Returning to cycling

[prand]

Inspired by the rider who is getting fed up with taking his MTB out to trails, getting muddy then loading up the car and having to clean everything on return, here is my recent experience of the opposite...

I used to ride a lot on my mountain bike (used to ride up and down the Ridgeway, around Swinley regularly, and was fit enough to manage the South Downs Way at one point). Also did a lot of road riding, some triathlons, riding routes around South Oxfordshire/Chilterns were my favourite.

Then children came along and cycling almost stopped dead. My bikes sat folornly in the shed, my collection of four reduced to two, the most regular cycling I used to do was to get to the station and back, about a mile each way. I stopped reading magazines and browsing websites for the odd bits and pieces I'd always be wanting to replace or upgrade.

So it's only recently, nearly 8 years later, my 6&7 year old kids are old enough and are confident on bikes I feel myself getting the the sparkle, back again. They had a great summer holiday in France bombing around on their little 18 & 20" wheel bikes round the campsite and further afield with us on the trails in the area. We've been round the green route and other tracks at Swinley several times, and although gentle for me, got me getting in touch with a couple of friends returning later to do the longer, more difficult routes.

It's light at the end of the tunnel for me, as this summer was the first time I was out on my mountain bike for several years, and the desire (not quite the ability yet) to get out and go for miles on end has returned. I even went through the cyclists right of passage again, falling on my elbow first time out as I forgot how the clip-in pedals work!

I had sold my road bike when my eldest was born (admittedly it had a a cracked top tube, but the bike didn't get replaced - spent the money on a couple of day's worth of nappies and nursery fees I think). At my new work, their Cycle to Work scheme is beckoning, started to check out the online stores for £1000 road bikes. While we were on holiday, we could see the Ventoux looming ominously in the distance, and I secretly made a deal with myself...

Amazingly too, I seem to have been able to find the time this weekend to strip down my old Marin, which had been converted to single speed and used for commuting/pub work. I'd originally hoped to give the old faithful bike some love, get the frame powder coated, and reassembled with some refreshed parts. But I found the seat post had welded itself into the tube. After losing patience and with gradually escalating violence using pliers, vice, hacksaw, reciprocating saw, then lump hammer I just ended up with a sad hunk of cromoly with a wrecked seat tube. I was lucky with some quick ebaying, I picked up a '94 Pallisades Trail frame locally yesterday, almost a like-for-like replacement for a few tenners. So I'll be dropping this off for blasting and painting this week hopefully.

So after many years away, I'm now back in the shed with chisel and WD40, browsing the web for bike parts, planning my next bike purchase, and most importantly, getting back out onto the trails and into the trees. It feels like I'm back in the game!

So rather than falling out of love with it, has anyone else found they are getting re-inspired by cycling?

[IroningMan]

I didn't so much as sit on a bike from 1992 to 2005.

Then bought a road bike in 2005 and finished an Ironman in 2006...

[Craikeybaby]

Likewise, I hadn't been on a bike since I was a teenager in the late 90's, but hired a bike a few times in 2014. Then bought my own hardtail and have been really enjoying it, as well as having lost some weight. I wish I'd got back into it sooner as it is so much more fun than going to the gym, which is where I spent a lot of time in my twenties.

[hornetrider]

prand said:

So rather than falling out of love with it, has anyone else found they are getting re-inspired by cycling?

I dropped cycling about a decade or more ago after a couple of serious injuries and then marriage, busy life and kids. I've been gradually getting back into it over the last year or two on and off but have really ramped it up this summer.

I'm out on my Triban on the road putting in the leg work and am up to 60k rides now, and also been hitting the trails at Afan on my Cannondale regularly lately, doing W2 with a fair amount of ease (45k off road mostly singletrack).

I'm absolutely loving being back on the bike on a regular basis, and my initial motivation was really fitness and getting out cycling with the young uns.

[Bob the Planner]

prand said:

...
So rather than falling out of love with it, has anyone else found they are getting re-inspired by cycling?

I had not been on a bike between the mid 1980s and 2012 when I started cycling a couple of days a week to work, mainly to get some exercise but did enjoy it most of the time (40+C was an exception).
Since retiring in January, I have taken up cycling again and am enjoying the Kent countryside although not all of the hills yet (Toys, Brasted and Sundridge all still to be conquered). I set an initial goal of 3650km for 2017 which I reached at the end of August, now aiming for 5000km. An initial 2018 target of 5280km and 50000m elevation are pencilled in.
The other benefits have been weight loss and reduction in blood pressure.