A great thread! I was consumed by bikes as a young teenager but they stayed within the pages of magazines (parental pressure and Anglican guilt -- similar to 53driver!). Around that same time I met a young family friend in his early 20s (I was 16) who had suffered brain damage in a crash and walked with a cane. That kind of put things to rest for me for years (probably a parental setup) but the idea and the desire never completely went away. Then came marriage and kids; the usual stuff. Tick tock goes the clock. It wasn't until I was working with quite a few guys who rode (police service) that I finally put it into action. I told those guys I was too old now to start (early 40s then) and they said no way -- go do it. So I did and I haven't looked back. On my third and best bike now and loving every minute of it.