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Thought I'd start this one off. Any bicycling enthusiasts around that would like to share their stories?

We have a house on the beach outside Atlantic City NJ. Every morning from 7-am to 10-am I bike to the boardwalk and back 16 mile round trip. A group meets at Starbucks, sit in front of one of the casinos and socialize and watch all the people go by. I leave early in the morning when no one is on the boardwalk except the all night gamblers and the clean up crew. Having the boardwalk to myself I am able to get my heart rate up and then come back down waiting for my group for coffee. The sun is shinning and everything is looking up. The first part of the ride gets me into the zone The second part is my community life. You just can not ask for a start of a better day
In winter I bundle up and do the same thing unless the wind tells me at 60 stay home

First, it's a pleasure to read these biking messages. A real pleasure. H (ere's my modest addition.

I was in Sante Fe for a couple of days, lecturing. Managed to rent a surprisingly good road bike). (an outfit called Mello Vello...nice people if you're ever down there. Two thoughts: One, it's possible to rent a decent bike in some surprising places and to have a radically better business or whatever trip. Two: the difference between a good rental bike and a great bike that is fitted to you is very substantial. Moral: if it makes sense - and it mostly does not - take your own bike on tours. If it doesn't make sense, rent the best thing you can find and go for it. Chris Crowley

I've been cycling since 1999 . . . well, cycling AGAIN, anyway. I had a bike as a kid, of course, a "girls" bike, 24".

Then, back in the mid-70s, my Dad bought me a bike -- a Panasonic, stepthrough frame, 10-speed. He modified it to an 18-speed. I still own it, though it's ridiculously wrong for me, size-wise. (The body tolerates more at 22, than it does at 53 . . .) I rode it a few years, then it ended up in a storage room.

In 1999, I was nearly 220 lbs, and extremely sedentary. My wonderful husband bought a bike for himself, after watching bicyclists on a local rail-trail. He thought, "Gee, they are having so much more fun than I am, walking along here!" And so he bought himself a Trek hybrid.

A few months later, he offered to buy me a bike. Well, I figured at first I was "past" all that, with my achy back, bad knees, and excess weight.

But I did take him up on it. He bought me a Raleigh SC 30, a "comfort" bike. I took it out for a spin on my birthday, August 28, 1999. I cycled 4 slow miles and thought I was going to throw up. I worried that I was having a heart attack! I wasn't, of course; I was just incredibly out of shape. I persisted.

Over the next few years, I worked my way up to being able to bike oh, 40 miles or so at a time. I joined Weight Watchers in early 2002, ended up losing 80 lbs. Hubby bought me another bike: a Terry. I rode that for a couple of years, but it made me tired on longer rides.

So he bought me the ultimate (at least in Chris' opinion, and mine, too): A SEROTTA. Yes, I have a wonderful custom Serotta, titanium, carbon fork. 650c wheels (I'm really short). It climbs like a cat. I've put about 3500 miles or so on it, in not quite 2 years.

Funny story about that bike, though. I ordered it in early March 2004. On March 17, 2004, I blew out my L3/L4 lumbar disc. I had significant weakness in my left quadriceps, along with pain. I could not ride. Mounting and dismounting was terribly painful.

So I had a microdiscectomy in May 2004. Got my new Serotta 2 weeks later. Rode it for a shaky mile up and down my street. The next weekend, I biked 12 miles of the Bloomin' Metric, in CT, and the day after that 17 miles on a NY state railtrail.

Obviously, I'm fully recovered. I've since done a number on L2/L3, but not as bad, and I've recovered from that nicely, without anything more than a run of prednisone.

And biking doesn't hurt AT ALL. Never did, hopefully never will.

Isn't it wonderful how time disappears when you're in the saddle?

League of American Bicyclists (http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/education/seminars.php)
"Becoming a League Cycling Instructor (LCI) certified to teach BikeEd is a great way to help cyclists in your community. Certified instructors can teach BikeEd classes to children as well as adults. Help bring the joy of safe cycling to others. If you are an experienced cyclist and would like to teach others please consider taking the next step towards certification."
Steve