Woke up middle-aged, 45 pounds overweight, and looking for my bicycles!

[jayjay]

Okay, maybe I'm not a beginner, but I feel like one. Okay, so already I'm 12 pounds, and a year advanced from being at my worst ever (60 pounds overweight), hiding out in the mtns, away from all the old cycling buddies, and basically giving in to that peri-menopausal nightmare. The fact is, I use to ride all the time, trail, and road. In my prime, I could spank a lot of the men on the rides! (figuretively speaking) I know a lot about bicycles and the sport of riding atb & road, but *nothing* about getting it back after completely losing it. I have 6 bikes, 3 too many, and well, I can't fit into a single jersey or short at the present time, and last time I got on my bike, it just felt so awful, with my belly hanging down so my knees would touch it, and my butt waddling side to side as I pedaled. About 5 years ago I just gave into the fat. Good news is that I think I'm coming out of a 5 year depression, is what it feels like. I have this consistant awakening sensation which feels like I am back home on the farm now, and I need to find everybody... as I've been carried away to far off lands, like Dorothy and Toto. I feel an urgency with time, knowing at my age, it could get a lot worse, or it could get a lot better, the choice is all mine.

So ladies, my first question, before I continue with my story and this thread : Have any of you women been here, rescued yourself in spite of the middle-aged spread and many years off the bike...and have fallen in love all over again with cycling, and made a comeback to a new prime ? I feel like those riding years were a lifetime ago, but really, it was only 10 years ago that I was in my (30's Something) athletic prime.

Second question: Does anybody here have a soft place in their heart to encourage me out of this FrumpyFortyFive Funk? I'm begging you!

~JayJay