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Biking
Last Post 05/13/2013 10:08 PM by Michael Merva. 24 Replies.
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bobswire
Posts:304
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| 05/09/2013 12:45 AM |
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Oh, what fools junkies are, blowing their money to get high on
junk, they don't what getting high is. Ever since I went cold turkey (25
years ago) and gave up all my little substance abuse habits ( booze,
cigs, grease and too much sugar) and instead channeled all that wasted
energy into biking, I haven't come down yet. Oh and these bikes we get to play with are just
an added perk.  |
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huckleberry
Posts:824
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| 05/09/2013 09:22 AM |
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| I might have to post my Addiction short story again ; ) |
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bobswire
Posts:304
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| 05/09/2013 11:47 AM |
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What's Your Story Is how I should have titled this thread. For me is was going from one addiction (as Huckleberry suggests) to another.
I was going through a tough marriage,had a drinking problem, smoked,occasional drugs and greasy foods. Found myself walking along the beach one day with my son who asked me why don't I stop drinking and smoking? Went cold turkey and I haven't looked back since, cycling was my 12 step program. At 68 I'm healthier than I was at 43.
What got you into or is in my case back into cycling ?
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lochness
Posts:47
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| 05/09/2013 09:29 PM |
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| A chronic knee injury that keeps me from running really made me see the wisdom in non-impact sport. That, and as a former high-school swimmer, I hate the pool. |
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Mr.Earl
Posts:8
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| 05/09/2013 10:44 PM |
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| Just testing my ability to post here. |
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cycling chick
Posts:72
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| 05/09/2013 11:03 PM |
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My husband has been cycling for as long as I have known him. When we got married (in 2001) he bought me a fun little Bontrager that I used for our recreational weekend ride. Then, the babies came...
I have four children, but I had the last three within 2.5 years of each other. Between the consecutive pregnancies and then having the babies/toddlers....I drifted away from riding my bike and moved towards running. I did, however, remain a pretty avid supporter of my husband's rides, as well as following professional cycling.
Then a little over a year ago, I tore my right meniscus. I could no longer run or do the elliptical, so I started cycling again. I couldn't believe that I could ride for vast distances and it didn't bother my knee.
In the last year, I have logged a little under 4,000 miles which isn't bad considering that I am just returning to the bike. Now, my bike and I are inseparable.  |
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pikeHillRoad
Posts:95
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| 05/10/2013 07:16 AM |
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my story is simple - as a 14 year old I had a father who had raced as a kid, even purchased a masi in Italy when he was an exchange student. Then I had a drastic leg break which limited my ability to run. I grabbed his Windsor (which soon broke, but hey - it was a windsor) and started riding. Loved it, and my memories of high school years included many long rides with my parents and their riding buddies. It all included working for Ritchey in his fab for a summer, and see Jobst Brandt on the dirt roads of the San Mateo County hills. Good times.
The bike is really part of me. Even though I do other things, I always do it, and always love it. |
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huckleberry
Posts:824
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| 05/10/2013 08:51 AM |
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It's an old story...
My name is Christopher Behrens, and I like to ride my bicycle.
I have sat in on the sessions for the past six weeks and listened to your stories and felt your pains. We all need help. There comes a time when we need to look behind us and see where two tire tracks become one. You know, riding side-saddle on Jesus' lap.
Addictions come in many forms, and I've been through my share. Sex, now that was a good one. I now realize that sex is only good if it is performed as intended by the good Lord - a couple of lesbians, a hairless Chihuahua, Elmer's glue, plastic sheets, and a professional videographer.
Drugs, alcohol, food, even binky addictions are rough, but nothing compares to the challenges of bicycle addiction.
It starts out small, insignificant. A Schwinn Stingray (Orange Crate edition with the stick shift and drum brake). It's fun. Your parents even buy it for you - your first hit. Mom and Dad - dealers, pushers, peddlers of the chain driven crank. How is it possible to stay an innocent child with those pressures? Then you see your sister's much too large Schwinn Varsity. You have to try it! Regardless of what happens, you want a taste of what ten-speeds feels like. Nobodies looking, you slide out the garage with it. Take a look back, all clear, and you're off - flying. High as you've ever been. It doesn't matter that your feet barely touch the pedals, much less the ground. You know you will end up in a fiery crash, but that's inconsequential - what matters is the high. The cuts and bruises no deterrent to your need.
We are able to sidestep the accusations for years. "I'm a kid". "I just use it for transportation". "I'm a professional bike racer, it's my career". "My doctor says I need the exercise". Eventually the excuses run out, and usually they run out on others long before they do on ourselves. Especially as we enter middle-age. "Who's the doofus in the tight shorts?" We are the last to see what is controlling our lives - that big pink lycra-clad elephant in the middle of the room.
You don't even need to drive to your local dealer. It's so much easier and discrete online. You can get your fix delivered in an innocent brown cardboard box. Neighbors none the wiser. Ebay! Where do I start? Compound my cycling addiction with that of gambling. I won! I won! How many times have I "accidentally" satisfied my fix with a low bid, "unexpected" in its power of purchase. If the Devil has hooves, he bought 'em on Ebay.
Eventually we all must face ourselves. It's almost never pretty. We ride through aches and pains. Bruises, saddle sores, road rash, pulled muscles, sunburns, hemorrhoids are just rigors du jour, something to secretly take pride in as you bitch with other addicts, but eventually something comes along that completely severs your ability to get your fix.
My awakening came in the form of multiple surgeries in the winter of last. Two ankles and a knee surgeries somehow left me sidelined and on crutches for nearly six months. At first I made excuses to myself that this was a rest period, a time to recuperate. Not much later, I found myself breathing hard for no reason, cursing cyclists as they rode past my cell window.
Detailed plans followed. I devised plans on how I would utilize my future fixes - LSD training, base building, tempo training, lactate threshold training, hills, hill intervals, descending intervals, ascending intervals, jumps, jump starts, sprints. I was piling up future fixes! I had no concern how I would get there. I just would! The only way to stay alive was to look to the fix.
DT's were as bad as they could get. I itched, I scratched, I screamed in horror. Forlorn, I shaved my legs for no legitimate reason, I just needed to feel the razor burn, the ingrown hairs, the two day scruff. Needing more, I found myself pulling on my cycling shorts and crutching around the house, only to dive under the covers as a car would drive by or headlights illuminate the room. I had a lot of shame, but still not enough to stop me.
I think I hit bottom at about the fourth month of my inability to feed my addiction. The planning, the shaving, the shorts, cycling videos – they'd done all they could do to stave off the hunger. I was desperate. Desperate. I knew it was wrong before I did it. Crutching my way down the long hallway, my rational mind told me to stop, it was immoral, wrong! I kept crutching forward, undeterred. Determined to satiate my hunger anyway possible.
Reaching the bathroom, I pulled my cycling shorts down to my knees and sat down on the toilet. I held the container in my hand. I shook as I gazed upon its beauteous simplicity. I slowly unscrewed the top, gazed at the substance. Breathing deep, I took in the aroma. I dug my fingers in, feeling its weight and texture - a creamy lubricant. Unable to control myself any longer, I grabbed my crotch. Pulling the goods aside, I reached between my legs and slathered the Assos chamois cream across my ass. Ecstasy! The menthol burn awakening my sleeping taint. Wanting to escalate the moment further, I pulled my shorts up tight. Shivers ran through me, my senses at their fullest just before I passed out.
I woke curled up in the fetal position on the bathroom floor, my crutches splayed beside me. My crotch wet. My wife crying.
That was my lowest moment.
Now I'm here, with the rest of you. I've accepted that this is a disease, not a choice. I can only do what I can - "one day at a time". I know I can never kick this addiction, it will be with me forever. Just knowing that I have your support is enough, and the love of the Lord.
Most days I look behind me and there is two sets of tire tracks. I don't think it's because Jesus doesn't love me - it's probably because he's not gay and doesn't too much like riding side-saddle with a fella on his lap.
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Entheo
Posts:317
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| 05/10/2013 09:15 AM |
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nice post huck! :-)
my story in a nutshell:
stingray = freedom as a kid. rode & loved bikes for as long as i can remember.
my first solo ride i ran into a concrete wall and bruised my little jewels on the top tube - ouch - but that didn't stop me.
i remember watching a movie about the TdF on TV as a kid and going to my room and crying like a baby -- wierd, huh?
purchased my first real road bike (c'dale) in the early 80s to crosstrain for tennis. i eventually left tennis for cycling.
have now cycled many parts of the world and loved every minute of it; the best way to see a country is from the seat of a bike. best way to see a grand tour too.
i still enjoy my wine & my wife, so cycling hasn't replaced all my addictions... simply added to them. :-) |
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THE SKINNY
Posts:506
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| 05/10/2013 09:18 AM |
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| i hope you have a good support group. it's hard to do it alone. |
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| How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 05/10/2013 11:38 AM |
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Pretty simple story....had two buddies in school who rode. Was always enamored of the mystique and aura of what they did. At one point, I bought a bike from another fiorend and started "riding" and was getting hooked. Was a USMC Officer Candidate in school, as well. During my second summer of training (shortly after I bought the bike), I hurt my knee was removed form the program.
Now was riding for rehab as well as enjoyment. Hook was firmly set. This would have been 1987.....did a TT in 1988 (goal was to avg. 20 mph, which I did!!) and got my USCF license in 1989. Since then, there have only been 2 years when I did not compete in at least one race.....2002 (doing an addition on our home) and 2010 (recoverring from DVT / PE and Achilles issues).
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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bobswire
Posts:304
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| 05/10/2013 11:50 AM |
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Posted By Cosmic Kid on 05/10/2013 11:38 AM
Pretty simple story....had two buddies in school who rode. Was always enamored of the mystique and aura of what they did. At one point, I bought a bike from another fiorend and started "riding" and was getting hooked. Was a USMC Officer Candidate in school, as well. During my second summer of training (shortly after I bought the bike), I hurt my knee was removed form the program.
Now was riding for rehab as well as enjoyment. Hook was firmly set. This would have been 1987.....did a TT in 1988 (goal was to avg. 20 mph, which I did!!) and got my USCF license in 1989. Since then, there have only been 2 years when I did not compete in at least one race.....2002 (doing an addition on our home) and 2010 (recoverring from DVT / PE and Achilles issues).
Did working in the industry help feed your addiction?
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ChinookPass
Posts:809
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| 05/10/2013 12:07 PM |
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Addictions come in many forms, and I've been through my share. Sex, now that was a good one. I now realize that sex is only good if it is performed as intended by the good Lord - a couple of lesbians, a hairless Chihuahua, Elmer's glue, plastic sheets, and a professional videographer.
crackin' me up!
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geosurf
Posts:68
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| 05/10/2013 12:08 PM |
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| So I'm out for a ride today and I see guy a coming the opposite way on a bent. I couldn't really see him well enough to tell if he was a wounded warrior or not. If you were sir, a huge "Thank You." Anyway I'm getting off the subject. It got me to thinking that if I was to always be riding a bent. I'd have to always wear a Zig-Zag Man tshirt/jersey. In fact I believe, I myself would have to try to look like the Zig-Zag Man. Which got me to thinking about Bob's thread. Not that I EVER inhaled, mind you. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 05/10/2013 12:15 PM |
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Posted By bob etzler on 05/10/2013 11:50 AM
Did working in the industry help feed your addiction?
Yes & no.....it also caused a bit of burnout, and it was one of the reasons why I decided to leave (but not the PRIMARY reason).
I reached a point where it was bikes 24/7. I would go to work and deal with bikes, I would read all the cycling news, I would ride with co-workers at lunch, etc. And it eventually wore on my enthusiasm for riding.
Had a similar thing back in '92 as I was getting burned out on the retail side of the business. Had just started a large team in the DC area (Kodak EKTAR), was manging one of the bigger shops in the area, racing all the time, etc. My GF at the tiome was also on the team, so we were training together a lot as well. Weekends were alaways about training or racing (or woirking!!).
I remember at one point where I finally said to her "Jeez....can't we go on a picnic or something?"
So yeah, it does feed your addiction for a long time, but then you kinda OD on it, as well. Which, I guess is true of most addictions..... |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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geosurf
Posts:68
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| 05/10/2013 12:21 PM |
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Posted By Cosmic Kid on 05/10/2013 12:15 PM
Posted By bob etzler on 05/10/2013 11:50 AM
Did working in the industry help feed your addiction?
Yes & no.....it also caused a bit of burnout,
That's happened to me with Motocross. Got to the point were I was making excuses not to ride. Sometimes less is more.
P.S. Loving this forum software and the ability to quote!
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C2K_Rider
Posts:173
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| 05/10/2013 01:03 PM |
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| I got started in college when some guys on the team got out their road bikes once the season was over. They talked me into getting a used bike and that was it. what a difference riding hours and hours for fun rather than looking at the bottom of a pool 4 hours a day. I started riding in Montana, so had to learn to ride in "weather" from the get go. Did some racing but it was a minimal scene up there, so touring became the norm. It was just fun to get out and ride 6, 7 hours through the mountains, and by the way, get in some great conditioning. I got into touring in a big way by becoming a group leader for Bikecentennial, which was based in Missoula, where I was going to school. That was a cross-US bike ride during the 1976 Bicentennial. I rode across the US with a group of 15 and had a blast. It really was the trip of a lifetime. I did a cross-US trip again a couple years later with one friend. Still great time. Since then it's been mostly centuries, doubles and some tours. I did triathlons for several years and did well, but it took so much training time and I really like just biking better. After 8 years of heavy swimming competition I didn't really care much about racing bikes. Fun for a few years, but I just find long rides to be more enjoyable. |
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ChinookPass
Posts:809
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| 05/10/2013 01:27 PM |
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Back on the farm, got a Sears 10-speed and started taking off on Sundays and riding the hills in the Kettle Moraine (north section).
In college, borrowed a roommate's bike to ride up and down the Milwaukee lakefront.
Started bike commuting out of college.
Moved to Seattle where a friend told me bike racing is the most fun you can have on a bike. So spent 4 years moving up the ranks to Cat III. He also took me up into the passes around Rainier and through the North Cascades.
Got my master's degree and celebrated by going on one of those huge Colorado bike tours.
Now I'm an evangelist for biking as transportation but still love all the rest, racing, commuting, touring, and taking the kids out to unexpected places.
The other day I had to take my mom to the airport and had to drive. The freeways were a mess and it underscored my lifestyle and made me feel a bit sad for the lifestyle we have created, knowing we can do so much better. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 05/10/2013 04:45 PM |
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Nice story huck.
For me it was the typical evolutionary track, I crawled out of the water and moved onto solid land, started riding. I am still trying to make the next evolutionary leap, learning to fly.
My first club: I happened upon them as I was still riding my hydrid with fenders, kickstand, etc. etc. Rode with them for 3hrs, then peeled off as they passed within a block from home. Inside I yelled to my mom that I was gonna join a club, got an OK, then ran back outside and gave chase. I had 4k to catch up and figure where they were located. Next year I started riding with them, the fenders and other crap came off the hybrid. The year after I got my Gazelle Campy Record and the rest is history. |
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vtguy
Posts:298
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| 05/10/2013 05:03 PM |
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| Came from a running background and moved from Chicago to Vermont where cyclists are numerous and the riding is great. Bought a used Ron Cooper from a friend and rediscovered the sense of freedom that cycling provided, plus I thought it was so cool that I could ride through three states in a couple of hours. Still do some running, but cycling is definitely my first love. |
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Gonzo Cyclist
Posts:568
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| 05/10/2013 10:46 PM |
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Been on the bike as long as I can remember, most recent addiction to cycling once again was due to the "Widow Maker" that should have killed me, now I ride every day, and I take no day for granted, every day is a gift, not a given, it's great to be alive.
They will have to pry the bikes from my cold dead hands
as far as substances, still a enjoy a couple of IPA's at least one day a week, and like to burn one every now and again
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Spud
Posts:525
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| 05/13/2013 03:27 PM |
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| For me it started at the age of 40. Cycling got me through my divorce back in 1995. It started out as something to do to help clear my mind. It has turned into a passion. |
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THE SKINNY
Posts:506
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| 05/13/2013 03:54 PM |
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| i've been riding the same roads and trails for the last 17 years. it's difficult to feel much anticipation about riding but i do get out a couple of times a week anyway. when those trips out of town come along, i like to be fit enough that i can ride long and hard and have good memories while i slog around here. it is a huge stress relief when i get in a good after work ride. i've been trying to supplement my riding with the occasional touring trip but i've had limited success so far (but i am having fun trying). i'm really wanting to go out west into a new change of scene before i'm to old to enjoy it. |
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| How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 05/13/2013 04:03 PM |
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My dad gave me a 3-speed when I was 10. My best friends' dad (yes, I typed that correctly, they're twins) was a serious rider, 20 mile TR commute and a handbuilt all Campy Swiss bike. We added centerpull brakes, dropped bars and 2-speed derailleurs to our 3-speed. Bought a Peugeot UO-8 when I was 13. I loved the freedom those bikes gave me. Bought a sew-up tired Lambert midway through college. Rode everywhere, rode to school in Michigan from Boston and started racing on it. Converted the Peugeot to fixed. I was hooked the first ride. Bought a racing bike the next year that fit! I was solidly hooked before that, but once I rode that bike that truly fit I was netted and gaffed.
End of year two of racing was my head injury. Raced one more year because I did not know how to do anything else. Ordered a custom frame from my clubmate, Peter Mooney when the season ended. Rode that bike and my Peugeot/Schwinn/Sekine/Miyata/Trek fixie the next 20 then started adding additional bikes, first on the cheap then a couple of ti customs. Now much of my garage is dedicated to bikes.
Ben |
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Yo Mike
Posts:338
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| 05/13/2013 10:08 PM |
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Growing up in Suburbia, a bicycle meant 'freedom' and I value that aspect of bicycling highly. I detest 'needing to be back' at a preset time. I got away from bicycles around age 19 or 20 when I got my first motorcycle, and really did not get back to bicycling until I was 29 or 30 when the moto was broke more than I could fix it. My old Raleigh Gran Prix was IT for a few years until I got out of grad school and could afford to buy my first car. It had an old Avocet (?) mechanical odometer...anyone remember those? Made my first rear blinker out of a smashed DOT blinker light, running on a 9 V battery. Better bikes came after.
I never raced, and am pretty unpretentious on and off the bike. I ride for fun, fitness, and relaxation. What I ride is not nearly as important as riding itself...maybe one reason I did not add to the 'if money were no object what bike' thread from the old VN Forum.
Not saying I wouldn't want a red Colnago Master Light, ot a Ti Moots, but I barely spend as much time riding these days as mowing the lawn(s). I sure hope that changes soon! |
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