Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Help me persuade an uber-clyde coworker

Neil,

Don't be too disheartened, I am still up to an occasional ride.

I don't object to riding with you, I just object to riding so far to do it, at least on a frequent basis. :)

I'll be getting my trainer rigged up this weekend so that I will be ready to ride in the spring without too much delay.

Neil,

Don't be too disheartened, I am still up to an occasional ride.

I don't object to riding with you, I just object to riding so far to do it, at least on a frequent basis. :)

I'll be getting my trainer rigged up this weekend so that I will be ready to ride in the spring without too much delay.

You weren't the Bike Forums poster I had in mind when I wrote about the folks here who are intimidated to ride with me.

BTW, I missed you on the MS City to Shore. However, the room reservation wouldn't have worked out well - the room only held a bunk bed. Which clyde goes on top? :)

I haven't really shared this here, so I guess this is as good a place to do it.

Some clydes live not in denial, but rather in a sort of oblivious state to their issue. I grew up thin. at 19 I was a large framed 6'1" 170# if i weighed that much. Over the next 11 years I gained over 130 lbs, and it wasn't until a weight loss competition at work did I realize what had happened to me. I know it sounds weird, but I honestly never thought of it. I guess I knew I was heavier than I should be, but my lifestyle never made living a challenge and I wasnt overly lazy, I walked places and did things, I played sports and swam. I just ate, A LOT, and never exercised the appropriate amount to make up for it.

I won that weight loss competition losing 46 lbs and bringing home the prize 2 days before my 30th birthday, but the separation and divorce that summer let me put back on the 50 lbs lost and another 58 to boot. Finally realizing I couldnt stay where I was, I had to seriously face the fact that at 32 years old I weighed 388 lbs. It's funny but the weight still didn't let me stop doing things. I still played hockey, etc. But I wasn't what I should be. So, I went to a nutritionist, learned about food, and through daily walking
and watching what I ate, I lost 20 lbs. I kept that 20 off for about 6 months and realizing I could do more, at the end of the summer I started walking daily, to train for a single walking race.

I joined weightwatchers, and between that and the races that followed the first walking race, I lost 40 pounds over the next few months. I went on and off the weightwatchers plan, but kept my exercise consistent and over the past few months have lost another 10 pounds to the current 315# that I am now.

Whats different about biking is that in less than a month with no real consistency to my food intake, and as of yet not riding on a daily basis, I can still feel and see changes in my body. My weight hasn't come down much yet, but it's shifting for sure. My thighs are stronger, and my pants are loser at the waist no doubt. I can't wait to see what a few more weeks of riding looks like.

Well, we aren't so far apart on this point, since the obliviousness you write about is also a form of denial. I've been obese since childhood, and I knew my weight was a problem every time I needed to buy larger shirts and pants, every time I didn't do anything because I didn't have the energy, every time I couldn't fit into a booth in a diner. By 2005 I'd reached 400 pounds and I couldn't walk a city block without getting out of breath. I had to buy all my clothes online because I didn't have the stamina to shop, and the stores didn't have anything in my sizes anyway. Yet I just accepted it as my fate.

http://www.correspondencechess.com/campbell/portrait/brennen_neil07sm.jpg

Me at 400 pounds, October 2005. Photograph by Dr. John Hilbert.

It took a trip to the cardiac ward at the local hospital to shake me from my denial, or obliviousness, or whatever you choose to call it. I'm glad you've avoided that, TechGN, and I look forward to reading about your continued success.

So Neil, I finally got a buddy of mine (been nagging him for almost a year) to ride last week.
Now I've created a monster and have had to bike shop with him (he now has a nicer bike than me...curse him) and am teaching him to ride safely. So It can be done!


Hmm, a beginner becoming a total bike nut? Nah, it'll never happen. :)

I'm not a "former" fat biker. :(

I agree with you about many fat people carrying anger at thin folks. When I was a young adult, Richard Simmons was the man you loved to hate. Now it seems it's Jared Fogle, spokeman for Subway.

I'm pretty sure that most cyclists hate me, when they get passed by a 370lb fatso on an ebike.

I'm pretty sure that most cyclists hate me, when they get passed by a 370lb fatso on an ebike.

Naw, they just think cheater :D

Anyway Neil, it's things like that which jade me. I'm all about people getting healthy, they just need to make the effort to finally do so!

I now have an official "not interested" from my uber-clyde coworker. You see, a new video game has come out, and he'd rather play that than ride. :( Meanwhile he complains about not being able to walk to the end of his driveway without feeling out of breath.

I had an uber-difficult-to-ride cheappie bike that sat in the garage for years. My husband finally sold it on craigslist. I wouldn't have considered cycling again until I tried my commuter (converted fitness bike). Now I'm hooked. I'm +1 thinking that your friend will benefit most from getting the feeling for a great bike.

I had an uber-difficult-to-ride cheappie bike that sat in the garage for years. My husband finally sold it on craigslist. I wouldn't have considered cycling again until I tried my commuter (converted fitness bike). Now I'm hooked. I'm +1 thinking that your friend will benefit most from getting the feeling for a great bike.

Co-worker, not friend. Otherwise I agree with your post.

I as bad as it may be to say this, I must do it. You can only help the willing. Obviously he, like most Americans, does not wanna change, or more likely put in the effort to change. He wants the easy way, which there is not. Maybe it is time to give up, you cant let it effect you. You gave it a shot, and it is his responsibility to want to do it

I as bad as it may be to say this, I must do it. You can only help the willing. Obviously he, like most Americans, does not wanna change, or more likely put in the effort to change. He wants the easy way, which there is not. Maybe it is time to give up, you cant let it effect you. You gave it a shot, and it is his responsibility to want to do it

Agreed. And it's not bothering me at all. I find it sad, however.

I'm trying to persuade an uber-clyde coworker to start riding regularly. He's 6' 3" or so, 380, and has a wal-mart bike in his garage. Help me come up with a way to lure him onto two wheels. He's asked me about my bikes, and my weight loss, and I'd like to see him build on that without my pressuring him. As we all know, subtlety isn't my strong suit. :)

Take a picture of him naked and post it around the office.

Oh yeah! Way to go!
So Neil, I finally got a buddy of mine (been nagging him for almost a year) to ride last week.
Now I've created a monster and have had to bike shop with him (he now has a nicer bike than me...curse him) and am teaching him to ride safely. So It can be done!


He managed to get 23 miles doing an organized ride today...and survived!
He only had to walk 2 hills too. :beer:

Co-worker, not friend. Otherwise I agree with your post.

My uber-clyde coworker seems to have had a change of heart. He's dropped 25 pounds over the past month on an experimental test program at a local university. I've been sending him information on bikes and giving him success stories to tempt him to the two-wheeled dark side. You can probably guess the stories from his reactions:

"This guy Scott in Minnesota sounds very determined."

"You know this chubby super-biker guy?"

"Wait a minute, riding with an oxygen tank? I don't believe it!"

Meanwhile, I'm getting him looking at mountain bikes like the Specialized Hardrock. Anything else in the 400 dollar range he should be examining? He's 6' 5" and 390.

I've heard good things about the Trek 4300, so you may have him check that out. At 390 he should prep himself for the possibility of a wheel build, but he probably will get away with it if his weight loss continues on a downward slope while his strength builds. BIG tires are the key - have him consider swapping the knobbies with some 26x2.0 Schwalbe Big Apples, for example.


My uber-clyde coworker seems to have had a change of heart. He's dropped 25 pounds over the past month on an experimental test program at a local university. I've been sending him information on bikes and giving him success stories to tempt him to the two-wheeled dark side. You can probably guess the stories from his reactions:

"This guy Scott in Minnesota sounds very determined."

"You know this chubby super-biker guy?"

"Wait a minute, riding with an oxygen tank? I don't believe it!"

Meanwhile, I'm getting him looking at mountain bikes like the Specialized Hardrock. Anything else in the 400 dollar range he should be examining? He's 6' 5" and 390.

Hey Historian, now that I know you are up in Philly area next time we are up that way we will be brining the bikes and will cycle with you. If you end up being to fast for me I will just whine till you slow down *ROFL*. Next time you are down in TN with your bike you need to let us know and we can do the same. Some nice 10 - 100 mile routes here with easy rides and hard rides. Hell Clarksville where Im based is home to probably the fastest & flattest century in the country. The elite peleton complete 100 miles in 3hrs 44 mins (the not so elite I dunno about *LOL*). We are heading out to do the metric century for fun tomorrow using the clarksville metric route so will let you know how fast and flat it is *grin*

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