Caught the cycling bug. Anyone else?
Title says most of it. Something has clicked for me in the past new months and I've unlocked a level of enjoyment cycling I never had before. I've always ridden by bike since I was young, but only recently have I started doing it for health and fitness, and pure enjoyment. I'm addicted to seeing just how far (and how high) I'm able to go! What really did it for me was my first ride with decent elevation. I've always driven past cyclists chugging their way up in the hills and never understood how they did it, and never thought I'd be able to. Well, all it took was trying it one day to realize that while difficult, it was totally attainable, and since then I've been hooked. This has prompted me to also start following pro cycling, which I've done on and off before, but this year I'm very much looking forward to the Tour de France.
Anyone else into this as a hobby (either doing or watching)? Anyone training for big upcoming rides, and if so what? I mostly just want to chat about what people's weekly rides look like!
Cycling has been my default way to get around town for most of my life. To me it's the best compromise between the intimacy with your surroundings that you get from walking and the time saved by using a vehicle.
Twenty five years ago I'd go riding just to go riding and loved some of the touring I did, these days I just incidentally enjoy getting around the place.
My kid is just getting competent at getting around on a bike and it's his favourite form of transport by far. I'm looking forward to him getting old enough that we can head out for a night or two.
I’ve been cycling regularly since 2018. It’s something I did a lot as a kid and wanted to get that joy back in my life. I do it for commuting and exercise. I have a folding Dahon bike - Single speed. I also have a Trek composite 3000 - single speed. I do like to go pretty hard and I track my times with an app called Ride With GPS.
My daily commute comes out to about 9 miles a day, 4.5 miles one way. The fastest I have made it to work so far is 17 minutes. I always ride safe though , I am not trying to do anything dangerous. The biggest ride I’ve ever done out here is called the STP (Seattle to Portland). It’s 210 miles total and took me 2 days. I did the whole thing on my single speed Trek, hills and all. It was great but incredibly difficult. I do some small rides every now and then like the Portland Bridge Pedal or some events during Pedalpalooza. I also do a trail out here called the Spring water corridor trail. It’s 25 miles one way so about 50 miles total. I can finish that in roughly 3 hours with breaks.
I can’t say I watch any pro cycling events but I probably should. Those guys and gals are nuts.