[BananaMarie]

Are there any others that love to ride a bike?
I am an amateur bike rider, I've got my little yellow generic mountain bike that I love to ride for exercise. I can go for hours and feel great!
My only complaint is I live on top of a big huge hill, leaving for a bike ride is a piece of cake. I've got a cool 10 min ride down the hill towards the beach but coming home is another story. After an hour ride up and down the coast line It takes me about 45 min to get back up to the top, and I am usually walking most of it and I feel terrible by the time I get home.
So who else out there rides a bike?

[SGeranium]

I do, I do . I've just started within the past year. Before that I road a little with my family at a leisure pace for shorter miles . I'm lucky to live near a bike trail that connects to others creating over a hundred miles of bike trail. It's also at the bottom of a very steep hill. I've worked hard to increase my fitness and gear shifting ability to get back up without walking. But I'm often REALLY tired at the of a long ride and it's still not always possible . I live at the top of a big hill too. No way around it........... It's great exercise and I'm still learning how to ride more efficiently.

[knitsforfive]

Bike lover here!!! It makes me feel like a kid again. I just did a 31 mile ride last weekend and we are hoping to make a cross-counry trip in a few years -- when the kids are older. I LOVE LOVE LOVE biking.

I am not sure what to think of your hill. I assume there is no other route in? Is that accurate? Hmmmm. Maybe you could shorten the riding part so that you don't feel so spent after the hill?

[BananaMarie]

Good to hear I am not alone!
SGeranium I just started in the last year too. I wish we had real trails here but I have about 10 miles of coastline with a paved path running along it about 2 miles from my house (down the dreaded hill) so I can't complain too much.Knits (i'm a knitter too!) my longest was 24 miles. It's hard to get the distance because I live on a small (64 miles from one end to the other) island and it's very hilly/mountainous. But I love it. I may hate my hill to death but it's part of the experience I guess I do take different routes sometimes but more or less I have to go down the hill and back up it at some point to get distance, and I love to just ride forever if the weather permits!

[SGeranium]

The Japanese coastline looks beautiful from the photos I've seen. Amazing. I think cycling is a great lifetime exercise/ pastime. The bike trails are very busy here and every demographic is represented young/ old, slender/ not so slender.men/ women. great.

Knits: A friend of a friend did part of "ride across America" earlier this summer and had a blast. That's a fantastic goal. What an amazing experience for the kids.

[knitsforfive]

Okinawa. Wow. I am reading a book all about the longevity people experience in Okinawa. It's called "Healthy at 100".

I have never heard of "Ride Across America". I will have to look it up.

[SeaWave]

I love biking! We have 170 km of bike paths in Ottawa, so this is something I'm looking forward to doing again once I get my doctors' ok. I actually moved on my bike when I was in University. I must have made 50 trips back and forth from one apartment to the other. When I get discouraged, it's one of the things I use to remind myself that I've done it before, I'll do it again!