How Has Biking Changed Your Life?

Hey, Y'all.

It's 2 a.m., I can't sleep, and here I sit, thinking of the ways that biking has changed my life since August 11 of this year, when I took my first bike ride in over 48 years. I read the post Huskey bumped up about the biker known on these threads as boudreaux, who was killed by a teen that was driving and texting. It made me unexpectedly sad, disproportionately so I think for a person whom I've never met, from whom I've never even read any posts. And as I wondered why, I realized that it was because I feel like part of a community, here. I've been posting for only about a month now, and in that time I've come to think of the people on these threads -- evidently even if I've never heard of them or read anything they posted -- as community, as family. I wanted to say thank you for that. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/redface.gif

Biking has also changed my life for the better, health-wise. I've lost 38 pounds now, more inches than I can measure, and everything in my closet is too big. Way too big -- as in, this evening I went to the bathroom in a hurry and pulled down my jeans -- without unbuttoning them or unzipping them, without even realizing it until I had done it. These are jeans that I had tried on in June, and literally couldn't get close to zipping, much less buttoned. And they just fell to my feet. I have dresses that I had bought that were too small, that I was saving to get into when I lost weight (women do such things, guys). Suddenly they're too big, and I've never worn them yet! It's a lovely problem to have. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif I went to the doctor a couple weeks ago, and my blood pressure was lower than it has been in years, was actually a little below normal -- and this was the day before a major surgery I was nervous about. I actually cried when I got on the scales this morning and had lost more weight, because although I still have 85 pounds I want to lose, for the first time in my adult life I really believe that I can DO it, that biking has not just helped me spend more calories but has changed me in some fundamental way that is enabling me to feel empowered and to have the initiative to continue healthy eaitng, when on countless other diets for years, by this time I would have given in to the cravings and stopped losing.

It has helped my relationship with my husband in ways I would never have anticipated. Obviously, my getting shapelier is a good thing in terms of intimacy, but that's not even close to what I'm talking about. Suddenly we have something in common besides kids and pets and everyday life. He bikes to and from work each day, a total of 15 miles, and for several years has gone on long rides on the weekends without me -- by necessity, because I could never have kept up with him. Now we're going for bike rides in the evening when he gets home, and someday soon I'll GO on one of the long weekend rides with him. Biking gives us something to talk about, to communicate about besides bills and aches and pains of getting old and the frustrations of life in general. I ask him the same questions I've pestered you with on here (but don't let him know I've already asked, lol), and I think it makes him feel good to be able to teach me something. I get his advice on handling my bike and easy repairs and which upcoming bike purchase to make, and we discuss easy bike tours we'd like to take when I'm able. And he's so happy about what I'm doing that this man, this FRUGAL Hubby who for years never even bought me cards or presents on holidays because he was such a tightwad, this same man is willing to part with several hundred dollars in cash to buy me a decent bike, and to pay for my upcoming beginner's tour next June without complaint! Unbelievable. (Who are you, and I don't CARE what you've done with Frugal Hubby, lol!) Biking literally has improved my marriage!

It has enabled me to be a source of support to my daughter, who also has a weight problem, to encourage her to continue to bike to work and to go on bike rides with us when she comes weekly to visit, and to eat wisely to fuel the biker inside. My relationship with my daughter-in-law can be at times strained. We don't argue, but we're not real comfortable with each other yet -- until I invited her on a bike ride last month when they come from San Rafael to visit -- and we had a WONDERFUL time together on our ride. It was the first time I had felt that we truly bonded.

I think the only ones who aren't thrilled with my bike-riding is my doggies, because they're too little to run alongside my bike, and too big to carry on it. So they're peeved that I'm not glued to my recliner every afternoon, holding them all day, poor babies. They'll have to get over it. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/rolleyes.gif

I'm sorry this has been so long -- blame it on the bronchitis meds, lol -- but I'm just realizing that cycling is changing my life, changing ME, in very profound ways. And you've all had a hand in helping me along the way.

Just wanted to say Thanks. Bunches. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/tongue.gif OH -- And, how has it changed yours???

Sierra

 

hello everyone,

I really love biking, every afternoon after work I go biking, this keeps me fit & healthy, stress free..wish yah all do the same..=)

 

Water bill, electric bill went up, cost of laundry supplies increased. Two extra showers during hot weather.
Wasted money on stomach pills and antacids I will never need.
Wasted money on cloths that don't fit any more.
Never at home. Out riding all the time.
Get up too early to go riding.
Wasted money on TV and cable we never watch.

Economy suffered because we don't eat out any more. Don't buy six two liter Dr Peppers a week any more.
Eat half as much so grocery business has suffered.
Oil companies have suffered as we don't drive the car much.

Met a lot of cute girls on the bike trails, wife upset! It has been so long since I chased girls I can't remember
what to do if I catch one??

I can mow the yard in three hours instead of three days. Lost nearly fifty lbs. Can ride 100 miles a day
instead of five miles.

It really hasn't changed my life at all as far as I can see??

 

Hi BH!

I wondered who would be the one to bring up the comic side of it all. Leave it to you, lol. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif Loved your post and can identify with every single bit of it. My daughter came over the other night and complained because "you never have anything good to eat over here any more." What she meant was "you never have anything nutritionally useless and FATTENING over here any more," lol.

When the economy goes further south, we'll know who to blame. When you wife catches you chatting up the hotties on the bike trail, you're on your own. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/tongue.gif

Have a great day.

Sierra

 

Hi, Alla, and welcome to the forums!

Thanks for joining my thread. I loved what you said about biking helping you stay stress free. That's so true! On the rare days when Dear Hubby drives the car to work instead of riding his bike, he's WAYYYYY more cranky when he gets home than he is when he rides it all away. And I can tell the same is true for me, too. On the days I don't ride, I get much moodier and have a lot more food cravings. All the more reason to stay on the bike, right? /img/vbsmilies/smilies/tongue.gif

Have a good one.

Sierra

 

My parents bought me my first bike, a green Huffy Stingray, for my sixth birthday, and I literally rode the tires off of it. My Grandfather got me into serious bicycling when I was ten. I have lived as an avid cyclist for the past 42 years, so biking hasn't changed my life, it has shaped it. Sorry I can't answer your question.

 

KD,

I think it may have PRE-changed it, if that makes sense. You are almost certainly a happier, healthier person than you would have been, had you not been so fortunate as to have relatives encourage you in this healthy endeavor.

I envy you your childhood! My parents were the exact opposite; I was taught that all leisure time was for sitting and watching TV. We were too poor for bicycles (there were entire days when we didn't have FOOD!) or outings to activities that cost money. We were never allowed to join the sports teams or whatever at school, because the uniforms cost money we didn't have. And, working two jobs to try to feed us, my parents were too exhausted to take us for walks or to the park when they got home, even if it hadn't been dark. I had a sedentary lifestyle practically drilled into me -- It affected me very negatively, physically, and it has been hard trying to reverse that -- which is why I'm so excited to have found cycling.

I'm glad you have such happy memories, though! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/tongue.gif

Sierra

 

My brother and I had to hop twelve miles through three feet of snow to get to school.
Why did we hop you ask? We were so poor our folks could only afford to buy us
one pair of shoes so I wore the left one and Gary wore the right one.
























I still have that prime real estate for sale BTW!

 

I consider my years of devotion to cycling as one of the factors that has contributed to my 30 years of marriage. I spend that much time out on my bike that me and my wife don't see enough of each other to argue.

 

BHOFM and Decca,

Y'all are so FUNNY!! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

Decca, I think biking is going to contribute to MY marriage, too, lol. Dear Controll-Freak Hubby is retiring next week (omg!), and I'm already concerned that he'll follow me around the house, trying to tell me how to do what I've been doing for years, lol. Biking we shall go!!

Thanks for the giggles, you twol /img/vbsmilies/smilies/tongue.gif

 

/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

 

Well, maybe now you will learn to do it right...!