#mycyclingweekend - Why I Ride

Welcome to the new and improved Cycle Surgery-powered #mycyclingweekend.

No, this isn't a big scary corporate takeover, the guys at Cycle Surgery are going to be firing over their own weekend riding shots to join the piles of photos that you send in via Instagram and Twitter, they're also offering the uploader of the best #mycyclingweekend photo of the week an incredible prize.

This week's #mycyclingweekend theme comes straight from the doctor's mouth. Cycle Surgery are asking why we ride as part of their very own #WhyIRide campaign, and this week the #mycyclingweekend contributor with the best reason and photo will win a super secret grand prize.

The Cycle Surgery Why I Ride - or #WhyIRide - campaign should start cropping up all over the web for you guys soon. You'll see it all over the Cycle Surgery website, as well as in the store front of all Cycle Surgery stores.

The idea isn't too dissimilar to our weekly #mycyclingweekend exercise. Cycle Surgery simply want to know what gets you into the saddle; what drives you to wake up at the crack of dawn, cover your body in lycra, and fly out into the cold aboard bike.

Of course, there are plenty of reasons why we ride, and those reasons are as diverse as they are numerous. 

You road.cc readers are a strange bunch. We've got real race heads here who are out every night training, no matter what the weather. We've got hipsters whose blacked-out fixies take them everywhere from friends houses to the top of the steepest inner-city hills. We've got families who head out with trailers attached to their bottom brackets. Hell, we've even got some mountain bikers lurking about.

We've got a few examples for you below to get your creative juices flowing. Remember, the best entry wins the grand prize from Cycle Surgery!

1. Because we don't know any other way to be

 - Read more: VecchioJo's 'I Hate You All' blog

Check out VecchioJo's blog above, it rather brilliantly sums up what a lot of cyclists feel about being cyclists - don't let the title put you off!

Of course, while many of us are stuck rolling through old habits, loads of us are cycling to make new ones.

Go out and ride, learn about what it means to be a cyclists; how it feels. Go and make new habits, and join our club. Learn that there really isn't any other way to be.

2. Because we love the feeling

 

Over 140 people rode the Lune RCC's annual Coal Road Challenge reliability ride on Sunday. Amazing. #cycling #outsideisfree #cyclingphotos #lunercc #lancashire #cumbria #yorkshire #dales #ColdDarkNorth #instacycling #igercycling #roadcycling #wymtm #notbeachroad #ciclismo #classics #bikes #ridelots #ridemore #ridewithaview #ridelikeagirl #mycyclingweekend #nolimits @vanilla_bikes #notmallorca #fromwhereiride

A photo posted by Toby Cummins (@toyboxstudio) on Mar 1, 2016 at 11:36am PST

Cycling's about being free for loads of us. Go out, fly down hills, crawl up hills, zip through traffic. It's the only way to be. You'll never go back.

3. Because all of our friends do it

 

More than 100 ladies all on the track at the same time for @ldnwomensracing Race Training day...and @rivelo were proud to be part of it! Huge thanks to all the LWR oganisers & the coaches from #britishcycling #rivelorides #raceready #womenscycling #strongher #thisgirlcan #womensracing #londonwomensracing #cyclopark #mycyclingweekend

A photo posted by Rivelo (@rivelo) on Feb 29, 2016 at 2:01am PST

A lot of us ride for the chance to go on a bit of an adventure with our friends. Where are you riding this weekend? Where are you exploring?

4. Because we LOVE our bikes

 

What have you been riding this weekend? #canyon #mycyclingweekend

A photo posted by road.cc (@road.cc) on Feb 28, 2016 at 11:29am PST

No matter what you ride, chances are you've fallen a little bit in love with it. Tell us about your relationship with your bike, share your love with the rest of us!

5. Because it keeps us fit

Awesome time XC-ing at Newnham Park #mycyclingweekend pic.twitter.com/Crh5Dn4F8W

— Andrew Bingham (@Bingham_A) February 29, 2016

Of course, cycling's also fantastic exercise. Go out, feel good, get better!

6. Because it gives us time to reflect

Obligatory early morning selfie.. you can see Jodrell bank if you stare long enough... #mycyclingweekend pic.twitter.com/2xxW1s3C4u

— Velodeluded (@Velofanuk) February 29, 2016

Some of us - Jo Burt included as you discovered above - love cycling for the alone time. The chance to reflect and meditate on the things that are going on in our lives.

Where do you go when you want to escape?

7. Because we get to see the world

 

#mycyclingweekend #lrcc #lomondroads

A photo posted by Gavin Butler (@gbphotofilm) on Feb 27, 2016 at 8:50am PST

Some of us have taken our bikes to incredible, exotic locations. Show us where you've been. Show us the vantage points you can only acesss on two wheels.

Views always look better when you've had to work for them!

8. For the fun!

 

@je.mi.ma is fantastic and doing really well at school. as such got a new bike #Raleigh #Chopper from our LBS #retro #oldschool #levi's #vans #mycyclingweekend

A photo posted by John (@fatblokeinlycra) on Feb 29, 2016 at 12:47am PST

Finally, if it's not fun, it's not worth doing right?

No matter what you ride, where you ride it, or how often. Share your good feelings with us.

To join in, remember, all you have to do is fire a photo over to us on the social network of your choice. Photos uploaded to INstagram, Facebook or Twitter will reach us if you include the #mycyclingweekend hashtag in the caption.

Tell us why you ride!