I've heard quite a bit around here about other puzzlers being into riding bikes. Stardust4ever mentioned cycling as an alternative to running so I'm making this separate thread to answer his question and hopefully get some of the other cyclists out of the woodwork...

Stardust asked:



Yes! It absolutely can be a great alternative to running. I broke my arm riding my bike in December and had to switch to running for a month or so. I found that running is a lot more difficult than cycling, but you definitely get more workout for the time you spend running. I was just as tired after running for 30 minutes as I would have been riding my bike for a few hours. On the flip side though, for me it's easier to keep my heart rate up for a longer period of time by riding a bike, simply because it's more fun and there is more incentive to be riding than just to get exercise.

As for group rides, check out online forums to see if anything is going on in your area. Bike shops around here usually do a few weekly road or mountain group rides for all skill levels, so if you have a bike shop in your area it's probably worth asking them if there are any riding clubs or shop sponsored rides going on.

I'm more into downhill and aggressive trail riding so this is my main steed:



In my case the main reason for climbing is to ride back down as fast as I can

to date i have 5 bikes

a univega dh ram,a univega dh ram 9,a canondale with custom rear end ,a saracen and my mountain cycle san andreas .I ride retro these days as my wallet extends to a limited price range.all of which are on retrobike somewhere .I shall have a look.