Allen55

Just got my bike road ready again after having it sit for over 6 months. Being out on the road in the truck and then being sick, I couldn't ride like I did. Decided to get back on it and figured I would pick up where I left off...not losing too much of what I had accomplished (15 mile PR). Took the bike out after pumping the tires (finally got a pump) from the flats that they were. I didnt wear my clipless shoes, no gloves, only a helmet and my walking shoes. Figured I would just ride around the block to get a feel for the bike again, and then maybe do 5 miles or so.

Hmmmph! I didnt make it all the way around the block and I was blowing up. Breathing was hard. Legs were burning like fire, and I was getting worried that I might not make it back up the hill (very tiny small bump of a hill that is my driveway) to the house. I MADE myself not stop that bike as I climbed that hill and thought I was going to pass out when I stepped off of the bike. LOL.

I sat in the chair under my carport and tried to keep my eyeballs from falling out of my skull as they were pumping with every beat of my heart. My chest was on fire! My heart was beating HARD. It got a little scary for a few minutes. I made it up the steps into the house and sat in front of the fan thinking just how miserable I was at that precise moment. I was also, at that precise moment, looking forward to tomorrow and doing it all over again!

It really did surprise me just how out of shape I had gotten! I knew I had gained back the weight that I had lost, and am now at a personal high weight of 294, but I didn't expect to have lost THAT much of what I had gained.

I guess the time for hard work has come upon me again!

TrojanHorse

All else being equal, I notice when I take 2 weeks off the bike, so 6 months? Yeah. Expect some setbacks.

Brando_T.

Some of that is loss of fitness, some of it is weight gain. Both will improve over the next little while, keep at it.

PhotoJoe 

Not to minimize what you are doing ONE BIT, but this forum is full of stories just like yours. It's hard. REALLY hard. We've all been there. We're all doing more now than when we started (again). You will, too. I love your attitude of, while feeling like you're dying, planning tomorrow's ride. THAT is how you will do it! Failure is not an option! Be smart. Rest when you have to. There is no shame in resting, be it for 5 minutes during a ride or 2 days between rides. But keep at it, you'll be cranking out the miles again in no time!

Allen55

LOL...yeah, Brando, I knew I was going to take a hit, but had no clue I would be worse than I was when I first started last year. LOL. At least last year I made it around the block a few times on the day I got the bike.

Allen55

you are exactly right. FAILURE is not an option! Not if I want to keep breathing. And I like breathing.

Mithrandir

Yup, same here. 2 weeks is about when I notice a degredation in fitness. That's why after my accident last month I began spinning again after one week, starting off real slow because of my injuries, but ramping up when I felt better.


Unfortunately 4 weeks off the bike has definitely hurt my hill climbing. It's strange because I was spinning at some really high (for me) wattages earlier this week, you'd think I'd have retained some of my hill climbing. But tonights ride almost blew me up; 51 minutes in zone 5, 20 in zone 4, 2 in zone 3, and 1 in zone 2. Good lord. I need some rest, my heart is about to explode.

lsberrios1 

Keep it up! Like your attitude! No pain no gain.

OiS

It sure doesn't take long to lose "bike fitness". I find that goes quicker than general fitness, but equally, comes back quicker too.

Keep at it!

Tony N.

Are you an over the road driver? I ask because I have seen an 18 wheeler that frequents here that parks in a store parking lot near me for his over niter and he brings his bike with him and does all his runnin around shopping and fitness riding wherever he stops for the nite. Just a thought.

Yo Spiff

It'll come back quickly, just keep with it.

Just_Nigel

Good job! Keep at it a it you'll get it back and more! When I got back on the bike I read "Ride Your Way Lean" by Selene Yeager. I think she also writes for Bicycling magazine...

I really got inspired and pumped by reading just a little over half way. It talks about all the great things you're doing when you get back in the saddle. I can't speak with experience for her actual workout because I made my own up that works for me.

Neil_B

Throwing in my usual contrary wrench.... I don't think I've lost much fitness, if any, during my layoff. Then again I never thought cycling was exercise. I wonder if the OP felt the way he did because he treated the ride as exercise.

FMadridRN

If you have ever seen "Finding Nemo", there's a line from Dori "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...." She says it in such a rhythmic tone that it just sticks to your head. I changed it to "Just keep pedd'lin". Trust me it sticks to your head. Look it up on youtube to get the actual Rhythm. it works for me on those hard times on a bike.

Allen55

I WAS OTR. Had to come off the road for health reasons.

Allen55

Not really, Neil. I thought of it as "fun" and getting exercise while having said fun. I WAS riding for my health, but because I know I have to something to help with the diabetes or die. I didnt/dont think of it like I would if I were going to the gym.

goldfinch

There is research that shows beginning exercisers lose all their fitness gains in a month or two of inactivity. For example: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11252068

Detraining doesn't happen as fast or to the same extent in fit athletes.

Neil_B

This is the closest anyone has ever come to calling me a "fit athlete." Thank you!

Rowan

Yeah, you're the guy who started out all gung-ho, revealed he had diabetes, showed no discipline whatsoever, whined about not having a job, then getting one back on the road trucking, despite loading up on junk that could only make your diabetes episodes worse, and now you're back to where you originally were, apparently unemployed and waiting for a worthwhile job... and yanking our chains again.

Are you really going to make a commitment to get your life in order and heed the advice of people on this forum, or are you going to sit and argue semantics?

Allen55

How am I "yanking your chains"? I dont have time to "yank chains", dude. Not real sure what I did to get the tough love treatment, there, Rowan...but it was rude and uncalled for.

Cache

> My GOD, I'm out of shape!

Round is a shape. Good luck with your goals.

Rowan

And this is what you did last time, dodging around the questions like I posed for you in my original post. People here need to know that they might be wasting their time with you like they did last time.

Daspydyr 

Welcome back to riding. I went for a ride after taking a couple years off. I was in such bad shape and it was taking so long to get home that my wife came looking for me. I was resting under some palm trees. Two years later i rode my first Century and went out for dinner with the wife 2 hours later. Its amazing what you can do with consistent work.

BTW, I started riding to keep a promise to my wife that she gets to die first. She was a widow when I married her and she never wanted to bury another husband. The day came when I realized I was in that bad of shape that I might not be able to keep the promise. Plus I look so good now!

mcrow

You don't like the thread, the OP or think it's a waste of time then get out and take the negativity and hardass attitude elsewhere.

The guy says he wants to lose weight, wants to ride a bike to do it. Believe him or not. Participate in the thread or not. No sense on getting on your high horse and trying flog the OP.

Just_Nigel

We all are different and start/stop things that we know we should see through. We're not perfect. But life sometimes forces us to change our approach. Those that have made the decision to change are not impervious to falling off the wagon.

We all KNOW we need to make changes but we are all on different paths. I don't care if someone starts and stops a hundred times. I'll always try to help and don't consider it a waste of my time since I may be the one starting over again at some point.

If you were just trying the tough love approach, I think you went a little over the line. Mentioning the employment issue especially.