Viewing 18 posts - 1 through 18 (of 18 total)
  • The Older I get….. 48 Today!
  • Digger90
    Free Member

    48 today… good grief! I feel no different than when I was 20… but my body has more aches & pains, and they hang around longer.

    My life-long love affair with cycling is as fervent, if not more so, than it ever was.

    As soon as I could pedal a tricycle at age 2-3 it seemed like I lived my life on a bike – hurtling around my home/neighbourhood having a blast.

    At age 10 my Dad came helped me find an old gents’ bike in a jumble sale. Once home, I stripped it, cleaned it, attempted the poorest rattle-can sky blue paint job you’ve ever seen, replaced the cotters in teh cranks (remember those?), put a new gear on the rear wheel (yes, it was singlespeed – pre-dating the singlespeed trend by about 20yrs), bunged a pair of cowhorn handlebars on it, a single brake, and rode the heck out of it all over the commons and woods in the locale. In those days (1975-80) we called them ‘track bikes’ since we rode ‘tracks’ in the woods. It was my fun bike, my commuter bike (to school) my get-away-from-home bike to my friends’ homes 5-10 miles away.

    In my late teens I forsook bikes for cars. My first car being an MG Midget.. and I left bikes behind as at that age they seemed childish toys, as I’m sure they do for many late teenagers taking their first steps to driving and adulthood.

    But a steady girlfriend who lived 6 miles away and a desire to see her every night meant I bought an old black ‘racer’ as I couldn’t afford the petrol. Fitted with a dynamo at the rear and one of those old grey box-like battery lights on a bracket on the side of the forks, I commuted in the dark to see her 4-5 times a week for 3 years.

    My love for the girl waned. But on those solo bike rides to and fro late at night, with no traffic, on quiet roads – the zipping sound from my tyres penetrating the night’s silence as I flew along, reinvigorated my love of the bike. It came to be that I looked forward more to the ride than I did to seeing the girlfriend!

    Then, Mountain Biking happened.

    I bought a very used Madison Ridgeback in 1988 and rediscovered my youth spent blatting around the ‘tracks’ (single track) in the woods. Many years – and many bikes later, I’ve lived on the Continent and in the USA, biked in exotic places like Moab, Whistler, Lake Como, the French and Italian Alps, all along teh Dordogne.

    I’ve been a sponsored CX racer (in California), met Keith Bontrager, Tom Ritchey, ridden with Shari Kain, raced against Dave Weins (he of course annihilated me – and everyone else in that race – Crested Butte Fat Tyre Fest), knew Bob Seals well (inventor of the Cool Tool) , watched John Tomac race the Kamikaze DH at Mammoth Lakes, and have many, many other fantastic memories.

    I’ve gone from clips to flats and back again – and now use both with equal ease. Ride DH every year in the Alps, thrash my trail bike around the trails with my mates as regularly as I ever did, although the trails have certainly changed a lot, ride my road bike probably more these days than my MTB because it’s just easier and quicker to go straight from the house, get a ride in and get back in less time than it takes to go MTBing, I have some kind of sickness that perennially sees me going mad on Cyclocross, and about once every 18months I buy another single speed, being caught up in the romance of the idea, the beauty and simplicity if the bike, the purity of the sensation.. then I take it on a few rides, remember just how truly hard/awful a rigid singlespeed really is, and sell it shortly thereafter.. only to forget how bad it was and repeat the exercise 18 months later.

    I rode the Tour of Flanders this year and have fallen in love with it – and have been looking forward all year to next years’ event.

    I still go to bed excited on a Friday night about the following day’s ride.. having carefully, and with a big grin on my face, got all my stuff ready beforehand.

    I’m like a little kid whenever I go for a ride.. playing on the bike no matter whether it’s MTB, road, CX, single speed or just up the road for an errand.

    As one of my Birthday cards this morning says: Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.

    Here’s to the next 20-30 years of my life on a bike!

    jedi
    Full Member

    high5 and happy burfday! bikes rock

    daver27
    Free Member

    Happy Birthday bud!

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    mattrgee
    Free Member

    Ah that’s awesome mate, Happy Birthday!

    smell_it
    Free Member

    I struggle with long sentences 😉

    Happy birthday!

    Bregante
    Full Member

    What a great post!

    Happy Birthday feller!

    batman11
    Free Member

    Happy birthday buddy… Think im a bit jealous of your life though!!!!And since I’m off work gonna go for ride to help you cellabrate. Still got my cool tool in its neoprene pouch too.
    Bats

    carlosfandango
    Free Member

    Happy Birthday buddy. I enjoy being a part of your love of cycling (in a manly hetro way) and appreciate all you have taught me maintenance wise. I continue to look forward to riding with you for the next 20-30 years dude.

    ti_pin_man
    Free Member

    Digger – firstly I saw the title of the thread and thought, yawn another person and another birthday, but I was nicely surprised dude, i like the mini biog, it reads the same as mine except I am about 5 years behind ya. Happy birthday and keep going for as long as ya can! Yer a long time dead.

    z1ppy
    Full Member

    INGRAT but happy birthday all the same (I feel ill, so forgive my impatience)

    gonzy
    Free Member

    i can relate to certain aspects of what you said in your life story…but i’m not as old as you yet!! 😀
    but i do hope that i still have the same intensly burning desire to sling a leg over the bike as you when i do finally reach that age!!
    Happy birthday!! 😆

    igrf
    Free Member

    Great to read of someone with as much history is still keen, even though technically you’re still a youngster from where I’m standing, nice read, hope you have many years to come… Happy Birthday.

    granny_ring
    Full Member

    That was a good read, happy birthday.

    Stiggy
    Full Member

    Nice one! Happy birthday, if its any consolation: I’m 49, oh and get yourself a klunker! 😛

    tk46hal
    Free Member

    Enjoyed that Digger 90! Happy birthday and let’s hope that you live up to name and still riding at 90!

    stratobiker
    Free Member

    Great post!
    HAAAAAAPPPPYYYYYYY BIIIRRTTTHHHDDDAAYYYAAAEEAAAGGHH!!! WHHoooOOOOOPPPPP

    Have a great birthday young fella!

    SB xx

    ThePilot
    Free Member

    Great post! Happy birthday 🙂

    saxabar
    Free Member

    I enjoyed reading all that. Great post!

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