back into reasonable shape, reasonable milage, and some club racing. But again family and work related travel made that a difficult commitment so club rides and a few centuries each summer became the norm.

In 83, because of my cycling interests, I was sent on a business trip to Nevers, France to visit a ski binding vendor. I was shown a prototype of a new cycling pedal by their host, and my life long idol Jean Claude Killy. It was a new direction, and a life changing trip. Killy was insane for cycling. He took us on our first ride in the Alps and blew our minds. He even hooked me up with a bro deal back in the States on an 83 Schwinn Paramonut (21 lbs). God, I wish I still had that one.

Over the following years as cycling became increasingly popular and a bigger part of business, I worked on different projects that brought me into contact with teams and riders for La Vie Claire and later 7-Eleven, where acquired my first Serotta (20 lb Huffy). As industry changes and career moves brought me into footwear and apparel design and other areas of professional and amateur sports, a strong affinity for cycling has brought me back a few times to projects with teams like U.S. Postal, and Fassa Bortolo.

Now I ride a 16 lb domestic made, carbon fiber, middle of the pack, nothing special, moderately priced, race bike, and it is all that I will ever need. Who'd have thought that equipment would come this far? As for the sport; I am always impressed most by cyclists and cycling. The work ethic required just to ride in the pack as a pro is beyond what most fans or even other athlete's can comprehend. The international cycling fan base is more rabid, understanding, knowledgeable, and identifies with the efforts and failures of their heros far more than other sports. It is sad to see the escalation of drug use and awareness damaging the image of the sport, but in fairness, it has always been there.

These days I am lucky enough to work less, travel less, ride more, ski more, fly fish, compete in Masters Rowing (fat old guys), and chase grandchildren. Life is OK. But when I pause to give it some thought, I have to say that cycling has been, and continues to be one of my greatest influences and inspirations in life. It teaches many things that are not apparent to everyone. The French say the cycling is like life; you suffer, you fail, you persevere. and if you're lucky, maybe some success... but probably not... and there is lies the beauty.

 

[runninboy]

i was a runner and couldnt believe triathletes got so much publicity(and money)for running so slow. Figured i could do alot better. A guy i used to run with who placed 2nd in the Boston Marathon told me i should do a TT first and told me about a local 25 miler. I got beat by a few people but came close to an hour on an old Schwinn Varsity. I was kind of embarrassed at getting beat but even more embarrassed that everyone was hovering over me telling me what i should do next time."Get toe clips & cycling shoes" "get a race bike" "change gear ratios"....I couldnt believe people cared about someone who lost, kind of creeped me out as i had always been a loner(hence the running)
Anyway a month later did my first duathlon with Scott Tinley & a few other hot shots, where i had no trouble running side by side with them but I couldnt believe they pulled away so quickly from me on my Varsity. I started saving for my first "real" bike and i was hooked. I ended up doing alot of bike races before my first triathlon, where i didnt enjoy getting kicked around on the swim and having to weave my way through an entire field of lousy bikers.
The bottom line really for me was triathlons just weren't any fun.It was like beating your little sister, not much of a challenge. I much preferred the training rides in SoCal talking to guys who were heading to Europe to ride Paris Roubaix & the Tour. I had to bust a lung to keep up with these guys for just half the ride and then they would take off . Whereas i just couldnt give much respect to "world class" triathletes who couldnt run as fast as i could back in 11th grade.

 

[nobilis]

I first started watching cycling in 1997. I was a teenager back then. It was when we first got a cable subscription and got Eurosport. I remember it was tour of Switzerland and there was a breakaway of 2 riders ( one of the Zberg and the other I don't remember). And since that moment, I followed every cycling season. It was like love at first sight with road cycling. But it was a bit depressing because I didn't know anyone else in my region who followed cycling and couldn't share my passion and my views and opinion on the races and riders with anyone else
However, I've been seriously training and racing for 5 years now.