All my life

I have ridden all my life.  When I was a kid I rode everywhere.  I never really thought about it.  My best friend in junior high lived miles away and I rode over to her house all the time.  I rode to the Spring Glen Pharmacy when I wanted a candy bar.  I rode everywhere.

When I moved to Boston after college my bike went with me and eventually got stolen which is when I went to International Bicycles and made my first really big purchase as an adult, $325 for a new bike.  A bike that I later found out was way too tall for me height wise and way too short for me lengthwise.  But I rode it for 10 years until it was replaced with a semi-custom Merlin titanium frame, one of the great loves of my life (also stolen).

Before that Merlin though came the New England Classic.  I was taking the T home from work in 1992 and stopped for a TCBY.  They had a brochure for an organized ride to raise money for diabetes.  There were one day rides, but it also talked about a week long ride around New England.  Why do a day when you can do a week?  I thought, having never ridden more than 25 miles in one day.  So I signed up and survived that ride.  And did it again the next year.  I took three years off for law school and went back in 1997.  This year I did that ride for the 10th time.  All the dearest people in my life, who aren't blood relatives, have come to me through that ride.  We have traveled to Virginia, Montana, Colorado and even the Alps during the Tour de France.

If I didn't ride I wouldn't know any of those people.  That's why I ride.

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