My short term goal.

November 15 (less than a month from today) to see 155 >>> and to put on some of my previously too snug cycling tights and jersey and go for the first bike ride in a long, long, loooong time !!! Thereafter, to start riding my mountain and road bikes again.

I was about 155 when I stopped riding regularly for sport, about 4 years ago, due to jerseys and tights getting too snug, , belly hangin' down in a very unsightly manner, and my butt waddling too much as I pedaled. Having been race fit, only 5 years previous, it was just all to much for me to deal with, and sadly I slowly gave in to the fat while my bicycles collected dust.

Yayyy, get back on those bikes!

I'm an avid cycling fan myself. Biking is unquestionably my favorite form of exercise - road biking, mountain biking, nature trails, BMX - I love it all.

Also, I don't think you need to wait until you hit 155 just to hop on a bike. Ride your bike NOW You don't need to wear cycling clothes; wear ordinary clothes and just do it anyway.

NightingaleShane, I have been bike obsessed for over 20 years, and worked from '94 to '03 in a great bike shop. (you and I can probabaly really enjoy talking about bikes!) I have personally got about 6 bicycles (3 of which I need to find new homes for). I have been into mtn biking since about '95 (the year of my Trek 8700), and road since '85 (about the year it was made too). I'm one of those rough & tumble middle-aged trailriders... you know, (use to be) the hardcore retro type?

You know... you're totally right, there's no reason I can't get on my bike today... forget about the lycra, and ride with my dog this morning instead of hiking up the ridge. If I have to walk the whole way up, well, all the more exercise for me... right? You've talked me into it... I'm gearing up in about a half hour, and gettin' on my little Trek 8700 (which looks rather like a bmx as it's a 14 inch frame!) Next, I'll at least dust off my rigid atb commuter bike, and start making a short term goal with doing some road riding from my cabin (1/2 washed out dirt road before pavement), and get used to the feel my *** waddling in public again (the hardest part). Maybe then, when I actually can fit into the lycras (of which I have a trunk full of cycling clothes!) >> I'll have the mid November goal to ride my old fav -- 23 mile steep mountain road loop!!! ~Jen

Adjusted Mini Cyclling Goal (thanks Nightengale )

>> Today << : ride up to top of ridge (walk where I can't ride, even if most of it) with the doggo following.

November 1st -- 159 -- squeeze into some of the larger winter lycras and ride to the bottom of our road, and back up (total of about 2 1/2 miles with about 500 ft elevation drop/gain ...no exaguration!)

November 15 (after two weeks re-entry training) -- 155 -- from top of through road, take as long as it takes, and ride the steep mountainous road loop of 23 miles. (and about 1500 ft. elevation drop/gain)

Good! Glad to know you are getting back on the bike now!

Retro backwoods type... makes me think of hippies on bicycles who are doing it to save the environment. Is that visualization a bit off, or am I pretty much on point?

Don't worry about your *** waddling in public - seriously, cars go by quickly enough to hardly notice you anyway. I completely know how you feel, though, except it was never my *** that I was self conscious about... just my jelly rolls. They would bounce up and down as I rode my bike, and then since I was leaning forward (road riding) my pants would slightly come down and my shirt would slightly come up, and - ooh! - jellyjellyjellyfest for ALL to see! I had a few frat rats yell mean things like "FATTY!" which hurt my feelings but then I always either yelled back, " YOU! FAT people have feelings, TOO!" or "YEAH NO ST dumbasssss! Why do you think I'm ON MY BIKE?"

Good luck riding your bike up that steep ridge even if you can't do it now, you will be able to do it eventually

I spent hours yesterday at my LBS looking at road bikes. I've always wanted to be one of those cool people with the great legs who do 50 mile rides on the weekend.

Not going to buy the bike till Christmas time, it's going to be my 100 pounds lost present to myself. I also figure that by the time I'm in the 190's I'll be able to wear the shorts without making others physically ill. Meanwhile I'm stealing 10's and 20's out of my husband's wallet to pay for it.

Team Estrogen has a great cycling website for women if anybody's into it.

I did it... I rode my mtn bike !!! Yessss ! However, the ride proved to be majorly problematic, technical problems with the doggo. She ran off because I was going so slow, and she blew out her lungs, and I didn't have any water with me, and she looked pathetic. I needed to turn around a lot sooner than I'd expected. Maybe I'll go out again a little later, all by myself. I need to work out those kinks.

Robin~ I think a bicycle is the perfect reward for losing. The best thing, is it will get you to your goal and help you maintain.

Nightengale~ Not really hippy , just retro. I'm so far from bike commuting on bike to town -- 10 miles w/ 2000 ft elevation -- but it is my dream to do a PartWay commute. Heck, it's just my dream to ride the trails around my house again, and to hop on my road bike and ride 3 to 5 hours, like I use to regularly.

ps. Nightengale, that is so mean that you were publically criticized. That once happened to me, when I was around 30, before getting in the best shape of my life, I was only 20 pounds overweight, and some very mean little *****es remarked about what a big butt I had, and they all walked off and giggled. I don't understand that mob mentality... strength in numbers kind of cruetlty.

Okay, this thread is getting me pumped. I have been thinking more and more about getting back into cycling, love the road bikes! I too have been feeling like I'd look totally foolish on a bike at my weight so I keep putting it off. I live about 10 minutes out of suburbia in a little village and there are all these great paved back roads that have hardly any traffic and I always see cyclists on them and look at them with envy. I was at my most comfortable weight and best physical fitness when I was cycling daily, years ago! I weighed 125 then and never gave a thought to how I looked 'cause I knew there was nothing to worry about. Oh the freedom of the ride! I am definitely going to get me a bike. The other reason I have put it off is $$. They aren't cheap but I would be happy to find a good quality used bike.
I'd be interested to see updates on this post, to see if you all got started again etc. The cold weather is coming soon here but maybe I can go to a spinning class over the winter and save up to buy a bike in the spring.....

Hey 135again,

Yes, you can still bicycle! I have a friend who was close to your start weight and who rode the AIDS LifeCycle in San Francisco! It was not easy for her, but she did it.

She has since gone on WW and lost 32 pounds so far.

Jay

I have a bike (please don't aske me what type - all I know is that it's a Mongoose with 2 tires ) that is in my parents' garage, a bike rack in my parents' attic, and a helmet that is...ok, i think i need a new helmet. However, I think after reading this thread, I just might dust them all off and hit the road again. After all, it's now in the 80's, no longer in the 90's, and in Daytona Beach, that's considered a weather change! haha :laughing:

To those interested in getting a new bicycle :

You can get a brand new >quality < (entry level) bicycle, for around 200 bux, that's way better than any used bike. Prices are going down, quality is going up, because comfort sport cycling is a rage in the market. Go to your local bike shop (LBS), look at Treks (they are a huge manufacturer of quality bikes) and comparable quality manufactured bikes , basically whatever else they have. Talk to the people there, tell them exactly what you'd like; what you can do now, but also forecast a little with the kind of riding you'd love to do in future (on the horizon of your perfect world) -- i.e. 'sport' road or mountain, comfort mtn, technical trail riding mountain, road touring, road racing, comfort hybrid, performance hybrid -- be specific. There are so many types of bicycles available today.

You will most likely find a nice hybrid , mtn, or comfort mountain, for around $250, and performance road and mtn bike for under $500. Good luck !

ps. Department store bicycles are not the best way to go. They are cheap, and frustrate the LBS people because they can't be fixed very well, and end up costing you more sometimes, and you still end up with a compromise. Just bite the bullet, and go to a real bicycle store, you'll thank yourself later, and then the LBS will take care of you.

Yes, I have visited a bike store here called Bushtaka (sp?) The treks are about $1000 for a road bike and up. But maybe I could get a hybrid, I'll have to look at prices again and other bike stores. When I was into it years ago, my bf and I went every Saturday morning to the bike store his goal being to replace parts with lighter parts each pay day. We had our bikes pretty light. To think I use to carry it up a flight of stairs along a hill as a short cut to get home, then I walked up ten flights of stairs to my apartment,(not with the bike) there was no elevator, no wonder I weighed 125lbs!!. That was pre-kids when I had more free time but now they don't need me around all the time so I can make the time to do this if I really want to.
For now, I am about to take my dogs on a nice off-leash walk. Gotta get movin'

For around $450 bux here's a great bike, a 'performance' road bike with upright hybrid comfort -- but not classified as a hybrid. Here is the link to the Women's Specific Design (WSD) ... http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...ad/fx/72fxwsd/

and here is the regular (non WSD) version : http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/2008/road/fx/72fx/

Bianchi makes a delicious entry level performance road sport (classic road racing style) for *only* $800 . Here she is : http://www.bianchiusa.com/07_brava.html

Specialized also makes an entry level performance road sport , for *under* $800 : http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=21957

Here's R.E.I 's (Novara brand) entry level performance road at $549 : http://www.rei.com/product/744791

Now here's a bike I wouldn't mind having around, a killer versatile commuter roadish bike, for only $399 ! : http://www.rei.com/product/760872

So you see, there's just so much to choose from. Everybody, get shopping, ask your LBS to help you find their brand's most inexpensive bikes from a brochure, if you can't afford all they have out on the floor. There's no excuse then, so lets all start riding bikes !

Except for REI, where the price is the price, for the rest of these bikes these are the MSRP. The actual prices will be quite a bit lower even at a small local bike shop. I saw that $450 Trek for $329 the other day and it's a pretty nice looking bike.

Best thing about the LBS is that they will fit you properly. Lots of people get turned off cycling because they are uncomfortable on a bike that doesn't really fit them.

So true! It's always best to be safe and have people delighted it's lower than expected, than the other way around. So true again! That's the big downfall about purchasing a department store bicycle, though they are very affordable, in many cases, they end up being a bad purchase -- especially when a person wants to really ride some miles.