FS why I ride

[Godzilla]

I started biking about 2 years ago in a vain attempt to not die young for things I can control (my weight, for example), but I quickly learned that being on the bike is the best therapy I can afford.

Last year, right after Xmas, my mother died from things related to lung/brain/bone cancer. Within days, I was out on my bike in 20 degree weather, trying to find that space to think, remember, and grieve. This year I rode a few 100+ mile events in some really wonderful places, and put on a few thousand more miles around Montgomery county.

This year I also persuaded several friends to ride with me and met new friends as well. (The latter is why I’m here, presently).

So I ride for the health benefits, the camaraderie, and the search for inner peace.

Also, if there’s beer at the end, that never hurts.

Topic

[Sunyata]

@Godzilla 226354 wrote:

but I quickly learned that being on the bike is the best therapy I can afford.

I think you might eventually find that actual therapy ends up being cheaper than bikes…. #NPlusOne

@Godzilla 226354 wrote:

Also, if there’s beer at the end, that never hurts.

We should go for a bike ride!

[lordofthemark]

@Sunyata 226398 wrote:

I think you might eventually find that actual therapy ends up being cheaper than bikes…. #NPlusOne

I mean you may just find that you end up telling your therapist a LOT about bikes, including about Freezing Saddles. Hmmm.

[Meh]

@Godzilla 226354 wrote:

I started biking about 2 years ago in a vain attempt to not die young for things I can control (my weight, for example)…
Last year, right after Xmas, my mother died from things related to lung/brain/bone cancer. Within days, I was out on my bike in 20 degree weather, trying to find that space to think, remember, and grieve.
….

Also, if there’s beer at the end, that never hurts.

Condolences.

I still _don’t_ even begin to like cycling, but I figured this was a good place to meet people with similar stories to mine.

[canadiengal]

Freezing Saddles gets me out in weather that I absolutely dont want to ride it. I am very much a fair weather rider.

FS 2023, I struggled with medical issues and ended up being prevented by my doctor from riding for a good chunk of the winter.
I am hoping FS 2024 is my come back year but I still have to overcome the results of the medical treatment. Its been a struggle to bike with monocular vision but I am hoping I can at least make it to the end of my street and back every day which is 1.1 miles. An incredibly hilly 1.1 miles as it turns out as I made it onto the top 10 elevation/mile list.

[Godzilla]

@Sunyata 226398 wrote:

I think you might eventually find that actual therapy ends up being cheaper than bikes…. #NPlusOne

We should go for a bike ride!

I have done regular therapy and it helped! But not like the bike does. And so far, I’ve kept my bike purchases quite reasonable. That’s a story unto itself.

I got into biking right around the time my student loans were forgiven. So I decided to spend the same amount on bikes that I would have spent on student loan payments for that year. So I got two bikes. One for each foot.

In terms of going for a ride, yes! Hit me up. I’m a suburban dad with related responsibilities, but I can manage rides most weekends. I’m not afraid of a little rain or wet pavement. And one of my routes up through Olney includes three or four breweries along the way.

[Godzilla]

I dig it! I am kind of a wet towel when it comes to gloomy weather rides, but I figure, like you, I can do a mile in my neighborhood every day if I have to.

[Godzilla]

@Meh 226411 wrote:

Condolences.

I still _don’t_ even begin to like cycling, but I figured this was a good place to meet people with similar stories to mine.

Hey thanks. It’s been a year almost. It’s rough some days. Mostly OK lately. But hell, what better way to grieve than in a sleet storm? Wait, don’t answer that.

[Godzilla]

@lordofthemark 226401 wrote:

I mean you may just find that you end up telling your therapist a LOT about bikes, including about Freezing Saddles. Hmmm.

My friends have figured out that I basically only have a few things to talk about and most of them are bikes, now. I try to keep it interesting for normies, but yeah. I’m a Bike Guy now. It’s the way it is.

[Steve O]

@Godzilla 226435 wrote:

My friends have figured out that I basically only have a few things to talk about and most of them are bikes, now. I try to keep it interesting for normies, but yeah. I’m a Bike Guy now. It’s the way it is.

Not sure where you live, but you are definitely invited to join any of the various coffee clubs that happen pretty much every morning of the week. There you will find others who can talk about little else than bikes, biking, bike infrastructure, bike stories, etc.
Find them on the FS calendar, which is on the freezingsaddles.org home page. Scroll down.

[Author]

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