OK...here it goes...

[Zen]

how the heck do you lose muscle?

Stop lifting hard

[bonnypriest]

Stop lifting hard

Exactly right! Well...kinda. I still workout like a crazy women, but just go waaaay lighter & higher reps. I do more of a cross training workout now. After ONLY lifting heavy for all these years it's been very hard to change, but it's working...slowly.

I just wanna thank you ladies for all your input. I'll just have to test them out & see what feels best I guess. Always good advice for sure.

If anyone wants to give me advice on favorite gear (clothes, saddle,etc.) that would be AWESOME!!! I'd love to find out what gloves everyone likes to wear too (by the way...my hands are huge). Looking at the size of my hands (I can almost palm a basketball) I should have been MUCH taller than I am.

[WindingRoad]

I have said it before here on TE but the 2010 Cannondale, Synapse, Feminine 3 is one friggin' awesome ride! It is stupid light, full carbon and it blazes around corners AND full Ultegra. It is touted as a 'touring bike' but there's nothing but speed in those wheels! I have a carbon bike now and I actually used to work in a shop so I have test ridden a lot of bikes and that model Synapse was the only bike that 'wowed' me. I'm out of practice currently to know for sure but the 2011's are probably coming out right now and you should go try one out ASAP. That's my two cents!

[roadie gal]

how the heck do you lose muscle? Lay in a bed for a few weeks?

You do a lot of cardio and minimal lifting, especially heavy lifting. I used to do a lot of weightlifting. I bulked up, but I'm too lazy to lose the fat, so I never competed. When I stopped lifting and started riding I lost 20 pounds over about 6 months. It was mostly muscle.

Bonnypriest, it sounds like we have a similar body type. I also have large hands. I take a men's medium to large in most gloves. My favorite gloves are the Performance brand Century Gel gloves. I find that the Pearl Izumi gloves cut into the webbing between my 3rd and 4th fingers. Fox and Cannondale also fit OK. You just have to try them on.

As far as clothing goes, if you have those weightlifter thighs, shorts with a stretchier material may be better for you than less stretchy compression style shorts. Before I lost the weight, I had to take a size larger than was comfortable just to get them over my thighs. The top would sag and the legs would look like an overstuffed sausage.

[OakLeaf]

I posted about that a few months ago when a motorcycle racer I follow was switching from a discipline that requires a lot of muscle, to a discipline where weight is at a premium. He called it "muscle atrophy training."