Let me start by introducing myself! I'm Petra from Deventer, The Netherlands. 40 years old...no, young actually! I have two kids, 18 (boy) and 12 (girl) and I'm with the luckiest man alive I've got the cutest dog ever, a Bernese Mountain dog called Jia. I'm a credit manager for a small international company with it's head office in Deventer. I commute to work on a regular bike 4 days a week and I've just started mountain biking last month. Getting fit and improving my health is key, so biking seemed a good idea! And it sooo is! I've lived in Deventer for 15 years now and just recently discovered places and tracks I've never been before, just by getting on my bike. Nature itself here in Holland isn't that spectacular...except when you're cycling through the woods! It's amazing and I love it. Bike roads are usually good over here (almost everybody in the Netherlands owns a bike, about 14 million bikes registered on 17 million people) so you can cycle anywhere you want. The weather isn't that good lately, that's a shame sometimes. Cold, windy and rainy is not my type of weather...at all! Hope summer kicks in soon! On to more miles!
I'm Jim from Leeds in the United Kingdom. I used to do a lot more cycling than I do now. I'm 40 in a months time and my cycling is on a hybrid bike that is over 20 years old just to get to and from work (3 miles each way). The cycle paths in Leeds are a mix. There is one I avoid on the way to work because it makes it more dangerous for cyclists. It is a road with side roads every 50 metres or so, the cycle path is on the pavement but just before each side road it becomes part of the road. The idea is that cyclists have priority over any car wishing to turn in on leave a side road but in reality car drivers usually don't realise and pull out or turn in across you. Safer to just cycle on the road so car drivers don't make that mistake! We are not as progressive with bike/cyclists as the Dutch I have 3 children, two nearly 7 years and one 18 months. Looking forward to going out on rides with my children in the coming years.
Hello, I'm Jim and I'm a alcoholic oops wrong forum. Haha!! I have a similar story to tell Bram. August 23 2001 I had heart attack at the age of 38 Once I'd recovered, I started cycling. Not serious or in a club but just to help me get fit. I stopped smoking on the day of my attack and did lose some weight but unfortunately, my weight has piled back on again. I only cycle 3 miles each way to work on a hybrid bike now but it definitely helps me. I really need to lose weight but I also suffer mental health problems and I'm addicted to food!!!!! Anyway, nice to hear you're doing well Bram.
Hi - I'm Paul from Oxford in the UK. I'm 46 and married to a lovely French woman. My trusty stead is a Hewitt Cheviot touring bike, which I use to commute to work every day (8 mile round trip). At least once a month we organise moderately long rides (usually between 30 and 50 miles) around Oxfordshire (sometimes using the train to explore further afield) with a small group of friends, usually involving some target destination to have some notional "purpose" to the ride, e.g. an ancient monument, a historic building, a local festival, a view, whatever, though tend not to spend long there. A pub stop (or two) is compulsory... We also try to manage at least one longer cycle tour a year, earlier this year my wife and I cycled from Dieppe to Paris (where my wife's mother lives), camping on the way and also visiting a friend, before getting the train to Chartres, then cycling the rest of the way (about 160Km) to Blois over two days for a wedding. Cycling is a wonderful way to "experience" a country. I'm by no means a lycra-clad road racer (apart from wearing cycling shorts on longer rides), I've nothing against those who like to take riding more seriously, but I prefer to go at my own pace and take in the scenery.
I am Ricoow, my fellow RD members will know my real name which I prefer not to carry publicly anymore. Just turned 22 and started Cycling in Februari this year, only having cycled around 1k km. (Have to check my Strava for that) It is not much but over the course of these 4 months I have improved significantly on average speed, top speed and distance! Can't wait for the summer to finally bust through so that I can make a lot of KMs after my holidays!
Hi, I'm Paul from Michigan in the US. I'm 48 now and have been cycling since I was 27. I'm a retired merchant mariner and now "work" full time taking care of my father who suffers from dementia among other age related stuff. Cycling helps me blow off steam and tension from that. It is also the only exercise that I have ever been able to do regularly - must be because I love it. Can't say the same for weight training. ;-) I used to ride a lot more - up to 1000 miles a year - but life happened and now I get out when I can. I'm not as interested in the statistics as I used to be, though - I don't even have a computer anymore. Its more about enjoying each ride but also trying to work on some specific area or technique each time. As long as I come back, its a good ride. I ride both road and mountain bikes, but prefer the road. Getting into a rhythm on a long road ride becomes kind of a zen state. But the challenge of good single track is great to mix things up. This site is a great idea. I'm impressed at how positive the reaction to it is already. Looking forward to great things here.
Welcome! We'll be following the Tour here as well! http://www.cyclingdepartment.com/threads/tour-de-france-2016.11/
@Paul Garrett : I can only imagine how tough it must be to see a loved one suffer from dementia. I totally agree that cycling is a perfect way to blow of steam! Are you working on a specific technique or area right now or is it a different one each time?
@Ricoow : I first read you cycled 1 kilometer. Was wondering how you could have worked on your average speed and topspeed in only 1 km But it's a 1000 kilometer, read it wrong! Good for you and welcome!
@jimortality : heartattack at 38? My goodness, that must have been a total shock! Quitting smoking and starting cycling was a good idea! I can write a book about losing weight, and gaining it, and losing it again...I totally hear you...!
Hi my name is Marcel, 38 years old and I live in The Hague, The Netherlands. Hobbies include simracing, cycling and watching cycling races on TV. I am blessed with awesome terrain here as I live near the coast and riding in the dutch dune landscape is just awesome. Lot's of altitude differences and although they hardly qualify as a climb you will start to feel it after a few miles. One drawback is that once the sun comes out so do the old people so lots of riding chicanes I have a course that I ride almost every day once the outside temperature is good enough of about 18km's which takes me less than an hour to complete. But most days I do the same course a second time in the evening when it is a little more quiet. To give you an idea of this stunning piece of Holland i've added a photo...cheers
Hi, I'm Andrew. I live in Merkelland. 55 Years young. I have/had the nearly same thing then Bram. Now, after I have stopped smoking , reduced the amount of Fat german sausages etc I was shuffling into my body, I have started to cycling arround a bit....... Well, I have lost some Kilos and my bloodsugar is now way better then 4 months ago. That said............ It is never to late to change things to the better. : ): )
Yeah, It is the hardest thing I've ever done. It depends on where I ride. In hilly areas, I work on attacking on the uphill - it's the best place to drop your competition. I'm not very brave on the downhills so that area needs work. I used to live in New Hampshire where riding in the White Mountains had me in the best shape of my life. But Michigan is much more flat. On flat rides I do intervals to get better at flushing the lactic acid out. Most of the time I concentrate on a smooth pedal stroke and breathing in rhythm with my pedal stroke. On single track, I just concentrate on not crashing. ;-)
Hello all. I'm Fernando and live in Brazil. Being riding since I was 10, now with (almost) 48. Used to do some downhill or trails regularly, but ultimately I'm just riding in city circuits, although still using my trusty full-susp vintages to do so - one of them now equipped with 2.5" tires, kinda "urban assault" style. Good to deal with stairs if needed. We have a group that goes out every Thursday night and do some 40 km or so, and sometimes more at weekends. Right now I'm not participating because it's really cold here in winter (I live in the sourthern part, and the humidity is high, so 5C feels like -5C in reality, and I'm lazy). Of course I'll be back when we experience better temperatures. Until then, I'll do some virtual Racing to kill time. Good trails to all. Cheers
