Is it my imagination?

[liketobike]

I hope I am not looking forward to the same thing you've been through. I'm 5'4", 200 plus a bit more pounds, and am riding to lose weight and get ready for an 80-mile, 3 day ride with 4 friends in September. I wrote a local bike club and they said all were welcome. I did write back to ask if my speed is fast enough to keep up with them. (about 10 mph) I can still outride all of the other women who are taking the trip with me, because I'm actually out biking three times a week.

[ayermail2]

liketobike - WOOHOO! for you! Hope you have a lot of fun on your ride. Riding your bike 3 days a week will definitely help prepare you for your event! Coelura & I just got back from Cycle South Carolina (www.cyclesouthcarolina.com) and had a blast! Some of our training included commuting to / from work, as well as a longer weekend ride. How many miles is your longest day? You'll want to work up to riding about 80% of that distance before the event, and riding consecutive days a couple of times before the ride. Then, you can take it really easy the week before so you're rested, and REALLY ENJOY the ride! Have fun!

[tammy]

For all of you lovely ladies out there biking, remember this - for every angry and bitter woman you might encounter, there are at least 100 friendly, helpful, positive women who welcome you with open arms to the wonderful world of cycling, myself among them

Don't let someone else's hangups keep you from enjoying this fabulous sport - you just keep riding!

[angel]

Hi,
I recommend you place (win) in the clydesdale category in a local race or tour and then see if they warm up. It's a shame that people judge others on their body types but I think biking clubs are somewhat snobbish no matter what the issue. My boyfriends bike club is nice to me although I think only because he's a good rider!
Good Luck

[Trek420]

There seems to be a misconception that if you are overweight you
cannot be physically fit or able to do any exercise. Here's a site that
dispells that myth.

http://www.virago-productions.com/wellrounded/

TREK420

[ayermail2]

Hey - Trek - great website!!!! Thanks for the tip!

[LushGoddess]

I have just been lurking of late...but wanted to thank all who responded to this old post of mine. I am still riding, and even a bit heavier than I was before. Oddly enough, at 200 pounds or so (my current weight) I am still kicking some butt out on the road. I finally sucked up and bought myself some beautiful shorts and a great jersey, and I am looking at perhaps picking up a 2003 Lemond Zurich later this season.

You ladies are a wonderful bunch, and I do thank you for such kind words and support. Cycling, to me, is a sport of passion and pleasure. And size should never be a limiting factor for any of us.

[Terry]

I guess I'm late on this issue, too...as you all know the forum was down for a while, so, I'm in a catch up mode.

ALL of my friends are bigger than myself and I thank god they accept me...and I'm not talking overweight...
All my life I've been "the runt" and never been taken seriously at almost anything I do. So, even though I'm an opposite to this issue of large women riding, I'm stero-typed to no end.
(And I can't find clothes either...I have to wear youth-size shin gaurds because the adult size are too long)

There is no doubt in my mind that I would have been "snubbed by the other women" under similar circumstances too. Why size matters so damn much is a painful mystery to me. We all bring great stuff to the table and any woman that cannot see that in another is just taking up room on the planet IMHO. I cannot imagine being snubbed by other women because you show up for a ride--no matter your size, shape, age, color, ect.
Geez, La-weez!

Sometimes, I want to blame someone for this and punch them in the nose, but, alas, prejudice seems to have no face...but, it's that "look" that lets you know you don't fit an image. It hurts every time. Makes me sad to hear these stories.

On another note, we got "snubbed" this past weekend by a young couple who kept speeding up when we were behind them and wouldn't let us pass on a double track...we just waited for a hill and smoked'em.

We were back at the car loading up, grey hair in the wind, when they finally rolled up, whooped, all hunched over and panting. They looked rather shocked when they saw us "old geezers" who passed them on the hill...and we weren't being loaded into an ambulance.
Live'n learn!
Terry

[coolbeansbikes]

neat story Terry!

[goddess1222]

hey terry, i am 33 and you could probably smoke me!!!

[IronHorse213]

thanks for everyone being supportive and honest - I'm also a "virago" woman (thanks Trek for that site - I love it!!) - 5 feet (barely) and just a slice above 200. I've been working out with weights all winter and trying to ride a lot (the weather is not cooperating) to loose, but it's not going any where.

Reading all your posts helped me realize that I'm avoiding the club rides and socials becuase I'm uncomfortable with my size. That's something to think about. Thanks!

'calla

[peepsmack]

How freaking rude! Man, those women who have the ideal body type just don't get that some of us will always be shaped differently. I'm 5'2" and 180...definitely overweight and much of it is flab from 7 years of being the babymaker and sit-on-my-butt-at-home mommy. HOWEVER, pre-kids I was FIT and athletic. I was the endurance chick LOL Once I found my groove I could go all day, in biking, swimming, and hiking. Never been fast, I never won a race, but it takes fitness to have endurance, ya know? But even in the best shape of my life, I had a tummy pooch, thighs that rubbed together, and this huge annoying rack. I definitely didn't LOOK like an athelete, at least not the typical tall skinny perfectly toned kind And, if it wasn't the flabby parts of me, it was the muscles. The tall scrawny types don't seem to get the big muscles like I seem to. Not that I'm a bulging mass of muscle, but they always seem to get bigger than I expect without me trying to develop them. Isnt' there a word for that? Something-morph? Anyway...

Right now I've got a way to go before I get back to, or anywhere NEAR, that level of fitness, but I've lost about 25 pounds already, and while I still could stand to drop about 40 more, I'm already much more well-proportioned (with the exeption of the aforementioned huge annoying rack!), I'm seeing my muscles toning up and getting bigger, and after just a few months back in the saddle, I feel like the endurance chick again. It's not as easy to find my groove as it once was, but once I find it, I can ride (or swim, or hike) all day and feel great about it. Do I look like I'm in shape? NO WAY! But even if I get there, I'll never look like a skinny bikin' chick. If that gets me the cold shoulder if I try to join a club, so be it. I have other superfit biking and triathlete friends who will gladly ride with me, who know how far I can go, big butt and all.

I guess the point of that whole rant, is don't let that woman get you down. There are plenty of us in the non-scrawny athletic category to support you.

Oh, I saw someone say something about the bike clothes. ARGH! Don't EVEN get me started!! I just gave up and started sewing my own because there isn't a ready made jersey out there that'll fit me right. If it fits my torso, it's way too tight around the boobs. If it fits the boobs, it flaps in the breeze around the rest of me. Shorts? Well that's a tad easier, but I'm short, so they're always a little longer than ideal. Still, I make my own now. I do have to buy kid sizes in some things. Socks, my swim goggles, I imagine if I ever buy arm warmers I'll have to find some stubby size. I'm not even going to bother trying on anyone else's tights...it's pretty much a given that they'll be too long. sigh...

Oh the woes of not being the perfect woman.

Jessie

[elevenpointfive]

This thread has me tearing up with joy. You're all so supportive and wonderful. You all rule.

-eleven, of the tummy bulge and thigh-rubbing sisterhood

[Irulan]

Originally posted by peepsmack
I just gave up and started sewing my own because there isn't a ready made jersey out there that'll fit me right.

Jessie

There's another thread around here somewhere (apparel?) a few of us sew our own bike gear!! I've made 4 jerseys since Jan, and other stuff too.

Irulan

[VenusdeVelo]

I think making your own clothes is a great idea (I always think of designs but I can't sew to save my life). Terry Bikes site (www.terrybicycles.com) does offer a very wide range of sizes on jerseys and shorts...if you haven't tried them, that's an option...