Hosstyle

Hello all!

I will start with my story and how I got to where I am at with cycling. I an 32 years old and married with 2 young kids, 3 and 1. My wife and I bought our dream home this summer and my wife wanted to take a picture with us and hang it on the wall in front of our new home. After the picture was hung on the wall and I walked past it for the first time I was mortified by the amount of weight I had put on. I have always been a big guy but I saw that picture and my life literally flashed in front of my eyes. I ran up to to the bathroom scale and jumped on and my heart almost stopped on the spot. I had jumped up to 440 lbs. Luckily for me I am 6'7" and have a large frame to carry the weight but I almost threw when I saw that number. The next day my journey to save my life began.

I started the new me on November 1st. I refused to call it a diet as diet is meant to be a temporary change. This was a lifestyle change. I reached out to a former work friend who successfully completed a similar journey. He shared with me his blueprint and I copied it pretty much to the letter and have been following it ever since. I now eat fruits and vegetables instead of nachos and pizza. I drink 100 ounces of water a day with no pop or any other sugary drinks. I count every calorie I eat and to date have lost 81 lbs. During this time I also started doing some cardio on the stationary bike. With the weight loss and some initial cardio built up I decided to take the next step and get a bike.

I went to my local bike shop and talked to the owner for over an hour on what I was wanting to do and what bike would best fit me. After several test drives and suggestions I settled on a hybrid 2016 Cypress DX. I have had the bike now for a few days and have enjoyed my first two rides. These Ohio rolling hills are no joke!

I am new to cycling and would appreciate any suggestions and tips in regards to equipment, nutrition, when and how often to bike, etc. I live in Northeast Ohio so I would gladly take any suggestions on paths or areas to check out.

DarthMonkey

Quickly off the top of my head:

A helmet

Bike shorts(or pants or bibs)

one or two water bottles

a bike bag with a bike tool, patch kit, a frame pump or CO2 inflator

after that it is pretty much personal preference, but I recommend some bike shoes that are clipless ready.

a few other good ideas depending on your ride type and time:

front and rear led lights (if you will be biking near dawn or dusk)
a bell (if you bike on trails or paths with a lot of other bikers or walkers)
portable food (if you bike for a long time/distance)
wrap sunglasses or photochromatic glasses to help with sun and protect you eyes from dust and dirt.
a protective case to carry your cell phone in. It is the one thing you can least afford to have broken because it is your last lifeline if things go bad.


also clipless pedals (and shoes) are pretty cool and big help.

codyash

Congrats on you for making a change and getting on the bike! I'm at 294lbs (as of today) and know the pain. I'd suggest a helmit, a small bag, set of allen wrenches, and a patch kit. Eventually you can all sorts of goodies, but these will take care of your immediate needs and get you out the door. Good luck on your continued success!

DarthMonkey

as for non equipment advice

Nutrition: don't skimp on protein. Especially during recovery.

Biking frequency: As often as you can, but develop different types of rides/routes. A HIIT (high intensity interval training ride), a speed ride trying to beat you previous time for a moderate distance, a long ride - pushing your endurance, and a easy recovery day ride - get the muscles some activity but not too much to promote recovery from more strenuous rides. Mix'em up, but always give your body some time to recover.

As for biking in NE Ohio, I'm in Michigan, but my uncle took me biking a few times when I visited him (first in Lakewood, then he moved to Avon lake), but I don't know the names of the places we went. Metroparks are always a good place to check out. I think that is where we went in Rocky River. Hopefully bgraham111 (He is from that area and his parents are still there) or someone more familiar with NE Ohio chimes in

cb400bill

Thread moved from Introductions to Clydes/Athenas.

DarthMonkey

forgot to mention strava phone app for tracking rides and/or a bike computer

Staypuft1652

I have used LG Health, S Health, Google Fit, and now Strava. I like Strava simply because it tracks time cycling and miles, at least it tracks it easier.

dagray

Geiggerrig Hydration packs with three liter bladders for rides outside along with at least one if not two water bottles. Good riding shoes. Learn to love hills.... climb hills. treat yourself once in a while when riding say to a foo foo coffee or higher carb treat (you are burning off the carbs so having a few on a ride is good, and helps keep you motivated).

Become friends with your bike shop.

Get Tubeless tires

Hosstyle

With the abundance of apps, is a bike computer still a good investment?

DarthMonkey

Depends on a lot of things.

Do you have a bike mount for your phone so you can see your data as you go? Will running the screen like that for several hours kill your phone battery? Do you want to collect other data?

The lines have blurred with GPS capable bike computers, Bluetooth 2nd displays for phones, Bluetooth cycling sensors, hybrid computers that connect to to phones, etc.

I use my phone and strava, but keep it in my bike bag with the screen off (to preserve battery) and use a pebble smartwatch to keep an eye on my speed/distance info, but I am considering getting a Wahoo RFLKT

https://www.wahoofitness.com/devices/rflkt.html

10 Wheels

Investment?

Sunding Electronic Bicycle Computer/Speedometer - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

More Accurate then Phone Apps.

customsound79

I use a Strava and an $8 handlebar phone mount. My longest ride was 3 1/2 hours. Hasn't come close to failing me yet. Plus Strava removes pauses like stop lights and other stops from your average speed. I love it.

DarthMonkey

excellent point 10 Wheels

A standalone bike comp can be had pretty darn cheap these days.

bgraham111

Hello! So, I live in Michigan.... under the watchful eye of Darth Monkey. But I did grow up in NE Ohio. You've got some cool places to bike around there. The first one that comes to mind is the Ohio/Erie Tow path. It's a fantastic place to bike away from traffic.

Home | Ohio & Erie Canalway

Plus, it just keeps going and going. You'll likely never run out of distance or space. The Cleveland end is surprisingly very remote, considering you are in the middle of Cleveland. It's actually 4 counties long, and each country seems to have it's own flavor. I did a tour on it a few years ago, which can be seen here: https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/11884

Plus... go to Google maps and click on the bike paths.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4462.../data=!5m1!1e3
You'll see all sorts of green lines that are biking paths of various quality.

There are a bunch of other resources as well. Before you know it, you'll be doing the MS150 - Cleveland to Sandusky to Cleveland - 150 miles in 2 days.

bgraham111

I'm a big fan of a simple, wired bike computer. And yes... I run a Garmin 500 and have my smart phone with me.... but I find the small, simple, cheap bike computer the ideal thing to look at WHILE riding. (Unless you are following a map... then a GPS is pretty good.)

DarthMonkey

No way.

I take no responsibility for your actions, decisions, appearance, or anything else. I also vehemently express my disassociation from your "project bikes". If anyone is responsible for keeping a watchful eye on you it is that nice lady who, in what I assume was a bout of temporary insanity, married you.

Black wallnut 

Welcome! Depends on what you want. I'd suggest giving it a month or more to see what you think you really want as far as goodies. How much you ride. How long each ride is. What are your goals? Answers to those questions might point you towards the gear and add-ons you will want.

ColaJacket

Depends upon what you want to do with it.

As others have said, you need to ask yourself some of these questions:

1. Do you want to continuously look at your stats? MPH, Time, Cadence, Power, etc.
2. If so, how will it affect the battery life of your phone (Bike computers are more optimized to display and not use a lot of battery.)?
3. How much stuff do you want to track? GPS, Speed (GPS), Mileage? Phone would probably be adequate. Cadence, HR, Power, Speed (wheel sensor)? The more you want to track, the more it makes sense to get a bike computer. Although, a lot of new phones will support these devices. A lot of devices are ANT+ only. Others do ANT+ and Bluetooth. The newer phones should support both types of connectivity (I have a Samsung Galaxy S4, which doesn't support ANT+). Also, most of the free apps don't completely support Cadence, HRM, Power unless you upgrade to the premium service.

I've been cycling since last April. I've found tracking my rides helpful to let me know how many miles I've put on the bike. Since I've still been trying to build my base miles, I haven't been into training seriously. The more serious you are about training, the more likely you are to want to get a bike computer. The only place where I've considered needing more, is since I started using a trainer. I can only track the time, since I don't have a cadence/speed sensor. In some ways it might be nice to be able to see "how far" I've ridden on the trainer.

GH

Erwin8r

Well played, sir. Carry on.


Oh yeah, the Op. Well, I'm in the "bibs/cool helmet/cool jersey/cool water bottles" camp. Make it fun--and cool.

Null66

My suggestions would be:

a good computer w/ cadence, Heart rate (and required monitor)... And strava account... The fitness / freshness page under training is marvelous to track where you've been, your progress and most importantly when you need rest...

AeroTech makes great clothing for people of all different sizes. Great quality, better prices, even better service.

Have plenty of water with you at all times, especially when it's hot but you also lose a lot water even when the temperature is low. I have a hard time with this as I don't feel like I'm dehydrating.

Also fueling during LONG rides, some carbs and a little protein can enable you to ride much farther. I don't know if this is just my experience, but I found the more miles I put in, the more miles I could ride before eating became necessary.

But most of all.
Congrats on what you've accomplished so far. That is fantastic!

Hosstyle

Great advice. Thanks guys!

On longer rides, what are some good healthy food options?

DarthMonkey

Do you have any dietary restrictions or allergies?

Bananas are good

nuts

PB&J sandwich quartered

dried fruit

trailmix

For healthy - basically think real food, not over processed, with a mix of fat and carbs. Protein is helpful but not as important during a ride(more important after)

I admit to using some packaged stuff (Gu chews and various bars) on shorter rides when I'm not sure I will need it (or as emergency or backup snacks), or don't think I will need more than 1 snack, but on longer rides, I try to limit those and mix in other (healthy) snacks too.

A good tip is to get an idea of how many calories in each snack portion, and make sure you are burning at a faster rate than you are consuming. It's a bit of a balancing act. You want to be fueled enough to finish the ride, but still loose weight.