a report from LLB

[latelatebloomer]

Just had to shoot you all a little report and get you all to do the Snoopy happy dance with me!

Latelatebloomer just did her first club ride on her NEW ROAD Bike and she was CLIPPED IN, TOO!!!

This is proof-positve that TE can work miracles. Of course, I also trained hard at the gym all winter, even did some tough indoor training with the local bike club's racing team. (What they thought when a 46 year old, 200-some lb woman walked in, I don't wanna know. But guess what? My heart rate targets were about the same as theirs. Talk about pushing beyond one's comfort level - I wore the spandex, one night I was the only woman there, and I was scared I was gonna throw up - either from nerves or effort! (but on the last night of training, one of the guys said he and a couple others might join me on my century ride, just to give me moral support I think - it made me feel like I was part of the team just a teeny tiny bit:p )

So, last Sunday, DH and I did a little how-to-road-ride class, and this Sunday, the same man was leading a class D ride - 10 mph, 10 -15 miles. Ok, I thought, perfect for a start. I mean, my best ride at the end of last season was 20! (this time last year, I could only do 3 miles.) Well, we got out there and after some miles, he announced we were all doing great and could handle a longer ride. We did 25. I was often last, but not by much, and I DIDN"T CARE ONE BIT! The leader taught me how to take hills a lot better, and told me I did great.

And there was a more experienced rider along to help and encourage - another large woman, an African American woman who mostly mountain bikes and SHE WAS TOTALLY CAPABLE OF KICKING BUTT - but also rode gently to help us out.

Yeah, I wanna lose more weight. Mostly so gravity doesn't have such a claim on me on the inclines - but I really feel like I have transformed myself. This is all so beyond what I ever believed I could do when I weighed 270+. Thank you all for coaxing me along when I got frustrated and discouraged. For all you big women who are committed to getting fit, I just want to mention that I stopped getting on the scale - because I'm building a lot of muscle and if the weight stays the same or even goes up a little, I plummet emotionally - so I just make fitness goals and slowly but surely, it's time to send another set of clothes to the Salvation Army. Just don't give up.

Thanks again, everyone.

[bikerz]

Hey way to go LLB!!! Congrats!!

[Trekhawk]

Mate Im so pleased for you. I wish you were closer so we could ride together, what a blast we would have.

Sounds like a great group to ride with and congratulations on riding your new bike clipped in.

I will have a celebration drink for you.:D

Leslie

[Lise]

LLB, you rock! Congratulations!

I didn't know that anybody else did what I call the "Snoopy Dance of Joy"! I join you! I am dancing like a fool!

Thanks for letting us know how it went. Looking forward to more ride reports. Good, good work. :D Lise

[Grog]

Wonderful, LLB! Way to go, you'll go further next time. :)

[bluedress]

AWESOME JOB! I love your FABULOUS ATTITUDE! :D You are doing great things!

~Marca

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. ~Winston Churchill

[allabouteva]

That's fantastic LLB!

That's a lot of progress and you're definitely on your way. There's a lot of firsts there:

1) First club bike ride
2) First club bike ride with new bike
3) First club bike ride with new bike clipped in
4) First club bike ride with new bike clipped in doin' 25 miles!!!

How great is that!!!:D Good onya matey!

eva

[Nanci]

Wow, so that was your longest ride ever? Aren't club rides fun?

I love the group I ride with- 13 mph average, and we stop and look at stuff. We were out in the country, and I was watching in my mirror, and saw _something_ approaching, something weird, not a car, and finally identified it as a pack of riders. The A riders. Think any of them waved as they passed, even though we had the VP and the former (first!) pres of the club with us? Yeah, right. To make matters worse for them, our strongest rider, a woman who is somewhat overweight, maybe (I hate to guess and go over, as I did with someone's age a few weeks ago- but I have to guess weights all the time at work so I don't get someone over my table limit on there, _and_ I see a lot of gastric bypass patients, a surgery I would _highly_ discourage!!!!!) 230-250? jumped on the back of the pack and stuck with them at 25-30 mph for several miles. The only reason she dropped off was because we had agreed to stop at an upcoming bridge and look at the river.

You can't judge a rider by their weight- you have no idea what sort of fitness level they have...

Just think what you're going to accomplish now this summer, now that you can get outside! When's your Century ride?

Amazing! Congratulations!

Nanci

[wavedancer]

LLB, FANTASTIC!!!

You show that we can do anything we set our minds and hearts on. Have fun on that century. I hope to do my first one this season, too :)

Linda, another late bloomer

[cusepack]

It was wonderful reading about your ride. Many congratulations to you for a fantastic ride. It's amazing what we can accomplish simply by believing in ourselves and with unconditional support. Yet another inspiration here on TE:)

[shasta]

You are an absolute inspiration!

Whoohoo!!!

[doc]

LLB Congrats!!! Keep blooming!

[jobob]

Ah, this is just the beginning. Someday soon you'll look back at this ride fondly and marvel at how far you've gone since. :cool:


I didn't know that anybody else did what I call the "Snoopy Dance of Joy"! You kidding?!? Cue the Linus & Lucy theme .... :D

[Bad JuJu]

Oh that's so inspiring! Good for you! I'm dancin' up a storm here. :D

[bikerchick68]

LLB... I am SO happy for you! I can hear your joy in this post... way to go! It's great to know you have such supportive cycling groups in your community too... proud of you for doing a group ride! I was scared to death on my first one too! Big Congrats to you!!! :)

[PAP103]

I'll do the Snoopy dance with/for you!! Thanks for your inspiring post. I was feeling a bit down because I went out yesterday for my 2nd club ride and was dropped (along with another woman) on the first hill. We rode together. I was only able to do the short route of 13 miles and had to walk a couple of hills. But its only my 2nd ride of the season and my second ride on my new road bike.

Thanks for reminding me that my fitness level will improve as I ride more! I need not be so hard on myself, I just need to ride more!!

Ride on!!:D
Patty

[slinkedog]

You definitely deserve the big, happy, Snoopy dance!! :) Me and my kids will be doing one as soon as I log off!!

Good for you! Stick with it and you will be going farther than you ever imagined you could! Great job!

[easterbird]

[QUOTE=latelatebloomer]Just had to shoot you all a little report and get you all to do the Snoopy happy dance with me!

Latelatebloomer just did her first club ride on her NEW ROAD Bike and she was CLIPPED IN, TOO!!!
QUOTE]

Congrats! Great Job! I'mm dancin,too. BTW, I have been thinking...dreaming of trying a club ride...which club??? Central Bucks by any chance...you are from Bucks Co,PA?? I am from Kintnersville,PA(Bucks Co)

[latelatebloomer]

Hey, Easterbird, if I walk on my front door and holler, you just might hear me! I'm in downtown Applebachsville (for those who don't know - no stoplights, no post office, no stores, no nothing, and we love it that way!)

I'm doing rides with the Lehigh Wheelmen, and you don't have to be a member to ride. www.lehighwheelman.org I've now done 3 rides with the leader named Rob who does a lot of stuff for beginners.

I just got back from a 30 mile towpath ride, Allentown to Easton and back. Rough riding, so I took the hybrid. I'm very fatigued, but pleased with myself. I was almost getting dropped at the end and I was clearly the weakest rider - but my first 15 miles were really strong, and I've never done this rougher terrain before. And this is my new personal best already. Rob tells me the next road ride will feel like cake. I really need to work on my hill skills, though. And keep lightening the load.

I really love the feeling of riding past a large woman on foot who makes this face.:eek: I hope I can help plant a little seed from which will grow another rider who will astonish her own self.

[RoadRaven]

*doing the happy dance*

:D

*doing the happy dance*

[jobob]

I hope I can help plant a little seed from which will grow another rider who will astonish her own self. That is a wonderful sentiment.

It's such a fabulous feeling when you reach a goal about which you used to think "hoo mee? no way!" :)

[cindysue]

Congrats! So many milestones....

sounds like a great group to ride with - and very supportive!!!!

[Tuckervill]

I'm new here, and was just going to read and lurk, until I read LLB's post.

LLB, your post brought tears to my eyes. I'm 44 and weigh about what you do. I've been riding my bike around town for a couple of years now, going out in the woods sometimes on some singletrack and fire lane stuff (pushing the hills a lot), but I prefer the woods to anything else. I'm afraid of cars, still, but I can feel that fading after recent experiences. I decided to get a new bike this year and I have about 60 miles on my new Trek 4500 WSD.

Last night about a half hour before dusk I came down stairs in a hurry to get on my bike to ride the town trail. Found hubby and 12 yo son putting on their shoes to take a ride, too. My husband hasn't been on a bike since he was a kid due to his extreme height (6'7"), but I recently got him a new bike, modified to fit. I told him I was going do the whole trail, which is too much for him, yet. But we took off together. After about 4 miles, they detoured home and I kept going. Four miles later I come across my 21 yo son and his girlfriend, riding my old bikes, hoping to catch up with me, so I did 3 more slow miles with them before I headed home.

Two Saturdays ago I did a 25K charity ride, which I didn't think I would finish. But I did, of course, and I felt SO GOOD, and craving that feeling is why I took off last night again to ride hard until that feeling came on again. The town trail is not going to be enough, really soon. Going to have to make more time for the woods, or ::gasp::: become a roadie!

Your whole post made me think YES! Good for you! Good for me! I'm not alone!! Thanks. :)

Karen, still a little teary

*edited to correct bike model. The 4300 is my 12 yo son's.

[SadieKate]

Welcome, Tucker! Thanks for sharing your story. Hop on over to the "Getting to Know You" thread and tell us more, more, more!:D

[Ninabike]

I was just reading LLB's post and thinking how inspiring this would be to others. Then I came upon Tuckervill's post and how inspiring is that!!! That's what's so great about this forum. We can all inspire each other!!

Congrats girls!!

Nina

[slinkedog]

Yay Tuckervill! I'm really looking forward to hearing more updates from you! Isn't our sport so much fun? It's great to hear your story . You and LLB have inspired me to keep setting goals for myself. Welcome to TE!

[Duck on Wheels]

Thanks for sharing, LLBloomer and Tuckervill! I did my first ever ride last month, with Melody as peleton and Trek420 as inspiration. Made it 43 miles, which was a big surprise to myself and family. After all, I'm 56, have a "few" more pounds on me than I'd like, and am no way in the shape that I used to be. But thanks to Trek, online support from TE, and a fun spin instructor I managed to get closer, and thanks to Melody's company on the ride I managed to keep on going even no matter how often I heard "on your left". Now I can use you two as inspiration for the next hurdle, which is to keep this up and do a ride on my own (:eek: -- so much harder to ride all alone among strangers!) ... unless, that is, somebody else at my level is planning on doing a ride hereabouts the next couple of months. My goal for now is the Janesville Pie Ride.

[latelatebloomer]

Recently I heard a big rider talk about trying to order plus-size clothes for the LBS she works at (she is a KICK*SS mountain biker, by the way.) She said to her boss, "Where's the love for the big girl?"

I know.

It's here on TE. Where big girls go the distance. And look damn good doing it, too.

[Tuckervill]

We went from 84 degrees yesterday to a cool 50 today, with drizzle, and I've been suffering pangs of desire to be out riding. But I'm not riding in that stuff.

Today I ordered some plus size MTB shorts. After yesterday, I'm experiencing a little chafing, so it's time. But I'm getting a callous on my sit bones. ;)

That last line is a great one, LLB. You should put it in your siggy.

Karen

[margo49]

Yeah, all of us have a long story full of things we have done and gone through and overcome to get "this far".

This is a great Team to share them with and get inspiration from other women's stories too. Nothing compares on the Whole Internet!

Every single revolution of the pedals is another victory!

Go, ladies,go!