Cycling Section

Adventures of a Beginning Cyclist

What happens when one hits mid-life and you make a decision to take up a young persons activity like cycling?  Besides being a bit intimidated by all the choices, what about being 56 years old and straddling a seat for the first time in 30 years or more?  That's pretty much what this portion of our website will be dedicated to.  At mid-life, we decided to get fit and build some cardio.  We chose cycling as the way to accomplish that because we also wanted something fun. Going to a gym may build cardio and help you get fit: but it isn't much in the way of fun. Cyling however, no matter when you begin, even if you are as ancient as we are, is still fun.

In China cycling is quite a different topic

In our travels around the world we discovered that not everyone uses a bicyle when they talk about cycling. In many cultures, like China, cycles have 1, 2, 3 or even 4 wheels and are used for just about everything under the sun. In a place like Beijing, cycles are working vehicles and those who ride them usually aren't out for either cardio or fitness.  We are not going to focus on that kind of cycling here with the exception of recumbent cycles.

In Beijing, cycles have any number of wheels

I actually started my cycling adventures on a recumbent 3 wheel bike because my weight and back just weren't optimal for a standard 2 wheeled road bike.  I knew I eventually wanted to be on a road bike, but I was not in the physical shape that would allow it so I started on a recumbent 3 wheeled machine called a Catrike.  We will talk about the beauty and fun of the recumbents too because for many of us, it's the only way to travel.

As you cruise around this portion of the site, be sure to check out some of our experiences as we began our journey on cycles.  We will look at everything from those beginning rides to gear to training regimens. We will give you our opinion of the "expert cycling" community and what help or hindrance they are to beginning cyclists.

As you begin to pedal, we hope you'll join us here. Crank it and enjoy.