I got my first bicycle as an adult at the age of 21 from a high school girl in Baton Rouge who was “too old” to ride a bike anymo
re. Since I grew up on a ranch in Southwest Texas, my cycling had been confined to riding on dirt until a mesquite thorn punctured my tire, waiting till my brother Jerry had time to fix it and then taking off for another day of riding. I knew it was fun, but didn't really “get it” till I saddled up and rode to work on my “new” used three-speed racer!
Stanton and I didn't belong to any club and used our bikes for commuting and shopping. When we left Baton Rouge to live in Tampa, we realized that we had not become a part of any community except the university, so we decided to change that. In Tampa we immediately joined the bike club. We met a few friends through the rides, but still didn't feel part of the club until we volunteered to help with a race that the club was putting on. THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING! By the end of the weekend, we knew scads of people and they knew us! Even though it has been 27 years since we left Tampa, we still have friends from those cycling days.