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Post by thesmithers on Feb 19, 2013 13:57:32 GMT
Hello everyone I started cycling about 2 years ago after my girlfriend decided to dust off an old mountain bike she had to cycle to work with. 2 years later, I have gotten quite seriously into it and bought a £2k road bike about 5 months ago! In addition to commuting 50 miles a week by bike, I am also doing weekend rides in excess of 60 miles. At the time of writing, I am loving it, but in the back of my head I'm worried it's just another ADHD fad that will disappear as quickly as it came along. I have just read an article however that makes me believe that it's not just a fad, and that perhaps it was even fate that I came across cycling! The article (link below) was written by a pro-cyclist, who is also an ADHD sufferer. Although it's well known that all forms of physical exercise are good for controlling the symptoms of ADHD, this article examines how cycling in particular is good for sufferers, and how for this particular individual, it has completely replaced his medication! I found it incredibly inspirational and insightful, and it has made me think that perhaps my new found hobby was meant to be! I would like to share it with all of you in the hope it could be an inspiration for you too. The moral of this story is GET OUT ON YOUR BIKES! www.bicycling.com/news/featured-stories/riding-my-ritalinKeith
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Post by 16stonepig on Feb 19, 2013 15:00:48 GMT
Hi Keith,
I discovered mountain biking about 12 years ago. At the time, I was having to travel to a summer job about 6 miles away, and some of that was along dirt tracks and towpaths. At the time, ADHD was not in my consciousness at all. But what I found was that I always had a lovely feeling of calm, and alertness and peace, even though I was stomping on the pedals as hard as I could.
Since then, I have bought my first mountain bike, joined a club, entered races, ridden up and down Snowdon, raced in the Megavalanche (look it up), built trails, met friends, seen some amazing places and had a huge amount of fun.
I think it says something that I have managed to stay stuck into this hobby for so long, when everything else I've done has lasted just a few months. Admittedly, I sometimes go through phases of not getting out on the bike as often as I would like to, sometimes I even feel like I have lost some enthusiasm, but every time I subsequently manage to drag myself out of the house, I am reminded how much I love it, and how much it means to me
So don't be worried about it being a fad - it's too good for you for that. The cominbation of the exercise, the fun, the danger and the challenge is the perfect release for an ADHD mind, I reckon. Everything makes sense and nothing matters for a few hours.
The only problem I do find is that I am looking for new challenges quicker than my mind or my body can tolerate them.
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Post by claudhopper on Feb 19, 2013 16:14:10 GMT
I love cycling and I'm on my second Dawes Kalahari which is a hybrid bike. I used to cycle 11 every day for work and at weekends too. I don't drive any more (too many accidents) but at the moment my back wheel is buckled and needs straightening. When that's done I'll be off all spring and summer. It's the exercise and time to look around that do it, I reckon.
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Post by Notlonelyinacrowdnow on Mar 1, 2013 10:09:45 GMT
I enjoy it too but can't always up n go so this winter we bought a Trainer for indoors under £200 and fabulous tucked away in my kitchen it houses an old bike so it's just like riding outdoors just put the back wheel in the magnets I now jump on daily handy if I'm feeling wound up now I'm not on meds I just blast a quick 10 minutes and feel much better afterwards x
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Post by jan on Mar 1, 2013 12:30:12 GMT
oh god don't encourage me to buy another indoor excercise gadget - i'm in process of trying to get around to getting rid of 3 huge ones that had for years and never use and they take up soooo much room! agree though cycling is amazing feeling and great treatment for the brain. trouble is i live in london and my anxiety wont let me cycle on the roads - too dangerous! got stopped by copper when olympics was on in the summer cos was on pavement - nearly gave me a £30 fine but i exagerrated my welsh accent and made out was a tourist and didn't know (which i really didn't - that its against the law!) and he let me off, has put me off since
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Post by Notlonelyinacrowdnow on Mar 1, 2013 16:26:18 GMT
Ha ha made me giggle that one .. Sell your stuff to buy the indoor trainer especially if you enjoy cycling that way no anxiety no riding on pavements and you can play your music or watch TV same time bonus lol x
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Post by borrowdale on Mar 1, 2013 19:32:08 GMT
Probably works well for hyperactivity symptoms but I am betting the effects will last as long as you keep cycling, which is impractical if you have other things to do.
I know a lot of people who are immense athletes with ADHD; some of them actually do exercise even though they dont really like doing exercise, but it seems to be a way of getting rid of excess energy: maybe some great ADHD athletes are great not because they want to practice, but because they HAVE to!
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murtster
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Post by murtster on Mar 10, 2013 21:02:54 GMT
Before I was diagnosed a few years ago, I had been 'self medicating' by riding hard for 40 minutes at lunch time. I needed the hard exercise to function. Many of my adrenaline junkie friends are ADHD as hell, and need to run or cycle daily to function. The risk is overdoing it or becoming a bit reckless mountain biking. Moderation doesn't come naturally...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2014 20:34:52 GMT
I love cycling and I'm on my second Dawes Kalahari which is a hybrid bike. I used to cycle 11 every day for work and at weekends too. I don't drive any more (too many accidents) but at the moment my back wheel is buckled and needs straightening. When that's done I'll be off all spring and summer. It's the exercise and time to look around that do it, I reckon. Did you do a major wheel stomp and then fine adjust with some spoke tuning? Only interested 'cause I found out how easy it was myself. Great weather for cycling too at the moment
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Post by mypineappledream on Jul 20, 2014 11:37:07 GMT
I love my bike, my indoor bike and my outdoor bike. They have both been of big importance for me for years and years. 10-18 years old I would ride my bike to the stables 7-10km away in every type of weather. In 6-9 grade I lived about 20km from my school and my friends and in the summer I would take the bike there all the time. I go a little crazy if I don't get to ride my bike and over the summer I'm staying with my parents and my stuff is in storage, some days I just have to take the car 30 km to the gym just to sit on a bike. I have been trying to transfer it to running... not sure it's working though.
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Post by carly31 on Jul 20, 2014 17:25:50 GMT
I'd love to know how many hundreds of thousands of miles I've ridden since age 4! I've always been on my bikes. I love them. I have 2 BMX for when I'm feeling really hyper. I was cycling about 30 miles a day on them. Going round finding all the tracks etc. I have a road bike that I've done about 25,000 miles on since 2007. I've got another racer in bits which needs spraying and a half built dirt jump bike. As you can see, there's a tad of fad in there, but the interest in bikes has been with me for most of my life!
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Post by leftbehind1 on Jul 21, 2014 0:01:38 GMT
Cycling or some sort of cardio are great for adhd there's no planning there's just Jump on and go and get that stimulation pretty much how we function normally so it's a situation for us to free ourselves and get out in the open air.
I do cardio and weight training 5 days a week cardio is great because with adhd it's like I always need to move to feel better and relax for instance me on a bike relieving stress is like some one without adhd standing still relieving stress so it's almost a must for me lol plus when ur on a bike there's more to see than on a treadmill I like to go for a run through national forests as well I don't think any form of excercise is a fad it's a lifestyle
I am the same with the car and all motorbikes I've had in the past which is why I'm looking into courier work may aswell work a job that facilitates me now about that organisation..., can't get enough of motorbikes
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aardvark
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Post by aardvark on Jul 25, 2014 23:17:08 GMT
I love cycling! Unfortunately my bike is beyond repair and the roads here are a death trap but a couple of days ago at my parents' I was able to borrow one and cycle around the lake near there along with my dad and brother who also have ADHD. In fact our little trip happened spontaneously because we were all getting a little stressed and losing focus on what we were supposed to be doing!
Excercise definitely helps me loads in feeling good and in terms of concentration. My mum can always tell whether or not I've been for a run based on how figity or stressed out I am! For the last two months I've haven't done any due to hayfever and I really notice the difference. I usually only run though now that my bike has given up on life! I'll be starting up again properly soon and can't wait!
OT: Has anyone else found that team sports just don't work though? I think it's because there's too much to think about! Cycling and running is pretty much, get up and go and don't worry about what other people are doing!
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unohoncho
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Post by unohoncho on Jul 29, 2014 14:59:43 GMT
Deffo about the teamwork, was only thinking that earlier... I'm 40 and have never participated in team sports since leaving school, only ever been running and cycling for me, and even now I've never ended up joining a cycling club, sooner go out on my own, just seems so much easier and 'less' committed
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donnie
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Post by donnie on Jul 29, 2014 23:39:50 GMT
I've only just signed up to this forum but I was instantly attracted to this thread! I love bikes, I always have! I have only just gotten back into commuting by bike after a couple of years off and I had forgotten how much easier it makes getting up in the morning. Instead of dreading going to work I'm excited to go on a bike ride every morning. The only problem is getting yourself to stop when you get to work.
A friend of mine is a bike messenger and she very nearly convinced me to become one as well. I would love to get paid to ride a bike, but after a serious look at the pros and cons I decided that it's not for me.
I can understand were people are coming from not feeling comfortable with team sports, I had always felt indifferent to most team sports. However then I found Bike Polo and fell in love! I get so much from it: That happy feeling of riding a bike, Being challenged by the unpredictability of the game play, Physical and mental exercise and also lessons in teamwork. As well as a great group of friends and a community that I feel part of. Hopefully this forum will be a similar community...
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2014 10:26:30 GMT
Deffo about the teamwork, was only thinking that earlier... I'm 40 and have never participated in team sports since leaving school, only ever been running and cycling for me, and even now I've never ended up joining a cycling club, sooner go out on my own, just seems so much easier and 'less' committed Yes, I've become so independent with everything and that's why goals take much longer to achieve or just stumble to failure. NTs are so much more adept at networking and exchanging skills than I am.
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tashg
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Post by tashg on Aug 13, 2014 10:16:01 GMT
Hi all, yes I got into cycling a couple of years back on a road bike, and I go out with a group (I am a brilliant map reader but as I can't remember more than about 3 turns in one go visually group rides are v helpful!). With my group there is no need to turn up every week- you just do or don't - so if I can't go it's no problem. I like to be known and have something social going on without me having to organise it or definitely commit so that's actually a big plus for me, even if none of them are really 'best friends' - just good people to see for a while, trustworthy sorts - and that's always good. In fact, added bonus - I met my much loved partner there - he's into cycling and more widely, triathlon, and I'd done my first duathlon already so we had that in common plus a ton of other stuff - and I love the fact that he is sporty and adores being outside too as I go crazy if I can't get outside often enough. Match made in heaven? I wouldn't be able to cope with someone who preferred having a beer and shouting at the footy on TV in the afternoons indoors - that would send me bonkers as I can't sit down in front of the telly at all! Got to be up and out! . Only problem I have is is I'm quite into the thrill side of things - would be up for white water rafting, the hairier side of MTB and so on (without the required skill set to go with it!) and tend to chuck myself off mountains if I ever get the chance to ski (also without required skillset to go with it probably!). Is this a problem for you guys?
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