Fat and Unfit - How to Start Biking?

[lgibster]

[QUOTE=bakoblues;654700]Where are you all when I ride?! I'm the only chubby cyclist I've ever seen on my local bike path.

I recently decided to try to get into good enough shape to ride a half century for my 50th birthday in March and I'm getting intimidated. I don't really know where to start. I've started riding my bike home from work (about 14 miles) 1 day a week, but I'm SO slow - it takes me an hour. I don't have much time to do long rides; I work nights/shift work, 1800-0600, so I have to ride alone at night on my days off, which limits areas and time due to safety, and I live in an extremely flat area so I can't practice hills. I'm getting in about 20 min rides as fast as I can at nights I don't work and I'm jogging on the treadmill for 30 min on the nights I do work (again, at an absymally slow rate but better than watching TV during break). I'm also chicken about riding in an event with my inexpensive bike, overweight, unmatching gear, and having no idea about the rules, but I'm going to suck that part up and just deal with it. It will be one day of my life with people I will probably never see again so I can get thru that part of it as long as I can finish it.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to ride a half century. I rode my first two races this year (a 34 mile section and a 25 mile section) and it was great. Now I want to do a century. Don't worry about your gear, bike or how slow you are. Have fun and challenge yourself...it is about three things....not have fast you can get there, how well matched you are, or how good your bike looks. For me it was about "Stay upright, have fun, and finish". Go for it. I was glad I did.

I am 41, 230 lbs and ride a "hybrid". Yes I tell my friends.."Warning: Fat chick cycling..momentum kills." Just go for it.

[Amira]

I'm new to the forum as well (good grief, how much have I bought at Team Estrogen without even realizing the forum was here), but I am here to encourage you to get on a bike and start riding. Last year, at 54, the cold reality that I was 40 lbs overweight (mainly around the middle), about to outgrow a size 14, and wasn't doing a darn thing about it hit me. Years of high-stress/sedentary job/eating crap at lunch was slowly killing me.

I drug my old road bike out of the garage, dusted it off (that took awhile), took it for a tune up and started riding. At first, I was huffing and puffing - SLOWLY - around a 9-mile flat loop here in town on the weekends and was probably doing about 9 mph and was exhausted when I was done. I could barely make it up the two 'hills' on the route and I use the term 'hill' quite loosely. My knees would meet my fat middle section when I pedaled. I wouldn't have been caught dead in lycra shorts, much less a cycling jersey and while I stuffed myself into a pair of mountain bike shorts, I had to resort to wearing a dri-fit running T from Target with it because I didn't want to spend any $$$ on bike clothes at that size.

So, I do know where you are coming from.


Don't be intimidated - find a bike that you feel comfortable on and that you will ride. Whether that's a commuter/hybrid or a road bike, the first key is to get on the bike and ride it. Consistently. Buy the best bike you can afford. Tell the bike shop guys what your goals are and your price range.

Fast forward a year....I've ridden about 1200 miles since January. I started going to spin classes during the week, when I couldn't ride after work. I lost 35 lbs. I went from a size 14 to a size 8. I rode by myself when I couldn't find friends to ride with me. I looked for fun organized rides to sign up for (and tried not to be intimidated when I went to many of them on my own) and I worked my way up from those original 10 mile rides to 100k rides. The weekend before last, I met my sister in Lake Tahoe and we did a 72-mile charity ride together. I climbed over 3500 vertical feet, when I used to huff and puff over a slight incline. It didn't happen overnight and it wasn't magic. I rode. Every weekend, I worked on upping my cadence, my speed, my getting out of the saddle to climb that 'hill', I looked for actual hills. I sweated. I learned to change my tires and eventually, to disassemble my bike to pack it in a travel case. I got grease under my nails. I shopped (God love ya, TE, I am overrun in cute bike jerseys now). When my original road bike got stolen 2 months into this project, I could have let it totally derail me, but I didn't.

At 55, I am fitter than I was at 25. I want everyone to have that feeling. I know you can have it. My advice is to pick some crazy goal for yourself on a bike....something you don't think you can do now....whether it's a 100k or full century. Tell people about it. I posted on Facebook last year that I was going to ride around Lake Tahoe and be more aerodynamic doing it. I figured it would be hard to back out if I made it public. And, at times when I didn't think I could do it, I'd go back to that post and re-read my promise.

I had so much fun riding around Tahoe that I'm now considering jumping into a 111-mile ride in Tucson in November. If you would have told me a year ago that I'd be thinking, oh hey, I can go do that, I'd have said you were insane. So, can't wait to hear what your plan is!

[Serendipity]

I'm new to the forum as well (good grief, how much have I bought at Team Estrogen without even realizing the forum was here), but I am here to encourage you to get on a bike and start riding. Last year, at 54, the cold reality that I was 40 lbs overweight (mainly around the middle), about to outgrow a size 14, and wasn't doing a darn thing about it hit me. Years of high-stress/sedentary job/eating crap at lunch was slowly killing me.

I drug my old road bike out of the garage, dusted it off (that took awhile), took it for a tune up and started riding. At first, I was huffing and puffing - SLOWLY - around a 9-mile flat loop here in town on the weekends and was probably doing about 9 mph and was exhausted when I was done. I could barely make it up the two 'hills' on the route and I use the term 'hill' quite loosely. My knees would meet my fat middle section when I pedaled. I wouldn't have been caught dead in lycra shorts, much less a cycling jersey and while I stuffed myself into a pair of mountain bike shorts, I had to resort to wearing a dri-fit running T from Target with it because I didn't want to spend any $$$ on bike clothes at that size.

So, I do know where you are coming from.


Don't be intimidated - find a bike that you feel comfortable on and that you will ride. Whether that's a commuter/hybrid or a road bike, the first key is to get on the bike and ride it. Consistently. Buy the best bike you can afford. Tell the bike shop guys what your goals are and your price range.

Fast forward a year....I've ridden about 1200 miles since January. I started going to spin classes during the week, when I couldn't ride after work. I lost 35 lbs. I went from a size 14 to a size 8. I rode by myself when I couldn't find friends to ride with me. I looked for fun organized rides to sign up for (and tried not to be intimidated when I went to many of them on my own) and I worked my way up from those original 10 mile rides to 100k rides. The weekend before last, I met my sister in Lake Tahoe and we did a 72-mile charity ride together. I climbed over 3500 vertical feet, when I used to huff and puff over a slight incline. It didn't happen overnight and it wasn't magic. I rode. Every weekend, I worked on upping my cadence, my speed, my getting out of the saddle to climb that 'hill', I looked for actual hills. I sweated. I learned to change my tires and eventually, to disassemble my bike to pack it in a travel case. I got grease under my nails. I shopped (God love ya, TE, I am overrun in cute bike jerseys now). When my original road bike got stolen 2 months into this project, I could have let it totally derail me, but I didn't.

At 55, I am fitter than I was at 25. I want everyone to have that feeling. I know you can have it. My advice is to pick some crazy goal for yourself on a bike....something you don't think you can do now....whether it's a 100k or full century. Tell people about it. I posted on Facebook last year that I was going to ride around Lake Tahoe and be more aerodynamic doing it. I figured it would be hard to back out if I made it public. And, at times when I didn't think I could do it, I'd go back to that post and re-read my promise.

I had so much fun riding around Tahoe that I'm now considering jumping into a 111-mile ride in Tucson in November. If you would have told me a year ago that I'd be thinking, oh hey, I can go do that, I'd have said you were insane. So, can't wait to hear what your plan is!

Amira, that is just the best post! You are an inspiration.

[Bike Writer]

Ameria,

What a wonderful and inspiring story. That is sure to motivate a lot of people and give hope to beginners who feel hopless and lost about breaking into cycling.

[Scrappy]

Amira, Awesome inspiring story. I remember the first time making it up the "hill" in the neighborhood for the first time and feeling like a superstar. Fast forward 2 seasons and a 40 mile ride was a nice Sat morning excursion. It doesn't take long once the bug bites, and this addiction is so much sweeter than candy :-)

Scrappy

[Amira]

Thank you, ladies. I am so passionate about the fact that it is never too late to learn to ride and take contol of your health! I want every 50-something woman to feel like she's 25 - without having to resort to botox, plastic surgery or dressing completely age inappropriately.

Getting fit is the real fountain of youth.