Overweight issues [Archive] - Women's Cycling Discussion Forums

uforgot

03-26-2006, 08:39 AM

First of all, a big congratulations on your wanting to exercise and get fit! I've had weight issues all my life, even though I've danced since I was a kid. Anyway, a few suggestions:

1. If you can't reach the bars, try to do some stretching and Yoga. Rodney Yee has some really good DVDs and VHS tapes out there. Even when I was at my heaviest, (196#) I could still put my hands flat on the floor, so leaning over anything never bothered me. I think it may be a matter of flexibility. If you work at it, you can make quite a bit of progress in only a week. Even if it just involves sitting on the floor while you watch tv, and lean over and grab your toes, or spread your legs out and lean over. Just sit like that for a minute or so, feel the stretch, but don't make it hurt. Do that often enough and I bet you'll be grabbing those bars in no time!

2. Don't make the mistake I made...COMFORT BIKE. I purchased a Trek Navigator, and within a year I was hooked on cycling, but that bike had to go. How many times do we read on these boards that people regret those purchases? I'd raise the handlebars, stretch, and then take your time to see what kind of riding you will do. The better you get, the more you will know what you want in a bike. Take your time and see what you like. You may even decide to mountain bike!

3. I read it, didn't believe it, but went on Nashbar and bought some cycling shorts anyway. Yes, it makes all the difference in the world. No, really, I couldn't get over it! That's a purchase I would make if I were you!

4. Comfort seat...after the Navigator comfort seat, I wound up with a Bontrager FIT. Smaller and narrower, but I gave it a try. It was more comfortable than the huge one! I talked to my lbs and he said it was probably because there are fewer contact points than with those comfort saddles. (No, I don't have a bony butt, on the contrary...) It's amazing what I've learned, and it all goes against what I thought. Some people on these boards love the Terry Butterfly, I may have to give that a shot.

3. What everyone is telling you about the biking and weight loss is true! I don't even really have to watch it anymore. A first for me.

Let us know how you do! Sorry I rambled so long, but I really wish I would have found these boards earlier. I am not even pretending to be a cycling expert, but I thought I would share MY mistakes with you. (More like a cycling bumbler) Best of luck to you.:)

Popoki_Nui

03-26-2006, 10:27 AM

If you need to scootch back and stretching too far forward is an issue, how about turning that baby into a flat bar road bike? Would deffinately give you less far to reach, might need to replace the brakes though.
Great idea! That's what I've done to my vintage road bike. I've shed lots or weight by steady cycling, but my belly still arrives a few minutes ahead of me. Dang belly fat! I can't use drop bars comfortably.
If you really love your Schwinn...you could try the flat bar setup...lower saddle, and maybe swap the freewheel for a wider range one to help get you going at first. These mods won't be very expensive, and you can reconnect with your cool old bike. :) You can see the modifications I did here:
http://www.geocities.com/tristar350/Bianchi2.html
Good luck, and happy cycling! You will do GREAT!
~Sherry.

shasta

03-27-2006, 04:17 AM

You gals are great. Thanks for the ideas and personal opinions. I will definately be looking into fiddling around with the old boy. I want to get riding more before I make another purchase so I can learn all I can. Things have change A LOT since I bought this one in 1979! :eek: We have miles and miles of dirt roads and forest trails I'd love to eventually start riding but first I have to get to the highway, LOL!:o

Shasta

shasta

03-27-2006, 04:39 AM

uforgot

03-27-2006, 05:57 AM

If you really want to see a ballpark measure without going to the lbs, go to wrenchscience.com. It will at least give you an idea, but you have to take measurements and it's best to have some help. I'm still trying to figure out my size, but at least I saw that I was riding bikes too big. There is also a site I found the other day. It shows fitters in different states, and the prices seem reasonable. (At least in Missouri) http://www.cyclemetrics.com/Pages/Bikefitters/BikefittersList.asp

Robbin_G

03-27-2006, 06:38 AM

Blueberry

03-27-2006, 06:41 AM

I keep looking at other people's bikes and notice their seats are higher than the bars in most cases. Now mine is level and I cannot put the seat higher since it is the right height now. Tell me, is my bike too big for me??? I don't know how to measure it but I have 27" tires. I'm beginning to think maybe it is. :confused: Shasta

As I understand it, the relationship between the height of your seat and the height of your bars really aren't about bike fit. Bike fit is making sure 1) the bike you are riding is the right height (it sounds like yours is) and 2) making sure the "reach" to the bars is the appropriate length (can be adjusted somewhat with stem changes). You can raise or lower the handlebars on most bikes with stem changes. "Comfort" bikes will generally have bars higher than seat, Racers will have the bars way lower and everyone else is somewhere in the middle. Having the bars lower will aggrevate the belly problem (I know this from experience and I've never had kids :mad: ). If you eventually want to lower the bars, you can probably make a stem adjustment. For now, though, I wouldn't worry about that - just get the body moving again and the rest will follow:)

Popoki_Nui

03-27-2006, 09:20 AM

I keep looking at other people's bikes and notice their seats are higher than the bars in most cases. Now mine is level and I cannot put the seat higher since it is the right height now. Tell me, is my bike too big for me??? I don't know how to measure it but I have 27" tires. I'm beginning to think maybe it is. :confused:

Shasta
Hmmm...in your avatar..your bike looks like an ok size. If your seat height seems good, then I'd work on the bars. You might want to raise them, or change the stem to a higher one with a shorter reach. You can swap the drop bars for hi-riser bars. All these will give you a more upright riding position. You can even have the shifters move up to the bars for easier shifting.
Don't worry about whether your saddle is higher than your bars or not; what matters most is your comfort. As you tone up and get more fit, you can adjust your riding position accordingly. :)

tjodit

03-27-2006, 09:55 AM

Hmmm...in your avatar..your bike looks like an ok size. ... Don't worry about whether your saddle is higher than your bars or not; what matters most is your comfort. As you tone up and get more fit, you can adjust your riding position accordingly. :)
If you are sitting on your seat and you can put your feet flat on the ground then your seat is too low. When sitting on your seat, leaning against something to hold you up, you should put your heal on the pedal in it's most downward position (6 o'clock). With your heal on the pedal you should have only a slight bend in your knee. I agree that your comfort is the most important, but if your bars are significantly lower than your seat you will most likely be putting a lot of pressure on your hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders which can cause you pain. Hope this helps a bit.

mmelindas

03-27-2006, 12:07 PM

Hi new biker who wants to lose weight -- ME too!!! I don't know jack about pro biking but I am very overweight and just got a mountain bike. My handlebars are way above my seat so I can ride sitting up straight more. I have a giant "elephant" seat that's really comfy for my extra large butt and maybe in time I will fit on something smaller, but having tried an Italian gel seat, I gave that idea up for now.

I have about 150 lbs to lose (:eek: another whole person!!) and I am determined that I will do it by riding my bike. I can barely touch the ground when I stop and am seated, but at least I think my seat height is right for me. Any higher and I'd need a mounting block to put my feet on to stop!!

I no longer have pressure on my hands and arms since I raised the stem and it's considerably above my seat. I think as I lose weight I will be more comfortable with lower bars and a different seat...BUT FOR NOW, I WANNA BE COMFORTABLE OR I'M NOT GOING OUT TO RIDE!!!!:mad:

The main point to me is TO RIDE, JUST RIDE AND RIDE UNTIL YOU'RE POOPED. I have weight from kids, going trucking with hubby, stress and the fact that I LOVE FOOD! So I am with you kiddo! Hang in there!

We can work on our weight together! I'm at mmelindas@rocketmail.com if you wanna write me! Anybody else too, Lets make it a club effort!

All us gals who need to lose weight can pull together and commiserate together.

Get er done!!!

:D :D

mmelindas

03-27-2006, 01:36 PM

Hey Shasta!

I am now on your same blog!
My blog = http://losing-half-of-myself.blogspot.com/

Everybody, you can go there and see my new bike and my hubby and me up close!!

Hope you don't go blind! Hahahahaaaaa:D

uforgot

03-27-2006, 02:20 PM

Love the bike! You are going to have soooo much fun on that. Way better than exercising to videotapes inside. I've always had the "weight" thing going on. I lost 56 pounds about 8 years ago and have managed to keep that off. I'd still like to lose 20 more, so count me in! I did a 15 mile ride on gravel roads yesterday, probably 30 miles if you count the unexpected hills. (One of my students drew the route, but forgot to tell me about the hills, I let him know about it today...he just laughed) Anyway, I felt great afterwards. (Notice I said "after" not during...) And you know what the great thing about biking is? You can't quit! After I had ridden out about 8 miles, I KNEW I had to ride back, or call someone to come get me, and THAT wasn't happening!:)

shasta

03-27-2006, 04:00 PM

I added you to my links from my blog. I say let's go for it!

I broke down and got myself a mountain bike today. Just couldn't stand it anymore!

Shasta

mmelindas

03-27-2006, 05:45 PM

Well, we WANT PICTURES!!!! Tell us all about your new mtn bike!!! yeeeeeeeehaaaaah !!!!:D :D

carimail

03-27-2006, 06:11 PM

I'm working on my weight, too. I could stand to lose about 40 - 50 lbs. I did complete the Cinderella on Saturday on my bike, though - that's 65 miles and it was through some killer winds and some rain and a few good hills, so, despite my weight, I must still be fairly fit?!

I love my bike. I never ever thought I'd ride a road bike ("those skinny tires will kill me!"), but now when I ride it, I don't even feel the extra weight - I'm as light as a feather! It's almost as if it just propels itself. I know it will be the ticket to good health if I stick to it.

My tips (as scary as they seem): clipless pedals and bike shorts!!

CyclaSutra

03-27-2006, 08:32 PM

Just making the point here that being healthy and fit is MORE important than the number on the scale ... I have one of those Tanita scales and I try to focus more on the body fat percentage number than the weight number.

I know that to get my large-boned frame back to a size 8/10, I'd have to lose 30 pounds. But I'm hanging in there at a size 14, body fat fluctuating 25-30 percent summer-winter, and I can keep my butt in the bike saddle for 10 hours. Last summer, I got up to averaging more than 15 mph during a relatively flat ride without drafting anyone. So although I'd like to look better in a bikini, I know that being active is just as important to my health as being "skinny."

Last year was my first year on a road bike, and I trained for a double. My event got snowed on, so I dropped out, but that didn't dull the sense of accomplishment I got out of the hilly 100-somethings I rode. I did get a little bored and lonely training by myself all summer, so my goal this year is to finish that damned double AND ride my mountain bike two days a week and have FUN! The mountain bike days, I'm not worried about heart rate or speed, but about enjoying myself.

I know sometimes it's frustrating to ride with the fast girls and get dropped. But I look at it this way: my effort is 100 times better than the 90 percent of people who don't get off the couch!

As one of my mountain biking friends says on a hard hill, get in that little gear and "Granny on!"

mmelindas

03-27-2006, 08:50 PM

"[/QUOTE]I know sometimes it's frustrating to ride with the fast girls and get dropped. But I look at it this way: my effort is 100 times better than the 90 percent of people who don't get off the couch!

As one of my mountain biking friends says on a hard hill, get in that little gear and "Granny on!"[/QUOTE]

I LOVE THAT "GRANNY ON" STUFF! I am a grandma although I seldom admit it! I think all us "Cyclin' grannies" should band together!!

I love your philosophy about those who never get off the couch -- that used to be ME!!!:D

cyclingnewbie

04-07-2006, 01:47 PM

I have the same problem with the drop bars. An easy solution is to add bar top brake levers. I ride with my hands on the top of the bar (and can easily brake with the bar-tops) or, on the hood of the shifters. If you are looking for decent cycling gear in large sizes, try http://www.aerotechdesigns.com/ They are reasonably priced and I like the shorts better than the more expensive Terry brand. Keep pedalling! I'll be thinking about you when I'm working off my own excess weight from the seat of my bike!

Robbin_G

04-07-2006, 03:55 PM

.....and I can keep my butt in the bike saddle for 10 hours.

I'm not exactly tiny, but there are some bigger girls that can kick my *** on a bike. :cool: I'd love to drop 30lbs myself

mmelindas

04-07-2006, 05:53 PM

Well, I had to weigh in yesterday....and it wasn't pretty. At the Asthma doc's the scale said "314lbs" and I about had a coronary right there!:mad: :eek:

Then I weighed in at my primary care manager's office and it was only "304" which was a relief, but I am not sure it wasn't wrong, maybe I broke it!:p

The doctor didn't rag on my as usual because I told her I'd bought a bike and was trying to ride it and also had gotten a membership to a sports center near me....I think she was going to say something but she only said, "I'll take whatever I can get (me to do)" and I actually loved her in that moment!

I managed to sprain my right knee JUST TURNING OVER IN BED! Boy, does that speak volumes about my weight... and am now couch bound...The orthopedic Dr. put a long mean needle of cortisone in my right kneecap area and another in the top of my left foot!:eek: Wow, did that HURT!!

So, I am going to be good and get back to biking and watching what I eat...no more cheating and will eat more veggies and less junk. I am with you Shasta and everybody else who struggles. I lost 90 lbs five years ago, all my symptoms disappeared and now I am almost back to my original heavy weight...how embarassing:(

MomOnBike

04-08-2006, 08:14 PM

Boy, I'd just Love to be (just) 30 lbs overweight. {sigh...}

But if I wait to enjoy life until that day, I won't do anything at all. I finally realized that yup, I'm obese (as in off the scales, obese) and it is $*&^!! impossible to find 1) biking clothes that I will wear in public or 2) daily clothes with style, but this is the size I am now.

I'll struggle with the clothes issue, but I'll be on my bike. I may be slow, but that just means I see more! :)

shasta

04-09-2006, 05:49 AM

I was reading the asthma issue elsewhere as I have exercise induced asthma also. Mine is also affected by certain things I eat such as simple carbs. I notice it is much better when I cut out that stuff, even crackers.

I'd like to lose 80#, 100# could be doable but I'd be THRILLED at 80. Right about now I'd take 10, LOL.

Anyway, I am back on my road bike after a bit of a break due to intense training on a new mail route and it seems it's done me good. My butt doesn't hurt so much and my knees are not shaking anymore. I am on my way after thinking it would never come.

Never say never!

Shasta

nancielle

04-09-2006, 10:00 AM

I managed to sprain my right knee JUST TURNING OVER IN BED! Boy, does that speak volumes about my weight... and am now couch bound...The orthopedic Dr. put a long mean needle of cortisone in my right kneecap area and another in the top of my left foot!:eek: Wow, did that HURT!!

Last year I had a pretty traumatic knee injury (I'll spare you the gory details.)
Anyway, the orthopedic surgeon gave me some exercises to strengthen the muscles around my knees. Wanted me to start doing them the day after surgery. Despite thinking he was absolutely daft, I tried 'em. Couldn't do it.
However, the following day I could. I've done them since and have found them to be very helpful. Perhaps your doctor could recommend something while you're on the mend. :)

Bad JuJu

04-09-2006, 11:12 AM

Ooh, ooh, me too--I've got maybe 40 lbs to lose, 50 would be better, but like Shasta said, I'd be happy with 10. Heck, I'd be dancin' in the street if I could lost 10 lbs.

I've been off my bike most of the winter due to some back problems, but I've started hitting the road again in the last few weeks. Back pain is the bane of my existence, but I find the more (carefully) active I am, the better it feels. I can walk all day and cycle for miles--I just can't stand still for long, which I suppose is better than having it the other way round.

Think I might join you ladies in your fight against the evil over-fat. :D

Bad JuJu

04-09-2006, 12:10 PM

Trekhawk

04-09-2006, 03:03 PM

I may be slow, but that just means I see more! :)

MomOnBike - I love that line.

Trek-Im snail slow-Hawk:)

PS Glad to hear you ladies are all out there giving it your best. You are inspiring.:)

Geonz

04-09-2006, 03:48 PM

The guys I learned to ride with said as pacelines would pass us, "What's with these guys that just want to get it over with as fast as they can? Don't they *like* riding?"

cyclingnewbie

04-09-2006, 05:25 PM

I'm glad to hear that there are heavier women out riding. I frequently feel like I must be the fattest person in the world on a bike. And I'm very proud of all of you for getting out there, even though you aren't a size Tiny. Ride on, ladies!!

withm

04-09-2006, 06:52 PM

BTW, I've signed up for a Womantours trip in May--it's just the short, easy, 4-day one, but it IS four days of cycling, so I've started training my out-of-shape self for it. See my training progress on my blog: Works in Progress (http://wksinprogress.blogspot.com/)
It's not that I'm so self-centered I think everyone should care about wonderful me and my training schedule--just that someone who reads might have some words of wisdom to share. So if you do...share away.:)

I saw your blog and not sure if your 4 day trip is in Missouri or in Maryland? If Maryland - is it the 4 days of Cycle Across Maryland in July? CAM? I am doing that ride, and I think others from this board will be there too. It would be fun if we could all get together sometime during that ride.

Martha

mmelindas

04-10-2006, 05:49 PM

Pardon me while I have a big juicy chunk of brownie as I am writing this...:D (NOT!) yeah, I would be overjoyed to lose ten lbs too!:eek: I figure it's like this: I didn't get this way overnight, so it's not going away overnight either!

We win the war against obesity not one pound at a time, but one cookie, one bike ride, any one minute of any exercise we can cajol our bods into...so all is a victory if we do anything at all remotely resembling exercise, not eating fattening foods!:D (This doesn't count lifting a piece of poundcake five times up to your yap!) :mad:

I agree, even with my advanced arthritis, that exercise = less pain if done right. I can't stand for long periods of time nor walk far (back probls) but I can ride my bike and a stationary bike at the gym, and do other types of exercise. I am itching to get to it!! It's just going to be a lonnnnnnnnngg time before I see results and meantime...that brownie is calling me.

So, I've found websites, recipes and the means to make my tempting favorites LESS fattening, and then I can enjoy a little now and then...but changing my attitude about food worked best for me in the past...I found that I liked sweets LESS when I didn't eat them for a while, like for a month, and had fat free yogurts instead. Pretty soon, I wasn't craving sweets at all... and the weight came off faster. For me, oatmeal and raisens for breakfast held off the hungries until after work (with yogurt, an apple and a piece of bran bread at lunch) then I had a homemade veggie tomato soup and yogurt and salad in the evenings...

The problem now is that I have to cook for MEN.....and they don't like that sort of girly diet stuff..... If I have to fix one more fattening thing for a man (even cutie DH and beloved DS) I will hit somebody with a skillet!

Being poor helps though.... it tends to let you buy less of the junk food and more of the survival stuff. So maybe since DH quit his job and doesn't really have to work anyway, that we'll eat healthier...

I am so excited about losing weight that I think I will celebrate with another brownie!:D Okay, don't kill me, I was joking....

....and I am OBESE, they don't make a scale that will weigh me except for the doctor's office kind...now how embarassing is that?

Okay, I repent, I repent.. I will get on my bike and work hard to lose that weight and I will start....tomorrow...it's raining here!:D

Barb

04-11-2006, 11:24 AM

I am joining the band wagon. I could lose 60 lbs easy. Well not easy, it's hard, very hard. I love sweets. My skinny skinny man loves sweets and eats a TON. It's hard to gage how much I east when he can devore a roast on his own! I am up to 45 miles a week on my bike. The long rides make me really hungry though. Keep up the work, ladies. Healthy old age is the best revenge!

mmelindas

04-12-2006, 12:23 PM

....and all you other fatbottomed gals who need to lose weight! I am certainly probably, most likely, ABSOLUTELY to have the most weight yet to lose:

How does losing 150 lbs sound? Maybe I am ambitious, but I hope to do it. (lost 90 five years ago but have gained almost all back.... :mad: ) Biking is certainly the answer. Congrats and Waytogo gals for all of us who are trying to be better me's!!

I have a hubby who can eat a horse but preferably a SUGAR coated horse..he's got a sweet tooth to kill a pacheyderm.... I make him go to Carls Jr to have his fattening chocolate malts -- by himself!!

But, as you can see, candy bars are my downfall...I love Midnight Milky Ways...... :eek: ahhhhhhhhhh....so bad!:mad:

Bad JuJu

04-13-2006, 07:08 AM

I saw your blog and not sure if your 4 day trip is in Missouri or in Maryland? If Maryland - is it the 4 days of Cycle Across Maryland in July? CAM? I am doing that ride, and I think others from this board will be there too. It would be fun if we could all get together sometime during that ride.

Martha

Oh, Martha that would be so cool. But no, my tour is the Terry Tour of Maryland, on the eastern shore. You guys have a great time on the CAM though. Maybe next year!

Popoki_Nui

04-13-2006, 03:16 PM

Geez....I started today feeling pretty good. Spring is here....my favourite clothing store has a sale on...things were looking good. Trying on some nice summer tops....and there in the dressing room was a fat old woman staring at me. Oh wait.....it's a mirror...and that fat old woman is me.:eek: What is it about those mirrors anyway?? I know I have more work to do, but haven't those thousands of kilometers on my bikes done anything? I bought a couple of extra-baggy tops and scurried home, embarassed. So much for feeling good.... :(
~Sherry.

mmelindas

04-13-2006, 09:37 PM

Mirrors in department stores are designed by evil men.....men who want you to buy diet products, join health clubs, buy larger clothes (and when you get home and in few weeks, realize they are too big, go back and buy smaller ones....)
... these mirrors are designed and funded by shrinks, exercise gurus, diet pill manufactures, pharmeceutical salesmen and bariatric surgeons...all designed to make us LOOK FAT and them to get rich! :mad:

It's only a theory, but it works for me....I NEVER believe those fat old ladies I always see glaring back at me with saddlebag butts, drooping boobies and jelly rolls for middles...it's all a plot, an EVIL plot.....gahaggagagagaaaaaaaa!

Ellen 06

04-26-2006, 10:41 AM

I'm glad I stumbled on this forum. I just bought a bike saturday and I have 104 pounds to lose.

I can't ride a regular bike, leaning on the handlebars wrecks havoc on my wrist and I had given up riding as a possible source of exercise. Then I wandered past a bike shop the other day, saw a poster for a 'flat foot' bike and went for a test ride. I rode right out with a new Townie bike. No pain in my wrist at all!:p

I've been riding to work, about 6 miles each way, with a mile long hill just before home-currently I have to get off and walk the last bit.

So am I crazy to think I could get in shape in time to go on the Red Riding Hood 38 mile ride in Cache Valley Utah in just over a month? The description says mostly flat, no big hills. That's right in my backyard.

uforgot

04-26-2006, 11:00 AM

Crazy??? I don't think so. I think it's terrific, and I think you should go for it! After all, I think starting out with that commute is impressive. Keep it up and let us know how it's going!:)

Tuckervill

04-26-2006, 01:32 PM

Hey, did you shoot that avatar yourself?

Becuase I think I've seen that piece of art on a highway near Fayetteville, AR.

Karen

tamara_69

04-26-2006, 03:06 PM

So am I crazy to think I could get in shape in time to go on the Red Riding Hood 38 mile ride in Cache Valley Utah in just over a month? The description says mostly flat, no big hills. That's right in my backyard.

What color is your Townie? I see them advertised in Bicycling all the time, and think they are just darling! I don't know what health issues you have, of course, but I think you could do the LRRH. It's well-supported, there will be lots of really nice people there, and it's flat! It should be loads of fun. Where are you? My husband is from Cache Valley, and one of these years, I'll get down there for that ride!

Ellen 06

04-26-2006, 03:24 PM

I bought the Townie model 7 D, it's blue.

I live in Providence on the bench, so no matter where I go it's a steep ride home.

I think I'll take the bike in the car this weekend to a central point in the valley and do some riding. Someone mentioned there might be a book of rides, with milage and grade information, I'll stop by the bike shop and see if that is so.

The more I think about it, the more I want to do the LRRH, it would be silly to have such an event so close by and not take advantage of it.

Ellen

DirtDiva

04-26-2006, 03:35 PM

Go for it! (You're never going to be talked *out* of riding at TE. :D)

Duck on Wheels

04-26-2006, 03:41 PM

The problem now is that I have to cook for MEN.....and they don't like that sort of girly diet stuff..... If I have to fix one more fattening thing for a man (even cutie DH and beloved DS) I will hit somebody with a skillet!

And my problem is a man who cooks. Well, one of my problems. I know I'm privileged. He works closer to home, so often as not I come home to dinner on the table. But he likes sour cream :eek: . On "everything". :eek: Often with ranch dressing mix in it. And of course the real problem here is ... so do I. So when I'm on my own, like this year on sabbatical, I just don't buy the stuff and manage to lose some weight. But then I go home to DH's cooking, and back it comes, at least some of it. Sigh.

But maybe biking is the solution to that too. He stays skinny by doing long hilly rides and hikes every weekend, whereas I (til now) have been doing a 40-minute walk to and from work with just 80m climb over 3 miles. So maybe now if I get to where I can also ride long hilly rides, I can keep up with DH and burn off that ranch dressing. :p

uforgot

04-26-2006, 05:27 PM

I took the pic in Arkansas somewhere. I think it was when I was camping at Devil's Den. Guess it's the one you saw!

Tuckervill

04-26-2006, 06:27 PM

Yep! I was going to say Devil's Den! Of course, one of the best places to mtb in Arkansas. .

We saw the world's largest ketchup bottle last time we went through St. Louis. (It's in Collinsville, IL.) I think things like that are just fascinating.

Karen

mmelindas

04-26-2006, 07:52 PM

I just moved to Utah from near the Madison WI area and those Wisonsin folks are certainly a different breed: four major food groups = beer, cheese, deer meat and brats! (bratwurst sausages cooked in beer!) :eek:

My DH is a born and raised Wisconsin boy who grew up in west Milwaukee. He's built well, doesn't tend to put on weight and can eat a cow under the table at Culver's Ice Cream -- have you had that addictive stuff yet? :cool:

I'm with you -- your 105 and my 150 lbs we'll lose riding our bikes! It is so hard, but worth it. My obesity has put me at greater risk for uterine cancer, breast cancer, stroke, diabetes and I don't need it!

Good for you and your efforts! I totally support you! We all do!! :D

uforgot

04-27-2006, 04:31 AM

Tuckerville,

World's largest ketchup bottle? I've lived in and around St. Louis all my life and never heard of it. I'll have to check it out. If you like that stuff, there is a website and book called Roadside America. I'm not sure of the link, but you could google it. It's been awhile since I've used it, but there was a time when I was on the lookout for old muffler men. Spotted one in Pennsylvania. I think you would enjoy it. It has all of the odd and wacky places to visit in the US.

Tuckervill

04-27-2006, 05:44 AM

It's actually a water tower for a ketchup plant.

I think that book you mentioned...they did a PBS show based on it. That's where I first heard about the ketchup bottle. :)

Karen

uforgot

05-27-2006, 05:47 AM

Where are you and how are you doing? There doesn't seem to be any posts from you lately. I know mmelindas was going through some health problems. Please let us know how you are doing...and if you got away from the bikes, you can always go back!

kimct

05-27-2006, 12:12 PM

Can I join here? I've got about 40lbs or so to shed (main reason for biking in the first place) and I'm having a blast, while not losing too much weight...lol. I feel lots better though, so I can't really complain! Haven't seen a drop in lbs, but have noticed a shift in shape change! My waist is back, butt trimming up, all that good stuff! Plus my legs are building up nicely :)

Hope everyone is doing well!

Kim

RoadRaven

05-27-2006, 12:34 PM

And my problem is a man who cooks. Well, one of my problems. I know I'm privileged. He works closer to home, so often as not I come home to dinner on the table. But he likes sour cream :eek: . On "everything". :eek: Often with ranch dressing mix in it. And of course the real problem here is ... so do I. So when I'm on my own, like this year on sabbatical, I just don't buy the stuff and manage to lose some weight. But then I go home to DH's cooking, and back it comes, at least some of it. Sigh.

Hey there Bikeless - have you talked to DH about your desire to lose weight and the effect of his delightful cooking? Maybe he can cook/serve with less concentrated fats on your food. I do that for us - the kids love to have grated cheese on or through their mashed potato - but my partner and |I don't have ours that way for the weight control thing. Maybe he can serve yours before he adds the extras... or only add half as much, serve and then top his up...
I hope you find some sort of middle ground... perhaps he can serve you "lite" varieties all week and then one day over the weekend he can pamper you with "sour cream on everything" to satisfy his cullinery persuasion...

Along with DHs cullinary concessions, continue to bike and walk and you'll find the weight you lose on sabbatical will stay off.

And Kim - yes, I am finding the same thing - though I haven't lost that much weight yet (only about 6kg / 10-12 lbs) but my shape has changed, I have a waist and my tummy is a little less pronounced and I am losing the wings on my back - my self esteem is up because i am feeling so very fit - fitter than I have ever been in my entire 40 years.

uforgot

05-27-2006, 12:54 PM

Kim (one of my fav names!)

It's terrific that you are feeling better and tightening up! This thread has been dead for awhile and I was wondering about those that were so gung-ho for awhile. I weighed this morning and I need to lose 30 lbs myself! Shall we keep this going? And shall we encourage Shasta and mmelindas to get back on track? Send me a pm if you want to join ranks and "get er done!". I think we should bombard Shasta and mmelindas and show them that some of us care and want to hear from them! If they fell off the wagon, SO WHAT! You can always start over!!!!!

kimct

05-27-2006, 03:05 PM

uforgot,

I'm definately up for keeping track of losses and all together! I'm very new to cycling, but learning a little everyday, getting more comfortable with it all, and loving the way it makes me feel!

I really do hope Shasta and Melinda come back! I LOVE seeing posts about women losing weight while cycling. When I first started I really didn't think I'd notice a difference with just riding, I figured it wouldn't be enough of a workout, but boy was I wrong!

Shasta and Melinda were motivated as well as motivating, so maybe they'll come back and let us know that they're still riding, or fixin to get back into it!

Kim

Ellen 06

05-27-2006, 04:06 PM

Ellen here, I haven't replied to this thread for awhile. I'm still planning to ride the Little Red Riding Hood next week. Rain and cold weather this weekend aren't helping my training plans any though. My longest ride to date is 27 miles, I hope to get to 35 on wednesday.

My bike is now five weeks old and has 268 miles on it! I haven't lost any weight though. Too busy riding to pay attention to cooking well, but I'm getting caught up and expect to get back to following a diet soon.

:o

Ellen

Duck on Wheels

05-27-2006, 04:47 PM

I haven't lost more weight for a while either, but am definitely in better shape. I can now make it up hills. :D Sooner or later, long as I eat a generally healthy diet, this will certainly start producing weight loss again. I try not to worry about it. Oh, and I just read in a newspaper (not that they're to be trusted, but this article did refer to research at a reputable university) that people trying to lose weight also need to be sure to get enough sleep. They don't know why this is so yet, but I'd imagine that your body adjusts. If you're not getting enough sleep, it will slow down the metabolism, same as it does when you're not eating enough (which is apparently why diets always have periods of weight loss lulls).

kimct

05-27-2006, 06:53 PM

Ugh Bikeless! I'm an insomniac, and I can tell ya, sleep deprivation will wreak havoc on your metabolism! I honestly believe that's why I've felt like crap all these years...cause of my sleeping habits, or lack thereof!

Ellen, even though you haven't noticed a weight loss, have you noticed shape changes? The way your clothes fit better? That's what has kept me so motivated to keep up with the biking and my diet changes! I started out getting on the scales everyday, but got so mad, I stayed off for a little over a week...all the while still noticing slimming here and there...when I finally got back on the scale I'd lost 5lbs! Not much at all as far as weight, but with the other changes, it's no big deal!

Kim

fatbottomedgurl

05-27-2006, 08:41 PM

I would love to lose 15 pounds, and haven't lost a thing except.... inches! Amazingly 4 in the waist and 2 in the hips. So be sure to take your measurements. You are sure to see a difference there too.

colby

05-27-2006, 08:44 PM

If you have a bathroom scale that measures body fat %, that can help, too. You might drop in fat (the important part) but not really see a weight difference.

It can be disconcerting, but I'm definitely of the camp that if you FEEL better, you ARE better. Keep at it and the weight loss will come naturally. Better to lose it gradually and keep it off than fall into any sort of extreme diet/exercise plan that you can't keep up with in the long run. Build a better engine, get better mileage :)

KnottedYet

05-27-2006, 08:58 PM

I seem to have stalled at 152 lbs. I'd really like to be 140. But even though my weight has stalled, I'm still shrinking. Or at least fitting into clothes better. Today I noticed that when I sit in my straightbacked chair, my thighs don't overlap the seat anymore.

I'm gonna assume it's adding muscle that's keeping me at 152. For one, muscle is sexy :D . For two, I know I'm riding faster up the big hill home from work. (ok, only 1 mph faster, but it is FASTER.) So there is a strength increase. Or maybe it's just the Frogs.

One of my friends told me that 1 lb of fat is the size of a grapefruit, and one lb of muscle is the size of an orange.

Trading my grapefruit for oranges...

J-hawk biker

05-28-2006, 05:22 AM

I am trying to lose some major weight too. I am up to 30 miles on my long rides so that should help. I have noticed shape change and other people have mentioned it too, but I haven't seen much on the scales yet.

Dogmama

05-28-2006, 05:53 AM

I know I'm riding faster up the big hill home from work. (ok, only 1 mph faster, but it is FASTER.) So there is a strength increase. Or maybe it's just the Frogs.

Hey, 1 MPH IS faster!!! Congrats & keep at it.

Are you doing other weight workouts for your upper body? Muscle burns fat even while you sleep. Fat just hangs out & demands food. Which do you want on your body? :p

kimct

05-28-2006, 08:04 AM

Knotted, I like that...grapefruits for oranges! That's cute. And yeah, when you just say it 1mph doesn't seem like alot, but when you think about it, it really is!

It's a great feeling to have other people notice your losses, J-Hawk! Even better when you notice how good you're feeling.

Kim

kelownagirl

05-28-2006, 09:15 AM

uforgot

05-28-2006, 10:03 AM

I need a really good plan to follow for upper body strength. I let my gym membership lapse so have no access there anymore and I have to be able to do it at home, with hand weights. I actually started biking to replace the cardio I was missing at the gym and now love it strictly for biking's sake. Wish I could fall in love with lifting weights at home too. If I could find a program that allowed me to see the results as quicklly as I improved at biking, then maybe I'd be able to stick with it. Any suggestions? Can I really see big results with a stack of hand weights? I HATE the arm jiggle, especially when I riding over rocky stuff on the MTB...:eek:

I highly recommend "The Firm". You can get videos for just about every body part. When I started biking, I wound up only doing upper body ones. You can get them in 30min (Express) or long ones up to 50 minutes. You see results and they aren't boring. They always move quickly from one thing to the other. I started using a step stool, hand weights and videos I got off of ebay. Eventually I wound up with the bench. Out of all the home exercise things I've done, this is the one that works best for me and it's one I tend to follow.

donnambr

05-28-2006, 12:40 PM

My housemate is a massage therapist and chiropractor's assistant. She also runs and bikes. She created this mantra for me. I repeat it when I get a little bummed about not actually "losing weight".

You're losing fat and gaining muscle. You're losing fat and gaining muscle. When you gain enough muscle, you will lose the weight!

Although I haven't lost weight, I need to go purchase some smaller jeans next paycheck. It's a nice feeling. :)

kelownagirl

05-28-2006, 03:02 PM

I highly recommend "The Firm". You can get videos for just about every body part. When I started biking, I wound up only doing upper body ones. You can get them in 30min (Express) or long ones up to 50 minutes. You see results and they aren't boring. They always move quickly from one thing to the other. I started using a step stool, hand weights and videos I got off of ebay. Eventually I wound up with the bench. Out of all the home exercise things I've done, this is the one that works best for me and it's one I tend to follow.

Thanks uforgot! I found one on upper body at the library so will check it out before I buy one. :)

barb

uforgot

05-28-2006, 03:17 PM

Let me know how you like it. Another advantage of the Firm is that there are about a gazillion workouts available, and the VHS ones go dirt cheap on ebay!:)

plantluvver

05-28-2006, 09:36 PM

I weigh about 254, and my height is 5'7". And my weight just keeps creeping on. I am 47. I've recently decided that a car is unneceassary to me, and bad fir thee environment. I MUST ride a bike if I wish to sail with my women's sailing club. There is no public transportation to that neighborhood.

I would be happy to get down to a size 16 even, just so I can buy "normal" clothes, and not shop in the plus sizes. Besides I prefer to shop at thrift stores, and I can't find big stuff easily there.

I am glad to hear that biking burns weight off. Actually, just if I stopped gaining I would feel accomplished.

I am sure I will be posting more on this forum.

Mary

kelownagirl

05-28-2006, 09:40 PM

You might like to take a look at http://www.sparkpeople.com

It's kind of like the WW site but it's totally free, no stupid diet pills ads, just awesome support for people wanting to lose weight and/or become fit.

I've lost 10 lbs since I started biking 2 months ago. And I'm sure I've gained tons of muscle. The inch losses are more pronounced than the weight loss...

barb

kimct

05-30-2006, 09:55 AM

I'll have to go check out 'The Firm' too! I've got the lower body covered with biking, and if I need extra I love lower body weight lifting on the bench and all...I just hate doing upper body! My husband and I were lifting together on a pretty set schedule, but he started having to actually go to work and stay...lol.

I need structure, so a DVD might work for me! I tried a Tae Bo tape...and well, let's just say, my 3yr old daughter laughed at me and said 'you can't do that stuff momma' when she saw me try the steps!

Kim

Brina

05-30-2006, 10:34 AM

okay, I am royally pissed off. I know what my body looks and feels like when i am in good shape. I also know what my weight and body fat are when I am in good shape. At a peak of fitness I weighed 138 with a body fat % of 19.

In the past for years I have gotten very out of shape. The reasons are many and they really don't matter. I joined a gym in late August of 2005 and as part of the initiation fee there was a fitness assement that included weight and body fat measurements. My weight was 197 and the guy who did the measurements said my body fat was like 34%. I was fairly certain that he was wrong. Even during the measurement process I did not think he was doing it right and I told him so. He insisted that he was doing everything correctly. Based on his numbers a healthy body fat number would have gotten me to 172 lbs and and excellent body fat number would have had me in the mid 160s.

I have been working out pretty regularly since the day of the assesment, doing workouts that include eliptical machines, lifting weights, spin classes, cycling and running. I am down 20 lbs and look much better, but still have quite a ways to go. This reaffirmed my belief that the guy at the gym was wrong. I still have fat rolls - large ones. So I bought a scale this week that includes body fat measuring. According to this scale I have between 35 and 36% body fat. After 9 months of working out and dieting and losing 20 lbs, my body fat is higher than the idiot at the club told me.

UUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

plantluvver

05-30-2006, 11:10 AM

I really hope that it was the incompetent guy, not that you'ree body is atter than you thought. I'm thimking of getting a scale, but after reading the posts here, I am reminded that weight is not a good measure of fitness.

I think I'll go for a tapemeasure instead.

It occured to me today that the use of my bike to go sailing was covering me both in the upper and lower body. Although it is hard to measure the actual exertion of sailing, because it depends on the weather so much.

And both fit in well with the idea of earth-freindly transport, whoch is my main purpose anyway.

I am now wondering, after spending WAY to much time on my butt surfing for cool biking deals, whether getting better equipment actually is counterproductive for weght loss. I know that totally lousy equiopment will be frustrating to use, and will keep me from riding. But maybe getting a nicer bike actually will burn less calories.

I would like some input on this. How much does the quality of bike affect the "feel" of biking, versus increased speed and efficiency?

I know when I had a department store bike, I never rode it, felt guilty for being out of shape, and never rode it. And this was during my twenties! But when a coworker talked me into trying out his wife's bike for a weekend, I rode about 20 miles, not realizing how far I was going (on a paved path with few cross streets). The bike felt alive somehow and responsive, versus just a dead peice of steel.

I was at first a little miffed at the suggestion I join Sparks, didn't want to follow a plan. But decided that I didn't have the right to be miffed until I checked it out. I joined up, and it looks wonderful. You get to choose your own goals, and its done in babysteps. Thanks for the advice.

Mary

kelownagirl

05-30-2006, 07:41 PM

I was at first a little miffed at the suggestion I join Sparks, didn't want to follow a plan. But decided that I didn't have the right to be miffed until I checked it out. I joined up, and it looks wonderful. You get to choose your own goals, and its done in babysteps. Thanks for the advice.

Mary

Mary, sorry you were miffed at me even only if was only temporarily. After I posted it, I was worried that it might have been taken the wrong way. I found it is working for me, when nothing else has been, because I like doing stuff online and it's so easy to do (for me anyways), and you can set your own goals for just about anything. I figured if someone else was checking out the online community at TE, they might also like Sparks... :)

Barb

donnambr

05-30-2006, 08:14 PM

I bought a Breezer and it wasn't cheap. My LBS calls it the "Volvo of bicycles". What gives me more of a workout (and I sure need it) is that it is upright, on the heavy side at 35 lbs, and I carry a ton of crap to and from work everyday. I'm usually hauling 55-60 lbs with the weight of my bike and my stuff. So it makes my 3.5 one way trip to work a little more substantial. The high quality makes me confident everything will stay working, especially my brakes.

So, good quality can make for a good workout. I like reliability, and I can afford it.

kimct

05-30-2006, 09:58 PM

Plantluvver, I've wondered the same thing about quality as well. Well, not quality, but getting a road bike vs the mt bike that I have now. That mt bike gives me a heck of a workout because i try to keep my speed up and I'm increasing my distance! I've heard so much about the roadbikes being so light and easier to peddle and all that good stuff...we're probably thinking a whole other kind of thing! I'm sure we'll get just as good a workout on another type/brand, whatever! Besides, we're not just sitting on the couch, right? We're burning calories, even if it is a little less!

Brina, if you're feeling better, that's all that really, really matters! The better fitness and weight loss will come. I started all of this with the intentions of seeing those pounds go away. Never, ever would I have thought that I'd be doing all of the exercise, watching what I eat and all and not hop on the scale everyday and obsess over it. I don't see biking as exercise now, I see it as a hobby and it makes me feel strong! The weight will go, or it won't...I'm having fun! Chin up girlie...it's not all about the numbers!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Kim

latelatebloomer

05-31-2006, 04:20 AM

Plantluvver, Brina, and all - When I embarked on changing my obese body and sedentary lifestyle, it was a tremendous help that both my doctor and the GREAT trainer I found at the gym (after a few duds of the one- plan- fits- all mindset) told me to focus on the changes in how I FEEL, not #s of any kind or my appearance. That if I focused on those, I would get discouraged and give up. That's really held true for me, esp. since I do serious weights at the gym (except for spring, when I'm shoveling manure, tilling, planting my huge garden - I figure that's weight work of a different sort.) After an initial quick drop, all my changes have been slow, but they have added up to a very different body.

I let my clothes tell me about my shape changes, and the hills tell me about my fitness changes, and my partner's eyes tell me....;)

Pachyderm

05-31-2006, 04:30 AM

Hi all, I am new to this forum. I have enjoyed reading all your posts, and it is great that so many of you are achieving the inch-loss you desire.

I have just started to get back into cycling again recently. I have to admit that one of the main reasons that I started again is to increase my fitness and help with weight / size loss (although I do love the freedom of the open road as well). I am currently about 55lbs over my ideal weight (well that was my weight as an inactive person at the right size). In British sizes I am a 16, which I think is a US size 14 :confused: and I would like to be a British size 8-10.

I have been finding it pretty hard going. I finally get the saddle sorted and then my shoulders and back hurt, it is a nightmare. And now I have to put the cycling to one side for a month as I am looking after my parents dogs while they travel in Canada. The beasts need a lot of walking, so I am getting up early and walking them for about 4 miles every morning before work. This is when I realise just how unfit I am. This walk would be quite a regular weekend walk when I am staying with them, but doing it every day has been killing me! I get back, shoulder and hip pain ( I think mainly from one of the dogs constantly pulling on the lead - I can't let him off as he will not come back to me), as well as very tired legs. However, now that I am on day five of this, my legs do seem to be getting less tired, and I am making it up the last hill without a rest-stop half way :D I have also avoided all junk food for 3-days now (first I had to clear out what was in the house!).

Brina

05-31-2006, 05:46 AM

thanks ladies for listening to me. Yes, I am mad at the incompetent trainer, not at myself. I am pretty happy with myself and the advances I have made. I did find a much better trainer and have worked with him on and off for the past 9 months.

I am torn on the quesiton of less efficient bike equals better workout. I guess it comes down to a question of what kind of workout you are doing. If it is a set course - 4 miles to work and back each day, then yes, it does make logical sense that a heavier, less efficient bike would yield a better work out. If, conversely you have an amount of time that you work out - say 2 hours every saturday morning, then I would be thinking that you would have better results with an effiencient road bike that is built for going great distances fast.

Veronica

05-31-2006, 06:39 AM

I am torn on the quesiton of less efficient bike equals better workout. I guess it comes down to a question of what kind of workout you are doing. If it is a set course - 4 miles to work and back each day, then yes, it does make logical sense that a heavier, less efficient bike would yield a better work out. If, conversely you have an amount of time that you work out - say 2 hours every saturday morning, then I would be thinking that you would have better results with an effiencient road bike that is built for going great distances fast.

It's really about YOUR effort level, not so much about the efficiency of the bike. An efficient bike allows you to put in less effort to reach a particular speed. When I made my bike more efficient, by changing tires and removing fenders, I added rocks to my bag to make the workout harder. Yes, really. :p

I think it's more important to ride a bike you find comfortable than to ride one that is efficient and uncomfortable.

Happy Riding!

V.

Tuckervill

05-31-2006, 08:15 AM

Tuckervill

05-31-2006, 08:19 AM

But maybe getting a nicer bike actually will burn less calories.

But wouldn't you go farther and ride more if you had better equipment?

There's no real way to tell how many actual calories you burned anyway. All the calorie calculators are based on ideal or standard conditions that whomever did the tests determined to be appropriate. Your "mileage" may vary, yanno?

Karen

Brina

05-31-2006, 08:30 AM

I think the way body fat percentage is measured has a huge affect on the result. When I was in the Army, if you were overweight they meausred your body fat using the pinch method. If you fell within the reasonable standard for body fat, they gave you a pass on the weight. But later I read that the only true way to measure body fat is to dip you in water and measure displacement (I think that's how it works).

I don't think a scale is going to be very accurate. It's just going to use a table based on known factors to determine your "probable" body fat percentage.

Can the body fat percentage really tell you anything useful anyway? You already know you have weight to lose. You already know your level of fitness. What good is that number to you? I wouldn't stress out over a stupid number. If you were using it for motivation, find something more accurate and pleasing, like the way your clothes fit or something. Don't reduce yourself to a number.

Good going on the weight loss! Hope to be joining you soon.

Karen

actually, the scales measure body fat by using an electrical impediment method. a small current - which you do not feel - goes through your body and it moves differently through fat than muscle than through water. based on the measurement of the electrical pulse as it exits your body the scale can measure your percentage of body fat and your percentage of water. body fat is actually a much more important number than weight. If you lose weight just by dieting, with no exercise, you can actually be losing muscle which is worse for you than not losing the weight at all. If you lose fat and gain muscle but your weight stays the same you are healthier. obsessing about the number is bad, as obsessing about anything is bad, but knowing the number and using it to improve your fitness and your health is good.

Kimmyt

05-31-2006, 09:09 AM

But wouldn't you go farther and ride more if you had better equipment?

I have to agree here. I have a lug of a bike, I use it sometimes for commuting. It is a big, heavy beast of generic department store make, that doesn't shift very well and is generally unpleasant to ride. I hate commuting in on it, because of the weight and the issues with shifting. If I had a commuter that was a tad lighter with better components, I would commute in much more often. In fact, I rode my road bike in to work the other day and it was a dream. I can't wait until my work schedule permits me to commute again!

I think it all comes down to what gets it done for you. Does riding your big heavy bike get you all excited? Or does it make you dread the upcoming ride? If it's the latter, then you probably won't ride as much. If you have a nice, smooth ride, then maybe you're more likely to do longer distances, which has benefits of it's own.

K.

plantluvver

05-31-2006, 11:01 AM

QUOTE:

"Mary, sorry you were miffed at me even only if was only temporarily. After I posted it, I was worried that it might have been taken the wrong way."

Oh, I didn't mean it that way, that post was not directed at you, just for the benefit of others who might have read your post, and ignored the recommendation, like I was going to at first.

I thought it would be some "program" of diet, not just adding small lifestyle changes gradually. I wanted to let others know that it wasn't.

I did weight watchers once, and it wasn't a good fit, I was getting headaches, and tired. And since then I don't beleive in restricting calories. Hunger will ALWAYS win, I now think. But I think it is great to ADD good habits. Eventually, I hope they crowd out the bad. For instance making a bargain to eat an orange when craving a candy bar. And if I still crave a candy bar after 15 minutes, then I get to eat t.
So, thank you, you did the right thing, because if you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to check it out.

Mary

mimitabby

05-31-2006, 12:17 PM

actually, the scales measure body fat by using an electrical impediment method. a small current - which you do not feel - goes through your body and it moves differently through fat than muscle than through water. based on the measurement of the electrical pulse as it exits your body the scale can measure your percentage of body fat and your percentage of water. body fat is actually a much more important number than weight. If you lose weight just by dieting, with no exercise, you can actually be losing muscle which is worse for you than not losing the weight at all. If you lose fat and gain muscle but your weight stays the same you are healthier. obsessing about the number is bad, as obsessing about anything is bad, but knowing the number and using it to improve your fitness and your health is good.

my husband bought one of those scales. He's a biker with a flabby upper body.
he came out being something like 8% body fat. we both knew that was NOT true.
but if you look at his legs, they could be 8% body fat. but the rest of him was at least 30% body fat so those scales can't really be very accurate.

natheless

05-31-2006, 01:23 PM

Just chiming in to say that body fat scales are indeed not very accurate. The ones you stand on send a current through your lower body only, so if you're like many women and store your extra in your bum and thighs, a body fat scale will tend to give you a reading that is too high. (I guess in the previous post, it also explains why that reading was too low.)

They are also very twitchy - you have to weigh in under specific conditions (properly hydrated, haven't eaten or exercised, etc.) and your best bet is to take the average of several readings.

Where they are kind of helpful is that they are consistenly inaccurate - so if it is giving you a reading that is 5% too high, it will always be 5% too high, but you can still tell if your reading is heading the right way over time.

View it as an interesting gadget, and NEVER let it ruin your day!

;)

SnappyPix

05-31-2006, 07:46 PM

Pachyderm - welcome to the forum. You mentioned that since you got the saddle "sorted", now your shoulders and back hurt. Perhaps you need to check out the fore/aft position - it could be that you're too stretched out or too bunched up which could cause pain in the shoulders/back. Saddle adjustments are a nightmare, but once it's right, you almost want to super-glue the thing in place! It sounds like your puppy-sitting will help your fitness, even though you won't have as much time to concentrate on your biking. Try making sure you're pulling your abs in when you walk. I often get backache when walking - pulling in my abs and pulling up/straightening my shoulders takes the pressure off the lower back and really does help (I have terrible posture!). This could also help on the bike - let your abs take the pressure, not your shoulders/back.

I was about to ramble on about body fat scales, but Natheless beat me to it!
It's impossible to compare readings taken from different methods - or even different scales. My body fat scales would vary quite considerably if I'd had a cup of tea or even a pee beforehand! I second the advice that the only real way to measure fat percentage loss is to use the same method, under the same conditions and stick with that when making comparisions.
Body fat percentage (when accurately monitored) is an excellent way of checking your progress, it gives slower results that weight scales, but is more indicative of how things are going.

In terms of better machine giving a better quality workout - again, I'll echo what's already been said and say it depends on what kind of workout you're aiming for.
My lightweight road bike is a joy to use and keeps me on the bike for longer, both time and distance. My road bike has helped me master hills and made me faster on the flats.
I commute on a clunky old hybrid, which weights practically as much as I do! I once commuted on my road bike and flew there and back - eating up the hills and flying on the flats. But my hybrid is a workout in itself - I chug up the hills, nice fast spin, steady heart rate - I don't go anywhere fast on this thing but it does give me a different type of workout. I hate it with a passion and would never take it on a weekend ride, but it's my trusty old friend and helps me concentrate on being slower and steady, and think about form.

plantluvver

06-01-2006, 01:04 AM

I think I was in my habitual mode of overthinking things. What I wanted to know was whether higher quality bikes just kept feeling better, or if there is just a point where the only advantage is the weight. I guess noone can answer that but me. Guess I'll just have to test drive lots of bikes.;)

I have owned multiple bikes at the same time and preferred one over another depending on the ride I was doing. I liked my Raleigh three speed for downtown traffic, because of it's upright stance, and it's solidity felt reassuring. I liked my Schwinn ten-speed for being friskier. I stopped enjoying my Schwinn when my ex-BF started weighing her down with fenders, racks, turning her into a commuter bike. ( I may have judged him a little too harshly, because the stodgy looking seat he put on her is a Brooks!)

So,

I will want a bike that is fast and light when I want to get somewhere fast.
A bike to fold up when I want to travel. by train or plane.
A bike to ride in the rain.
A bike for grocery shopping.
A bike for riding on unpaved trails in Forest Park.

One can never have too many bikes! (Since I will probably stick to used bikes, I'll be able to afford this strategy.)

After my experience with a department store bike, I can't imagine riding one again, it just felt "draggy"with no "bounce." I would recommend trying a better quality bike at a garage sale to see if it feels better, though the drop handlebars might take a lot of getting used to, as well as the skinny hard tires. I was in high school during the 70's, so a sleek ten speed is what I've been riding ever since, until I picked up my Raliegh, just to see what a three speed was like.

As far as watching the numbers go, it is nice to be able to see if you are making progress, or if you are slipping up. The extra ten pounds a year has been adding up to quite a bit over time for me! It's hard to say whether it is ten pounds a year, or more. Having a number of some kind to refer to is handy.

Mary

Pachyderm

06-01-2006, 05:18 AM

Snappypix - Thanks for the welcome and the advice. I think you are right about my position. I am too stretched out. I can't do too much about my saddle adjustment because that then affects my knees (sometimes I feel like I am falling apart!), but I am going to look into getting a stem riser or something to bring the handlebars closer. You are also absolutely right about the walking. I also have terrible posture so I will have a go at pulling in my abs when I walk. One of my problems is that I am terribly lazy, and I just can't get myself to do formal exercise like join a gym or do ab-crunches every day. That is why I love cycling, it doesn't really feel like exercise when you can be out in beautiful countryside and exploring new places at the same time :)

Plantluvver - I think you are right about having lots of bikes. I currently only have a Trek 1000 racing / road bike, which is great fun to ride. I ride it faster and for longer than I rode my previous heavy lump of a bike that had appaling handling. However, I also use it for commuting to work, and for that I have a rack and use panniers to carry my work and change of clothes. When i get to work, I dump the panniers in reception and cycle the bike round the back of the building to leave it in a warehouse, and the difference between the loaded bike and the unloaded bike is just phenomenal. It is almost a crime to put extra weight on this bike!

When I can afford it, my dream is to splash out on a custom built Roberts touring bike. They cost a fortune, but I long to explore the world by bike, and my racer is just not up to it. Then I will get a hybrid to commute to work, and have a go at mountain biking, and if I enjoy that, I'll get one of those as well! :D

KnottedYet

06-01-2006, 06:40 AM

mimitabby

06-01-2006, 06:48 AM

"do ab-crunches every day"

Crunches don't work so well, they strengthen the wrong muscles for stability. You are far better off holding your lower abs (the ones from belly button to pubic bone) flat all the time. Walking, sitting, standing, biking, ALL THE TIME FOR EVER AND EVER!! Oh, yeah, and if you can't breathe and hold 'em flat at the same time the cruncher-muscles have jumped into the game and taken over from the stabilizers.

hey Knottedyet
we had the health and fitness people come out to talk to us about crunches at my office.
they said #1 no amount of muscle exercises is going to make your abdomen flat you have to burn more calories too.

then they said that crunches were really good because they build up the muscles UNDERNEATH those abs that we are all glaring at in the mirror.
These muscles, and forgive me i've forgotten their names (Core is what they called them) ARE indeed what improves your posture, and relieves back pain.
They are very important and totally overlooked because you can't really see them. SO get down and do your crunches.

mimi

KnottedYet

06-01-2006, 08:12 AM

Nope. I ain't crunching. Cuz I wanna strengthen the muscles underneath, which are the transversus abdominus and the aponeurosis which it attaches to. It doesn't cross any joints, so all it does is tighten the aponeruosis (supporting your back and aligning lumbar spine to pelvis) and flatten your stomach. It also cues in the multifidi (along the spine) and the pelvic muscles which help stabilize to a lesser extent.

The "six pack" is rectus abdominus. That's the muscle that bends you forward into a crunch. That one isn't going to help your back, and in fact patients who only do crunches end up with pretty hefty back problems because rectus overwhelms the "core" muscles. If you think about it, walking around hunched forward (overdeveloped rectus) will give you quite a backache!

Obliques have two functions: they bend you forward and twist you, and they can also help transversus during extreme effort by locking down the entire abdomen. (think side planks) Again, you don't want to walk around all the time bent forward and/or twisted to one side, and if you lock down the abdomen all the time you won't be able to breathe deeply.

If you absolutely feel you MUST crunch, please do diagonal crunches. Better to do planks (prone and side) if you want stability, because then you are training your obliques to stabilize.

If your lower abs aren't strong enough to hold your belly flat, no amount of weight loss is gonna give you a flat gut. I've seen plenty of patients with almost no fat who pooched out because they lacked muscle tone. I even worked with a patient who'd had a tummy tuck, but looked quite fat because her muscles were on a slack all the time.

That one was a real challenge! Her skin was tight enough from the tummy tuck that she felt like she was holding it "in". Teaching her was difficult because the usual cues I use for folks just didn't work. (I eventually had to use a weighted ball and a lot of ingenuity!)

mimitabby

06-01-2006, 08:23 AM

KnottedYet

06-01-2006, 08:30 AM

If you hold your lower belly (navel to pubic bone) flat as you diagonal crunch, you will be teaching trans abd and obliques to work together.

You'd still be training your muscles to fold you in half (not something we do much in the real world) but at least they'd be working together.

Planks and other ab-intensive exercises that are done while holding your spine in neutral win the gold medal in my view. After all, we want to train the muscles to stabilize us, not fold us in half.

Ok, everyone, plank time! :D

Pachyderm

06-01-2006, 09:17 AM

Knottedyet,

Thanks for the reply, but I'm being very dim, and don't quite understand what you mean by "planks". Could you explain a bit more?

Also, since you seem to be in the know, when I occasionally do ab-crunches or diagonal ones, how can I stop the front of my neck from hurting?

Do you also know anything about hip pain when walking? I think that my hips are hurting because I have a pretty strong dog who is constantly pulling on the lead (and all this even after dog-training), and I am using my hips to resist him. Before I take the dogs for a walk I have little-to-no pain, but once I start walking with them, the pain starts, and then continues even once I have let him off the lead. Any thoughts?

Sorry for the list of questions :o

Bike Goddess

06-01-2006, 12:11 PM

An effective ab exercise I do at the gym is called "captain's chair". If you Google- Captains chair exercise- you will find this is an excellent workout for your abs. I do this last when I am at the gym as it requires some good lifting! It is a great one for strengthening your back.

You will also find other exercises you can do under 10 best ab exercises (also in the same area). These exercises were part of a research study to determine which ones were most effective for strengthening your abdominal area. Lots of info here!

Brina

06-01-2006, 04:05 PM

I am starting up Pilates (I "won" 1 private and 10 group sessions at a silent auction) sessions this weekend. Nothing whips my abs into shape like Pilates.

I also saw my trainer for a fitness eval today - turns out the guy who did my eval last August was probably not that far off the mark, but the scale is way off. I am currently at 27.2% body fat according to my trainers measurements. The last guy measured me at 30.5% (I was off when I said 34%) so a definite improvement. The scale is over by 8 percentage points. So glad I spent that money.

mmelindas

06-01-2006, 07:52 PM

"Hi Pachyderm and Plantluuver! I used to weigh 300 lbs but after two weeks of eating right and riding my bike, swimming, doing aqua -aerobics, I sure can tell the difference -- and have lost 7 lbs!! It used to be that I couldn't walk much, only a couple blocks and couldn't stand for more than 15 minutes. That has totally changed for me over the last month!

Now I am up to six miles on my cheapie 18 speed mtn bike (with front shocks and I'm loving it!) It's comfortable, especially going over bumps, rocks and gullies. It's heavier than my old road bike, which needs new tires and brake cables - still sits unrepaired, but I love my new mtn bike!

I got over the sore butt crack problem, sore sit bones, sore hands and arms and nothing hurts NOW, after two weeks of steady riding! I can feel my abdominal strength has increased and my tummy no longer sticks out like it did.

Not only have I lost 7 lbs, but my clothes are all getting baggy on me, and I got a new wardrobe in a smaller size. Even my sandals had to take a tighter strap hole! I can tell the inches are coming off - it's all due to biking, swimming and working out at the gym. Exercise = jack up metabolism for hours and burn more calories;

I actually worked up to riding six miles in one day, (including swimming for an hour earlier in the day) and was so stoked that I took a walking tour of a tourist attraction here that was over an hour long and my legs didn't hurt nor did my thighs go numb like they used to!! That's a record for my "outtashape" butt!!

Last night I volunteered for the LRRH race up in Wellsville, by working at a local bike store and had to stand for over an hour, sweating and moving all the time as I helped registrants with their goodie bags. I was amazed that I could do that!! I got a stool and leaned on that for the next two hours and came home so wiped out and happy! I can see how biking is really changing my body for the better - it can do things I could never do before since my bad car accident in 01'.

There were so many beautiful, fit and strong women coming in to register at that bike shop for the LRRH ride ....and I was awed seeing the potential that I could look a bit more like that, even from as far out of shape as I am now, someday in the future.

I found all my pains and sore spots that I first had biking went away over the last month and now nothing hurts. One reason why is that I had hubby initially raise the handlebars and seat post setting and put on my cushy "elephant seat" from my other bike. Boy is riding a pleasure now!!!

My doctor diagnosed me as diabetic just a couple weeks ago and I had to get real about the food I'd been eating. I had to totally cut back on eating out and do all I could to reduce fat, and sugar and salty foods. I found out what I could eat and was surprised how easily I could adapt favorite recipes by just using Splenda instead of sugar and diet margarine or a lot less oils in cooking and eating.

I frankly realized, thanks to my new doctor, that I couldn't be 300 lbs unless I lived a lifestyle that supported it. I saw my portions were way, way too large, I was overeating and eating for fun, not for hunger. Now, two weeks later, I don't have any cravings and feel full most of the time.

My fridge has fat free yogurts, low fat string cheese, Laughing Cow Light spreadable cheese, that I eat on Wasa light rye,(25 cal for cheese and 25 for a huge long cracker and the wedge covers about four crackers) and fruits canned in juice or water, no-salt added canned veggies, lean meats with no skin or fat, and lots of great salad makings. Skim milk was not bad at all and now we don't even miss 2%.

When I get a craving, I indulge in an Artic Circle chocolate cone now and then, but cut back on something else to compensate for it, or exercise extra to pay for it in expended calories.

I am so grateful for all the encouragement and support from the TE women in my biking, going from a half mile to now over six. I've logged nearly 11 this week so far. If it weren't for Team Estrogen and these posts, new friends, I wouldn't be where I am now, thank God for them! Welcome to a wonderful group of supportive, funny and intelligent women! :D

It will feel so great to lose weight over time (I didn't get this way overnight) and I know now exercise, healthy eating and especially biking can make all the difference in my metabolism, energy and health. Yeah team for TE!!" :D

KnottedYet

06-01-2006, 08:28 PM

mmelindas- I am SO glad you got a new doc! And congratulations! You are awesome!

kimct

06-01-2006, 09:41 PM

Melinda...glad to see that you're back! Never had a chance to 'meet ya' before, so hi! It's great to read stories like yours! Keep on riding and giving inspiration!

Kim

DirtDiva

06-02-2006, 02:09 AM

Great hear from you, mmelindas! Thanks for the update. :)

Also, since you seem to be in the know, when I occasionally do ab-crunches or diagonal ones, how can I stop the front of my neck from hurting?
I used to find this happening. Figured out it was because I was holding my jaw really tense, which I guess was pulling on the front of my neck. Problem disappeared when I made a conscious effort to relax my jaw and keep it in a natural position. Just my $0.02...

uforgot

06-02-2006, 03:24 AM

Congratulation mmelindas! Keep it up, you have made so much progress, you are an inspiration. Now if we would just hear from Shasta...

As for the crunches and neck pain, if you pretend like you are holding a grapefruit under your chin, you will wind up using your abs for crunches, not your neck. (look up, not at your feet). I was taking an aerobics class once, and she said to do this, and "voila". I realized how wrong I had been doing them!

Pachyderm

06-02-2006, 09:30 AM

mmelindas,

Thanks for the welcome, and well done! You have achieved fantastic things :cool: I hope that I can advance as quickly as you have, and loose weight as quickly as well!

Thanks to everyone for their replies on the ab exercises. I tried walking while holding my stomach in today, and the lower back pain was immediately reduced. Trouble was I kept forgetting to do it, and went back to sticking my belly out. Guess I am going to have to practice that until it just becomes my natural way of being.

mmelindas

06-02-2006, 02:31 PM

Thanks for all the support gals, Pachy and Plantluvver, and the regular posters!! I always love the kudos I get from you gals and love meeting you online. The things you all post make me laugh, or cry, sigh, learn and want to be a better biker! :D

I think from my experience at least, the more overweight you are, the faster you lose weight, and the smaller in lbs you are, the harder it is to lose. Before my bad car accident in late 2001, I weighed 321 lbs in January of 2001. I was a walking "Jabba the Hut!!" It took me six years to pack on all that blubber and I did it by eating junk and not exercising a single bit. (I had been going to college to become a teacher, and raising three boys as a single mom, working three jobs sometimes. I had no time for exercise and no time to eat healthy....at least that's my excuse.)

I got very sick in January of 2001, from an allergy reaction, lost my appetite and lost 15 lbs in three weeks. I said to my obese self, "Self, you have started on a roll, now try to keep it going". So, I started exercising a tiny bit -- and I mean a TINY bit -- like lying in bed watching the Tonight show and just holding my legs up for a minute or so..Each day I did a little more, tried a little more.

Pretty soon I felt strong enough to get on my passive exercycle (that had been used for a coat rack for years!) and pedal for about five minutes. I sweated and huffed and puffed and felt like I would die, but every day I did a little more. I started paying attention to what I ate, and whether or not I was hungry vs bored... Would you believe the next month I lost 25 lbs?

I started working on being able to get down on the floor (if you are too deconditioned to get back up, you better not get down) ... to do situps (yeah.....all of five the first time) and being able to do floor exercises with baby bell weights... and also started walking a bit. (I had a handicapped parking permit and had not been able to walk but a block, or climb stairs just once or twice a day for years, previously.)

The next month, with careful healthy eating, and regular mini-exercising I lost 18 lbs!! The more I worked out, the more I could work out! My medical problems started disappearing! Aches and pains of fibromyalgia went away, blood pressure lowered and asthma totally faded away. I was so stoked by each tiny success, it spurred me on. (I had sold my bike a few years back, when I got so physically deconditioned, or else I would have been riding it.)

By the sixth month of eating right, working out, walking, I had lost another 32 more lbs (a little less weight each month, although the exercise was increasing because I was probably replacing "Jabba fat with Lance" muscle), and I could power walk three miles, (starting from months earlier when I could barely walk a couple blocks).... every tiny success got me going, working harder. I actually found my wonderful-in-great-shape husband on the Internet, and we got married (at age 57 for me, age 55 for him) and have been married five years! He is so supportive! I weighed still over 200 lbs but he saw potential he says, so he married a still-chunky Melinda.

A bad car accident just six weeks later put me out of commission for three years. I slowly have packed some pounds back on and health problems returned with the weight gain. My doctors all say that I could get rid of all of them by losing 150 lbs (or even less - just 40 lbs could stop the diabetes totally, my new doc said.)

We got bikes a few years back and I started riding a little, but then hubby went into trucking and I traveled with him -- bad for both of us, we gained weight and got de-conditioned. Before I went out with him, I had worked over months back up to an unbelievable 450 situps consecutively in a row, and working out at our home gym for two hours a day - had lost 25 lbs.....but that went all down the tubes with trucking. No biking of course...

We got out of trucking last summer but packed on even more lbs through eating out too much, after we moved to Utah where we found all our favorite restaurants. (Most restaurants and fast food places are deadly to healthy eating, I've since learned.) Thanks to my new doctor in May, we are back to eating right, swimming, and biking again. I am seeing my back and leg pain disappear as I get stronger...and weight loss for both of us. He's lost ten lbs in two weeks.

It can be done, and I know for me, exercise is the key to turning back my health problems and weight-induced diabetes. Biking is fun for us now, not in great amounts, not tons of miles, just six so far, but we are looking forward to riding more and more. Like weight loss, getting to be a strong biker takes time and lots of patience and sticking to it.

The TE posts and so supportive feedback has helped motivate me even more!! I am so grateful for all you gals, new and old members. You inspire me, educate me and give me great hope!!

I love you all for being just who you are!! :D

plantluvver

06-03-2006, 12:05 AM

Wow,
I am really inspired by your story. I am 47 and feeling old. Not riding much yet. But since your doing it, I can't make up any excuse that will hold water.

One ab tip for neck pain. I would stretch my elbows to the sides, so that I knew that I was not lifting with my neck. Also, I had a video by Tony Little. He only did a few exercises, but he spent a lot of time talking about isolating your muscles. I haven't done the Firm, so I can't compare them. Also, I am not trained in this stuff, so I don't know if his exercises were the best to do.

Mary

Tuckervill

06-03-2006, 10:48 AM

One ab tip for neck pain. I would stretch my elbows to the sides, so that I knew that I was not lifting with my neck.

And just place the tips of your fingers on the back of your head, far apart from each other. Can't lift with your arms that way.

Jazzercise, anyone?

Karen

faroe78

06-03-2006, 07:58 PM

I just joined this forum. It's my 46th birthday today and I weigh over 200, I'm diabetic, and tired of it. I have started researching bikes online, going to visit some bike shops next week, and I am getting a bike this summer, maybe even this month, if I can swing it. I'd like some suggestions as to what I should look for in a bicycle. I have not ridden since I was 15 or 16.
My goals are to burn a little less gas by using the bike to go to the grocery store, maybe use it to exercise my German Shepherd, and definitely to exercise ME. I'll be using paved roads.
I've been reading some of this thread and I must say, you ladies are inspiring!

Geonz

06-03-2006, 09:33 PM

Welcome, welcome!! Hop on board and hang around, these ladies are amazing... and before long somebody else could say that about you :-)

Mainly get the bike that feels good **to you** - that's the one you'll get out and ride.

Bikes have gotten a LOT easier to ride since you were 16 :-) I recommend a bike shop as opposed to Wally World and what have you... you want to build a relationship with the bicycle and the activity, and a good bike shop will be able to guide you (and maybe give you the funny helmet cover they find in the back of the warehouse).

kiwi in oz

06-04-2006, 09:53 AM

Happy Birthday Faroe78! And welcome.

I'm pretty new at this myself, so won't be much help. I can say though, that I agree with Geonz in regard to going to a proper bike store. I bought a bike earlier in the year - for much the same reasons as yourself - and bought a cheapie from a toy shop as I had some doubts about my ability to stick with it! I kept a diary of all my rides - starting from a few km's around the local park.... a couple of months later my partner bought a bike from a bike shop - only about $200 more than mine, but sooo much easier to ride! Everything worked beautifully and smoothly - unlike mine (but of course I didn't realise this until I tried his). So I bought a new (and much better!) comfort bike with semi slick tyres (kind of knobbly tyres but the centre is smooth) which suits me fine for riding on pavement or off road through the park when I need to. Plus our local bike shop services our bikes for free for a year and have been a really useful source of info. I have since bought a road bike too.... it's addictive!!

Good luck!

Denise223

06-04-2006, 12:33 PM

Hi everyone!
I found this site the other night and I am very happy that I did! This is a great thread, full of so much information & advice. Thank you all!

I'd be considered a definite novice at cycling. My husband & I got a couple of bikes in 2004, (George Fisher hybrids). I don't think my bike has even 20 miles on it!! I've heard a lot about "bike fittings", and I really don't think my bike & I are a good match, at all.

Truth be told.....I am terrified of traffic - We live in a very busy city with extremely aggressive drivers. And, a couple of years ago I was heavier than I am now - approximately by 45 pounds. I now weigh 185 @ 5'2". (my highest weight was 290; but that was almost 6 years ago).

A week ago we took our bikes out of storage & went for a ride. Well, I stayed in a huge parking lot & my husband went out for 7 miles. Even though I was riding in a lot, I would have to say that "riding really felt pretty good to me".... I'd have to say that losing weight (25 lbs. since 2005), must've really helped me feel a lot more comfortable!
Even riding around in the lot, I was getting this itch to really, "get out there & ride". But, (at least for now), I do not feel comfortable riding in my city...

So:) ....we are going to put our bikes on our rack & head out to a bikeway not far from home & go for a ride, this afternoon! :) I hope that the rains stay away, as it has been pouring in our area all day yesterday & last night, early AM.

I also do want to add that over the past 25 years, (I'm 45 years young), I had 20 +/- hand,wrist,thumb operations, and both of my wrists are "fused straight".
I have absolutely ZERO up & down motion. I'll have to really check out how my arms/wrists feel when I ride. I didn't do enough in the parking lot, but a couple years ago, I remember feeling that "I was all stretched out" & riding was uncomfortable. I have fibromyalgia as well.

I REALLY want to enjoy riding!! And, I want to be a good rider. It has been 30 years since I've been on a bike.
I desperately want that.... I hope that my bike & I can "get along", at least for awhile. We purchased our bikes at a bike shop, but I don't recall having a "proper fitting". I should have spent more time trying out different bikes-but, I didn't.

Hope everyone has a great day/night!! I look forward to reading everyone's posts on this thread!!

faroe78

06-04-2006, 06:14 PM

Thanks for the advice!
I live in the Eugene OR area, and it is way bike friendly. We have a number of bike shops to go to, as well as REI. I've been checking out their site and they have a K-2 that might be good. I know I'm going to do fact finding before I settle on one. Next weekend, our local REI is holding a women's bike workshop, teaching about gearing and such--it's for beginners. They invite you to bring your bike and they will be having a bike ride too, but since I won't have a bike yet, I'd like to sit in and learn what I can. I'm trying to smarten myself up.
Wally world is totally out for bike buying, as is Target etc, and I loooove Target. But at barely 5'3", I know I need a properly fitting bike. And I think I need the handle bars to be higher than my seat. I've had carpal tunnel surgery to both wrists. They're fine, but not the same wrists I had 30 years ago. They don't like too much pressure on them.
I have a cervical disc which needs fusion or replacement. My new neurosurgeon told me artificial disc replacement would be available next year and I am trying to hold out for that, since it's a better option.
So I'm trying not to aggravate my neck and shoulders in the process. At the same time, if I can get this lard off, I'll be in better shape for surgery, and the dr won't have to cut thru so much fat. I have a short neck anyway, and it's fat.
So that's more of my story.
BTW--my real name is Susan. The Faroe part comes from the fact that I collect stamps from the Faroe Islands, and I graduated high school in '78.
Happy Sunday, all, and good road!
Susan
PS--who says "Get 'er done"? It seems familiar but I can't place it.

kimct

06-05-2006, 12:29 AM

Susan, git-r-done is Larry the Cable Guy! From 'Blue Collar Tour' with Jeff Foxworthy. A must see if you haven't seen it! I'm from the south, so maybe it's more funny to me...lol. And happy (late) birthday! Hope it was a great one! (ETA-- Larry apparently got a call from the US Air Force asking him how much he'd 'sell' the phrase for...he told them to take it! Great patriot! He coulda made millions on those few words! So now it's the official Air Force slogan...or will be...I caught the interview awhile back!)

Denise, whereabouts in NE are you? If you don't mind! I'm in Connecticut...the Navy base.

It's so inspiring to see everyone's stories whether you're all just starting out, or have been riding for awhile with incredible mileage!

I like this forum because it doesn't seem like anyone is a snobby sort...and almost all of us seem to have a weight concern here and there, wether it's alot of poundage, or a few extra! I love that aspect!

Kim

faroe78

06-05-2006, 08:08 AM

Susan, git-r-done is Larry the Cable Guy! From 'Blue Collar Tour' with Jeff Foxworthy.....I like this forum because it doesn't seem like anyone is a snobby sort...and almost all of us seem to have a weight concern here and there, wether it's alot of poundage, or a few extra! I love that aspect!

Thanks, Kim! I knew I'd heard that somewhere. I have a Blue Collar CD.
I, too, like that no one on this forum seems like the snobby sort. Far from it, everyone seems very friendly and helpful.
I am going to treat myself today--it's my day off--by going and looking at a couple of bike shops. I can't just walk in and buy one, which is just as well, it will give me time to see what's out there, and learn what I want in a bike.
Here's a question: what are disc brakes? Someone at work told me I'd be well off to get them.
Susan

Denise223

06-05-2006, 11:29 AM

I'm in Massachusetts, not far from Boston.

Hope everyone's having a great day! :)

Denise223

faroe78

06-06-2006, 01:54 AM

I had to go out and pay rent, so when I got done, I went to a bike shop and test drove a Trek Navigator 200. He also showed me a Trek 7200. He was very helpful, and said they'd give me lessons, because there are a few things I am not sure about.
Bikes are made so much easier now! I loved the gearing (?) on the Nav 200. Very easy to understand. It rode like a dream. I only went out a quarter mile and back, and was a bit winded. I went to an allergist once who suggested I might have exercise-induced asthma, but he also wanted to take away some of my pain meds and I fired him. Petulant of me, perhaps, but with my neck pain, I get kind of funny about stuff like that. I'll be glad when I can have surgery and do away with a bunch of the meds. What he really talked about doing away with was the NSAID, which I need daily to keep the inflammation down. It was Mobic, and a really good med.
Anyway, afterward, I went to REI. The kid down there was a pretty good salesman. No, I didn't buy a bike, but he seemed to know what he was talking about and we discussed a couple of different K2s and something else I can't recall. He was showing me a lot of the other biking stuff, such as bike shoes and cleats etc, and explained why they were used, how a hydration pack was safer than a water bottle, and so forth.
If I get so disposed in the morning, I am going just down the street to another bike shop and see what he has there.
Riding that bike today felt really good. It's something I want to do more of already. The only problem I had was when I got back to the shop and wanted to stop. The brakes worked fine, but I fell over just the same. But I was on grass, so it was OK. However, I don't want to keep falling down.
Keep on biking! I'll catch up sooner or later!
Susan--who wishes she could buy a bike instead of air-conditioners next week:)

Pachyderm

06-06-2006, 02:58 AM

Faroe78, Hi and welcome. Sorry that I have not responded earlier. This is a great site for advice and support.

The bikes you have been looking at are exactly what I would suggest. Hybrids are great for new cyclists and they can be used both on the road, and on gentle off-road options. I went straight for a racer when I started cycling. I do love the speeds I can get up to on it, but it is not as comfortable as a hybrid on poor roads. I can never take it onto a gravel trail which does limit my options, and if you aren't used to drop handlebars, or haven't used them for a while, they can be very uncomfortable. A mountain bike would also be less practical if you want to cycle on the roads, as the wide, knobbly tires and suspension mean you put in more effort to go the same distance.

I've just been looking up your Trek Navigator and found this review:

"Pros
Versatile, inexpensive, fun, comfortable. Good frame

Cons
not for serious cycling, weak components

The Bottom Line
This should be available used for a song, and will be a great second bike or starter bike

I bought this bike to induce myself to get out and exercise, 3 years ago. It now has almost 4,000 Spring through Fall miles on it. Great frame, long like a tourer, it smooths out bumps. the factory tires are still good. The chain wore out at 3,100 miles, and the bottom bracket too. Replaced both with better quality units. Great bike as is from the factory for rail trail rides and smooth pavement as well as rough, and light off road trails. The upright position is tough in headwinds, but great for sore backs. I added triathalon style aero bars for head wind use. I also switched to 1.5 in 100 psi slicks for a recent MS150 ride. the shifters are not well suited to heavy use on tough hill climbs. This bike is good for rides in the neighborhood and local tours of up to 20 miles at about 12 - 15 mph average speed. Longer rides like the MS150 are better with spd pedals and a narrower saddle (I put welgo spd/street dual use pedals on and a Brooks Conquest saddle)"

Don't know if this is any help. I also found reviews for the Trek 7200 on the following website, you will have to copy and paste the information into the address space on the computer (I don't know how to insert a hyperlink I'm afraid)

http://www.epinions.com/content_131788672644

And they also do reviews of K2s, but I don't know which type you were looking at.

http://www.epinions.com/bike-Bicycles-All-K2_Bike

I hope you find this helpful,

Good luck with your cycling!

kimct

06-06-2006, 03:01 AM

Oh, ok Denise...there goes that hope that maybe you're near me. I'd love to have a riding buddy that's near my skill level! Hubby doesn't help cause he just leaves me in his dust, I get mad and that's the end of that!

Susan, sounds like alot of fun! I'll have to look on the Trek website to see what kind of bikes those are...hehe...I'm such a bike newb! The only one I know is Bianchi, and that's cause I have my sights set on one, much, much later on down the road!

Won't even let myself go bike shopping till I'm close to having the money to get one.

Word of caution though...if you have a chance, try on the hydration packs before you buy! Look into one that fits around your waist/hips because the backpack type ones may make your back too hot! I don't have one, but I carry a small backpack when I ride to keep cell phone, water and all that good stuff in...haven't gotten any bike bags or bottle cages yet...and my back is usually soaked when I'm done.

Good luck with the decision!

Kim

Pachyderm

06-06-2006, 03:17 AM

Just thought I would share my experiences from the weekend.

I went into my local bike shop. They only sell mountain-bikes and hybrids and mine is a Trek 1000 racer so I didn't hold out much hope of any help, but the next nearest shop is 20 miles away, and I don't yet feel quite up to cycling a 40 mile round trip. Anyway, I went in there to ask about stem-extenders, or anything that could be done to reduce the reach to the handlebars. One of the guys in the shop just kept trying to get me to buy a new hybrid, despite my insistence that I couldn't afford a new bike, and that I wanted drop handlebars. As I was begining to get irate, the manager appeared and offered his assistance. He rides road bikes, understood exactly why I wanted drops and started taking my bike apart. By turning part of the handlebar attachment upside down, he gave me another inch of height which has also made the handlebars slightly closer. He also put the handlebars back in a slightly different position (with more tilt). Now it does feel slightly better (although very strange) and he did all of this for no charge, right in the middle of the shop floor! He has restored my faith in human nature (well bike-shop assistant nature)

I also managed to ride about 6 miles on Saturday, with panier bags stuffed with dog food. All this after a 6 mile walk with the dogs earlier in the day. I am getting fitter, and I lost 3 lbs this week :D . I am so pleased, I just hope I can keep it up and increase my mileage. There is a fantastic 35mile on-road route I can do in this area, going through beautiful beech woods, old villages and ancient archaeological sites. I just can't wait until I am fit enough to do it.

kimct

06-06-2006, 03:24 AM

Pachy, that was very nice of the owner! If only everyone in public service positions were like that, huh? Be alot less ill will I think!

Good job on your weight loss! That's really good for a week! Good luck with the rest of it!

I'm sure your mileage will increase quickly. I was really surprised how fast mine increased. I'm happy with 22 miles in one ride for a bit! Don't wanna push it...hehe.

Kim

Brina

06-06-2006, 05:49 AM

sounds like a great weekend, Pachy. That lbs owner sounds wonderful. I have a similar situation around here. The local bike shop is around the corner and we have bought none of our bikes from them, but i do use them for service and for lots of accessories. They have done lots of little fixes for me over the past few years, often for no charge.

Congrats on the loss. That is awesome.

faroe78

06-06-2006, 05:54 PM

. One of the guys in the shop just kept trying to get me to buy a new hybrid, despite my insistence that I couldn't afford a new bike, and that I wanted drop handlebars. As I was begining to get irate, the manager appeared and offered his assistance. He rides road bikes, understood exactly why I wanted drops and started taking my bike apart.

Sounds like the first guy was trying to be a salesman. I don't like the pushy sort, and never buy from them. Maybe he was new and trying to prove himself. The manager seems far more experienced and willing to listen, and in my opinion, that makes a good salesman. When they don't listen, I don't buy. But that manager, down the line, when I wanted to buy something bike related, I'd go to him.
I never did look at bikes today, not in the flesh. I've been surfing a bit. I am into this not driving when I don't have to, and I work tonight so I'm just puttering around the house and sleeping when I can.
But I looked at the epinions link you sent, and looked up Trek 7300 as well as 7200, and Bianchi (one guy's broke in half and they were not helpful to him) and some others. There are soooo many bikes out there. Raleigh intrigues me too. This is definitely not just going down to the shopping plaza (pre-mall) and picking out a cute Huffy sting ray with banana seat and basket with flowers on it, as I did when I was 7. Blue of course.
And I have to admit I am looking for a blue bike. The one yesterday was maroon. Eeech! Blue totally does it for me, and Trek has a 7300 in blue. Might have to go back this weekend and ask about blue. I know, I know, color should not make a difference, but a blue rig really does run better than any other color, and I just know a blue bike helmet would be safer than a green one, even though green would set off my red hair so much better. I'm being so girlie!
I'd better go lie down for a bit.
Susan

faroe78

06-06-2006, 06:02 PM

BTW, Pachy, thanks for those links. I can look up not only the Trek and the K2, but also Giant, Bianchi, Schwinn, Raleigh and so forth.
Thanks again and congrats on the weight loss. Maybe in another month, I can be sending similar posts.:p :eek:
Susan

latelatebloomer

06-06-2006, 06:21 PM

Faroe, I started riding on a Giant Cypress Hybrid. It really gave me a good start. The LBS I bought it from closed and I took it to a different shop for a tune-up.That store owner raved about what a good starter bike it was. I took her out again recently, and she's still a lot of fun.

Pachyderm

06-07-2006, 03:10 AM

Faroe78, Blue is a good colour. Maroon is not good with red hair (I have red hair too!). Glad you found the links useful.

Good luck on finding your new bike :)

mary9761

06-07-2006, 02:03 PM

Hello everyone,
It's been a long time since I've been able to post at the site, but I thought I'd WEIGH in on this subject. Some of you know my story and some of you are new to the site, but needless to say, riding a bicycle had changed my life completely.
2 years ago, I was in the hospital thinking I was having an heart attack. I'd been having shortness of breath and was to the point I couldn't hold my new grandson and breath at the same time. I would be drenched in sweat just trying to hold him or walk across the room. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a361/mary9761/Weight%20Loss/100_9212e.jpg I don't know exactly how much I weighed because my scales didn't read that high, but I'm estimating that my 5'3" frame was carrying 350 pounds or more. The good news after much testing is/was that there was no damage to my heart. It was as healthy as it could be for someone my age [42 at the time] and weight. The doctors put me on a diabetic and cardiac diet, which I'd followed to the letter. Within a year I'd lost some weight, but I still had a long way [still do now as well] to go to be healthy.
I ran into a former teacher who was getting ready to retire after 33 years of teaching at age 56 and was as healthy if not healthier than when I knew him as my teacher. I found out that he was a cyclist. I thought about if he could ride at his age ;) :p why couldn't I? I wondered about getting my old 10 speed down out of mom and dad's garage? Well, it wasn't until recently that I was finally able to get that bike from the garage, but I was riding my son's mountain bike on the MONON trail and took a chance at looking at The Bike Line in Carmel. I told them my story [hadn't ridden since my teens] had been injured in an accident falling down 13 steps in '88 and gained all my weight back that I'd lost years ago due to a back injury and depression etc.http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a361/mary9761/Weight%20Loss/marylate80sb.jpg I told them I wanted to ride to get healthy again, but that the mountain bike was beating me up and making my carpal tunnel worse. I was concerned about my back and wanted to be comfortable to ride. They recommended the Navigator 50 as a comfortable bike to get me around and moving. I rode it around the parking lot and couldn't believe how much more comfortable it was than what I was on. I put in layaway explaining that I was on a fixed income and hoped to get it out in a couple months, perhaps in time for my 44th birthday that would be in a couple months. When I'd called back to check on the bike, I was told that an anonymous donor had paid for my bike. I still don't know to this day who it was, but they have changed my life in ways they will never know.
I started riding my bike everywhere, thinking I just wanted to get heathy. This was late July. In August I finally set myself a mileage goal of 500-600 miles thinking Wow, don't know if I could possibly do that in a year. I passed that mark in early September and never looked back. In October, I rode my in my first Hilly Hundred in Southern Indiana. Granted I only rode the 40 mile route on Sunday since I worked Saturday, but I finished that 40 mile ride. I'd already started riding metric centuries. I ended the year 2005 with over 2500 miles [including indoor stationary as I count them] and 8 metric centuries [62.3+ miles]
I have ridden all winter on that little Navigator in all kinds of weather here in Indianapolis. I have upgraded the headstem and added bar ends [thanks to a good friend] This brings the handlebars up for me. I have also added a rack to the back and more recently gone from the stock 1.95" tires to 1.5" inverted tread and upped my average mph. I had already been told on more than one occasion that I have far exceeded any expectations of my little bike who's been named The Little Navigator that Could and already have 2255+ miles for 2006 [again including my indoor training] and have 5 metrics and more recently my first 2 CENTURIES. Just last month I rode 101+ miles in one ride and a week ago 109 miles.
If someone had told me this time last year I would have done what I've done on and off the bike, I would have told them they were nuts. I can hardly believe it myself. I had lost 100 pounds but I'm struggling with watching 2 grandchildren now and not getting to eat as healthy as once before, but I'm not going to give up. I'm 265 right now and would like to get back to 180 like I was in the earlier pic, I should weigh less, but will be happy there. Now if I could only turn back time too, but I'm already doing that getting healthy and lighter to see my grandchildren grow up.
The first photo in this series was May 2004, second June 2005 before I started riding the last was November 2005 and 250#. I plan on eventually making that dress into a jersey. I apologize for any mistakes spelling etc in this as I've been wrestling a teething 8 month old through a good portion of it. Grandma is lucky to get any time to herself anymore.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a361/mary9761/Weight%20Loss/51404_61805_111905aedit.jpg

latelatebloomer

06-07-2006, 02:14 PM

Mary, so good to hear from you. I just love that someone at that bike shop decided that if you were so willing to change your life, they were willing to help you. It just makes me tear up. What wonderful (and so often anonymous) people we have on this planet.

AND, thanks for giving me confidence that I can ride my century ride this year. In the body I've got. You are really, really an awesome woman.

KnottedYet

06-07-2006, 04:56 PM

Mary, you are awesome. I'm so stunned by how amazing all the women on TE are. You are inspirational. Go, Navigator!

Bad JuJu

06-07-2006, 06:42 PM

Wow Mary, what a story--what an experience--what inspiration! Keep us posted on your progress!

faroe78

06-07-2006, 08:06 PM

Mary,
Congrats on all the great weight loss and all you are trying to do to get healthy! I'm planning to get a bike next month. I'd do it this month, but I havet to get air conditioners for my house--it gets soooo hot here in the summer, and the 9 fans don't cut it.
That said, the next big purchase will be a bicycle. Reading your post just solidified that idea all over again!
I went to visit my family back in Iowa once, and I had gained weight, and you could just see the looks on their faces. No one said a word, but there was that "attitude", for lack of a better word, a hesitation. None of them are skinny, but I somehow felt as if I repulsed them a bit. I am doing this all for me, to be healthy etc, but also I want to see their faces when they see the new smaller me! The one that might actually look good in bike shorts!
Anyway, congratulations on a job well done! You're doing it, and you're grandkids will be proud of you.
Susan

faroe78

06-07-2006, 08:15 PM

:eek:
Does anyone here wear special bike clothes? How do you find them? And I mean bike clothes in what I call size Fat A--. I can't see me in spandex right now, if ever. But it seems to me, I'll want to get something with the padded crotch, so I don't kill my butt or vaginal area either one. I can just see that: "I can't come to work, my vag hurts!" "Just waddle in, Susan, we need you!"
I have T-shirts, that I think will be OK. At least they won't show every bump and roll.
Suggestions, anyone? You've been there, I haven't. YET!!
Susan

mary9761

06-07-2006, 08:34 PM

I do wear bike shorts and jerseys and all of my gear except for one jersey, I made myself. I don't have chamois in any of my shorts but I do have a large comfort seat on my bike. One of the keys to comfort is NO UNDERWEAR. I thought ewww, dunno 'bout that, but every time I wear street clothes now I remember WHY. We may not look as pretty in spandex, I think I look like baby shamu most of the time myself, but comfort definitely makes the difference.
When I think there's a possibility [now that the heat is building again] of chafing I make sure I put chamois butt'r on in the creases where your saddle will make contact with your sit bones or where your legs may rub the seat. Chafing is a big problem for riders at times and this WILL make a difference. If you are having problems with excess soreness in the seat area, you may need to have your seat adjusted. There's a possibility your saddle nose is too high if you are having specifically vaginal pain, you may be putting way too much pressure on the soft tissue area. Granted we are larger so we may not be as comfortable on a road bike [I'll likely put my comfort seat on a road bike until I lose more weight and get used to the difference in HOW you sit on the bike too] but for now, I may be a slug compared to my roadie buds, but I keep peddling. Between a nearly 50# bike and 265# of rider, I'm not made for speed yet, BUT when I get on a road bike, my legs are going to be stronger for it.
Good luck

mrsh

06-07-2006, 10:11 PM

Faroe - I would suggest trying to find yourself some of the stuff Louis Garneau makes. They have larger women's sizes I'm currently sporting Cameleon shorts, they are pretty comfy, don't have to be seen in spandex and have a nice pad. For jersey's (need the back pocket) I just buy a guys and go bigger I like having them a little baggy.

Brina

06-08-2006, 04:33 AM

there are underwear that have a chamois that you can put on under any shorts. They sell them here at TE.

Bad JuJu

06-08-2006, 04:37 AM

Also check out Terry's plus-size biking clothes. Her stuff is a bit pricey, but I've found it very comfortable. Having said that, I only have a couple of the older jerseys in plus sizes--never tried the plus-sized shorts. Terry also makes a cycling knicker (capri length), which is nice when you don't want to be seen in shorts--here in Florida, they're three-season wear (too hot for summer, though).
Also look for Mt. Borah clothes--they make jerseys and I think shorts too in plus sizes.

Having said that, I often just wear a t-shirt if I'm going out for a short ride--an hour or less. You can sometimes find t-shirts in wicking fabrics these days. It's nicer to have a jersey with the pockets, but there are ways to do without the pockets--tiny handlebar bag, little fanny pack, etc.

Closing thought: dress for your comfort, not the comfort of someone who may be looking and not care for what they see--that's their problem, not yours.

Geonz

06-08-2006, 08:39 AM

when I picked my first "real" bike I went to all the bike shops - though in Richmond VA there were only four or five. I was looking for what felt good to ride, and the Bianchi at the last bike shop felt the best of all.
I thought maybe it felt better because wtih all those test rides I was just riding better so I went back and tested some more, but they weren't better. So I went back to the Bianchi, which had been sold :mad: and I couldn't afford this year's model.
I asked the guys why it would feel so much better and they said the stem was at a different angle, and they popped a Bianchi stem off and put it on a Giant. Voila! It was the magic proportion!
I think it comes down to finding the bike shop people who will listen and help.
Had experiences like Pachyderm's, though - I recommended that Virginia shop to somebody, who went out there and got a different person who informed him that no, he did *not* want a hybrid, he wanted... YUK! (and I'm not sure, but I think *this* may have been the owner, and I worked with the employees, who were "just" biker - types who wanted to share the fun in whatever way I wanted to get started!)
There are a whole lot more options now, which is good but more complicated! I like my 7500FX a lot - still hybrid, but light and as fast as I want to go.
Pachy, I hope also that the fearless manager had a few words with the other guy about using those two appendages on the side of one's head, not just the hole wiht the tongue flapping around in it.

faroe78

06-09-2006, 11:41 PM

when I picked my first "real" bike I went to all the bike shops - though in Richmond VA there were only four or five........I think it comes down to finding the bike shop people who will listen and help.
Had experiences like Pachyderm's, though - I recommended that Virginia shop to somebody, who went out there and got a different person who informed him that no, he did *not* want a hybrid, he wanted... YUK!

I went to another bike shop today. This one is down the street and around the corner from me--a little further than that, but pretty close. Guy was trying to sell me on a Giant Suede--or was it Specialist. It was a doofy looking comfort bike. :mad: Now, maybe that would be best for me, I don't know, the store was closing soon, I'd got there late, and didn't have time to take it for a test drive. I know the whole point is not looks, but even so. Some of those "women's" bikes look like they belong to a 12 year old girl. I'm a 46 year old woman. But I now have 2 more catalogs to look at. ;)
I'm going back to REI tomorrow, as they are having a bike class for women. Then I am going to check out some other bike shops. I really want to get a bike in the next month. There are lots of bike shops in this area to scout out. I don't know if I said, but I live in Springfield OR, right next to Eugene, and both are quite bike friendly towns. I see cyclists all the time, and it would be weird not to see them. And there are all kinds of them. Some for the environment, some for their health, and some because they're poor and that's how they get around. I've seen a lot of homeless people with bikes. I've never lived anywhere where I saw so many adults riding bicycles. It's kewl. But I digress......I am going to do some serious bike shopping tomorrow.
Susan

marys

06-10-2006, 06:49 PM

I've been wearing Terry bike shorts in plus sizes-I don't like the ultimate chamois-too bulky; but the regular chamois in the T-short is good. I try to get them on sale, which is often easier on this site than at Terry itself. (Also check on REI.com.)

For wicking shirts, I've had great luck with LL Bean's mens wicking t's. I found them in their outdoor gear and apparel catalog, but I'm sure they are in all of them. They sell women's active (wicking) t's as well, but I'm not small enough-yet. The guys really wash well, and dry in a hurry on the line. And they wick beautifully. Another place to find plain wicking ts is online at Sierra Trading Post.com. They often have mens sizes in "Wickers" t shirts, which don't stand up to washing quite as well as the LLBean ones do, but I've had one for over 5 years-a little "pilled," but still does the job. I'd also recommend Mt Borah shorts for plus sizes. And Bike Nashbar used to sell some plus-sized women's shorts, which were great-but I'm not seeing them in the latest catalog.

Ride on!
Mary S.