[boostindoubles]

when i was in middle school all my friends were into skateboarding, but i lived on a farm and had no pavement to practice skating. So i had this old bmx bike i used to have and started building dirt jumps, alittle later some random guy taught me how to bunnyhop, and i've been riding every since. jumped from a bmx to a mtn bike about 6 years ago when a friend loaned me one his custom made frames. been riding 10 or 11 years now

 

[sunny]

I got a 7-speed road bike in 2000, because my goal was to do a triathlon some time before death or age 36. When I first got it, I rode the brakes constantly whenever I came to a hill, but I was determined to improve.

June 2003, my mechanic (an expert dh-er) commented on my tenacity, and suggested that I would proabably enjoy mountain biking. He borrowed a bike for me and took me on a shop ride. I crashed pretty hard my first time out, and was OTB on every subsequent ride. Terrified and thrilled all in the same breath. Bruised and bloody after every ride. But my mechanic coached me and essentially taught me how to ride... at age 36.

I began racing downhill two years ago at 37.

Grrrr...

 

[firestorm]

I'm a bodybuilder. Several years ago about 6 years, a coworker and I were discussing the sports we do. He said he mountain biked. I said that was a pussy sport and nothing like bodybuilding training. He challenged me to try it so he took me to a bike store that he worked at and got me a excellent deal on a Cannondale M800 (which I later modified) and we went out to a local trail. Well forget the spills because that was no big deal, not even the blood, but the cardio workout nearly killed me. So he called me on my little pussy comment and I had to take it back. It was probably the best ride I've ever been on being that it was my 1st experience as well as a total adrenaline rush. Mountain biking is NO pussy sport that I've learned the hard way.

 

[jimmydean]

I have been riding off and on forever. My brother raced bmx when I was a kid and I did everything he did. I skated in high school, but got a roadie because it was faster (my board was on my back). I didn't ride when I was in the Navy, but when I moved to Portland, things changed.

I got my first "real" mountain bike in '94 (Proflex 855) and liked dirt. A few years later, a few guys at work showed me pictures of North Shore. I bought a Stinky and have been on big bikes since. I started racing DH this year and wish I would have done it sooner!

 

[BurlyShirley]

Ive always ridden anything w/ two wheels. Mostly BMX as a kid, and onto dirtbikes. MTB just picked up somewhere along the way and managed to outlast everything else. I still have a dirtbike (03 RM125) but dont ever ride it, as maintenance costs are way too much for me.

 

[fluff]

As a kid a bike equalled freedom; never looked back from there really.

 

[BikerBoy28]

When I was 11, I saw the coolest biking film, it made me get on my Vertical every day. Broke that and got a real bike. Then that bike wasnt enough. Got another one, and here I am. (13 years old.)

 

[SkaredShtles]

I'm a bodybuilder. Several years ago about 6 years, a coworker and I were discussing the sports we do. He said he mountain biked. I said that was a pussy sport and nothing like bodybuilding training.

You *are* the toughest guy on the internet!

 

[SkaredShtles]

When I was 11, I saw the coolest biking film, it made me get on my Vertical every day. Broke that and got a real bike. Then that bike wasnt enough. Got another one, and here I am. (13 years old.)

Does your mother know you frequent this vast wasteland we like to call Ridemonkey?

 

[Mastamind]

I would bike as a kid with my two good friends. We would ride all day around the neighborhood, and as we got older we would go to the trails in the park. I stopped for a while becuase life got in the way, but now i do it because it's something I've always done and it helps lose some of the weight I've put on.

 

[BikerBoy28]

Does your mother know you frequent this vast wasteland we like to call Ridemonkey?

She doesn't care, why? There is nothing wrong with this website.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Yeah, why? There is nothing wrong with this website.

I sure wouldn't let *my* 13 year old kid hang out on a site that would accept *me* as a member.

 

[Zark]

I got into mountain biking my Senior year in high school in Ojai, CA (1994). The place is super boring for the youth, there was just nothing to do. After running the gammut of drugs/debaunchery I was looking around for my next buzz.

Well my buddy Curt kinda introduced me into bikes. I discovered there was all kinds of trail all over my town & adrenaline is the best drug on earth. Thanks Curt, you probably saved my life buddy!

 

[BikerBoy28]

I sure wouldn't let *my* 13 year old kid hang out on a site that would accept *me* as a member.

I'm a member of alot of websites. And whats wrong with accepting you?

 

[SkaredShtles]

I'm a member of alot of websites. And whats wrong with accepting you?

I see you're new around here.

Don't worry, you'll see.

BTW - it was a reference to a Groucho Marx quote.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Ummm...

Always had bikes as a kid, rode them for the sake of riding, went places, fell off, got back on, rode...

Rode bike to HS and delivered for a big paper route in junior HS, often in truly miserable weather, continued to ride just to ride, friend and I had a back yard dirt track, nothing special...

Had a ten speed Columbia when I was stationed in Korea, left it for the first mate of a tugboat who I used to work with...

Commuted in Cambridge, say 30 miles a day on a three speed, rode infinite miles at night on long rambling rides to nowhere... Got a Peugeot UO-8 late in that period...

Came up to Vermont in 1975 and fell out of riding for a while, except for the occasional hairbrained epic on dirt or gravel or pavement or all of the above...

Dog died...

Sulked and drank...

Rebuilt and registered my Matchless, rode it...

Had a Fuji touring bike in the car one day and somebody told me about some singletrack, kept riding it until the Fuji started to die, borrowed a Rockhopper, rode it for a year, bought a Raleigh M8000, broke the frame in the first lap of a 24-hour race, finished on the Rockhopper...

Got a second M8000 as a warranty replacement, it had pivot problems and they had trouble coming up with replacement bearings, bought a used Joker frame from a , swapped the parts over, still riding it. I still ride the MTB a lot on the road and the road bike occasionally on dirt and if somebody came by with a tricycle I'd ride that.

And oh, yeah, I got a BMX in late winter or spring of this year. I'm not too embarrassed to be seen riding it by my house or in the halls at work, but I have yet to get up the cojones to show up at a skate park, indoor or outdoor.

 

[jdcamb]

I got a BMX in late winter or spring of this year. I'm not too embarrassed to be seen riding it by my house or in the halls at work, but I have yet to get up the cojones to show up at a skate park, indoor or outdoor.

Thanks for sharing. You rock!

 

[Total Heckler]

I started riding BMX when I was around 7 or 8. I rode until I was around 13 or so when I picked up racing motocross. When I was 19 my buddy started working for Santa Cruz. He hooked me up with a Santa Cruz Heckler for $890 new(!) so I could ride with him.

We never went riding together. I now race and ride more mountain bikes then he ever did. I am still thankfull he hooked me up with that bike to get me started even though its long gone.