What age did..

[RockCoach]

My dad bought me my first 'real' bike when I was 9 .

A red BSA 24" for Christmas .

Those days you had to have a license. Offices were closed till after New Year . Felt lake ages .

 

My brother and I went with my dad to the licensing office in Jhb . This was 1967. Small red brick building near John Vorster. You can still see it from the M1.

 

You paid and then an old guy punched a number onto a piece of tin.This you attached to the bike .

 

This fell away in the 70s iirc? Pity.

[MtbBarbie]

First learnt to ride a bike at 3... Pink bike with a basket, fairy wheels and tassles, obviously!! (Have a pic somewhere)

 

Upgraded to a purple Trek (19") from Cajees ... at the age of 10 or so, don't ask how I reached the pedals!

 

Started riding more frequently in 2006, first race entered was 2008...

[NotSoBigBen]

Not sure exactly when I first learnt to ride a bike and what bike it was ..... it was a long long time ago OK!

 

But in primary/high school it was merely a way to get around, being in a family of 4 boys we shared bikes of varying shapes and sizes. Many a 'makeshift' repair was needed, often rode with just 'pedal shaft's' or hose pipe in the tyres. Cotter poins were the bain of our lives.

 

Rode with my leg through the triangle when the bikes were too big ..... got into trouble more than once because I had used my school shoes between the frame and tyre too slow the bike down!

 

One of my younger brothers was a fairly decent BMX'r but by then I was already in the army .....

 

After matric off to the army (79/80) and never touched a bike again till ..... '88/'89 (27yrs old) carried too much weight and drinking at every opportunity had a scary situation that made me re-think what I was doing (married with a daughter of 6) so decided right there that's it! Haven't touched a drop of alcohol since

 

My FiL had an old bike lying around and I borrowed it, a 10sp 'racer' with those brakes that you could use in the drops or on the top of the bars. Was so proud of myself riding 10km's 3 times a week, mentioned it at work and was immediately put in my place by a cyclist who said 'I wouldn't get out of bed for 10k's' - decided I'll show you tjop!

 

Anyway bought a 'pro' racer from Hypermarket with lightweight wheels and 14sp! From there it just snowballed ...... a few years later I whipped that cyclists backside at the August by half an hour - revenge is sweet!

[Tiny K]

This topic is too varied for me to have one distinct age category.

 

Started as a laaitie on a tiny bike, got a Nishiki MTb when I was 8/9. Used to go to the track (concrete one in Durb's) with my dad when he still rode and had a jol riding around when they were done.

 

Cycled to school and back in Primary School and High School but my main focus from Gr 7 was swimming. Made provincial teams until 2003 when I got taken out by a bakkie.

 

I started competitive cycling in Oct 2009 when my father-in-law challenged me to ride the Argus of 2010 with him. Well, the bug bit and have been riding road since then.

 

Recently I started MTB'ing and really enjoying that too.

 

Edit: ah yes, and loved riding the BMX track in Queensburgh with buddies on weekends. I hear it's now a very renown track to ride.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Tiny K

[Cippo]

Might as well. Started with bmx'es. Had a red Phoenix, so much wanted a chrome Mongoose. Was useless at wheelies bit could get big air on the jumps. Started road bikes with a Western Flyer after strapping on some water bottle holders, the one with clamps and some toe clips. My first proper road bike was an Alpina that I later resprayed like Lemond's TdF bike when he won by 8 sec's over Fignon. Started racing at 16 and carried on into early 20's then taking time out for more than 10 years. Been back on the bike now for over a year. Nuff said

Edited July 31, 2012 by MCipollini

[iconoclasp]

started with a small plastic motorbike, worked my way up to a tricycle. got first motox bike 50 cc scrambler at age 4 ( with training wheels , dad took them off the bmx ) ..... fell my guava off a couple of times. Did not own any bike or bicycle therafter, till age of 14 ..... cycled to school in Paarl till standard 8 then went to hostel. Didn't cycle for a good while , general school sport pole vault & hockey took over. Started cycling agin this year +/- 17 years out of the saddle. Loving it and wife digs cycling ALOT more than golf so she is also looking to take up cycling now.So glad to have started again.

Edited August 7, 2012 by iconoclasp

[Stiglitz86]

I started riding at age 5-6 on a Green back-brake bmx.....I loved that bike, then my dad drove over it by mistake..... :-(

[udxcob]

I started riding at 3 and rode straight into the pool, sank to the bottom, still hanging on to my bike, my Gran ran down and dove in and pulled me and my bike out and i rode on, never stopped.

Started racing bmx in 1978/1980 ish

This was the first bike i raced

 

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj310/udx-bmx/scan0061.jpg