Look Who’s Loving the Bike – June

As you know, at the top of each month we like to feature the amazing stories and memories of why people are loving the bike.  Please take a look at what our June lovers have to say.  We’d love to hear from you as well….feel free to submit your “Look Who’s Loving the Bike” story to us at any time.

Ryan Van Duzer – Boulder, CO

“I’ve been loving bikes since I got a shiny black BMX for Christmas when I was 8 years old.  Riding is fun, healthy, good for the environment and a great way to take a girl on a date.  Everyone likes the feeling of being a kid again. Riding a bike magically transports you back to childhood.”

Ryan has recently become a friend and inspiration to me…..check out his cool life at www.ryanvanduzer.com.

Wait a minute, he’s so cool and so much fun to watch, I just had to also include one of his crazy videos.  Ryan pretty much loves the bike more than anyone I know.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgrGdt_7Q0k[/youtube]

Cassi Yost – Cleveland, TN

“I am no one special – just a woman loving my life on a bike.  I am not fast, I don’t ride epic distances, my bicycles are simple ones – but I love being part of the conversation, I love the bicycling lifestyle, I love the people that have come into my life through cycling.

Living a life by bicycle slows the pace of the day; we travel more deliberately, more consciously, and usually with more effort and more thought.  On a bicycle, the world is a bigger place – as it should be (unlike the cars and planes that can make the world a smaller place).

Life on a bicycle transforms the mundane into an adventure, the ordinary into a reward. If I could accomplish any one thing on a bike, it would not be any epic feat of fitness or strength or skill – it would simply be to inspire someone else, a non-rider, another average person like myself, to get out there and ride somewhere. What I want most of all is to share the love of the bike … because to me, that is what love is ultimately about.”

For more beautiful cycling stories and photographs by Cassi, have a look at www.shebicycles.com.

Donelys Cariño – Carolina, Puerto Rico

“Looking back in my cycling chest of memories it’s really hard to pick just one moment of happiness. Who ever feels towards cycling the same way I do, knows exactly what I mean. All I can say is that cycling changed my life forever. For starts, it gave me an all new meaning for the word exercise which beforehand just to listen to the word I felt tired. Now cycling is part of my everyday routine, as I’m a local competitive cyclist and I love to train, and to train HARD!

Lifetime friends and most important, the Love of my life, Hubby (as I like to call him) came to my life as a result of riding my bike as well. Lucky me Hubby is a cyclist too and he’s as passionate about it as I am. We met through a mutual friend one day on a group training ride and since the first time I saw him I knew he was very special. I won’t deny that him looking sexy in a cycling kit helped too.

Cycling has become part of who I am in my everyday life and I wouldn’t give it up for anything in the world. I Love Cycling!”

Jami Mari Clayman – Dallas, TX

“This is me on my first bike.  There is no picture of the red tricycle that preceded it.

According to my mother, I had a bad habit of leaving my tricycle unattended.  She told me time and again that if I left it alone someone would take it.

After a strawberry Kool-Aid run to the kitchen one balmy Texas morning, I ran back outside to jump on the trike to find it missing.  ‘How could this have happened,’ I cried while tears streamed down my face.  My mother asked if I’d left it outside.  ‘Yes, but only for a minute!’ My mother said that she was sorry my tricycle was stolen.  She then reminded me to take better care of my toys.

This is the bicycle that followed.”

Jami also spreads the message of people’s love for the bike, check out her site right here.

Daniela Ginta – Vancouver, Canada

“My love for biking starts a long time ago. And it was an on/off relationship, to be honest. I got my first bike when I was in grade 1. And rode safely until I discovered speed. That happened in grade 6. That’s when I first took my bike on a high-traffic road and experience the thrill of riding downhill at full speed. My parents had no clue where I was which most likely spared them a heart attack.

But I remember going downhill – flying would be more accurate – and loving it. Maybe loving it is an understatement. A second time meant crashing in a fence in an attempt to get out of the way of a big truck coming my way. Reckless? Yes. Scary? Beyond words. I ended up with bruises and sore arms and legs, plus a heart ready to jump out of my chest. My friends who were riding with me seemed equally shocked. I will never confess this to my boys. That event alone prompted me to stay away from riding on busy streets for a couple of years.

During high school years I got to ride a nice road bike for the first time and once again I felt ecstatic about a speedy ride on a bike. This one was going fast, and by then I knew I loved speed.   I was slightly wiser – emphasis on slightly – so I made it out alive every time.”

Daniela encourages people to dream over at her blog Think of Clouds.

Tags: Loving the Bike