CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 16years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
Some eight years ago I wrote a post called On cycle commuting, as it was “coming up to that time of year when people make resolutions to change their lives”.
Just at the end of last year I decided to look back at what had changed in my life as a result of riding a bicycle since then, rather more than I had expected it to in 2006.
Has riding a bicycle changed your life? If yes, why not tell us about it... ;-)
Commuting by bike builds exercise into the daily routine thus helping the MAMIL in me keep fit in a constant manner. Road cycling is therefore easier? Had a bike as a young man and a child. Regret not having one in mid twenties and doing my knees in by running too much. Never driven in anger. So no real Damascene conversion just pushing existing hobby a bit further? Thus small change rather than major.
Yes, I'd certainly say cycling has changed my life.
Like many people, I rode a bike a lot as a child. Raleigh Striker, a Grifter and (latterly) an Emelle GT12 which was, allegedly, a 'serious' bike. Or so the lady said in the Co-Op where it was bought as a Christmas gift when I was 15. That was 1990.
Fast forward to 2003 and I'm not exactly a picture of health. OK, I'm not exactly the Michelin Man either. Momentously, my other half gave me a Trek hybrid. Hers actually. It didn't resemble my dimly remembered GT12 (no drop handlebars for one thing). Wheels looked 'sturdier'. Yes, I confess that I was unimpressed at first. It wasn't fast. I wasn't a natural or likely to be getting a part in 'Breaking Away: the Remake'. Yet I stuck it out, grinding up and down the quiet lanes of the Grange to reach work.
Swiftly, stealthily, cycling gained a foothold in my life. First it was solely a fast(er) and cheap(er) means of getting to/from work. Soon I noticed there were magazines about cycling, not just spare parts but places to go and stuff to buy. As bits wore out I realised you could add shinier and apparently better ones. Bike shops suddenly had lots of interesting distractions.
Quite probably I have a (slightly) obsessive personality, one predisposed to becoming deeply preoccupied with new interests...but I can't help buy feel cycling just fitted the bill for me with a whole new way of life to discover. For me, gaining (and maintaining) some semblance of fitness was the initial hook, a means to try and beat my pretty rotten genetic odds (various flavours of cancer, heart disease and heart attacks etc dolefully adorn my family tree) but it's blossomed into a real passion and one that offers real enjoyment. Even in the rain.
Cycling opens you up to the world. Through cycling I've struck up friendships where otherwise I mightn't have had that 'icebreaker' moment. I've met lovely people on various rides and experienced the kindness of absolute strangers stopping to offer help when I've been at the roadside, scratching my head. Likewise I've been moved to stop and offer assistance to total strangers.
So yes, cycling's changed my life and for the better.
I definitely do more exercise and experience rather more weather than I used to since I started cycling regularly in 2009. I also spot far more wildlife e.g. kingfishers!
Starting cycle commuting 12+ years ago (as a consequence of a move to the city) helped me quit a 20-year smoking habit.
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