I grew up riding bicycles to school and around town but I was never
a serious cyclist. It was during my high school years riding a bicycle
that it became apparent to me that I would never be a car guy and became
interested in motorcycles. After high school I went about 16 years without
riding a bicycle except for a few days working as as a bicycle courier
in Washington DC. I got back into cycling for two reasons. The first is
to try and motivate my friend
who kept talking about his cycling exploits in his college years and the
second was to try and get into better shape before doing my motorcycle
trip around North America in 1999. I originally bought an $80 bicycle at
K-mart which got me to and from work a few times and basically made me
miserable for a few months before I upgraded to my Peugeot. In 2000 one
of my coworkers got a team together to do a MS150 ride and I've been enjoying
(except for all the pain and suffering) cycling since.