Hey Michelle,
Welcome to the forums - and you rock!! Don't worry what anyone thinks about your size, weight, hair color, or whatever.The mere fact that you are out riding is an inspiration to everyone, and if you stick with your diet and exercise plan, you will lose weight. I commend you and wish you luck!! This is one of the best threads on BF - come back and check in often!!

If someone is actively taking charge of reaching a personal goal, how can one not applaud?

Jealousy, mean spiritedness, and/or shallow thinking is the only motivation behind someone criticizing a beginning rider.

Think about that if anyone ever criticizes you.

Don't you feel silly valuing that type of person's opinion? I thought so.

Now give yourself a pat on the back...and for pete's sake..don't forget to have fun too while you're at it!

I think that you should be proud. You are on your bike having fun an getting exercise while they at siting on their duff!!

I was a little nervous and embarrassed myself last year when I started riding again after 20+ years. I weighed about 250 but now I'm 230 or so and still coming down. I'm 6'4" so my weight is spread out a bit but I couldn't climb hills worth a crap and often stopped to rest or walked to the top. I also have diminished lung capacity due to lung problems but at this point I can climb most hills even though sometimes I feel like I'm going to die. ;)

This is me at the end of a 42 mile ride last month.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y20...9_300091_o.jpg

For those of you who aren't familiar with weightlifting, it is a very effective way of losing weight. I speak of the bodybuilding method not powerlifting. I have trained several people who have lost in excess of 100lbs and have seen many other amazing transformations. By building muscle and raising your metabolism you are doing things that simply aren't possible otherwise. Weightlifting is very empowering and gives you an enormous boost in self confidence.

You don't randomly lift weights, you would have for example a 4 day split, each day a different group of muscles. 4 days in a row you do different exercises and then day off, another 4 days etc. Bodybuilding is kind of the opposite of bicycling, you are not out to break a sweat or see how many repetitions you can do. You are out to build strength and muscle mass, that is accomplished mainly by low repetitions and a lot of resting. The old school bodybuilding routines are amazing at getting rid of fat.

Bicycling would dovetail nicely with a good bodybuilding routine. One last thing. Serious hardcore gyms are filled with some of the greatest nicest people you'll ever meet. You might feel like I did, wildly self conscious going in to one at first but what you don't know is where a lot of these people came from. Some of these guys have overcome unbelievable odds, you would never know it.

Great thread, very inspirational. I started the year at 265 lbs and with the help of Weight Watchers and walking I'm down to 227 lbs. Bought a Trek Navigator 10 days ago and can't stop smiling or riding. Reminds me of being a kid throwing papers from my Schwinn speedster with the huge basket up front.

This is a really great thread.

I used to walk for exercise, but I fell several years ago and broke my leg really badly. I had surgery to put in a plate and a bunch of screws, and was in a wheelchair for six months. When I got out of it, between leg pain and the weight I'd put on while on pain meds (I'd always been overweight, but suddenly I was huge), I couldn't walk from one end of Walmart to the other. I spent the next year barely able to walk, dragging my leg if I walked further than a block or two. The year after that I gave up and spent most of every day sleeping. I started riding a bike in May...my kids were biking to school and I was walking along with them, and it got too hard to keep up. So I bought a cheap bike from Academy, with the fattest tires I could find. I was afraid the bike would just crumple under my weight, and I didn't want to kill an expensive bike. So far she's held up, although the shifting is not that great.

I've spent the summer riding either in the early morning or evenings, because I live in south TX and it's been hellishly hot here. The most I've done in a single ride is 16 miles, but I'm hoping to increase that soon. My husband is afraid that I'll fall and hurt myself, and he doesn't like it when I ride outside of our neighborhood. I've been trying not to worry him so I haven't been going as far as I would like to, even though my kids are both in school and I could ride all day if I wanted to. The main problem riding out here seems to be dogs...I've been chased and had my shoe bitten.

I really thought that people would be laughing at me all the time as I rode past, but it hasn't been like that. I get encouraging comments from other cyclists, and random people have told me they admire what I'm doing. I also see other large ladies riding in the neighborhood now, which I didn't at first. The only people who ever really yell at me when I ride are the high school kids...and kids at that age don't even like themselves, how can they be nice to anyone else?

I've only lost 20 lbs this summer, but I've gone down five pants sizes...I was too big to get clothes even at the plus size stores, and I'm not anymore.

Chop about 8 inches out of that frame and it would be my wife's bike. Well, except that hers still has all the original components, save saddle. She even has the same bar tape.

You guys are very inspiring. I started off with a bang in July, after not riding for 15-20 years and having a hip replaced two years ago. After two years, I was still not able to walk miles like I used to do, so I started riding my old bike. I was very surprised at how quickly I was able to increase my mileage. I do most of my riding on a local path where there is not much bike traffic, but I do pass a few people on my rides. Most of the people I pass are much fitter looking (thin) folks with nicer shoes and nicer helmets. When I see them I do feel a little self-conscious, but then I realize that I am for the most part, riding, not pushing, and there are people who will always be better than me, no matter what the sport or activity. And, most importantly, I am not sitting on the couch. I am doing something that was very hard to do at first, and I am getting better at it. After not being able to walk for several months post surgery, I am very grateful that I can get out and do something physical and fun like riding a bike in the first place. Also, I think with age, I have realized that people who mock other people are not happy people themselves, and their opinion is not really very interesting to me. Mostly I just wave and smile when people yell at me. It is really very rare that people actually do have anything to say, and then it is almost always teenaged boys. Whatever.

Good for you! Keep riding and don't get eaten by dogs.

After my shoe got munched on, I started carrying an asp baton in my bike bag. I understand now why everyone I see out walking is carrying a stick. I live at the very edge of the city and dogs get dumped here all the time. One dog by itself usually isn't too bad, but they start roaming the area in packs and that's when they start getting aggressive.

Someone said earlier that they noticed when a large sized person was on a bike, and it made me think, "better look quick because if they stay on that bike, they won't be that big for long...."

I remember everyone passing me and me feeling so stupid the first couple of months that I started riding. One time there was a runner on a long uphill section. My goal was to at least pass him. I never did. But I know I had to improve my heart health and weight. I went early in the morning or found non traditional places to ride. Now I just like to ride and always pass a good word to anyone I see riding.

You keep it up and do this for you-not the crowd. Truthfully, most people are cheering you on in their hearts.

I agree with all of the don't worry about it crew. I started at 370 and with better eating (Weight Watchers--sustainable and healthy) and a lot of biking I am now at 270. Don't worry about being slower, etc. Speed is not all that important, its how much fun you are having.

I still know the feeling of being in the back. I am on a beta blocker for a genetic condition which is a slap to my cardio system so some hills still put me in granny gear and the back on group rides but who cares. What matters is that I am having fun, getting healthier, and doing my best.

My favorite comment I gave when I got in a shouting match with the driver of a car who basically ran me off the road. He called me a fat-ass. My reply, "I may be fat but your an ignorant idiot. I can lose weight"

Best of luck!

Found that I wasn't too bothered by those driving by... but those on the bikes that were going by. For some reason, I was more self conscious of those riding on the same roads as I was who were definitely on another level than me. Maybe that goes back to my surfing days when the noobs or non-locals were out on the waves and in the waves of the locals...

Yeah, no big deal. Besides, your actions often drive your attitudes, so that (odd as it seems) you can turn yourself into one of those confident people who don't care what anyone thinks by going out and acting like one. Go out and ride and ignore the haters, and your actions will convince your mind that you don't care about the haters.

I don't get much negative attention at all (though admit, I don't go out in spandex) but the other morning a teenager on a school bus called out, "The F*** you lookin' at? F*** you and your bike!" as it passed by.
"Well," I thought, "I was looking at the traffic signal until you made your desperate plea for attention. Then I paid attention to you, but you failed to do anything entertaining with it. So off I go."

Then again, I get cussed out by kids with attitude problems for a living. If he'd known what I listen to all day, he might not have bothered.

This also bothered me some when I started a short while back, saw people in cars laughing at me.
Most were larger than I, sitting on their but in a car, and I know I'll be smaller in time.
I just might out live them now.

You keep it up and ignore the morons. If anyone insults or jeers, they're trying to make themselves feel better about their own pitiful selves. Just keep it up. I didn't start riding until I had lost quite a bit with walking and better eating, but biking dropped me another 28 lbs(already had lost 67 lbs with the walking). Biking has definitely improved my stamina, resting heart rate, blood pressure and overall health. Although I wasn't a Clydes when I began to bike last April '11( I was when I started walking), just keep on riding...do something, but riding, especially when you put a good amount of effort, is really beneficial. I am so determined never to go back to where I was. Whether you have lost 10, 20, 30 or 100 lbs, just do it and keep up the riding.

You guys are great!! I'm new to the forum, but it's great to see we are all alike. I was diagnosed with EXTREMELY high blood pressure.. 155/109.....Yeah.... Stroke territory. I am not a good medication taker, so the Doc basically said to get off the ole' A$$ and get to exercising. Weight was about 260. I had the same 'fears' of being laughed at, so my solution to this was to start walking. I would go for 10 mile walks, at midnight!! Getting down up wards of 2am sometimes. All to stay out of people's line of sight, because I was self conscious. Nobody cares, if they are saying stuff to you, it's their own embarrassment, trying to make themselves feel better, as they pass with their Venti, frappachino...mmmmm they're good.. LoL.. Picked up the old bike one day, and remembered I loved biking!! It's faster, I can cover more distance!! Bought a new Mountain bike, and spend my time wandering in the Everglades, along the fire roads.. Just keep it up. It is all normal..I'm down to 210 lbs. BP is normal and more importantly un-medicated!! You being outside on your bike, will keep you alive. Never give up..

Glad to hear your BP has come down unmedicated - that's excellent!

I did want to chime in that I'm glad the doctor got you to act on your BP, but 155/109 isn't extremely high. I used to be a volunteer FF/EMT, and I remember one run rather vividly. We were dispatched for "fall", and arrived to find the patient with a nosebleed, and an unfortunate language barrier even with five people in the house. As a result, we couldn't determine where/how she'd fallen to better understand the nosebleed. One of our crew couldn't get a BP, and it turns out he wasn't going high enough. Someone else got it at 280/180, and that's when I learned that nose blood vessels are perhaps the weakest in the body. She was medicated, but the dose wasn't high enough to really bring it down (finances...). Turns out the local ambulance company has medical policies declaring BP >200 to be 'mandatory hospital visit' (the patient is declared unable to express consent/refusal).

Again, glad you took action: that's the best part of your whole story!

DUDE!!!! U ROCK!! thats *****in awsome!!!

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._5071095_n.jpg[/QUOTE]
is that a jacket or a shirt??
would b great for night time rididng...:thumb:

is that a jacket or a shirt??
would b great for night time rididng...:thumb:[/QUOTE]

It's a Nashbar bike jersey. I bought it before I even bought the bike.

what gloves are those? and is that a reflective strip making it look like its glowing slightl purple or is it actually glowing? if so i want a pair not only to be more reflective but they look cool o.o

Went on my third ride as an adult today. I am fortunate in that I live in a bike friendly neighborhood but it was still a little nerve-wracking. I didn't go very far but after riding around for a bit my confidence increased. It was an awesome feeling, even if other cyclists were leaner and/or flying by me!